'STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED'

          It was late September a few years back, and I was camped alongside the Tellico River, back up in the mountains a ways. I had me a good fire goin’ and my feet propped up, relaxin’ and sippin’ on a cup of coffee, when I first heard the noise. Best I can describe it; it was some kind of low pitched howl that almost ‘sang’. It tweren’t no one-time thing, neither. I reckon I heard that noise at least a ½ dozen times or more over the next 45-minutes or so, and each time, its source had moved, workin’ its way around my camp.

          Now, this ol’ country boy’s been in the woods most all of his life, ‘specially at night, what with beaver huntin’, coon huntin’, runnin’ trotlines an’ limblines, and such, and I’ve heard all kinds of night sounds from bullfrogs a’croakin’ to coyotes yippin’ and even bobcats squallin’ like a woman gettin’ beat, but I ain’t never heard nothin’ like what was comin’ from up on that ridge that night. No matter how hard I tried, I could not recall having ever heard such a sound. Oh well, not one to spook very easily, I shrugged my shoulders and gave it not another thought… that is ‘til about a week or so later.

I was foolin’ around on the computer, lookin’ at GOOGLE Earth, and got to noticin’ all these little pins scattered all along the Appalachian mountains, especially in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the national forests to the south of there, all around where my camp had been. Each pin signified a documented report of a Bigfoot sighting investigated by the BFRO*. Now, that brought a chuckle, along with a flood of memories.

It was 1977, and our teenage babysitter took my 7-year-old brother and 9-year-old me to see the newly released movie SASQUATCH, the Legend of Bigfoot. I thought it was AWESOME! Especially the part where the Bigfoots attacked the miners’ camp with large rocks. I had nightmares for weeks! Yet, I loved it! And, as if that weren’t enough, ten years later, Hollywood came out with an even better movie suggesting the existence of Bigfoot… Harry and the Hendersons. Now, really… who wouldn’t want Bigfoot to exist if it were like the loveable Harry?

Seriously, though, the idea of a giant, hairy ape-like creature actually existin’ in the forests of North America always has and still does sound pretty cool, and, hey… stranger things have happened. Heck, scientists are all the time rediscovering the existence of critters thought to have been extinct for centuries. So, I reckon Ol’ Tsul ‘Kalu** possibly could exist.

I’ve heard all kinds of arguments both for and against Bigfoot actually existing. My personal favorite is “if Bigfoot really does exist, why haven’t any remains ever been found?” And of course, you know I have an answer to that one. Now, I know it to be fact that bears and bobcats and wild hogs exist, for I’ve hunted all three for years… yet, I’ve never come across the carcass of a dead one in the woods. You see, Mother Nature is very good at ‘keepin’ her house clean’. Within three short weeks, all signs of the carcass of something the size of a deer will be completely gone, thanks to scavengers, bugs, and the elements. Not to mention, we’re talkin’ about a creature that’s supposed to be ‘ape-like’, so who knows, Bigfoots may actually dispose of their dead much like some apes and us humans both do.

Now, now… quit shakin’ your head at me. I’m not sayin’ that there IS a Bigfoot. It’s just that I’m enough of a romantic to think it’d be neat if there were some out there livin’ in the puckerbrush. At the same time, though, just ‘cause I ain’t never seen one doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Hell, Native American tribes have acknowledged the existence of these creatures for centuries. At any rate, I always try to keep an open mind on such things… ‘specially when it comes to the beliefs of Hiawatha, Sittin’ Bull, and good ol’ Tanto.

Back to the pins, though… out of curiosity, I clicked on one of ‘em and read the attached report. Well, folks, once started, I just couldn’t stop. I read every one of the reports for that whole area, and I have to admit… some of ‘em actually had merit. I said ‘some of ‘em’. Some of the others, though, were about as hare-brained as could be, but if nothin’ else, they were good for a laugh.

Several of the more plausible reports mentioned noises and howls attributed to Bigfoot. Lookin’ around on the BFRO website, I came across a mention that the howl of a Bigfoot closely resembled that of the Gibbon monkey. Huh, I thought, wonder what a Gibbon monkey sounds like. So, I GOOGLE'd the sound of a Gibbon monkey, clicking on the link to listen, and nearly fell out of my seat when the sound came across the speakers. It was EXACTLY what I had heard that night, only what I’d heard was much deeper in tone. Goosebumps spread all over my body as the sound played over and over.

Naw…it couldn’t be! But then, like I said before… stranger things have happened.

*  - The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization is the oldest and largest of several organizations dedicated to the research and investigation of Bigfoot sightings in the United States. The BFRO provides a free database to individuals and other organizations, which include reports from across North America that have been investigated by researchers to determine credibility.

** - Tsul 'Kalu (the slant-eyed or sloping giant) is the Cherokee Indian name for Bigfoot/Sasquatch. In Cherokee mythology, Tsul ‘Kalu is considered “The Great Lord of Game", the protector of the forest and it creatures.