The Year in Review and Future Plans

2018 is rapidly coming to a close and I thought I would take a moment to review some of the bigger events of the past year and give you all of you an idea of what my plans are in 2019.  

The past year has been a really good one for me in many ways. The biggest event was the publishing of my book on the black panther phenomenon, Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America by Anomalist Books. The publication of the book was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for me as I have always wanted to write a book. While I did self-publish a children’s book titled Patty: A Sasquatch Story several years back, this was different. Anomalist Books is a traditional and respected publishing house specializing in non-fiction tomes on cryptozoology, the paranormal, and other esoteric topics. To go through the submission process, have the work accepted, and then published was a lot of fun for me and extremely educational. To add to my excitement, the book was well received and has done very well. Because of the success of Shadow Cats, I have had the opportunity to speak at author’s gatherings, library fund-raisers, book stores, numerous podcasts, and radio programs including the massively popular Coast-to-Coast A.M. with host George Noory. The year ended with Loren Coleman choosing Shadow Cats as one of his top ten cryptozoology books of the year. It has all been pretty heady stuff to this rookie author.

Another highlight of my year was my participation in the NAWAC’s long-term field study in the area of interest we have dubbed “Area X.” This year’s operation was dubbed “Operation Intrepid” and ran from May 19^th– September 23^rd. I served as the team leader for Team India and was in the bush with two fellow members from July 14^th– July 21^st. While there were no visuals of our wood ape quarry that week, the three of us managed to record the clearest “whoop” vocalization I have ever heard in person. The vocalization emanated on a hillside no more than forty yards from our location in camp. The call was heard multiple times on two separate nights from approximately the same spot on the hill. The thick brush prevented us from getting a look at the caller – even with high-end night vision equipment -  and the steep incline kept us from being able to effectively investigate during nighttime hours. Even so, the vocalization alone was enough to cement in my mind that the target species is indeed in the area and we are conducting operations in the right place. 

I had another fun experience just last month. I was contacted by Prometheus Productions about helping with an upcoming television program (Prometheus produces the hit series The Curse of Oak Island and many other popular shows). Initially, I was going to be a sort of consultant on an episode that was going to be looking into a cryptid very well known in the Ozark Mountains; however, after learning that I had actually seen one of the odd, hairless canines that the media has dubbed the chupacabras, plans changed. Instead, I will appear as a witness on an episode featuring that cryptid. This was the second time I have had the privilege of being involved in a television shoot of this sort (My first experience was on the A&E Network’s Lowe Files). It is always interesting and fun to see how these shows are shot and the interactions that go on behind the scenes. It was good fun and I will keep everyone posted on when the series and, more specifically, when the chupacabras episode will air.

The year was not without its frustrations. Teaching and coaching full-time left precious little time for the blog and I have accumulated a large back log of black panther sightings that need to be vetted and mapped. Also, I started work on a new book detailing the investigations and experiences of the NAWAC this past summer, but have been unable to make any progress on it due to the time demands of my job. I am not looking for any sympathy here, but the little free time I have had through a very good football season and, at least thus far, a very bad basketball season has been spent trying to catch up on sleep or family responsibilities. It has left little time for me to tap away on a keyboard. This situation is nothing new. Longtime followers of the blog know I have lamented my lack of time to write in the past. I have given the matter a lot of thought and decided that I will be hanging up my whistle at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. While I need to continue teaching (those pesky bills continue to roll in monthly), I do not plan on coaching in the future. This decision was really not that difficult to reach. The coaching part of my life has become extremely stressful as the athletes have become increasingly self-centered and uncoachable. It is a constant battle to get them to act right in class, pass their classes, and practice hard. Dealing with the parents has been even worse. These factors in combination with the fact that I want to write more have led me to the decision to retire from my coaching duties. While I will not get any immediate relief from the time demands of coaching, as I must finish the school year, the light is at the end of the tunnel. No later than the end of May 2019 I should see an exponential jump in my free time. That will allow me to get back to investigating mysteries of the cryptid kind and continue my efforts to write.

So, there you have it. I will be getting back to writing and blogging very soon as long as the good Lord is willing and the creeks don’t rise. I thank all of you who have patiently hung in there with me and the blog despite my lack of activity. I hope to reward that patience with new posts and a new book soon. 

My best,

Mike

How To Contact Me

Just a reminder on how to contact me if you have a question or report and would like me to respond. Please email me at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com for such queries. 

Many people of late have asked questions in the comments section of a post. Many have done so and remained anonymous on their comment. Please note that I cannot answer you directly after you leave a comment unless it includes your name, email, and/or phone number. I understand why someone would not want to leave contact information in a comment that anyone can see so the email is a better choice.

Black Panther Distribution Map Now Online

I am very pleased to be writing this post. In one way, all I’m doing is presenting a map to you that details alleged sightings of large, black, long-tailed cats. In another way, this map represents more than six years of work and documentation. I started the Texas Cryptid Hunter blog in December of 2008. Almost from the beginning, I have been taking reports from people claiming to have seen an animal that mainstream science says does not exist, yet has lived in the mythology of Texas and the deep south for well over a century.

During the last six years and change, I have collected exactly 202 reports from witnesses claiming to have seen what is commonly referred to as a black panther. As long time readers of this site know, there is no such animal. The black panthers of the movies and that are seen on television are either melanistic leopards, which are native to Africa and Asia or melanistic jaguars, long thought to have been extirpated from all but the southernmost regions of the North American continent. Cougars, wildlife experts tell us, do not exhibit melanism and it is true that not a single documented case of a black cougar has ever been documented. Still, the sightings persist, they won’t go away and they show no signs of slowing down. I want to know what people are seeing and I resolved to do my best to get to the bottom of this mystery. This distribution map is part of that process.

I have tried my best to place only the most credible of sightings on my map. Of the 202 sightings in my archives, only 112 made it on to the map. I had some doubts about some reports, felt misidentification was likely in others and just flat out had a bad feeling about a few. The 112 reports on the map represent reports from people I feel were being honest with me and were of sightings of no known cat or, possibly, of a large species of cat far outside of its accepted home range. Is it possible that I kept some valid reports off the map? Yes, it is. Is it possible that some of the reports that made the map were from liars or hoaxers? Again, yes; however, I truly feel that the map represents sightings of real animals. I think once the distribution is examined, it will speak to that. For example, the sightings are mostly confined to the eastern half of the state. This is the part of Texas that receives the most rainfall, where the major rivers of the state converge and is the most heavily wooded. This sounds like what a distribution map of a real animal would look like, in my opinion.

I have provided several screenshots of the map here for your inspection. I have zoomed in on several major areas of the state and also provided a look at the entire state. You can access the online/interactive version of the map by clicking here. Hit the link and it will take you to the map. Once there, you can click on each pin that marks a sighting and a short synopsis of the sighting will pop up. I really like this feature and hope you will spend some time clicking on these sighting locations to see what people are seeing out there. I invite any of you out there to study the map and see if you can discern any patterns. Who knows? Maybe together we can figure this whole thing out.

To the best of my knowledge, nobody else is tracking these sightings. I would ask that you all spread the word and let anyone who has seen one of these phantom cats know where they can report their sighting. In addition, I am looking for someone who has had repeated sightings on their property who would consider allowing me to place game cameras on site in an attempt to capture a photo of one of these animals. One good photo might just be enough for us to figure out what we are dealing with in regard to these enigmatic felids. Are jaguars making a comeback? Do cougars occasionally exhibit melanism? Do jaguarundis roam far farther north and get far larger than anyone suspects? Is there a new species out there just waiting to be discovered? If you are interested in allowing me to place cameras on your property, please contact me at texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com. That would also be the email address to contact me with a sighting.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

A Thanksgiving Message

As many of you have noted, it has been quite a while since I posted anything new on the blog. I have tried to remain active on the Facebook and Twitter pages, posting anything I find interesting or unusual, but have not done much writing. There are numerous reasons for this and, initially, this post was going to be an explanation, almost an apology, for my lack of activity.

I have changed my mind.

I started this post while my wife, daughters and son-in-law were putting our Christmas tree together (yes, shamefully, we have an artificial tree, lol). I found myself just watching and listening to them as they laughed, sang and generally enjoyed being together here, all in one place, safe and warm inside on a gloomy and rainy Saturday in Central Texas. A fire was burning in the fireplace, hot chocolate was on the stove and Christmas carols were playing via Pandora. It was all so cliché that it made me pause. My wife was beaming, happy to have all of her little chickens here together, and this made me happy. It was a Norman Rockwell painting come to life and it was wonderful. I immediately closed the laptop in order to join them. Yes, I was derailed from writing a piece for the blog yet again, but it was ok.

I have been amazingly busy this year, and not all of my distractions have been as pleasant as today's, leaving me precious little time to write but I am blessed. I am working my tail off at work, teaching two courses while coaching the basketball team but I get to work with young people every day. I have endured skin cancer and surgery to remove it this year but have, for the moment anyway, beaten it and have a clean bill of health. Finances were tight this year as I had to give up football coaching, and the stipend that came with it (due to the aforementioned skin cancer), and pay for the wedding of my oldest daughter but have gained a son-in-law that I truly enjoy being around and, best of all, who deeply loves my daughter. I could go on but you get the idea.

I guess I could look at things with a more negative eye, and, if I am being completely honest, I have done so on more occasions than I like to admit, but I choose not to do that today. I am blessed and every single crazy busy day brings more blessings my way. With age comes perspective, I suppose. Could it be after forty-nine years I have grown up? Maybe.

I do hope to spend more time on the blog and in the field this year. That is the goal. I have not lost my passion for it or the subject matter discussed on it. I am quite optimistic that I will have more time for it soon. I have a year’s worth of topics lined up and just waiting to be written about. Somebody has to do it, right? I also hope to finish up my second book, this one a novel, this year. I’m actually quite excited about it and, if it comes along the way I hope it does, will share more about it soon.

In the meantime, I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. Do not forget to be thankful for what you have. The poorest among us has far more than most on this little blue planet. Try to remember that when times are tough. I have found the most grateful people to be the happiest people. Choose to be thankful. Choose to be happy.

More soon and my best to you all.

Mike

Sometimes, Life Intervenes

I have been pretty quiet lately and thought you all deserved an explanation. While I have been a bit inactive as far as cryptozoological matters over the last few months, I have been anything but inactive. There are several reasons for this, which I will touch on below.

I was diagnosed with skin cancer toward the end of 2014. I had a large knot/tumor in my eyebrow above my left eye. I underwent surgery to have it removed in the spring of this year. The surgery turned out to be more extensive than was originally anticipated and ended up including a skin grafting procedure. The graft failed to fully take and I may yet have some procedures ahead of me to minimize the scarring. The good news is the cancer is gone.

The health issue also led to some career changes. I am a teacher and a coach (football/basketball). The doctors strongly recommended I not be in the sun for hours on end starting in July and August like I have for 15 previous seasons. After wrestling with it for several months, I have retired from football coaching. I will continue to coach basketball but getting all these changes lined out took some time and has kept me busy.

By far the biggest reason I have been preoccupied has nothing to do with health or job issues; rather, it had everything to do with my oldest daughter’s wedding. She was married just last week. It was truly a joyful occasion for me, and the entire family, but I can tell you the last few months have been very hectic (not to mention expensive, lol). Never would I have imagined the amount of work putting on a wedding actually is, never. It has been quite exhausting. I can only imagine how my poor wife feels.

So, all of those things put together, plus the historic amount of rain Texas received earlier this spring, which forced me to limit my activities, have kept me away from all things cryptid. I will be getting back in the swing of things, though. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for a week in the Ouachita Mountains where I will be attempting to find evidence supporting the existence of everyone’s favorite bipedal ape. I’ll be providing an update on how the week went upon my return.

My best to you all.

A Teachable Moment

A couple of days ago, I was on my way home when I spotted something of interest. I thought the experience could serve as a sort of learning moment for everyone, myself included.

I was at a stop sign at a “T” intersection in a rural area when I spotted a large, black animal with a long tail moving about in some high grass in a field directly in front of me. I was immediately very excited. I have been taking reports from people who claim to have seen black panthers for years but have never seen one myself. Could my time have finally arrived?

Fortunately, I was practicing what I preach about having a camera/video recorder ready at all times and was able to get a video of the animal. That video is below.



As you can see, video does not always do justice to what a witness is seeing. The animal I was viewing was much closer than what it appears in the video. I would estimate the animal was not quite 100 yards away. The creature appears like a tiny speck in the video despite my best effort to zoom in on it.

The animal was easily as large as a Labrador retriever and clearly had a long tail. Was this the elusive black panther I have sought?

No.

Sometimes, a Labrador retriever-sized animal is actually a Labrador retriever. I believe that is what I was looking at as I sat at that intersection. Even if I have the breed wrong, I was clearly seeing a dog of some kind. The way the animal moved, the way it held its tail up, etc. all clearly said “dog” to me. I will admit to being excited upon catching my first glimpse of the animal and had the dog stayed low and retreated into the taller grass I would have been left to wonder what I had seen. Fortunately, it stayed long enough for me to make a clear identification.

So, what is the lesson here? First, keep a camera, phone or some kind of video recorder handy at all times. You just never know when you might come upon something of interest. Even if you are unsure of what your own eyes are seeing, you might be able to figure it out later by examining the video. Second, when you see something of interest, stop. Look at it for as long as you can. Had I simply taken a quick look and then proceeded on my trip home, I would have been left to wonder what that animal might have been. By pausing, the animal eventually revealed its identity. Next, understand that the most common answer is usually the correct one. We have discussed Occam’s Razor here before and I believe it holds true most of the time. Last, be skeptical but open-minded. Imagine if this video had been presented to you. Clearly, there is a large, black, long-tailed animal in the shown. Would you have taken a quick peak and decided “black panther” or would you have said it has to be a dog because there is no such thing as a black panther? Either assumption, jumped to prematurely, is a bad thing. Let it all play out and know that saying, “I don’t know” is not a bad thing. If the dog in this video had not cooperated and stayed in my field of view for as long as it did, I might be saying that to you now.

Keep those eyes open and cameras ready.

Why Didn't I Shoot?

I apologize for being absent for so long. As I mentioned on the Facebook page a little over a week ago, I had to have some minor surgery. The procedure was supposed to be pretty simple and take only 45 minutes to an hour to complete. Things turned out to be more complicated than the doctors anticipated, however, and the procedure that was supposed to take less than an hour turned into 4 hours on the table for me. Naturally, this lengthened the planned recovery time as well. I am now pretty much back to normal and will be trying to get back into the swing of things. This post, while not the topic I had intended for my first article back, is an attempt to do that.

Recently, I was interviewed by Jim Harold for his Paranormal Podcast program. You can download/stream the interview here. During the course of the interview, Jim asked me about the visual I had of what I believe to have been a wood ape in the Sam Houston National Forest in May of 2005 (you can read my account of this sighting here). During this portion of the interview, I mentioned several reasons why I felt it was highly unlikely what I witnessed was a person perpetrating a hoax. Toward the end of my relating of the account, I mentioned, somewhat in jest, that one of the reasons I believe a hoax to have been unlikely was that, “This is Texas. Everybody has a gun. This guy would have been taking his life in his hands running around in an ape suit” (paraphrase). I say “somewhat in jest” because, obviously, not every Texan owns a gun and of those that do, not everyone carries one everywhere they go. The comment was an attempt to inject a bit of levity into the interview while still making a valid point. That point being, while not every Texan carries a gun, a LOT of them do, making a hoax along these lines a very dangerous undertaking.

I received a comment from someone called “Bobodean” regarding the interview and that comment in particular. His (I am assuming the commenter is a male) comment is below:

“Regarding your siting (sic)... if everyone in Texas carries a gun...why didnt (sic) you shoot?”

I cannot be sure whether this commenter is asking a serious question or if he is taking a dig of some kind at me. I suspect it is the latter. Even if that is the case, at the heart of the comment lays a legitimate question, actually more than one. Was I carrying a gun that night as I claim so many Texans do? If so, why did I not attempt to collect the specimen I feel is necessary in order to prove the existence of the wood ape/sasquatch? These questions are fair enough so, here goes.

Was I carrying a gun that night? Yes, I was. I hold a CHL (concealed handgun license) here in the state of Texas and was legally carrying a sidearm that night. According to the latest data I could find, and I am very open to being corrected if there is more current data out there, there are in excess of 500,000 CHL holders in Texas. While this is a significant number, many might find it surprisingly low for a state with a population of approximately 26,528,398 as of 2013. Part of the reason more Texans do not obtain a CHL is that it is legal to carry a firearm in your vehicle here without a license. One only needs a CHL if they wish to carry a concealed weapon after they leave their vehicle. How many unlicensed Texans carry a weapon in their vehicle? Your guess is as good as mine on that, but I will say that the number increases every day. I also think it is safe to assume more Texans living in rural areas carry a weapon in their vehicle than those living in urban areas. So, you see, while I was attempting to bring a bit of levity to the interview when I mentioned the risk any would be hoaxers would be taking by donning an ape suit and traipsing about a lonely forest service road in rural Texas, the point is valid. A lot of Texans, including me, carry a weapon on their person or in their vehicle. To attempt to perpetrate such a hoax is almost suicidal in nature. I was not being hypocritical, as “Bobodean” seems to be implying, by making the statement I did. I was carrying that night. I know many, many other fellow Texans do the same on a daily basis and anyone attempting to perpetrate some kind of bigfoot hoax in this part of the world is taking a huge risk because of it.

Fine, you may think. Point taken. It still does not explain why you did not shoot that night. That is true enough. So, why did I not take the shot?

There are many reasons.

The sighting was fleeting. As detailed in my report, I was sitting in the front passenger seat looking out to the right of the vehicle when my friend brought the car to a stop and asked, “What is that?” I turned, leaned forward to get a better look and watched the subject turn and walk from the road into the woods to our left. The entire incident lasted only a few seconds. There is simply no way I could have unstrapped my seat belt, exited the vehicle, drawn my weapon and fired before the subject disappeared into the forest.

Having said that, and I feel this is very important, I would not have done so even if there had been more time. The first rule taught in any hunting safety course is that you must absolutely, positively identify your target before drawing a bead and pulling the trigger. You get no “do overs” once you take a shot. You have to be sure.
I was not sure what I was looking at that night, not initially. Even though I was out looking and hoping for this exact scenario, it took several seconds for my mind to work out exactly what was standing in that road. By the time I realized what I was likely seeing, it was gone. It is only in hindsight that I have become absolutely convinced what I saw that night was a living, breathing wood ape and not a man in a costume of some kind. Re-enactments, comparative measurements, etc. confirm that what I thought was “man-sized” was actually much larger. I did not have the luxury of all that data that night in 2005. I had only a few fleeting seconds in which to decide what to do. As has been established, I would not have had the time to fire a shot anyway but, even if I had been walking down that road, instead of riding shotgun in a vehicle, and able to draw my weapon quickly, I would still not have taken the shot. I simply could not be sure of what was in front of me in that moment. I do not feel this diminishes the truth behind my statement about a hoaxer taking his life in his hands by pulling a stunt along these lines, however, as there are a lot of folks out there who are less disciplined when it comes to what they are willing to shoot at and under what circumstances.

There are other reasons. I am sure most of you have read accounts where hunters claiming to have had a wood ape in their sights did not pull the trigger because they felt they “didn’t have enough gun.” I certainly fell into that category that night. I was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic handgun that is meant more for self-defense “fight in a phone booth” situations than for taking down big game at 40 yards. I could go on but I am sure you get the idea by now.

Again, while I get the feeling that “Bobodean” was taking a dig at me, he did touch on an aspect of my sighting that I have never explained in detail before. I think this post should serve to explain why I made the statement I did in the interview with Jim Harold and why, despite being armed that night, I did not take the shot.

Any more questions?

My Story

I received an email this week in which I was asked, “How did you get interested in all this cryptozoological stuff?” It got me to thinking, always a dangerous thing, and I realized that I have really not discussed that here on the blog. I figure now is as good a time as any to do so.

I split my time growing up between the Piney Woods of what I consider true East Texas and the Golden Triangle areas of Southeast Texas. I clearly remember seeing the Patterson-Gimlin footage in a movie theater in San Augustine as a young boy. This would have been around 1972-73. I was absolutely mesmerized by what I saw on that big screen. I turned to my grandmother, who had brought my brothers and me to the show, and asked, “Maw Maw, is that real?” She simply replied, “Well, that’s what they are saying.” From that point on, the idea of giant hair-covered bipedal apes roaming the woods was never too far from my mind. I read every bigfoot book in the school library and then branched out to books about other ‘monsters’ like the yeti and Nessie. I wore those books out. It was not unusual to see my name three, four, five or more times in a row on the card of the books before any other name appeared. I remember my 3rd grade teacher making me check out books on something different from time to time so I would be “a well rounded young man.”

My formative years really were something of a golden age for the “big three” of cryptozoology. Despite only being able to receive the three major television networks (no Fox, no cable, not even the local PBS affiliate) there was no shortage of monster related programming. There were specials at least twice a year that documented the search for bigfoot, the yeti and Nessie such as ‘The Mysterious Monsters,’ narrated by Peter Graves. Weekly programs like Leonard Nimoy’s ‘In Search of…’ and fictional dramas like ‘Kolchak: The Nightstalker’ only fed the fire of interest I had in the subject. One of the big moments of my childhood came when Colonel Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man himself, battled a sasquatch in primetime. Saturday morning serials also got in on the act. ‘The Secrets of Isis,’ starring Andrea Thomas had an episode called ‘Bigfoot.’ The kings of Saturday mornings in the 1970’s, Sid and Marty Krofft, produced a serial called ‘Bigfoot and Wildboy’ that was shown weekly on ‘The Krofft Super Show’ and later became its own weekly series. Whether it was the more serious documentary type of program or the campy Saturday morning fare made little difference to me. I ate it all up in equal measure.

As I got older, I began to hear more and more of what most would consider campfire stories. I heard tales of the rougarou from an old Cajun man who, along with a bunch of his friends, had coffee every morning at a local drug store. When I was in the fourth grade, my family moved to Silsbee, Texas. Tales of Ol’ Mossyback, the Wildman of the Big Thicket and Village Creek were regularly discussed in a most serious fashion while eating lunch outside under a large pine tree. I could go on but you get the idea.

My interests in the topic never went away but other things, mainly athletics, cars and girls, replaced cryptids atop my priority list. I was a decent basketball player and had the opportunity to play for a small Central Texas university. I still live in the area and this is the region where I first heard the tales of the Converse Werewolf, the Beast of Bear Creek, the Hairy Man of Round Rock and the Wildwoman of the Navidad among others. I found it fascinating that tales of these bipedal creatures were not limited only to East Texas.

Soon I was engulfed by the daily grind and family responsibilities that marriage, kids and a full time job bring. There was little time to pursue my interests in this particular area other than watching a bad cable special from time to time. Then one night I attended a Legacy Outfitters meeting. Legacy Outfitters is a Christian outdoors group made up of hunting, fishing, hiking and camping enthusiasts. Most chapters have a monthly meeting where the members get together, share a meal and hear a speaker who talks on some outdoor related topic. On this night, Daryl Colyer, then a member of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy, was the speaker. He told us some amazing stories, showed us a few plaster castings of footprints and even played some pretty impressive audio. He presented the topic in a professional and scientific manner. To say my interest was rekindled would be an understatement.

Following the meeting, a friend and I decided to go out and look around for this creature. We picked our search area by looking at the Texas Counties that had the most sightings. We chose a spot on the Montgomery/Walker County line in the Sam Houston National Forest. We made several trips and then caught lightning in a bottle. I won’t recount the entire story at this time (you can read the official report here) but, to summarize, we saw a very large, upright, hirsute, bipedal creature on a forest service road at approximately 3:15 a.m. in May of 2005. We were in the middle of nowhere and, in our minds anyway, felt the chances of what we saw having been a hoaxer in some sort of ape suit at that time and in that location were extremely low. I felt then, and still feel to this day, that what we encountered that night was the real deal.

The experience, though brief, changed the course of my life. I joined the TBRC soon after (now a member of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy or NAWAC). Daryl Colyer, the man I heard speak at the Legacy Outfitters meeting has become one of my closest friends and someone with whom I have shared many an adventure. I have seen and heard some very interesting things over these last eight or nine years.

About six years ago, I decided to start writing the Texas Cryptid Hunter blog. There was, and still is, so much garbage out on the internet regarding topics of a cryptozoological nature that I felt a voice of reason was badly needed. I do not pretend to be an expert on any of this but do feel I have brought a measured, level-headed and logical point of view to the topics of wood apes, black panthers, chupacabras and such. I wasn’t sure about the name for the blog initially. I couldn’t decide if it was silly or not but, for better or worse, it stuck and here we are today.

Well, that’s the story of how I got into all of this and began writing the blog. It may be more information than you ever wanted to know but that is ok. I decided to make this post not only because I was asked the question, but to show that I was a normal person going about the business of life when I had my encounter. I was an unextraordinary person who had an extraordinary experience. My story really isn’t much different than that of a lot of folks out there. I’ve come to realize that a lot of folks, more than most realize, have some kind of story that relates to my interest in this topic. I’ve heard countless statements like, “Well, I’ve never seen anything but my grandfather once saw…” or “I’ve never seen anything weird but there was this one time while I was hunting when…” Most people don’t talk a lot about such things but the stories are out there.

Mine is just one of them.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to pause and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I appreciate everyone of you who stop by to read my thoughts from time to time. You are much appreciated.

Things have been a bit crazy for me of late but I hope to get back to posting more regularly once the holiday season is over.

Until then, my best to you all.

For Your Consideration...

I thought I would share a couple of my favorite quotes with you. Both of these quotes were made by noted researchers of cryptozoological phenomenon concerning their particular areas of interest; however, I have always felt these quotes were applicable in a much broader sense. Current events have only strengthened that sentiment. I present them for your consideration below.

“Most of us dislike having to change our opinions. So, while facts are facts, objectionable ones are often deliberately misinterpreted."

- Ivan T. Sanderson

“Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has a right to be wrong about the facts. Without the facts, your opinion is of no value.”

- Rene Dahinden

A Thanksgiving Message

With so much bad going on in the world, it is easy to forget how blessed we are to live in this great nation. Wars, and rumors of war, terrorist groups, the toxic political climate, race issues and more threaten to overwhelm us. With so many negative things surrounding us, it is easy to fall into a pit where we cannot see the good that does exist in this world.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Do you have air in your lungs? Be thankful.

Is your heart beating? Be thankful.

Do you have a dry and warm place to lay your head at night? Be thankful.

Do you have a friend? Even one? Be thankful.

I believe that as long as we are living there is hope that we can make this world a better place. If you are feeling low, do something for someone else. It doesn’t have to be something big and grand, just something that blesses another, if only for a moment. If you are feeling down, helping someone else out will make you feel better. I promise it will put things in perspective. Once you look at your life from the proper perspective, you will see there is so much for which to be thankful.

So, be grateful, be kind to one another and do not dwell on the negatives out there in the world. Once you do, you will realize you are blessed and will develop a thankful attitude. This attitude will permeate your life and you will not feel a need to try and count your blessings, as if they are finite in number.

After all, who can count that high?

Ode to a Dog

Yesterday, I buried my dog.

Maggie came to us almost twelve years ago. She was not the type of dog many of you might picture me owning. She was not a Labrador Retriever or a bulldog. She was not a bird dog or any other kind of hunting dog. Neither was she a “manly” breed like a Pit Bull, Doberman Pinscher, German Shepherd or Rottweiler. Maggie was a Westie, a West Highlands White Terrier, to be specific.

Why a Westie? Simply, because that is what my little girl wanted. My daughter, 8 years old at the time, had seen a Westie on a dog food commercial and fell in love with the breed. When we finally decided that she was old enough to help take care of a dog, she made it abundantly clear that she wanted a Westie . My youngest daughter was only 3 at the time and just wanted a “puppy dog.” The breed didn’t seem to matter much to her. That being the case, it was settled. A Westie it would be.

I looked around a bit and found a lady that bred Westies in Kempner, only 30 minutes or so from our house. She had a litter of puppies that were almost ready to leave their mother and said we could come pick one out. We loaded up the girls and headed out to Kempner to inspect the litter. My oldest daughter had a broken foot at the time and was in a hard cast and had a difficult time getting up the porch steps of the house while on her crutches. Once inside, she sat down and looked at the white mass of squirming, running and playing baby Westies with a huge snaggle-toothed grin on her face. I had done my homework on the breed and was carefully picking up and inspecting each pup. If I was going to shell out the amount of money this lady wanted for a puppy, I was going to be sure I had the best one out of the litter. As I was inspecting the strongest and healthiest-looking puppies a tiny and timid pup, no doubt the runt of the litter, belly crawled out from between a cabinet and a chair toward my oldest daughter. The pup gave my daughter’s exposed toes (sticking out of the cast) a quick lick. My girl picked up this tiny, timid female and our fate was sealed. It turns out we did not pick out a puppy that day, the puppy picked us.

It was settled that this would be our Maggie. It would be another month before she was weaned and ready to come home with us (Try explaining that whole concept to a 3 year old that wants her puppy dog “right now”). The month came and went quickly, however, and we retrieved Maggie. She had grown quite a bit, but was still small for a Westie. That was ok with us, though. She seemed at home right away. There was no whining or crying at night or any other signs of her being homesick. She was home and she seemed to know it.

I could tell you many funny stories about our Maggie. She made us laugh and was a constant source of joy for us. She never failed to greet each and every family member with unbridled enthusiasm, jumping and hopping up and down until she received the attention she sought. Maggie loved belly rubs and would flop over on her back anytime her name was called hoping you would indulge her. We used to joke that she was part turtle as she often had trouble flipping back over after one of these belly rubs. She also loved to play. I have never known a dog that loved to play as much as Maggie did. The game really didn’t matter much to her. She would chase a ball all day, play tug-of-war with almost any object or just wrestle with your hand. She loved it all and kept her puppy-like enthusiasm for almost all of her years.

Recently, Maggie really slowed down. At first, we thought age had simply started to catch up to her. In a way, I suppose, it had. Three days ago, Maggie was diagnosed with a severe liver disorder. The veterinarian prescribed some meds but warned us that her prognosis was not good. We gave her the meds and she seemed to perk up almost immediately. We were encouraged as she ate better that night than she had in days and drank water without being coaxed to do so. Maggie retreated to her beloved crate that night to sleep, acting like she felt better than she had in a long time. When we woke up yesterday morning, however, things had changed. Maggie seemed to have lost 5 lbs. overnight. Her eyes were bloodshot and red and she could not seem to close her mouth. The change in her from the night before was stunning. I loaded her up and returned to the vet immediately. I was waiting at the door, holding her, when they opened at 7:30. The vet began working on her immediately but I knew that this was it. Maggie was a loving dog but had no problem letting you know she did not like being poked, prodded or stuck with a needle. She was a terrier, after all. As the doctor worked on her she completely surrendered. There was no fight left in her. She looked at me with very sick eyes and I knew it was time to let her go. The vet agreed and within minutes, she was gone.

The vet asked what I wanted to do with her body and without hesitation I managed to choke out, “I want to take her home.” So, I did. I was thankful that no one was home as I dug her grave in the backyard. This big tough coach/cryptid hunter was anything but during that time. I wrapped Maggie in her favorite blanket and laid her in a small box with her favorite toy. I then placed the box in the deeper than it needed to be hole (I think I kept digging because I knew what I would have to do when I was finished). Putting that first shovel of dirt on top of that box was hard. I knew it would be but… it was much tougher than I ever would have imagined. Once the grave was covered, I retrieved some bricks, left over from the building of our house more than ten years ago, and laid them in a rectangular pattern on top of the grave. These bricks would allow us to always know exactly where our Maggie was laid to rest. I knew I would likely have to redo this once the dirt settled but I did not want my girls to see only a mound of recently disturbed dirt when they came home. I wanted it to be as nice as possible.

My wife cried all day. My oldest daughter, now 20 and away at college, was devastated. My youngest daughter, now 15 and unable to remember a time when Maggie was not in her life, was inconsolable. Maggie was the dog of their childhood. The dog that slept at the foot of their bed when they were sick, the dog they slipped food to under the table and the dog that they played with for countless hours both inside and out. Maggie is the dog they will always remember. Even so, Maggie really turned into my dog as the years passed. Mine was the lap she sought out at night, mine was the side of the bed she came to in the morning when she knew she would be allowed to nap for that last hour on the bed between my wife and I and it was me she stood in the window watching for in the evening. I will miss that little white face with the jackrabbit ears in the window when I come home at night.

I know there is much in the world that is more tragic than the loss of a pet but to trivialize such an event is a mistake. Loss is loss and a good dog is worth its weight in gold. Maggie was a good dog and she was mine.

I will miss her.

Personal Update

I thought I would take a moment to update everyone on my activities, or lack thereof, of late.

I have not posted much on the blog the past month or so. This is due mainly to the fact that I am a football coach in the state of Texas. Those of you from the Lone Star State know that the game is taken very seriously in these parts and it has taken up the bulk of my time. I learned a long time ago that there are two things every man thinks he can do better than any other man. One of those things is coach football. The other? Well, if you think about it long enough, I’m sure you will figure it out. The season is winding down now and I anticipate having more time to devote to the blog and my TCH-related activities very soon.

I think I have done a pretty good job of posting interesting links and photos on the Facebook and Twitter pages. If you are not following those sites, I would invite you to do so. Links to both can be found in the right hand margin of this page. The Facebook page stays pretty true to the mission of the blog in that it is devoted entirely to the natural world (part of which is, in my opinion, is cryptozoological-related topics like wood apes, black panthers, etc.). I branch out a bit on the Twitter page and, for better or worse, you get a little better sense of my personality there.

Some good news is that my two Reconyx game cameras have been repaired and are now back in my hands. This now gives me three relatively high-end game cameras with which I can conduct research and wildlife censuses. My other camera is a relatively new Cuddeback, which is currently deployed in Ellis County. I am particularly interested in trying to obtain photographic evidence that would support the existence of what most would refer to as black panthers. If you, or someone you know, have property on which these mysterious cats have been seen and you would be willing to allow me to deploy a game camera or two on a long term basis, please contact me via email at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

Another thing I look forward to doing more of in the near future is speak to schools or groups on behalf of the NAWAC on the wood ape phenomenon or regarding my personal pursuits of other out of place or undocumented species like the black panthers of Texas. If you would be interested in having me, or another NAWAC member, speak to your group or class, contact me at the email above.

I will leave it there for now. I have another black panther post in the works and will be getting down to what I think will be a very interesting piece on the possibility that red wolves, long thought extirpated from Texas, still exist in small pockets in the Lone Star State.

More soon…

Where Have You Been, Texas Cryptid Hunter?

I have received several emails over the last couple of weeks that have all asked basically the same question, “Where have you been?”

It seems that I write some version of this post every year as I don’t want anyone thinking I’ve abandoned the blog and stopped my TCH related activities. The problem is simply that life has intervened and I have had little to no time to dedicate to the site. As most of you know, I’m a football coach in the state of Texas. This is absolutely the craziest and busiest time of the year for me. From August to late November, I am chasing my tail like you wouldn’t believe. In addition, my wife has taken a new, and much more demanding, job which has made it necessary for us to reshuffle some family duties. It has all been good but it is a struggle when it comes to time management.

Several things are on the horizon that I’ll be sharing about soon. The annual NAWAC retreat is coming up and I’ll likely tweet live and post photos from that event. Also, I have two game cameras in the shop that I hope to have back soon so that I can begin a new field study. I currently have one camera deployed that is due to be checked. Actually, it is well past the time it should have been refreshed but I have been trying to wait for the other two cameras to arrive so that I could deploy them in the area and just make the one trip.

Things should slow down some soon and I’ll get back to doing the things I enjoy like writing the blog and chasing down any and all leads on the mysterious and undocumented animals that may or may not roam the Lone Star State. Hang in there with me. I appreciate each and every one of you that stop by to read about my thoughts and activities. In the meantime, be sure to check out my Facebook page and Twitter accounts (hit the links in the right margin). While I have not had time to write much on the blog, I have continued to post links of interest and news items I come across related to the natural and cryptozoological world.

More soon.

Back in the Saddle Again

I apologize for the lack of action on the blog of late. While I have been quiet, all is well. My hiatus has been partially self-imposed and partially dictated by life.

Every summer, I take a few weeks off to rest and recharge. I may be doing things but I intentionally step away from the blog for a while. I think this is important as I never want the blog to feel like a job. Sometimes, regardless of how much I tell myself there isn’t, I feel pressure to get “something” out there on the site at least once a week. That feeling can sneak in even if I don’t have any quality content to post or on which to comment. To combat this, I simply force myself to step away from time to time.

I haven’t been completely idle, however, as I did recently spend a week in “Area X,” the NAWAC’s main area of study. I left immediately upon finishing up school for the year and spent my first week of summer attempting to gather evidence to help in the documentation of a species of North American ape. Things along those lines did not go well as a major rain event kept me and my team pinned down for much of our time in X. The area is very beautiful, however, and despite a lack of ape activity and evidence on this particular trip, I never consider getting back to nature a waste of time. Area X is wild, beautiful and isolated, exactly what I need after a long school year.

On top of all of that, my oldest daughter is now engaged to be married and plans for a wedding next summer are in full swing. While I do not have much of a say in most of the planning, that is the realm of my daughter and wife, I do need to be around to write most of the checks. Any Dads out there who have had daughters get married know exactly what I’m talking about. It is a joyful time, though, as my daughter’s fiancé is a terrific young man. He loves the outdoors and even has an interest in the bigfoot phenomenon. Who could ask for more, right?

I will be getting back to posting more regularly now that I’m home and rested up a bit. I’ve got some pretty good topics coming up that I want to discuss and on which I want to give my two cents. Thank you all for hanging in there with me.

More soon…

2014 NAWAC Training Camp

I had the pleasure of spending my last precious days of spring break attending the annual NAWAC training camp, which was held in deep Northeast Texas this year. This yearly event is held to bring new members up to speed on NAWAC policies & procedures, expectations and field protocols. It also presents an opportunity for veteran members to get to know the new folks and vice versa.

Various topics were addressed in multiple sessions over the two-day event. Topics addressed were:

- Safety in the field
- Lessons learned from Operations Endurance, Persistence and Relentless
- How to keep a proper field journal
- Investigator observations and anecdotes
- The essentials of teamwork
- Physiological stresses of extended field work
- Field scenarios and protocols
- Proper methods of evidence collection
- Nighttime research methods and tactics
- Recommended gear for the field
- Wrap up and group question and answer session

As you can see, it was a packed two days.

I was very encouraged by the quality and enthusiasm of our new members, some of whom traveled to Texas from as far away as New Hampshire and Maryland in order to attend. That, my friends, is commitment. We had a total of about 30 members attend the training camp and feel it was truly a worthwhile event. I look forward to working with all of our new members sometime soon.

If you are interested in joining the NAWAC and helping us in our efforts to document the North American wood ape, you can visit www.woodape.com and click the “Join the Team” link. Come help us make history.

"Bigfoot Times" Reviews "Patty: A Sasquatch Story"

Daniel Perez, editor of the Bigfoot Times, has published a review of my new children’s book, Patty: A Sasquatch Story, in the March edition of the newsletter. Thankfully, he had good things to say. The review is below.

"Michael Mayes and his illustrator, Robert Swain, have produced a wonderful 52 page paperback book for young adults titled Patty: A Sasquatch Story, released in January of this year. The illustrations are extremely well done and bring the story to life. Patty has small feet and ends up leaving her tribe and striking out on her own. She befriends an owl, meets up with two cowboys and eventually finds her way home. The Sasquatch Insider, an appendix, is very interesting. Unfortunately, no where in the book do we find out who coined the nickname of “Patty.” Think Dmitri Bayanov!"

Daniel’s only criticism of the book was that I did not explain who coined the nickname “Patty.” This is fair and, if I could do it again, would include the fact that Mr. Bayanov came up with it in the "Sasquatch Insider" section. To be fair, I do say that the female sasquatch filmed in 1967 was nicknamed “Patty,” in tribute to Roger Patterson, on the back cover. So, I didn’t skate over this altogether.

My reason for not explaining the origin of the name in the book is actually pretty simple. My protagonist needed to already have a name for the beginning of the story. I couldn’t figure out how to name Patty for the cowboy in the story when the tale begins before she ever meets up with him. So, to simplify things, I just gave my young sasquatch the name “Patty” from the beginning. Call it “artistic license,” lol.

If you would like a copy of the story for yourself, or to donate to your local elementary or city library as part of my “Kids Love Cryptids” reading campaign, just check out all online book sellers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.). I’d recommend doing a search by the title of the book and shopping around a bit as prices vary day to day and site to site. Electronic versions of the book for the Kindle, Nook and other devices are also available. If you’d like to order an autographed copy directly from me you can contact me directly at mikemayes44@yahoo.com and I’ll get you the details on how to do that.

A Personal Invitation

If you do not follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I would like to personally invite you to do so. I post almost daily on both sites as opposed to the 4-5 times a month I post on the blog.

On Facebook, I post links to wildlife/cryptid related links and news stories along with a lot of cool photos. Just search for “Texas Cryptid Hunter," look for my logo and hit “like” to stay up on the news or just hit the Facebook link in the right hand margin of this page.

I post the same links and stories on Twitter but also post my observations and thoughts on life in general. If anyone is looking to psychoanalyze me then Twitter is the place to be. My Twitter handle is @tcryptidhunter. Hit the Twitter link in the right hand margin of this page and it will take you right to my home page.

So, visit both sites as, if you are not following me on them, you are missing out on some pretty cool and fun stuff.

See you there.

Where Have You Gone, Texas Cryptid Hunter?

When I wrote the title to this post I had the tune from Simon & Garfunkle's "Mrs. Robinson" going through my head. I don't think it quite worked as well as I would have liked but no matter. Onward.

I know that a few of you out there have noticed that I’ve been less active on the blog over the last year or so. I’ve received multiple emails over this time period wanting to know if everything was all right and if I planned to keep the site up and going. The answer is yes, everything is ok and I do plan on keeping the blog up and going. It is true that I’ve been less active over this past year but there is a reason for it. Multiple reasons contributed to my posting less often but the biggest of them is a project I’ve been working very hard on for about two and a half years now; a project that I’ve mentioned in passing from time to time on Facebook, Twitter and the blog.

I’ve been writing a book. To be specific, I’ve been writing a children’s book.

The idea for the story first came to me almost a decade ago. As the years passed, I refined the idea, added to it, took things away and basically went through about fifty drafts in my head without ever writing anything down. Finally, I had what I thought was a pretty unique tale; one that combined real life events with a separate fictional story line. I remember thinking to myself, “Somebody ought to do that (write it).” Then one day, I simply forgot about it.

I’m guessing that roughly three years passed where I didn’t think about the story at all. Then one day, something jogged my memory and brought the story rushing back to me. I do not recall what the trigger was but am grateful for it. I decided then and there that I needed to write it all down so that I wouldn’t lose it forever. So, that is what I did. I sat down one summer day and knocked the whole thing out in less than two hours. It didn’t take long as I had been through all those mental revisions years before and had, in my mind, a satisfying story all laid out. Satisfied, I saved the story and went to watch television. I hadn’t been watching too long when a familiar, if slightly revised, thought returned to me.

“Somebody ought to make this a real book.”

I decided then to try and make this book a reality. To do that, I needed an illustrator. I contacted Robert Swain, author and illustrator of the Laughsquatch cartoons, to see if he would be interested in the project. To my everlasting gratitude, Robert agreed to do the illustrations for the story. I sent him the text to the story and a crude idea for a layout where I described what I envisioned would be on each page and what I would like to see in the accompanying illustration. Robert took my thoughts, added to and improved upon them, and came up with a series of brilliant illustrations that rival anything out there as far as quality. We also collaborated on a very unique aspect of the book that I am very excited about and will describe in more detail at a later date. It took the better part of two years to get all of the illustrations complete but they were absolutely worth waiting for and I can’t wait for everyone to see them.

Robert and I now had a mock-up of the book with the text embedded in the illustrations. I was very excited and just knew that some publishing house would be falling all over itself to publish this book. Boy, was I naïve. Practically no publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts. Most only accept manuscripts sent in by literary agents. “Ok,” I thought. “I’ll get an agent.” Again, I had no idea what I was getting into. I found a lot of literary agencies out there but very few accept non-referred clients. Of those that do, most only accept 2-3 new authors a year. I spent months submitting my story to agents without success. Most of the time, these agencies want you to submit your work to them on an exclusive basis and then take 6-12 weeks to get back to you (likely with a rejection). Some simply state that if you haven’t heard back from them within 3 months, they have passed on your manuscript. It was all very educational… and frustrating.

Some of the agents were very nice. I had three basically tell me the same thing. The story and illustrations were of high enough quality but the subject matter was likely too “niche” to guarantee a high volume of sales. It seems the publishing world is a bit conservative when it comes to taking a chance on someone new or something a bit unconventional.

Robert and I discussed it and decided we would just publish the book ourselves. Self-publishing has sort of a mixed reputation depending on whom you talk to but we have worked very hard to ensure that we have a professional-looking and polished final product. I am excited to report that the final edits have been made (finally) and the book is going to press this week. I expect the book to be available for purchase within the next 2-3 weeks. The book will be available in conventional format and electronic formats (think Kindles, iPads and other e-book readers) through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other outlets. Again, I’ll let you in on more details as the release date approaches.

So, now you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. I’ve been anything but idle. Now that this project is wrapping up, I’ll have more time to see what else I can get into, haha.

More soon. My best to you all.

Of Wood Apes, Black Panthers and Communication: A Reader Weighs In

I have received a couple of really good emails/comments over the last week or so. I truly enjoy a quality communication from an interested reader. Whether they agree with my take on a particular subject or not makes no difference. If the reader expresses his or her thoughts in a cogent manner and backs their ideas up with solid logic and facts, I am greatly encouraged. It means that intelligent and articulate folks, exactly who I am trying to reach, are taking time to stop by and read my blog. That is a pretty good feeling.

As I mentioned, I have received a couple of good emails/comments but I’m going to do separate posts on each. Here is the first communication. It came in the form of a comment to a post I did on an alleged wood ape sighting in SE Texas. First, the reader expresses his thoughts on the alleged wood ape sighting in Port Neches, TX (read posts on that sighting here and here) and then transitions to a discussion on black panthers.

“I too am originally from SE Texas (what is now known as Lumberton which while I was growing up there was known by several different names depending on exactly where you were located) and live in Central Texas, Copperas Cove to be exact. While viewing the photos you included with this, I opened Google Earth, and zoomed in on the spot where the alleged sighting and photo occurred. What immediately got my attention was the date of the satellite image 12-12-12. The next thing that I noticed was that the area where the "wood apes" were reported as having been, is for all intents and purposes an island with a fringe of trees, an open (marshy?) area and then a central forested area. This, along with your own issues concerning the location and conduct of the alleged wood apes causes much doubt in my mind as to Mr. Arceneaux's story.

As to the problem of having a lot of comments being anonymous, I think that is a matter of simplicity. Under "Select profile", the only choice listed that is practical for me (no Google account, live journal, word press...) is "Anonymous". I will save this site to "favorites" and check back regularly for a response.

As for the sightings of "black panthers" or whatever folks wish to call them, I've never seen a black one myself, but my dad swore he had one stalking him on Buckner's Prairie in Matagorda County while he and I were deer hunting in '69 and I have no reason to not believe his story. Dad was a WWII vet and was not easily rattled. He was visibly upset over that encounter. I have only seen cougars (regular golden colored, not black) on two occasions "in the wild" and faced the same skepticism from folks I related the sightings to as is commonly faced by folks who see the big black cats whatever they are. My first sighting was in Vermont in '92 while bow hunting at about 75 yards and of course because all the "experts" stated that "catamounts" had all moved to Quebec around 1900, I had to have confused a feral cat or bobcat for one. It did absolutely no good to counter those statements with facts such as having had a spooked bobcat run right at me in the woods the season prior or the size of the paw prints I found in the snow after watching the cat with a black tipped tail about as long as it's body glide through the woods and across the sugaring trail in front of me. I guess I went to rambling. I tend to do that sometimes although I am considered a quiet man with few words. Go figure.”

Other than the fact that I enjoyed this reader’s thoughts on the Port Neches sighting and the black panther phenomenon, I wanted to address his thoughts/concerns with not being able to leave more detail when commenting on a post. It is true that the system for leaving comments has its limitations. I really have no answer for that. The frustration I feel is not so much that people remain anonymous; rather, it stems from the fact that I’ve had several readers ask me to contact them but, since they remained anonymous, I had no way to do so. I hate to think that there are people out there that think I just blew them off. The solution to the problem is simple. Whenever a more detailed conversation is desired, just send me an email. That way, I can respond and a true conversation can take place.

I want to stress again that I want to hear from readers. I want to stress, too, that I very much want to reply to anyone that comments or writes in to me requesting me to do so. The best way for that to happen is to send me an email. I can be reached at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

I’ll look forward to hearing from all of you.