A listener writes “I grew up in the Akron/Cleveland area. A little place called Medina, Ohio. I became interested after seeing the Patterson film and the Legend of Boggy Creek. As a young man, I spent a lot of time outdoors hiking, fishing, hunting, plinking….. Me and friends spent a lot of time in the woods outside the city limits on the east side of Medina county roughly 1974-1980.
Though we did not have any direct encounters, I did have some observations. Outside one of the developments, a set of railroad tracks ran east west. in the woods on the north side were woods that we camped in quite often. Directly on the other side were rolling hills and wooded sections. On “our” side, there was good squirrel and rabbit hunting. On the other was what we called the “Dead Forest”.. There were areas across the tracks that were down right spooky. Nothing moved.. Nothing. Simply a land of loathing.. Our campsite was about 150-200 yards from the tracks.
On many occasion when we where camping, the “Crazy Lady” would cause quite a ruckus across the tracks in the “Dead Forest”. This was rationalized because there was a hermit like elderly woman that lived somewhat secluded about a mile and a half away on the other side of the “DF”. Numerous times we heard crashing charges. Tree shaking. whooping, screaming, baby wailing. We never gave it much thought because when we camped out, we were always heavily armed. Sometimes we would engage in a past time called Tree Kabonging.
To Kabong a tree, you need 4-5 guys and a young tree 5-8 inches in diameter. The smallest guy (usually me) would climb the tree first going as high as possible. Once the “Kabonger” was up, the other “anchor” men would climb into the tree. Once in, we would use our collective weight to pull the tree over. Once over, the kabonger would be delivered to the ground from 30 -50ft. up. With brief ceremony, the tree would be let go… Kabong!!! The tree would whip back and forth thrashing through the other trees 6-8 times before coming to a halt. Reminiscing this I just came to realize it always seemed like kabong nights had a lot of activity going on across the tracks. Now that I think about it what better way to rile up a squatch than with a little territorial tree thrashing??? Unfortunately, this was the extent of these encounters and me and my friends simply shelved it as “whatever” and never gave it much thought after that.”
David R
When I was young a friend and I used to jump from tree to tree until one day I got hit in the KABONG, and that ended that. I never liked getting hit in the KABONG! LOL There was a cartoon called EL-KABONG, and he’d hit people with his guitar!
bikridr
Before I cared about treading lightly, i used to do a similiar thing, only alone, with smaller saplings. Climb the tree until it starts to give under your weight, then ride it back down to the ground. Hell of a rush hoping the tree would bend instead of break, especially past about the 10 ft mark!
And not 5 minutes ago I heard what sounded like a 600lb goat throwing a temper tantrum! Probably nothing, and I choked it up as such, but it’s funny the things we tell ourselves to not over think these odd noises we hear. “Oh its probably just that old wackjob arguing with herself again”…
John M
I’ll do the thinin’ around here Baba Louie! And don you forget it!
Si Queek Straw…
Robert E
I know exactly where that is. I live not far from those railroad tracks and the area you referred to as the “DF” creeps me out every time i walk my dog on a path that runs parallel to that forested area. Plenty of habitat and food for a squatch to be quite happy. You have acres of farmland, deer, water, small game and cover, I always wondered about railroad tracks being used as an easy “highway” for squelches. If they’re around it would certainly be the perfect place to forage and travel from one area to another.
Charles R
Over the years there have been numerous encounters in the forested and park and state land areas of the Southern Greater Cleveland Metro area. Sounds to me listener that the crazy women may have been something entirely different. Me and my buddies spent our youth doing much the same as you, except up in Michigan. Priceless memories that the youth of today do very little of.
m99
…sounds like an easy way to die!
Shelly S
Boys….?