Was the Tshul'gul' of Cherokee Legend a Sasquatch?

Long time readers of this blog know that I am an avid amateur folklorist. I can, and often do, spend hours perusing the myths and folklore sections of various libraries near my home in the hopes of finding an undiscovered gem that might somehow connect ancient lore to my cryptozoology interests. Logic dictates that if cryptid creatures like the sasquatch or black panthers really do exist, then the people of long ago should have encountered them. If so, then there should be some sort of record of these encounters. One issue with this line of thinking, however, is that very few of the Native American tribes that inhabited North America in pre-Columbian times had a written language. That doesn’t mean there is no historical record, though, as the stories, myths, legends, and experiences of each tribe were passed from generation to generation via the spoken word. Among the folktales told by these first Americans are stories of encounters with large, hair-covered giants. The fact that these tales have survived by way of oral tradition should in no way lessen their significance as part of the historical record regarding this topic. Today, we will explore a tale from Cherokee folklore.

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma is the largest of three Cherokee branches/tribes recognized by the U.S. government. The members of the Oklahoma-based tribe are descendants of the Old Cherokee Nation who “voluntarily” relocated or who were forced to march west to Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears, due to increased pressure from American settlers in the East. The Oklahoma Cherokees now reside on a vast reservation that spans all (or parts of) fourteen counties. The tribe’s territory includes much of the mountainous eastern border of Oklahoma, a region rich in historical bigfoot sightings and lore. If the sasquatch is, or was, a real animal, then the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma should have known about it. The following excerpts from a Cherokee folktale support the idea that these Native Americans were, indeed, familiar with these creatures in the distant past.

 

Tsunihl’gul’ or Tshul’gul’ was the subject of many Cherokee tales. Cherokee elders described Tshul’gul’ in various ways and related many stories of encounters with this being to folklorists Jack and Anna Kilpatrick. A tribesman named Asudi shared, “He was very wicked…People didn’t want to live near where he was. The older people used to say he would lean on something and that he was very tall. He used to fall over upon people and mash them. Tshul’gul’ did a great many things and was always to be feared.” Asudi went on to share a story told to him by his father, who had learned it from his mother. In the interest of brevity, I will not reprint the entire story here. Instead, I will share excerpts that describe behaviors/characteristics of Tshul’gul’ that alleged sasquatch witnesses in modern times have reported as well. My thoughts on the behaviors/characteristics described will appear in red.

“It was in the Old Cherokee country where these Tshul’gul’ lived. They were very tall men.”

 

TCH Comment: Nearly all alleged sasquatch witnesses in modern times have described the creature as man-like in appearance and very tall.

 

“There was a couple there who had daughters of marriageable age. These daughters had heard many times about these tall, huge Tshul’gul’. These daughters were very desirous of seeing for themselves because they had heard fantastic tales of these tall, huge men. They had heard that these men could pull up large trees with their bare hands alone. That’s what they had heard, and that’s what these young women desired to see.”

 

TCH Comment: Again, the great size of these beings is stressed. Too, their great strength is mentioned. Many alleged sasquatch witnesses report seeing a creature perform a feat of strength that no normal man would be capable of. For example, people have testified to seeing wood apes breaking trees, twisting off thick branches from trees, killing feral hogs with their bare hands, and hurling large boulders.

 

“At sunset they would hear a whooping in the west. In the Old Cherokee country there is a great mountain that begins in the east and does not end until it gets to the west. When he (Tshul’gul’) whooped in the west, he whooped four times in traversing that mountain. His whooping ceased when he reached the end of the mountain in the east. At sunset the next evening he began whooping at the east end of the mountain. He whooped as he traversed the mountain and ceased as he reached the west end.”

 

TCH Comment: “Whoops” and “whooping” have become synonymous with the sasquatch. I, myself, have heard whoops at close range multiple times in a mountainous area in eastern Oklahoma. On a few of these occasions, the original whoop was answered by another “whooper” secreted in a different location. Countless others have reported hearing these vocalizations as well. Some of these whooping vocalizations have been recorded. Several such recordings made by the NAWAC are available to the public here. To my knowledge, no other animal native to Oklahoma or Arkansas is capable of making this distinctive “whoop” sound.

 

“When they got to the top of the mountain, everything was quiet. Then they heard him whoop right behind them, just out of sight, and they heard another noise, sounding ‘Daaast’!’ The noise was as if he was breaking sticks. Then they saw the limbs of trees shaking.”

 

TCH Comment: Many sasquatch researchers and alleged witnesses have reported incidents where they walked in very close proximity to one of these animals without knowing it. The people involved often say something along the lines of, “I’d have never known it was there if it hadn’t…” Behaviors described at that point include growling, grunting, huffing, whooping, the breaking of limbs or sticks, the throwing of a rock or a tree branch, or the violent shaking of trees and other vegetation. It should be noted here that all of these behaviors are textbook examples of intimidation tactics employed by the known great apes.

“Then they saw the tall man – swaying. While he was swaying, he was knocking over the smaller trees, and that’s what they were hearing. There was a large area where Tshul’gul’ had flattened the trees…The man that they saw there was whooping.”

 

TCH Comment: Again, classic intimidation tactics that continue to be reported today are described in this passage. Something else of interest is the observation of the creature swaying. Many alleged witnesses have reported this behavior. Descriptions of an upright animal that shifted its weight from one foot to the other in an agitated or nervous manner, or that peeked from behind one side of a tree and then the other, are easily found in today’s literature. Finally, the report of “flattened” areas could correlate to a nesting area or possible territorial marking. While such features have been located in modern times, the purpose behind them remains the subject of speculation.

 

“Then the young women came up and took a look at his face. They saw that he had slanting eyes, and they fled and said, ‘He has slanting eyes!”

 

TCH Comment: While many today might not be comfortable with the term “slanted eyes,” I think it is a key detail that should not be ignored because of perceived political incorrectness. On multiple occasions, historical and modern witnesses have used similar terms to describe the facial features of the sasquatch. I have heard or read accounts where witnesses said the face looked “Asian,” “like a person with Down’s Syndrome,” or “like a mongoloid” due to the appearance of the creature’s eyes. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water because we are not comfortable with these descriptions. The fact is, similar characteristics continue to be described today, albeit in gentler and more politically correct terms.

 

“In those days, Tshun’gul’ were fond of women and would visit them. But when he went to a neighbor’s house, if it were still light, he always turned his back away from the people who lived there. The young women would circle him and try to see his face but he would always turn in another direction…Early in the evening the Tshun’gul’ arrived. When they gave him a chair by the fire, he sat down and turned away from the fire.”

 

TCH Comment: Accounts of the “glowing” or highly reflective nature of the eyes of the sasquatch are well known. In my opinion, that could be the grain of truth hidden in the middle of the account above. Many researchers have documented the eyeshine that these creatures exhibit. Too, many are of the belief that the wood apes themselves are aware that their eyes shine and can give their location away. NAWAC investigators have reported catching the eyeshine of an ape in a flashlight only to have the animal duck its head or turn away from the light source. This could, of course, simply be due to the fact that having a bright light shone in one’s eyes is annoying, but when paired when the observations of others who have claimed to have seen these animals actually cover up their eyes with their own hands when spotlighted, it is an intriguing bit of anecdotal evidence that the wood ape is aware that its eyes strongly reflect light. Perhaps the Cherokee were attempting to explain the behavior of a sasquatch turning away from a light – in this case a fire – in this passage.

“…God permitted them all to live among people like us (of normal size); but they were always taking all the women and wives away from ordinary-sized men until smaller men were without women…So God declared that this was not the place for Tshun’gul’. God decided to send them all to the west, to the end of the world, and that’s where they live now. Someday they may return, and we will see them, they say.”

 

TCH Comment: Tales of sasquatches kidnapping women and children can be found in the folklore of Native American tribes across North America. Some tribes felt the behavior stemmed from the desire of a lonely sasquatch to acquire a mate and companion (wife). Others felt the abductions were more sinister in nature and felt the kidnappings were the work of cannibals. Whichever explanation you prefer, the belief that these creatures occasionally abduct women and children goes back centuries. I find the part of the story where the Tshun’gul’ were banished to “the west, to the end of the world” by God interesting. While it is true that bigfoot sightings continue to take place in and near Cherokee country – and other places across the continent – the unrivaled “Holy Land” of the sasquatch is the Pacific Northwest. Could the Pacific Northwest be “the end of the world” referred to in the folktale? It is interesting to ponder.

 

You can read the entire Cherokee folktale that I have cited above in the book, Friends of Thunder: Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees, if you would like to fill in some of the gaps in the story. Remember, I focused only on the passages that seemed to directly correlate to behaviors and characteristics of the sasquatch that are still being reported today. Having done that, I believe the correlation between the actions and characteristics of the Tshun’gul’ and those of today’s bigfoot are undeniable. I have no doubt in my mind that the Cherokees of days long past were describing the same animal so many seek today: the sasquatch.

 

More soon.

 

Sources:

Kilpatrick, J. F., & Kilpatrick, A. G. (Eds.). (1964). Tales of Monsters. In Friends of Thunder: Folktales of the Oklahoma Cherokees (pp. 64–69). essay, Southern Methodist University Press.

 

Bureau, U. C. (2023, July 3). Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/ 

 

ArcGIS web application. (n.d.). https://vmgis4.cherokee.org/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d890e55c04c04c31a658301f9d020521 

 

Staff, N. (2023, February 22). Cherokee Nation announces 450,000th citizen registration. www.fox23.com. https://www.fox23.com/news/cherokee-nation-announces-450-000th-citizen-registration/article_f18e96da-b258-11ed-9733-972cafa8db3b.html 

 

Cleary, C. P. (2023, May 15). The rediscovery of Indian country in eastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Bar Association. https://www.okbar.org/barjournal/may-2023/the-rediscovery-of-indian-country-in-eastern-oklahoma/#_ednref47 

Historical Jaguar Sightings in Texas

My wife’s birthday was this week. She did not want a traditional gift; instead, she wanted to start redecorating our home (I blame Chip and Joanna of Fixer Upper and Ben and Erin of Hometown for infecting her with this renovation fever). I realized that this was going to cost me a lot more than a pair of earrings and an Olive Garden dinner but I love my wife and, begrudgingly, had to admit that a bit of “modernizing” was probably in order. The work started today with the arrival of a crew who were charged with painting the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, and living room. I, of course, said that there was no need to hire painters as I could do the work myself. My lovely wife replied, “Honey, I don’t want you to spend your summer off working on the house. Why don’t you go get some writing done at the library?” Translated, this means, “I don’t want this job to cost twice as much as it should have after you mess it up and we have to hire these guys anyway. Now, make yourself scarce.”

 

Though deeply wounded (not really, but still…), I was glad to have blundered into a free afternoon and did, indeed, make my way to the Townsend Memorial Library on the campus of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. While not a large library, Townsend does have a robust folklore section and I am nowhere close to having gone through it all. As I sat down with a copy of From Hell to Breakfast, a collection of old Texas tales published in 1944, I came across a chapter titled “Panther Yarns.” Intrigued, I dug in and started reading. For the most part, I did not come across anything I was not already familiar with in regard to historical Texas panther sightings. I did some pretty exhaustive digging into this topic while researching my book Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America several years ago. Still, I read on hoping to come across something new. Luck was with me as I came across two accounts with which I was not familiar. While not true black panther accounts, the two news articles do document the killing of two very large spotted cats that I suspect were jaguars (one of the suspects in the black panther mystery since they carry the genetics for melanism). 

The first tale comes from an 1854 newspaper account detailing an encounter with a “Mexican Lion,” one of the terms Texans in the 1800s used to describe jaguars (“Mexican Tiger” or “Mexican Tigre” were also used periodically). Following is an excerpt from the article:

MEXICAN LION - We wish to inform you of a varmint of awful size, that was taken in camps, or killed, as I should say, at the above named place (Hays County), on the night of the 15^th. It came down in the settlements of Blackwell’s Valley, and surprised the natives by taking a two-year-old hog out of the pen, (fat at that) and carrying it off. Its pursuers were Mrs. Stockman, Mrs. Thomas, and Miss Winters, who, with the aid of some dogs, caused it to take a tree; after which Mrs. Stockman procured a gun, and made an attempt to shoot it. When in the act of firing, the Mexican Lion -  for this is the name of the animal – made a spring at her; she dropped the gun without firing, just in time to save herself from his claws…Mr. J.H. Blackwell, with his dogs, came to their aid, and made it take a tree again. When just in the act of shooting, it made a second attempt to spring on its assailants, but Mr. B., more fortunate than Mrs. S., fired and brought the monster to the ground, dead. It measured nine feet in length, three and a half in height, and weighed 220 pounds. Its claws were two inches in length, and its teeth about the same. The skin, claws, and teeth of the animal can at any time be seen at my residence, on the Blanco, fifteen miles above San Marcos.

                                                                                                G.W. Blackwell

 

The second article comes from a story printed in the Telegraph and Texas Register on December 31, 1840. The article describes a “leopard.” I strongly suspect what was seen was actually a jaguar. Following is an excerpt from this article:

 

Texian Leopard - We were shown a few days since the skin of a leopard which was killed near Bexar (San Antonio), some weeks since. The animal to which the skin belonged must have been about ten feet long from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail, and his body of proportional dimensions. The skin is beautifully variegated with black spots, upon a yellowish brown and white ground; and so closely resembles the skin of an African Leopard, that it would be difficult to distinguish it, if found among several skins of that animal. Many persons in the United States have doubted that statements made by travelers that the leopard exists in Texas; but if they could visit Bexar and its vicinity, their skepticism would soon vanish. It is said that great numbers of those Leopards are found in the vicinity of the Nueces and the Rio Grande…

I think it is safe to assume that the “Mexican Lion” in the first account and the “Texian Leopard” described in the second article were almost certainly jaguars. Though the sizes described seem unusually large – mainly in length – every other characteristic mentioned fits the jaguar perfectly (I think the unusual lengths mentioned could be due to the skins of the animals having been measured and not the actual animal). These accounts solidify what we already knew: jaguars were once native to Texas and more numerous in the southern reaches of the state (or in the case of the second account discussed above, the Republic). 

I have long felt that jaguars were the number one suspect in the Lone Star State’s black panther mystery. Jaguars fit the size profile most often reported (6+ feet in length nose to tail, 100-150 lbs, etc.), are native to the region, and also can be black (melanistic). The two articles provide more evidence – anecdotal though it may be – that early Texas settlers and residents in the 1800s were encountering jaguars. If so, it is possible a remnant population, one in which melanism has taken hold, lives here still and is responsible for at least some of the black panther sightings that Texans continue to report to this very day.

 

Now, back home I go. If I beat my wife back to the house, I might add my own little touch to the redecorating. Maybe a nice jaguar mural on one wall would look good…

 

Source:

Boatright, M. C., & Day, D. (1944). From hell to breakfast. Texas Folk-Lore Society. 

Can the Xoloitzcuintli Explain Texas Chupacabras Sightings?

I was recently approached by a television producer about doing a cryptid-based show on the “Texas chupacabras.” I agreed to do the show on the condition that I be allowed to share my beliefs on what it was that people were actually seeing. The producers agreed, arrangements for shooting on private land in Texas were made, and a tentative date for the shoot was set. I never mentioned any of this on the blog or my other online outlets as experience had taught me that such plans often fall through. As it turned out, the production company decided that they would not be coming to Texas to film after all. While disappointed – this is a show with which you would all be familiar – I certainly harbor no hard feelings; it’s just the way it goes sometimes. One of my biggest disappointments about not getting to do the program was that I would not be able to give my thoughts on what these “Texas chupacabras” might be. That being the case, I thought a blog post on the topic might be in order. While I won’t reach the number of people I would have on the television show, I am hoping that I can still reach a great many folks this way.

The chupacabras legend is a fairly new addition to the pantheon of cryptid beasts. While the myth may have existed regionally before (For example, residents of the Puerto Rican town of Moca endured the killings of dozens farm animals by a creature dubbed “The Vampire of Moca” in 1975), the possible existence of a blood-sucking creature that attacked livestock on the island of Puerto Rico came to the fore in the early and mid-1990’s. Soon, unusual livestock deaths in the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States were being blamed on chupacabras. The attacks were purported to be similar in that the animals were drained of their blood via two or three puncture marks in the throat or chest, though to my knowledge, this blood-draining has never been confirmed by a necropsy performed by a certified veterinarian. The legend of the chupacabras, however, caught the fancy of the public and spread like wildfire throughout Latin America and north into Texas. 

The original description of the chupacabras – as described by Puerto Ricans in the 1990’s – is of a reptilian-looking creature with a series of long spikes or spines protruding from its back. It had strong back legs on which it stood in a fashion similar to that of a kangaroo. The forelimbs were described as smaller, but ending in “hands” or paws that were tipped with razor sharp talons. The creature’s mode of locomotion was jumping or hopping, again, much like a kangaroo (one must wonder if an imported kangaroo or wallaby might have escaped its enclosure and been wandering around Puerto Rico in the 1990’s). Whatever was hopping around Puerto Rico in the 1990’s seems to have no similarities to the creatures being called chupacabras today. Modern accounts all describe the chupacabras as a canine-like animal, devoid of hair, with grayish-blue to black skin similar to that of an elephant or rhino. The size reported varies from that of a German shepherd to that of a small fox. News outlets seize on every opportunity to publish photos or video of these alleged chupacabras (many Texans refer to them as blue dogs) and have spread this new picture of the creature far and wide. Just this past week, a report of a “chupacabras” wandering about the city of Houston received a lot of attention. In my opinion, the video clearly shows an ill canine of some kind, not a mythical blood-sucking beast. Still, the myth – and this new description – persists.

While I cannot speculate on just what people in Puerto Rico might have seen 20-25 years ago, I do feel that I can offer up a few opinions on what people are seeing here in Texas now. I strongly feel that most “chupacabras” are nothing more than canines suffering from a form of mange. Mange is caused by a parasitic mite that burrows into the skin and kills the hair follicles of the host animal. Sarcoptic mange – also known as canine scabies – causes hair loss, crusting of the skin of the ears and joints, and secondary skin infections. Canines suffering from this form of mange quickly deteriorate into very poor condition if left untreated. The disease is not uncommon among the coyotes and foxes of the Lone Star State. I have seen a mange-ridden coyote myself in the Sam Houston National Forest. It was strange and alien-looking to be sure, but undoubtedly a coyote. It was completely hairless and had the typically described bluish-gray, elephant-like skin. The ribs were protruding and the animal moved slowly and did not appear to be in very good shape at all. I have no doubt that if I had snapped a photo and sent it to the newspaper or local television affiliate, “chupacabras” headlines would have soon followed. I believe strongly, that most sightings of this Texas version of the chupacabras are nothing more than sick, mangy canines.

Having said that, the idea that mangy canines explain ALL chupacabras sightings has never sat particularly well with me. The vast majority of sightings? Absolutely. But, all of them? No. Some of the sightings describe very robust, strong, or fast animals. None of these attributes would be expected from an animal suffering with an advanced case of mange. The famous dashcam footage of what was obviously a very healthy, yet hairless, canine of some kind outside of Cuero, Texas has become the Patterson-Gimlin footage of the chupacabras world. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly healthy. Is there another explanation, another animal that fits the description of the classic Texas chupacabras? As it turns out, yes.

The Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolo for short, is a dog breed that fits the classic description of the Texas chupacabras almost perfectly. Also known as the Mexican Hairless, this dog has been around for centuries. Statues resembling the breed have been found in Mayan, Colima, and Aztec ruins and burial sites that date back 3,000 years. Aztec mythology attributed the creation of the breed to Xolotl, the god of lightning and death, who needed the breed to guide souls through the underworld. The tribes of ancient Mexico and Central America believed the Xolo had physical and spiritual healing powers and regarded the breed as sacred. The unusual name of the breed is a combination of Xolotl and itzcuintli, the Aztec word for dog. It is believed that the first European to lay eyes on this hairless breed of canine was none other than Christopher Columbus himself in 1492.* Once the Spanish conquest of the New World began in earnest, the Xolo became more and more rare. The AKC did recognize the breed in 1887 – as the Mexican Hairless – but dropped it from its official registry in 1959 due to extremely low numbers. During this time, British and Mexican authorities worked together to save the Xolo from extinction. The group managed to trap 10-12 wild Xolos in remote Mexican forests and successfully bred them. After the numbers bounced back a bit, the Xolo was eventually named the official dog of Mexico. While well-known south of the Rio Grande, the breed is still rarely seen, and relatively unknown, in the United States.

I was aware of the Mexican Hairless, but mistakenly believed it was a toy-sized dog only. I have since learned that the breed comes in three distinct sizes: Standard, Miniature, and Toy. The breeds range in weight from 10-50 lbs. As the name implies, they are all but completely hairless (there are sometimes tufts of hair on the head, toes, and tail). The skin color of these Xolos is typically black or bluish-gray in color. The allele that causes the breed’s hairlessness is also responsible for abnormalities in the dentition of the breed. Hairless Xolos usually display incomplete or abnormal dentition that can include unusually long canines. The Xolo is very athletic, graceful, and a strong runner with a sturdy build. This vigorous and robust nature is thought to be due to the fact that the breed was never selectively bred historically. While they can make good pets, Xolos are extremely intelligent and have a reputation as escape artists with the ability to climb and/or jump fences.

When the whole picture is put together, the Xolo must be considered a prime suspect in the Texas chupacabras mystery. While not limited to south Texas, the breed is far more common near the Texas-Mexico border. The bulk of chupacabras sightings that are not obviously mange-ridden canines, originate from the southern part of the Lone Star State. The bluish-gray to black skin so commonly reported is a hallmark of the breed. Too, the over-sized ears – sometimes described as resembling those of a mule or donkey – and long canines are common characteristics of the Xolo. The athletic and robust build of the Standard-sized Xolo matches up well to many descriptions given of the chupacabras and the fact that escapees are not uncommon would seem to strengthen the case that the Xolo could be the prime suspect in this mystery. Finally, and maybe the most important fact of all, is that the majority of Texas residents simply are not familiar with the breed. This is not surprising as the breed was right on the brink of extinction as recently as the mid 1950’s. A Texan who is unaware of the existence of the Xolo, but who has been exposed to the media-driven chupacabras legend, is likely to jump to the cryptid creature conclusion. 

To wrap it up, I just do not believe there is much to the Texas chupacabras legend. I have heard stories of there being DNA testing of specimens that indicate some kind of wolf/coyote/dog hybrid, but have not seen any such studies myself. I think chupacabras sightings – at least those in Texas – can be attributed to sick, mangy foxes, coyotes, or domestic/feral dogs nine times out of ten. On the rare occasions when a healthy, strong, and fast “chupacabras” is spotted, in my opinion, it is a very strong possibility that a Xolo was seen. This is another case where I would welcome being wrong – a weird and new hybrid species of blood-sucking creature would be cool – but I do not think I am. 

*Source material claims Columbus mentioned the Xolo in his journal, but I have been unable to corroborate.

Sources:

 http://siggysparadise.com/puppies-for-sale/xoloitzcuintli-breeders/

 https://www.petfinder.com/dog-breeds/xoloitzcuintli-mexican-hairless/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Hairless_Dog

https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/skin/c_dg_sarcoptic_mange

'Drumming' Chimps and the Wood Knocking Connection

Thwok! Thwok!

The sound of wood on wood or rock on rock echoes through the woods. Those who hear the sounds usually ignore them and write them off as nothing more than the activity of overzealous woodpeckers. Most never really take note of the knocks at all and consider them just a normal sound sometimes heard in the forests of North America.

Thwok!

Another knocking sound echoes through the forest. This time the sound originates from a different location. Again, if the sound is noticed at all, it would elicit little more than a shrug of the shoulders from most. Campers, hikers, hunters and the like are usually deeply engaged in their activity of choice and never stop to think about what animal of the deep woods would be capable of banging a stick or rock against a tree trunk. If the question ever did cross their minds, they would realize there is only one answer to the question: there are none.

None that have been recognized by science, anyway.

For untold years, people living, working or spending time in the most remote and heavily forested regions of the world have reported hearing strange knocking, banging and clanging emanating from deep woods where it can be safely assumed there are no human beings. If humans can be ruled out, what else could be responsible for these sounds? Hands are required to pick up a stick or rock and bang it against a tree trunk. Not paws, hands, a conclusion most people find quite unnerving.

None other than Theodore Roosevelt himself was unnerved when he experienced the strange knocking phenomenon while paddling and charting the Amazon tributary known only as the River of Doubt in 1913-14. The trip was difficult and miserable. The morale of Roosevelt and his party was deeply affected by the strange noises that seemed to follow them down the river. Candice Millard, author of The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey, compared the sounds the former President and his men heard to sounds described by British Naturalist Henry Walter Bates in the mid 1800’s while he was exploring the same region. Bates described many odd jungle sounds but one in particular caught my attention.

Bates wrote, “Sometimes a sound is heard like the clang of an iron bar against a hard, hollow tree, or a piercing cry rends the air: these are not repeated and the succeeding silence tends to heighten the unpleasant impression which they make on the mind.”

While the words above were not Roosevelt’s, they described closely sounds he, and the rest of the men heard many times during the rainy season of 1914. The words used by Bates to describe what he heard sound startlingly like descriptors used by hunters, campers, hikers, and naturalists from all over the globe who have heard knocks, clangs, howls, and screams they cannot attribute to any known animal. Clearly, these sounds have been reported by a very long time. What could they mean?

“Wood knocking” as the phenomenon is often called, is something sasquatch enthusiasts and researchers have been intrigued with for decades. Odd knocks, sometimes accompanied by strange howls, grunts and growls have been reported in association with alleged wood ape activity/sightings many times. Others have reported having had rocks thrown at them, their cabins or tents and seeing vegetation shaken violently soon before or after knocks or clacks are heard. For years, mainstream scientists dismissed these claims as being too fantastic to possibly be true. With each passing year, however, the behaviors reported for so long by alleged wood ape witnesses seem to fall less into the category of the fantastic and more along the lines of accepted and observed great ape behaviors. It has now been established that great apes do drum or beat on trees. If the North American wood ape is an undiscovered species of great ape, as I believe it to be, it would not seem too far-fetched to posit that they, too, would engage in this knocking/drumming behavior.

The first question to ask is why do great apes, any of them, engage in this drumming or knocking behavior? Many interested in such things surmised that these sounds might somehow be associated with food gathering activities. A 2009 article published in the International Journal of Primatology reported on the discovery that chimpanzees living in the jungles of the Republic of Congo actually crafted clubs from branches to pound the nests of bees in order to gain access to the honey found therein. Primatologists have long been aware that chimps love honey and will go to great lengths to get at it. Previous studies have noted how these apes fashion and shape sticks to dip into or pry open nests. However, until now, no one knew just how far chimpanzees would go to gain access to this honey. Dr. Crickette Sanz, of the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said, “It seems these chimps in central Africa have developed more sophisticated techniques for getting at the honey than populations in eastern and western Africa – maybe it is some kind of regional feature.” He added, “These nests are tough to get into – they can be at the top of the forest canopy, at the end of a branch – and the chimps will go up there and hang at all sorts of precarious angles to get to the honey, using these clubs in any way that they can to access it.” Video footage, taken over four years of observation by the researchers, shows the chimpanzees pounding these concrete hard nests 1,000 to 1,500 times. Researchers observed some chimps take well over 1,000 swings in the morning, stop and rest several hours, and then return in the afternoon to take another 1,000, or so, swings before finally breaking through and gaining access to the sweet honey. It is possible that at least some of the knocks heard in the forests of North America could be associated with food gathering activities as well. Members of the North American Wood Ape Conservancy have heard not only wood knocking (the sound of wood striking wood) in their main area of study but what is often described as rock clacking as well.

It was long assumed by members that this rock clacking (the sound of two rocks banging together) was simply another method used to accomplish the same goal, whatever that might be, as that of wood knocking. Food gathering as a possible reason for the phenomenon came to the forefront when several “nut cracking stations” were located along a rock strewn creek bed lined by huge hickory and black walnut trees. These stations consisted of brick-sized "hammer" rocks sitting atop larger rocks. The pulverized remains of hickory nuts and their shells were found on the tops of the larger rocks and stuck to the bottoms of the brick-sized rocks. Additionally, the ground around the bottom of the large rocks was found to be littered with what seemed like an abnormally high number of nut shells. Oddly, one station was littered with hickory nut remains despite the fact that there were no hickory trees within several hundred yards, seemingly, indicating that the nuts were transported to that particular spot solely for the purpose of cracking them open. Chimpanzees have been filmed engaging in this very activity.



Food gathering purposes may account for some knocking, drumming or clacking noises heard but this explanation does not seem to fit the bill some of, if not most of, the time when these sounds are heard. Many knocks are solitary in nature. In other words, only one or two loud knocks are heard at a time. Sometimes, these knocks are repeated at intervals ranging from a few minutes to an hour. At other times, a knock is heard and is followed by another knock coming from an entirely different location in short order, seemingly, indicating the presence of multiple individuals. These types of knocks are heard much more often than the repetitive, often rhythmic, banging that might be associated with food gathering activities and lend credence to the opinion held by many that these sounds are a form of communication between members of the species. A recent study of chimpanzees headed up by psychologist Katie Slocombe of the University of York seems to support the idea that drumming and knocking, often in association with pant hoots, is indeed a form of communication.

Slocombe and her colleagues studied a group of 13 male chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest Reserve in Uganda. The goal was to find out why some chimps drummed and hooted some of the time and drummed without vocalizing at others. The study also sought to find whether drumming rhythms were individually distinctive. The scientists studied 293 instances of drumming and/or hooting and came to some interesting conclusions.

“The sound they create makes it ideal for long distance communication,” said Dr. Slocombe. “We think drums help coordinate movement and grouping patterns, so advertising to others your location when traveling may entice others to join you, and other chimps may pant hoot and drum back, which may influence where the caller decides to travel to.” Dr. Slocombe summed up the study by stating, “We conclude that drumming patterns may act as individually distinctive long-distance signals that, together with pant hoot vocalizations, function to coordinate the movement and spacing of dispersed individuals within a community.”

If, indeed, an undiscovered great ape lives in the most rugged, remote and inaccessible areas of our continent, the ability to communicate over long distances would be key to survival. Whether the knocks heard in the forests of North America represent the efforts of an individual seeking a mate, food gathering activities, aggressive warnings to interlopers or the leader of a clan keeping track of and directing the movements of family members, can only be speculated upon at this time. Depending on the circumstances, any of these possibilities could be the motivation for a particular knock or series of knocks. I do believe the correlation between the wood knocks of North America and the drumming behavior of the Ugandan chimpanzees described by Dr. Slocombe is obvious.

It is true that, to my knowledge, no one has ever witnessed a wood ape striking a tree with a branch or banging two rocks together. My own experiences, and those of my fellow NAWAC members, have led me to conclude that not only do these animals exist, they engage in the wood knocking/drumming behavior described so often, by so many, across North America and the world. Proof? No, not yet; however, the anecdotal evidence continues to pile up and is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Thwok! Thwok!

The next time you are spending time in the wilderness pay attention to the sounds of the forest. Something might be sending you a message


References:

Millard, Candice. "The Living Jungle." River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey. New York: Doubleday, 2005. 156-157. Print.

Morelle, Rebecca. "'Armed' Chimps Go Wild for Honey." BBC News. 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. .

Tenofsky, Russell. "Chimpanzees Use Rhythmic Drumming to Communicate." Nonhuman Rights Project. 26 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2015. .

America's Black Panthers: A New Theory Emerges

It is no secret that I’m fascinated with the possible existence of large black cats in Texas and the rest of the South. I get reports weekly from people who claim to have caught glimpses of these enigmatic cats. People who grew up in rural areas often express no doubt that these animals exist. Wildlife officials, however, have a different take on the phenomenon. They insist there is no such thing as a “black panther.” They simply do not exist and never have.

I, along with many others, have put forth theories on what might explain the continued sightings and possible existence of these ghost cats. Jaguars have been suggested as a suspect. After all, they were once native to Texas and most of the southern U.S. and do exhibit melanism from time to time. Others think the most likely culprit is a wild cat called the jaguarundi. Jaguarundis can exhibit a dark gray to black coat and, while not particularly large, are significantly larger than a domestic cat. Still others feel that, despite science never having documented it, cougars might, on occasion, exhibit melanism or, at least, a much darker shade than is common. Personally, I’ve never found any of these theories totally satisfying. I had more or less settled on the theory that the most likely explanation for black panther sightings was probably a combination of the theories mentioned above, along with the occasional misidentification.

I have recently become aware of another possibility that I actually find to be quite intriguing. An article posted on the ScienceBlogs website, written by Darren Naish, discusses the possibility that large, long-tailed black cats being seen in Australia might actually be feral cats that have grown to enormous sizes. You an access the article here. In a nutshell, Naish details some intriguing evidence that suggests that once “kitty” goes feral, it, or its offspring, can reach a shockingly large size. How large is “shockingly large?” How about feral cats reaching sizes the equivalent of a small leopard? It is hard to believe but, unlike other cryptids like the sasquatch or the Loch Ness monster, there are several photos and several carcasses that seem to prove that extra large feral cats are a reality. Can this really be? Is there a new strain of Felis catus, the domestic cat, out there achieving these astounding sizes?



Mr. Naish gives several examples of large black cats caught on video that, while very large, exhibit characteristics much more akin to Felis catus than true big cats. Naish points to two pieces of footage that were played by Australian cryptozoologist Paul Cropper at a conference he attended. Cropper’s presentation was on Australian ABCs (Alien Big Cats). The two video clips Cropper played during the presentation featured footage of two large, black cats exceeding 1 meter in length. They made quite the impression on Naish and he says in his article, “But rather than being feral leopards or any other cat species that exhibits melanism, the weird thing is that these cats looked like gigantic specimens of F. catus.”

Of the first clip, Naish said, “The first bit of footage (I’ve been unable to track down details on when and where it was filmed: let me know if you can help) showed a big black cat slinking along a vegetated hillside. The cat appeared to be very large (I say this based on the size of the surrounding vegetation, and on the overall look and ‘heaviness’ of the animal), but its pointed ears, tail and gait make it look quite different from a leopard or any other big cat. It also looked nothing like a leopard cat, ocelot, caracal, lynx, or any of the golden cats. Clearly, what I’m getting at is hard to quantify, but it was as if someone had super-sized a feral moggie.”

Mr. Naish was even more impressed by the second video Cropper played. He said,“The second video that Paul showed was even more remarkable. We start with a daytime shot of a perfectly normal grey domestic cat, sat on a shrub-covered hillside near a stand of trees. Then the camera pans to the right. From behind the trees slowly emerges a big black cat, apparently more than twice the size of the grey domestic cat. Yet its head and face – which we can see in full detail – show without doubt that it is a domestic cat, with vertical pupils, pointed ears, and a dainty snout quite unlike the deeper snout of the large cats. Its shoulder blades appear proportionally big and overall it appears unusually muscular. The ordinary grey cat, sat not less than two meters away, is not in the least perturbed by the presence of this monster. I struggled to understand what I was seeing: was this some sort of trick using forced perspective?”



It seems that this second piece of footage, shot by Gail Pound and her husband in 2001 near Lithgow, New south Wales, has been quite the source of controversy down under. About the only thing everyone agrees on, according to Naish, is that the video really does show a panther-sized, black cat sitting next to a normally proportioned feral cat. Most estimations have the larger of the two cats measuring in excess of 1.5 meters (4.92 feet) from head to tail. Naish quotes a local newspaper article that summed up the conclusion of New South Wales government officials. It reads, “Last year, the NSW government asked a seven-member panel of big cat experts to view a video shot near Lithgow, west of Grose Vale, of what appeared to be a large black cat – possibly a panther – in close proximity to a large feral cat. They concluded that the larger of the two was a huge feral cat, two to three times normal size. Their reasoning was only that they did not think a feral cat would be so close to a panther.”

Mr. Naish mentions other videos, most notably that shot at Dunkeld in the southern Grampians, Victoria, in December of 2004 by Andrew Burston. The video shows what appears to be a very large, black feral cat walking in close proximity to an adult kangaroo. The cat, Naish notes, does not look like a leopard or any other known exotic. “Again, the cat looks very odd: the profile of the back appears more like that of a small cat than a large one (Felis cats have a more obviously convex lumbar and pelvic region than pumas and big cats); its tail appears proportionally too short for a leopard or puma; and its gait and the shape of its head also look more like those of a Felis cat than of a puma or big cat. This time we have an excellent scale bar, as the animal actually walks within a few metres of an adult kangaroo.”
The Dunkeld cat has been estimated to stand 75 cm (2.46 feet) high at the shoulder. This would be unusually large for a feral cat but this is the opinion of most, including Melbourne zoo official Noel Harcourt who went on record saying the cat was a large feral.

Naish also discusses several carcasses that have been brought in by hunters. One, shot in Victoria measured 1230 mm (4.04 feet) head to tail. Feral cats, Naish notes, generally measure in the neighborhood of 750-822 mm (2.56 – 2.70 feet). It should be noted that what is believed to be the largest domestic cat ever, an Australian tabby named Himmy, had an overall length of only 965 mm (3.17 feet). Yet another specimen was taken in Gippsland in June of 2005 by a hunter named Kurt Engel. This beast allegedly measured 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) in length. Engel dumped the big cat’s body but kept the tail as a souvenir. The tail alone measures 650 mm (2.13 feet) in length. DNA testing performed by Monash University, located in Melbourne, indicates this cat was F. catus.

Preliminary evidence, admittedly much of it circumstantial, seems to indicate that, in at least some cases, feral cats in Australia are growing to truly impressive sizes rivaling those of leopards and cougars. If so, it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that this could be happening in North America, too. If North American feral cats are beginning to grow to exceptionally large sizes then it could help explain black panther sightings across the continent.

As discussed earlier, various explanations and theories have been put forth to explain sightings of large, black, long-tailed cats in our country. If you are like me, you probably know them by heart. The witness saw an escaped exotic such as a leopard, they saw a known species like a jaguarundi, it must have been a normal colored mountain lion in shadows or low light, maybe it was a wayward melanistic jaguar they saw. Again, all of these theories have holes in them and I don’t feel any one of them, or a combination of all of them, can explain all black panther sightings here in Texas and North America. Of course, there is another explanation/theory that has been put forth over the years and that is that the witness saw nothing more than a domestic or feral cat. In the past, most witnesses have found this idea quite insulting. Who can blame them? Everyone knows the normal size parameters of a domestic cat, after all. Most witnesses would tell you what they saw was the size as a Labrador retriever or larger. How could that possibly be a feral cat?

Based on the article by Darren Naish referenced above, maybe we have all been too quick to be insulted. Is it possible that both witnesses who have seen the legendary black panther and skeptics that say they must have seen a domestic/feral could BOTH be right? The goings on in Australia suggests that might be the case. If feral specimens of F. catus are growing to these extraordinary sizes it could be the key to unlocking the black panther mystery. Ferals are not just common, they are everywhere. They are quite prolific. Even if only 1 out of 100 achieve this unusual size then that is significant and could go a long way toward explaining these sightings.

While not a melanistic cat, the following photo shows what looks, with the exception of its unusually large and bulky size, to be a typical domestic/feral cat. You can clearly see the head has all the hallmarks of being a domestic. Still, it looks really big. Could this be an example, from right here in Texas, of what seems to be happening in Australia? If this cat had been solid black then we’d be debating exactly what it was from now until Doomsday because it does appear to be too large to be a normal cat. The fact that it is colored like a typical housecat has, I believe, caused many to dismiss it as nothing unusual a bit too soon. There have been other examples, a large cat photographed near a feeder in the Texas Hill Country, the large black cat captured on video in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and a large charcoal-colored cat photographed in South Texas. All seem, at first glance, to be far too large to be examples of F. catus. Knowing what we know now, maybe we should reconsider the domestic/feral cat as a candidate for at least some of the black panthers reported each year.

The puzzle that makes up the black panther picture in Texas and the American South remains incomplete. I don’t doubt that, on occasion, many of the usual theories that have been put forth regarding the phenomenon are correct. I also believe that people have been mistaken about what they’ve seen from time to time. I do not, however, believe the usual “go to” explanations satisfactorily explain all sightings. I’m not convinced that even if domestic/feral cats in North America are growing to extremely large sizes, it would explain all the sightings either. I do feel, though, that the possibility of F. catus growing to very large sizes could explain at least some of the sightings of black panthers and should be seriously considered. The black panther puzzle may remain incomplete but maybe we’ve just added a new piece.

Revisiting the Melanistic Jaguar Theory

All of you who have read this blog for any length of time at all know that the subject of large, black, long-tailed cats, or “black panthers,” is something in which I am particularly interested. This subject has become the number one most popular topic on this site. More people contact me about black cat sightings, by far, than sightings or anecdotes about any other animal (known or cryptid).

I have always felt that there must be a biological entity behind these “black panther” sightings. There are just too many incidents and too many credible witnesses to believe otherwise, in my opinion. If I am right and there is a real animal out there responsible for these sightings, what could it be? I’ve put forth several possibilities over the years: jaguarundi, jaguar, unusually dark-colored cougars, for example. Perhaps a combination of these three animals plus the occasional case of mistaken identity could explain the phenomenon? I’ve also entertained the idea, briefly, that maybe cougars in the wild do occasionally exhibit melanism as well as the possibility of an entirely undocumented large, dark-colored cat might exist in Texas and the deep South; however, the culprit most often suspected of being responsible for “black panther” sightings by those who think there is something to all of this is, without a doubt, the jaguar.

In the past, I’ve been very hesitant to jump on the jaguar (Panthera onca) bandwagon and anoint this big cat as the number one suspect in the hundreds of black cat sightings. Jags fit the bill as far as the size most often reported by “black panther” witnesses. People often describe “Labrador-sized,” or larger, cats with long tails. The jaguar is the largest cat in the New World and ranges in weight from 125-250 lbs. under normal conditions with some males reaching weights in excess of 300 lbs. (very rare). Color morphism does occur in the species with melanistic specimens appearing almost totally black in color. While much more rare than their normal rosette-coated brethren, melanistic jaguars make up approximately 6% of the total jaguar population. That being the case, why have I been hesitant to grasp the theory that “black panthers” may very well be remnant, or Northward wandering, jaguars?

The answer is simple. While 6% of the jaguar population is not an insignificant number of individuals, it still leaves 94% of the population with the normal spotted coats. IF the black panthers of Texas are melanistic jaguars then why is nobody seeing or reporting the much more commonly colored cats? If these are jags people are seeing, the spotted individuals have to be here too. If that is the case, then they would be easier to spot than those of the melanistic variety. Right?

Maybe not.

Spotted coats are a tremendous form of camouflage. It is the very reason so many wild cats are marked in this way. They are predators and need to be hard to see. Leopards, jaguars, bobcats, ocelots, margays, servals, cheetahs, young lions and young cougars all have spotted coats for part of, if not all, their lives. The spots allow these animals to blend into almost any form of cover as they break up the silhouette of the cat beautifully. I have come to the conclusion that maybe the large black cats being reported in the South are melanistic jaguars and they are being seen, while their spotted brethren are not, because their black coloration is not as effective a form of camouflage.

Allow me to demonstrate. Spread through out this post, is a series of photographs. In each photo there is a normally marked leopard or jaguar. These photos have all been circulating for some time now as a sort of “Where’s Waldo” game of find the cat. I’d seen them but not given them a lot of thought. Lately though, I’ve revisited them while considering them as something to study instead of just a hide-and-seek type of game. As you will see, or maybe not, the spotted coats of these cats make them all but impossible to detect while a solid black cat might stand out more. Imagine trying to spot one of these cats that is hunkered down in tall grass or a wooded area from a moving car or even as you walk through the woods. If it remains still, you aren’t going to see it.

As a matter of fact, just standing or sitting perfectly still in and of itself can keep an animal well hidden. We, as humans, seem to depend on movement to a large extent in order to spot things. Add the fact that we, as a species, have become less and less in tune to nature and become unobservant, at best, and totally oblivious, at worst, and not many of these animals are going to be seen, not even those that are not thought of as having perfect camouflage. The photo below illustrates this point. See how long it takes you to see the wolf in the photo. Some will see the wolf quicker than others but there is no denying that he would be very easy to miss despite not sporting a spotted coat.

IF the “black panthers” of Texas are jaguars, then the much more common spotted cats are here, too. They are just going to be almost impossible to detect unless they cross a road directly in front of a vehicle. Jaguars were native to Texas and much of the deep South at one time. Maybe they are making a bit of a comeback, much as cougars appear to be doing, across much of their old range.

What a great story it would be if it turned out to be so.

Expanded Perspectives Interview

My interview with the guys from Expanded Perspectives is now available. We discussed all manner of things but the bulk of the time was devoted to black panthers and wood apes. I think it went well.

You can hear the interview by visiting www.expandedperspectives.com or by downloading the podcast from the iTunes store.

Changing Views on Popular Bigfoot Beliefs

I received a good email this week from a reader who asked me a great question. To summarize, the question was basically whether or not any of my theories regarding wood apes (sasquatches) have changed in the years since I began researching the topic seriously. The answer is yes. Once I thought about it a bit, I was surprised at just how much my views have changed regarding certain aspects of the bigfoot phenomenon and some of the more widely accepted “facts” regarding this legendary creature. I will outline some of the changes in my beliefs below.

Popular Theory: Wood apes are solitary animals along the lines of orangutans.

I used to buy into this theory as most sightings are of individual animals. My experiences, and those of my fellow NAWAC members, over the course of Operations Endurance and Persistence have convinced me otherwise. On numerous occasions we have found ourselves the target of thrown rocks that were being lobbed in from different directions by, admittedly, unseen throwers. We’ve also noted wood knocks, clicks, pops, and even whistles emanating from the woods surrounding our camps, seemingly, in answer to one another. If wood apes are the culprits behind these rock throws, knocks, and vocalizations, and I firmly believe they are, then these animals are not living a solitary life. They are living in troupes or family units. How many in a troupe? I’m sure it varies but I feel pretty comfortable in saying that we have documented activity from up to six individuals within seconds of each other in Area X. I would guess there are others that have remained unheard and unseen. Can I prove it? Not yet, but I firmly believe this to be the case. Wood apes may spread out to forage and hunt but they never seem to be far from each other. This is a big change from what I thought about them just 5-6 years ago.

Popular Theory: Habituation scenarios are a bunch of…well, you know.

My experience, and those of my fellow NAWAC members, indicates that these animals are not the solitary nomads most believe them to be. What we’ve observed may not necessarily apply to all wood apes everywhere but our experiences indicate that the apes in our main area of study aren’t going anywhere. They may move within a home range (how big that might be is subject to debate) but do seem to have a core home area to which they always return. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it is to mate, maybe it is a nursery where they give birth and raise infants, or maybe it is because this particular group of wood apes is boxed in by human settlements or even other ape troupes. Whatever the reason, the apes we are studying do not leave. Since this is the case with the apes in our area of study, I can no longer merely dismiss the possibility of other apes in other locales behaving in the same way. This makes habituation scenarios possible. I still believe that many reported habituation reports are nonsense (the Mary Green claims, for example) but no longer can I just summarily dismiss reports of habituation without first taking at closer look at the claims.

Popular Theory: Wood apes avoid game cameras.

I know, I know. Believe me I realize how ludicrous this sounds on the surface but there is something to this claim. The NAWAC, dating back to its old TBRC days, has invested upwards of $50,000 on top of the line game cameras over the last decade. We have absolutely nothing to show for it. I always assumed we just didn’t have enough cameras to adequately cover an area and left it at that. Over the last years, however, two events have changed my mind. First, the NAWAC invested approximately $6,000 on a surveillance system that utilizes infrared technology and placed it on a structure in our main area of study. What we discovered was that ape activity remained steady when the surveillance system was turned off and came almost to a complete standstill when it was turned on. Theories as to why are debated intensely within our group but there is little doubt among most of our members that the surveillance system seems to “turn off” the apes. This is driven home by the fact that some Operation Persistence teams, exhausted by a week in the bush with little to no sleep due to the continuous bombardment of the camp by rocks, would turn on the surveillance system so that they could sleep unmolested. Most game cameras these days use a combination of infrared and motion sensing technologies just like the surveillance system. Whatever it is that bothers the apes may be present within these cameras as well. Possibly, it is simply the apes have seen us put the cameras out and associate them with humans and, so, avoid them. Other animals do this. See the NAWAC article Cryptid Caution Concerning Cameras, for one such example. Some members felt the cameras must emit some sort of low-level frequency that the human ear is unable to detect but the apes can hear. The group had a study done by a bioacoustics lab that seems to quash this theory. You can read the results of the test in the article Testing of Game Cameras for Sound Emissions. To summarize, I don’t know why apes avoid these cameras but the anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that they do. In no way do I think these creatures understand what a camera is or what they do. Despite this, they seem to treat them like the plague. I realize skeptics will have a field day with this. I understand. I was once one of them. Simply, it is what it is.

Popular Theory: Apes use wood knocking to communicate.

I was very dubious about the wood knocking phenomenon for a long time. I had never heard a wood knock, nobody had ever observed an ape beating on a tree with a stick, and, honestly, some of the folks pushing the idea of wood knocking were not people whom I considered credible. I came around soon enough, however, once I seriously got into wood ape research. The NAWAC’s main area of study has proven to be a priceless learning ground and it proved itself again when it came to clearing up the question of whether or not apes use wood knocking to communicate. I have heard knocks, some very loud and close, that are clearly wood on wood. They were often answered by other knocks coming from different locations. Often, NAWAC members hear clear wood knocks upon entering the study area. It is as if there is someone, or something, acting as a sentinel, a watchman, if you will, watching the road in whose job it is to alert other apes when someone arrives. I can’t say for sure that wood apes are behind the knocks, as I’ve never seen one engaged in the activity; however, I have seen an ape in this area and have been there when knocks were heard, seemingly, in response to some sort of movement or activity on our part. The evidence, as circumstantial as it may be, points to wood apes being the culprits behind wood knocking. The bottom line is something with hands has to be behind wood knocking. There is no known animal in the woods of North America capable of producing these sounds. What does that leave?

Popular Theory: The Sierra Sounds were hoaxed.

The first time I heard the Sierra Sounds recordings I laughed out loud. It was simply the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. The Sierra Sounds are a series of audio recordings allegedly captured in the Stanislaus National Forest by Ron Moorehead and Al Berry in the early 1970’s. Moorehead and Berry claimed they had captured audio of a troupe of sasquatches vocalizing. The recordings ranged from relatively tame whoops to the infamous Samurai-like chatter that has so often been ridiculed by skeptics. My tune changed a bit when I visited with a witness who claimed to have seen a wood ape in the Big Thicket National Preserve several years ago. He also claimed to have heard the creature vocalize in a way that reminded him of a badly dubbed Kung Fu movie. He was credible and convincing. Later, the NAWAC captured strange chattering during Operation Endurance in the summer of 2012. The chattering sounds are eerily similar to some of the Sierra Sounds recordings. I stop short of saying the Sierra Sounds recorded back in the early 1970’s are real. I simply don’t know. What I can tell you is that I no longer blow them off as an obvious hoax. I’ve heard things too similar to say that now.

Popular Theory: Wood apes are almost totally nocturnal.

This theory seemed to make sense to me. It would help explain why these huge creatures were not seen more often. Certainly, hunting and moving about at night would lower the odds of their being seen by humans. Later, this idea was validated in my mind when I witnessed a wood ape in the middle of a forest service road in the Sam Houston National Forest in May of 2005… at 3:15 a.m. What I have found in the years since is that this is simply not true. I’ve talked to dozens and dozens of witnesses and the accounts are equally split between daytime and nighttime sightings. The NAWAC has documented literally hundreds of events and more than a dozen visuals over the last two years in our main area of study. What is clear is that the apes are every bit as active during the day as they are at night. Again, it is possible that troupes of apes in other locales may have different habits but based on what I know, wood apes are not strictly, or even mainly, nocturnal.

Popular Theory: Wood apes have eyes that glow at night.

I always assumed researchers who reported eyeshine had misidentified some other known animal. Eyeshine is dependent on the presence of a thin layer of tissue directly behind the retina called the tepetum lucidum. The tapetum lucidem reflects visible light back through the retina, which increases the amount of light available to be picked up by the photoreceptors in the eye. This greatly improves night vision. This process also creates the eyeshine effect with which most are familiar. Very few primates have a tapetum lucidum; humans do not and neither do any of the known great apes. The only primates that I’m aware of that have a tapetum lucidum are some of the prosimians, the Sportive lemur, for example. This being the case, and believing the sasquatch to be an undocumented great ape, I felt that the eyeshine so commonly reported had to be a simple case of misidentification (folks believing sasquatches are primitive humans would still have been in agreement with me since humans do not possess this feature either). Observations over the last few years have changed my opinion on this. The eyes of the wood ape are, seemingly, quite large and produce a very bright eyeshine. This phenomenon has been observed by NAWAC members time and time again. The colors of the eyeshine reported have ranged from orange, yellow-gold, red, to green. The varying colors reported don’t bother me much as eyeshine color often depends on the angle at which it is being viewed. It would appear that the wood ape does have a tapetum lucidum. This would seem to fly in the face of my assertion earlier than these animals are not nocturnal. Again, it is what it is. I still do not believe that the eyes of a wood ape glow without a source of external light. That would be unprecedented in the animal kingdom. Having said that, it doesn’t seem to take much light for these animals’ eyes to light up very brightly. The apes seem to be aware of their own eyeshine to some degree as well. Often, they are spotted observing our camps at night and once they realize we are looking back directly at them, they will duck their head as if to eliminate the beacon that is their eyes. It is really quite amazing. Maybe they are just hunkering down in general in an attempt to avoid detection but it sure seems that they are aware that their eyes give them away. So, yes, wood apes do exhibit very bright eyeshine.

I like to think that my opinions on these animals and their behavior and characteristics haven’t changed as much as they have evolved. I hope this is the sign of an open mind that simply goes where the evidence leads. The evidence has led me to some pretty improbable conclusions; however, I do think it is important to differentiate between what is improbable and what is impossible. I guess you could say that about the very existence of these creatures; it is improbable. That is inarguable. But is their existence impossible? No, not at all.

I have no desire to try to get anyone to “come around” to my point of view. I just wanted to point out some of the ways that actually researching, being a member of a credible group full of other researchers, and direct observations have caused me to give second thoughts to many aspects of this mystery and let you know what my point of view is on some of these theories.