Sasquatch Chronicles Blog

A listener writes “Wes, Let me start off by saying that I love your show. I recently discovered it and I’ve been binge listening like crazy. It’s a great way to deal with grad school stress.

So my encounter happened in the spring of 2011. I was living in northeastern Ohio (Amish country, if you’re familiar). This property is what I would call semi-wooded. There are neighbors on either side, but there are woods and fields and pastures surrounding the little group of houses. The edge of the woods is about 75 yards from the trailer I was living in.

I was up late working on an assignment for college. I had just turned it in so it was somewhere around midnight. I had my bedroom window open and I heard a bird singing outside. This was really surprising because it was after midnight at this point. The other thing was it was going through multiple bird songs so I thought it was maybe a mockingbird. I decided to go out on the deck so I could hear it better.

The bird sounds were coming from directly in front of me as I stood on the deck, in a completely dark area of the neighbors back yard that is full of nut trees. As I stood there I started to feel creeped out because ordinarily my dad’s beagles would have been barking or they would have at least come out to see what I was up to and there was no sign of them. I turned in the direction of their kennel, about 45 degrees from where the bird sounds were coming from and closer to the woods by about 25 feet. That’s when the smell hit me.

It was like urine, musk, and rotten garbage. This smell almost had a physical presence. I walked to the edge of the deck towards the woods, thinking what the hell is that. There was this noise that I have a hard time explaining. It was like a big cat rumble, but with a gutteral, almost chuckling sound. I froze. The porch light only goes to the edge of the woods, so I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the brush crackling a little bit. As I was standing there, frozen, this thing let out a roar that I will never forget. I could feel it in my chest.

The next thing I know I’m inside with the screen door locked and the regular door locked and deadbolted. It was like some primitive part of my brain said “Nope, time to get the hell out of here.” Once I got myself together I went back into my bedroom. I think I was in shock because I was just sitting there. As I was sitting there I could hear something walking through the yard, moving away from the trailer.

I’ve thought about it over the years and I think there were two. One big one at the edge of the woods and a smaller one down in the nut trees, maybe foraging for nuts. The snow had just melted for the last time a week or so before and I can’t imagine there was much to eat in the woods. The place where I heard what I’d call the big one is a place where my mom dumps food scraps.

There are some other less dramatic experiences, including my mom smelling the smell and hearing a growl, but I don’t want to go on forever. I would love to talk to you about this.”