In 1981, while enjoying his favorite fishing spot, Mr. Lon Strickler waded into the South Branch of the Patapsco River near Sykesville and began to try his luck. As he fished, he took notice of a large, mixed-breed, stray dog walking along the opposing river bank about 50 feet away. As he watched, the dog began bark and growl at a large clump of brush near the river. As Strickler observed the dog, he was amazed to see a 7 to 8 foot tall, hair covered, human shape emerging from the brush. The dog, now highly agitated, attacked the huge creature. Mr. Strickler said the beast made an odd “ticking” sound as it struggled with the dog. Within seconds, the creature slammed the canine to the ground. The dog ran off. And as the creature turned to walk back into the woods, Strickler said he caught the strange animal’s scent and described it as heavy musk.
At this point, Mr. Strickler’s story becomes stranger still as the following excerpt reveals:
” I drove to a phone in Sykesville and called the police. I was told to return to the scene and wait. It took me about 3 minutes to get back….and a [State] police cruiser was already there. I was immediately told to leave the area. I returned an hour later and noticed several state vehicles and one federal vehicle as well as police…the area was taped off. I could see people combing the area….I was told once again to leave. I tried for several days to get answers from state officials but never got an answer. I called [Baltimore TV stations] WJZ, WBAL and WMAR about the incidents and each seemed very interested. I contacted each station [several days] later and was told that they had ‘no idea’ of an incident and did not want to talk to me.”
The specific area where Strickler had his experience (a section of the Patapsco State Park) is still very heavily wooded and unpopulated.
Chachie
I heard this encounter story on the show. I live very close to Sykesville. Although there is a lot of woods up that way, there are also a lot of neighborhoods spread right around there as well. I’m shocked when I hear of sightings in MD. I can only imagine it holds migration routes because even its biggest forests/mountains are comparatively small to most other “squatchy” states.
Butch C
I also live not too far from Sykesville. What you need to remember is this Chachie, the park has 16000 acres, maybe not all wooded, and the Patapsco river running through it. There were also a lot more farms in the area back then , farms would have added not only acreage, but also food sources, You also have to remember that these encounters happened back in the early 1970’s and on into 1980’s. The area has grown a lot since then. I say encounters “Plural” because there was more than one in that area and as I said they started back in the early 1970’s after Hurricane Agnes went through.
I havent had an encounter in Maryland myself, But I did have some very strange and unexplainable things happen to Me and my Brother in-law back in the late 1980’s just south of Gettysburg that cant be explained away. Again this was a wooded area with a creek running through it. It also had farms on both sides of the woods, and clusters of houses here and there. It also wasn’t too far from a major highway, and 2 secondary roads . I had heard of Bigfoot back then, but I had never dreamed in a million years I would have any type of encounter anywhere near where I lived . I considered the areas to have either too many people, or too much traffic, and besides this wasn’t Washington or Oregon. What we encountered could have only been 1 thing.
So DONT under estimate the possibility that this could have occurred in Sykesville back then because of the growth the area has had since then.
Chachie
Good stuff, Butch. Thanks for the reply. Indeed MD has a lot of forest and even some mountains. Most people don’t realize how much this little state has to offer. I didn’t mean to cast doubt on the story at all. I think I was just commenting on how even someone who lives here could be surprised at a Squatch sighting. 🙂
Would love to hear your encounter story!
Butch C
Check out the forums where Wes asked for encounters. Posted February 7th
Butch C
” I think I was just commenting on how even someone who lives here could be surprised at a Squatch sighting.”
I agree..
Jeffrey H
This particular incident had been shown on a couple TV shows and they even interviewed the witness. It was amazing how fast it was covered up. Another clue would be that not one TV news station would even talk to the witness about what had happen because you know the TV stations listen to police scanners. Listening to police scanners is how the stations get the jump on breaking news. One TV show showed gov veichles all over the place with dogs searching or let’s just say that the search dogs were on a very long coffee break. I believe this particular BF look like a Neanderthal. Over all it was very interesting because of not only where it happen but also how fast it was covered up even though there was so many gov departments there!
Andrew T
The events surrounding this case lead me to believe the authorities knew this creature was there and they were already keeping an eye on it. Very strange case.