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AndrewP
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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 Posted: September 30th, 2009 09:46 PM |
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I just wanted to let you all know that I am working on the report and expect to have it ready to publish within a week. We had a lot of activity across a large area, so I have a lot of individual reports to pull together.
Thanks for your patience.
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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ladyliza
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: October 1st, 2009 01:58 AM |
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cool can't wait to read all about it.. glad you had a good exp.. and returned safely
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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RealNewby
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 139
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| Posted: October 2nd, 2009 02:44 PM |
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Quote:
urban_la_vera wrote:
can't wait
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Either can I, and I attended.
It was great and Andy did a fantastic job.
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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Bossburg
Administrator
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1970
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| Posted: October 2nd, 2009 03:47 PM |
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Quote:
urban_la_vera wrote:
can't wait
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Please visit the *READ THIS FIRST* section of the forum, read the posting guidelines and then post your introduction.
Thanks,
Bossburg |
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AndrewP
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 4th, 2009 01:40 PM |
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I'm about 3/4 done with it now. I'm really just waiting for a report from an attendee that I need before I can finish it.
Soon...
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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Mufasa
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Joined: Feb 2008
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| Posted: October 5th, 2009 04:51 PM |
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Of course you had activity Andy, I wasn't able to make it  |
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AndrewP
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 13th, 2009 10:33 PM |
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Report for the 2009 MN BFRO Expedition
Forty two people attended the expedition. We had excellent weather throughout, with no rain, and daily high temperatures in the upper seventies and nightly lows in the lower fifties to upper forties. It was clear every night with no moon and an amazing view of the stars. We had little to no wind throughout the expedition, except for a light breeze on Thursday night.
The area of the expedition contains a mix of hardwood uplands, small aspen regrowth after logging, fresh logged clearings, a gravel pit, black spruce swamps, and tamarack/rhododendron bogs.
Other than sasquatches, we noted the following animals in the area: black bear, white-tailed deer, moose, coyotes, wolves, ruffed grouse, ravens, crows, cottontail rabbits, jays, red squirrels, grasshoppers, and mosquitoes. It should also be noted that the area contains many hazelnut bushes which had ripe nuts at the time of the expedition.
For this expedition, Base Camp was in the field, centrally located amongst the satellite camps. Most attendees deployed to one or more of the following satellite camps during the course of the expedition: Beaver Camp, Hazelnut Camp, Creepy Camp, Woods Camp, Clearing Camp, Heart Camp, Hill Camp, Vista Camp, Far Camp, Bog Camp, Gravel Camp, JH Camp, Estrogen Camp, and Crib Camp.
Note: We are not claiming that all of the sounds and occurrences described below were caused by sasquatches. These are the happenings that attendees reported that cannot be fully explained away or that have unknown sources. We did hear and see many other animals during the trip that I am not reporting on here.
Wednesday, September 16:
Sixteen people came on Wednesday and helped to setup the Base Camp and a few of the satellite camps.
10:00pm: The members of Hill Camp walked to Hill Camp from Base Camp. On the way, they heard something large parallel them from within the woods.
11:30pm: Nine of us began a dark walk from Base Camp to Bog Camp (about a mile). At around 11:45pm, a series of howls started and continued intermittently for about twenty five to thirty minutes. One set of voices came from the bog to the North of Hill Camp and south of Bog Camp. These were a pack of wolves. Another lone voice joined in occasionally. This voice was deeper and more guttural than the wolves. It was also about twice as loud. It came from the black spruce swamp to the Northwest of the approximate location of the wolves. This call sounded a bit like a wolf howl, a bit like a bovine, and a bit like a typical sasquatch howl, all rolled into one. Thankfully, we had recorders running at Bog Camp, Hill Camp, and in the walking party and we recorded it from three sides.
Meanwhile, those at Base Camp heard these howls, but they also noted two whoops, a low moan, and two knocks come from the Northwest of Base Camp in the direction of Beaver Camp (the wolves and other howls were coming from the East/Northeast of Base Camp).
We finished the walk to Bog Camp and returned with no more incidents.
Thursday, September 17:
2:00 to 4:00am: After entering their tent, the people at Creepy Camp heard two animals walking around their camp. The steps came around the same time and from different directions. The walking sounds were slow and heavy, with a bipedal gait. They also heard a few grunts during the encounter.
4:30am: CS got out of his tent and heard a large tree crash to the ground in the swamp between Base Camp and Creepy Camp. There was no wind at all in the area and the woods was very silent except for the falling tree. Also, at Hill Camp, something shook the Suburban that RB was sleeping in twice. The first time he kept his eyes closed, thinking it was his son playing a joke on him. The second shaking he opened his eyes and sat up. It was completely dark out and he could see nothing. That is when he checked he watch. All other people in the area were asleep at the time.
11:00am: Creepy Camp reported a foot print in their camp. We investigated and founds several tracks in the grass and leaves, only one of which was more than just matted down vegetation. The track was in heavy sphagnum and leaves. It was depressed about ½ to 1 inch into the detritus. The outer edge, ball of the foot, and large toe were quite clear. The leaves in it were pressed flat. You could see all five toes in the print, though only the big toe was clearly defined. The inner margin of the foot was all not completely defined except at the heel and ball. The print measured fifteen inches long, six inches wide at the ball of the foot, and five and a half inches wide at the heel. The print was not castable. It also lost it's shape as the moss regained its shape throughout the day. By evening it was barely discernible.
Evening: RN and TF scouted the lake by Far Camp. RN did a wood knock by the lake and heard and answering howl with a “Whaaaaaa” sound.
JH camp heard stalking, stealthy walking around the camp all evening. They went to bed to allow whatever it was to come into camp.
11:00pm to Midnight: A group of us went on a night routine. Two members of Creepy Camp stayed at the camp and sat facing each other in the dark with no fire. After the rest of us left they started talking and laughing normally. Not long after that they heard something approach from the woods behind one of them. They continued their talk, attempting to not let whatever it was know that they knew it was there. When they would be quiet it would quietly back away. When they laughed and talked, it would approach. At one point they could hear it within fifteen feet of them. SA saw it block out the starlight coming through the trees behind DS to a height of about eight to nine feet. He then saw the shadow of it turn and could see two cold, blue-white eyes at about eight feet. It then turned and the eyes disappear and it walked into the woods. At about that same time another large animal walked up right behind SA. It seemed that it passed by just a few feet behind him (we later found the grass matted down three feet behind his chair). A thermal team arrived on the scene shortly after the incident. JF saw nothing in the immediate vicinity, but did see something large with no obvious snout or tail scuttle quickly across the trail about forty yards down from Creepy Camp. Unfortunately, we later found that the hard drive on his recorder had malfunctioned and the image was not recorded.
Friday, September 18:
12:40am: TF at Far camp heard a knock from the west. An answer came within a minute from the South and much closer to Far camp.
1:08am: TF heard another knock near Far Camp. She then heard something rustling outside her tent and heard a high pitched mewling sound above her tent, followed by a deep “hoWa” sound a few minutes later.
2:00am to 4:00am: DD in his tent at Heart Camp heard foot steps approach the camp from the West and a second set approach from the East. Something kept landing on the tent and rolling down the tent to plop on the tent ground tarp. This happened many times throughout the night. In the morning, they found many small, blue berries around the tent and on the tent ground tarp. The berries came from a plant that grows to the East of the camp (it is not a Blueberry plant but a plant which has berries that are blue). They tested it and the berries made the exact sound DD heard when they are tossed onto the tent.
5:30am: JH and RS of JH Camp heard an “Ohio” type scream come from the South.
Afternoon: ES and MS found a pile of acorn tops that had been deposited under a tree. They also found scat one and a half inches in diameter and in several three inch sections. This scat was filled with ground acorn shells.
5:40pm: SS and AG were riding ATVs down a trail scouting. AG went first followed by SS. SS reports that he saw in passing a sasquatch in an opening in the woods. He turned around and came back slowly and saw it again. He passed it because he felt it was going to move away. When he didn’t see it, he turned around again and passed the opening and it was gone. He drove to the clearing to see if it went that way. He reports the following about it:
- Height: 8 feet
- Width at the shoulders: 4 feet
- Color: Dark brown with a lighter colored face.
- No observable neck.
- The top of the head was hidden.
- It had it’s back to him and was first turned to the left and on his second pass it had turned to the right and looked like it was moving that direction.
- It had a barrel shaped torso.
- The arms were long and hung down past mid thigh.
- He detected no odor, nor did he hear any sound from it.
Investigator JH checked out the scene with SS, but could find no trace of it, nor where it had gone. The scene looked mostly unspoiled except where SS had walked.
8:30pm: Beaver Camp and I at base Camp heard three distinct knocks come from across the bog to the North.
Saturday, September 19:
Midnight: The four members of Heart Camp sat around their fire. They heard noises in the woods around them. Earlier in the day DD had spilled Good-n-Plenty candies by his truck. As they sat around the fire a White Good-n-Plenty arced in and on DD's chair between his legs. All four saw it happen.
TN looked around with the thermal viewer. The only thing he saw was a glowing area showing in a gap in the foliage. It appeared to have two eyes a bit cooler than the main shape. He kept checking it and didn’t see it move or change for a very long time, so he figured it was a rock. Later, he checked it again and it was gone.
1:00am: Heart camp went to their tents.
2:00am: Beaver Camp heard several light knocks near their camp.
2:00 to 3:00am: DD in Heart Camp heard nine more objects strike the tent and roll off (they found more berries in the morning). He also heard something move quickly and noisily toward the tent, stopping ten feet away. He heard a “Huh-huh-huh” sound come from the bog side of camp in the other direction.
3:00am: JS at Creepy Camp heard strange whistles coming from the woods.
6:00am: TN got out of the tent and heard sticks breaking as something moved away. He felt “uncomfortable” while making his coffee.
7:43am: JH reported a howl from the East. He tried a howl of his own around 8:30, and was answered by 5 whoops. TN at heart camp also heard these. JH and RS later found hair on a post in the area that appears to be too long and fine to be bear hair. He collected this and I currently have it.
8:30 to 9:00pm: DS and SA were in the two privy tents by Base Camp. SA heard something walk past his privy. He originally thought it was DS playing a joke on him, but DS was still in his privy. It walked on the trail and sounded just like a person walking. SA then heard DS open the zipper on his privy and the walker left. They checked with the rest of the group to see who was in the area, but all other people were away from Base camp and the surrounding area at the time.
11:30pm: JH and RS heard three short bark/howls of unknown origin near JH camp. He may have a recording of this.
Sunday, September 20:
12:30am: JH watched something come out of the woods north of JH camp through a thermal viewer. At first he thought it was a conical head, but later realized it was farther away than he thought and was a person shaped creature bent over in a crouch. He watched it for 30 seconds and then passed the thermal to RS. In the time it took to pass it, it had left. They later recreated the scene using RS as a stand in. They learned then that it was about 100 yards from them. The animal was wider and more massive than RS, but was the same shape when RS crouched forward. The animal was uniformly hot, where RS's clothes could be seen. It had no visible ears nor snout and did not act like a bear. Furthermore, it was too large to be a bear. We can only assume that it was either a very large, naked human in the woods or a sasquatch.
The next day JH and RS checked out the area and found a trail in the spot where it was.
3:00am: DD and TN at Heart Camp heard four more berries hit the tent and something walked around the camp.
3:25 to 3:30am: CB parked between camps, heard two howls about a minute apart coming from the South.
5:06am: SA of Creepy Camp heard a long, low moan from the direction of JH Camp.
6:00 to 6:30am: RS at JH Camp howled three time in three directions. He was answered by four howls to the Northeast and three more from the Southeast. Heart camp heard these howls North of them, moving to the East. They were very loud. Crib Camp also reported moans from their position in the North, though it sounded to them that they were moans and came from the North, so it could have been another individual.
11:00am to noon: I was breaking down the privies and most others had left the expedition when TF, JT, and I clearly heard a loud Whoop from the direction of JH Camp.
Everyone but RS left the site that afternoon. RS decided to stay longer, his report (edited for confidentiality) is as follows:
I spent the day driving the trails, seeing where exactly everybody’s camps were. I set my trail cam in the area where JH had the class B visual and my thermal at Creepy Camp; I then went back to JH Camp to wait out the night. The reason I put my cameras in other places is because it is not unusual for the Squatches to visit and checkout the campsites when the people are gone. However, when I was here last time, I stayed an extra night and the Squatches were visiting me instead of the various campsites, but, be that as it may, I thought I would try it again. So here’s what happened:
7:20pm: I couldn’t help but notice how dead quiet it was.
7:27pm: From the East (not very far, I suspect near the area of Bog Camp), the wolves started going off.
7:29pm: More wolves going off dead south of camp.
7:30pm: The wolves moved into woods just south of JH Camp. The wolves that were to the East also moved closer and were about halfway (or closer) between Bog Camp and JH camp.
7:31pm: I heard a voice coming from the vicinity of where I thought the wolves to be, but that doesn’t make sense. First, I was sure there wasn’t anybody else out there. Second, they wouldn’t be in with the wolves. If they were, they wouldn’t have talked in a short sentence.
From my position the voice (singular) was not distinguishable words and it was not shouted. While I cannot say that it was Squatch chatter, I can say that I defiantly heard it, and that the wolves stopped and were not heard again.
8:00pm: Very dark! While sitting in my chair behind my vehicle I begin to hear movement in the bush. After a moment, I realized that it was not the wolves. The noise was to cumbersome, it was neither smooth nor stealthy. I remember thinking to myself “that’s cool, but I would rather you guys go and visit Creepy Camp.” I stood up in order to direct my attention better toward the noises. Almost instantly, I began getting real nerves. In addition to the movements, sticks and branches were being broken. I took a couple of steps toward the noises and…bam, panic attack. Fear griped hold of me like I've only experienced one time before. I stepped back toward the vehicle. Now the saplings were being smashed down. My palms began to sweat and I had an overwhelming sense of “Get out of here - NOW.” I began to rationalize that I was after all, by myself, maybe I should heed their admonition - so I left.
It was about 8:30pm when I got to the road. I drove around for a good couple of hours; not knowing where I was or where I was going. It took that long for me to calm down. I then found a cheap motel and crashed.
The next morning I drove back to the site to retrieve my equipment. I felt so humiliated, ashamed and deeply embarrassed. In order to save face and redeem my self, I decided to stay another night. And this time, I will have my thermal recorder with me.
Monday, September 21:
4:30-5:30pm: There was some movement to the East (the same area where everything happened yesterday), and a lot of movement west of me. I could not tell how far away it was, but it was relatively close and it was not something small. It would move for a few seconds and then there would be silence for 5 to 10 minutes, then it would move again, getting progressively closer each time.
5:15pm: With the sound of movement, grouse and other birds were stirred up approximately 20-25 yards to my west.
6:00pm: All was quiet. By 8:00pm, it started raining and did not stop the rest of the night. Nothing else happened.
Lessons learned -
(1) “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I should have slept some Sunday afternoon. (2) Be prepared. I was not expecting them to be messing with me. I thought they might check me out, but that they would focus on the other camps. (3) Always have your recording equipment with you. (4) Squatches can be very persuasive. (5) When ever you get beat (in this case humiliated and shamed) learn what you did wrong and get back out there.
(Edited by AndrewP)
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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Barb Kaz
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 117
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 12:20 AM |
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WOW. Great report. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. AndrewP, you did an amazing job compiling the report (I know it must be difficult to be taking notes in situations like this) and in keeping things organized with such a large group.
RS, you have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. It took a lot of guts to even put yourself in that situation. It seems like you were "zapped" and were wise to heed the warning and get the hell out. It sounds like you all had an amazing experience. Now I want to go to Minnesota.
Barb Kaz
NW PA 08
NW PA 09 |
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semi p
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 391
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 12:49 AM |
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| double wow! Amazing report Andrew. Keep up the good work! |
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ladyliza
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Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 95
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 12:59 AM |
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I think i held my breath while reading the whole report..lol...
I was glued to the edge of my seat ... Great reports... Thank you for sharing..
Northwestern Pa, McKean County |
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RicknMs
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 31
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 07:45 AM |
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| Awesome ! Thanks so much for posting the report of your amazing expedition. RS,don't be ashamed of the "fear factor". I got "run off" once and I had a loaded 12 gauge shotgun. The feeling was so intense that I could not wait to get away from "it". The funny thing is that in the pitch blackness, I knew it was behind and to the right of me. Yikes! |
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RealNewby
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 139
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 08:53 AM |
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Hello all-
I attended this expedition and frequent this forum quite a bit, so I will be happy to try and answer any questions you may have from the report. For reference, I am TN and stayed at Heart camp.
This was my second expedition as I also attended the 2009 Wisconsin trip. The two trips were polar opposites for me as I cowarded in the base camp in Wisconsin and saw nor heard nothing. I swallowed hard and decided to camp away from the group. That was the best decision I could have made and really added to the overall enjoyment of having the stuffing scared out of me.
I highly recommend attending an expedition. I've never had so much fun while being so scared in my entire life.
Go, I'm serious!
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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monongahela
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 01:32 PM |
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RealNewby, was the thermal you saw the "rock with eyes" through connected to a recorder?
With all the audibles that were heard on this exped, I hope we get to hear some good recordings...
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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AndrewP
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 02:54 PM |
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Quote:
monongahela wrote:
With all the audibles that were heard on this exped, I hope we get to hear some good recordings...
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Ask, and you shall recieve:
These recordings were made by me on my Edirol R-09HR recorder. I captured these files during a dark walk between 11:45PM and 12:30AM on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We were walking between Base Camp and JH Camp. The wolf howls were coming from a black spruce/tamarack swamp to the East of us and the other howls were coming from the swamp to the North East. The nearest cows or dogs to us were over a mile due West. Rick's recording of the same event was made beyond the location of the howls to the North East of our position.
(I have edited all of these files to remove some of the louder people comments and noises so that I could better amplify the howls).
Files:
MN09_01_09172009_Howlandwolves1:
- 0.5 sec, Unknown Howl
- 3.5 to 27.5 sec, Wolves and people
- 28 sec, Unknown Howl
- 33.25 sec, Clear Wolf howl (slightly cliped at the front due to an edit)
MN09_02_09172009_Wolves1: An example of the wolves howling that night.
MN09_03_09172009_StrangeHowl: This is more of a howl/whoop. Unfortunately, I am talking at the time.
MN09_04_09172009_HowlsandWolves:
-0 to 12 sec, Wolves
-12.5 to 15 sec, Unknown
-15 to 39 sec, Wolves, people, and night sounds (edited to remove some of the loud people sounds)
-40 to 42.5 sec, Unknown Howl
-56.5 to 1:15.5, Wolves
- 1:16, Unknown
-1:26, Unknown or Wolf???
MN09_05_09172009_2HowlsUnknown: 2 unknown howls
MN09_06_09172009_HowlthenWolf: An unknown howl followed by a wolf.
I should note that I posted these as MP3 files because the WAV files from my high resolution recorder are huge.
(Edited by AndrewP)
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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AndrewP
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 03:08 PM |
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Quote:
monongahela wrote:
RealNewby, was the thermal you saw the "rock with eyes" through connected to a recorder?
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No, he did not have one of the recording units. Only once during the trip did someone see something through a recording unit, but the hard drive had malfunctioned and the recordings were lost. The curse continues... 
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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ApesAmongUs
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 71
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 03:19 PM |
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Fantastic report, thanks for posting it. I understand that overwhelming feeling you had.
Very interesting about the voice....wolves connection. I experienced something similar with coyotes....and squatch. When I was approached I was armed, but felt powerless against whatever was out there. I concur with Rick. |
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monongahela
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 05:43 PM |
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Quote:
AndrewP wrote:
Ask, and you shall recieve:
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Thanks AndrewP. I can barely wait to listen to them. I've recently discovered software that allows me to do spectrogram analysis of recordings and I've begun working on a theory that might help improve the recognition of BF howls. Will take a lot more analysis, but if I turn up anything interesting I'll share it here.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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monongahela
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 06:48 PM |
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I just finished my first play through, and they are all awesome recordings. With the spectrograph I can see distinct differences between the wolf howls, and the non-wolf howls.
But that howl at the beginning of "MN09_06_09172009_HowlthenWolf" is just fascinating. Four notes in less than three seconds, and what a set of pipes!
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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RealNewby
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 139
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 07:38 PM |
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Quote:
monongahela wrote:
RealNewby, was the thermal you saw the "rock with eyes" through connected to a recorder?
With all the audibles that were heard on this exped, I hope we get to hear some good recordings...
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My thermal image was interesting, to say the least. We were sitting around the fire, hearing all sorts of noises to our immediate south, which sloped away from us towards a bog. We could hear footfalls along with branch breaks and it was close. With the new moon, it was pitch black and we couldn't see anything down towards the bog. If we talked and laughed, it made noise. If we stopped, it did too.
As the thermal was passed my way, EE noticed the batteries were almost dead. I was on the far left and started scanning the area towards the bog when I noticed a very bright object bracketed on the top and bottom by branches. There were two black spots where eyes would be located. I literally watched it until the batteries did indeed die. It took me a few minutes to change the batteries, but I went right back to that spot and it was still there. I didn't mention anything to others because I wasn't sure what I was seeing. It was almost pear shaped with a bit narrower at the top than down below. Very bright and it didn't move.
The next morning, we scouted around where we heard all the noise and I sat down exactly in the position where I saw the image and had EE walk over to the spot. It was a perfect clearing in the branches where I could see him at about 20 feet. His face was much smaller in that space than the object I saw. That night, I looked again with the thermal and it wasn't there. I do believe it was a sasquatch watching us.
The best part of the night was the Good-N-Plenty flying in from the bog and landing in DD's chair. ME and I were on both sides of him and DD was leaning back in his chair when it hit. That freaked us out completely. We laughed hard, but it was shocking. It might only be a coincidence, but it was DD who was eating the candy and he ended up being the target. Great shot, that's for sure.
As I said before, if you haven't attended, go. It was really cool.
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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AndrewP
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 08:07 PM |
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Quote:
monongahela wrote:
But that howl at the beginning of "MN09_06_09172009_HowlthenWolf" is just fascinating. Four notes in less than three seconds, and what a set of pipes!
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You should have heard it in RL, in the dark, a half mile from camp...did I mention it was dark? I don't think the hair on the back of my neck settled back down until we finished the walk and i got into my tent that night. Even then the wolves started up again (this time without the unknown answering calls) and made it hard to go to sleep for a quite a while.
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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monongahela
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 08:27 PM |
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RealNewby, you're right, that flying candy had to be a real shocker. SO many questions, like when did sas manage to pick it up from the ground? How long had he been carrying it around? What thought process goes on in sas's head leading from picking something up from a camp, and deciding to throw it back at the campers later? Certainly sounds playful and inquisitive. And I wonder what sas thought of your laughter reaction to the candy toss. Do squatches recognize the mood that laughter conveys? What an amazing event. So simple yet so fantastic.
AndrewP, I was thinking just that when I was listening to those howls... "this would freak me completely out to hear these kinds of howls, alone, at night, in a pitch black forest". I know just hearing little critters scittering through the brush at midnight can get me going a little. But to hear howls with that kind of power behind them, blasting through the night time forest (and in concert with wolf howls to boot), well let's say I would probably have a tough time maintaining a dispassionate perspective.
Monongahela
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monongahela
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 350
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| Posted: October 14th, 2009 11:23 PM |
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AndrewP,
There's so much going on in that first audio file that I wasn't able to get past it and on to the others this evening. But what I found in the file "MN09_01_09172009_Howlandwolves1" was well worth the effort.
I did some careful play back with good headphones and an audio analysis tool called "Sonic Visualizer". The software shows you a spectrogram of the audio as you're listening to it, and when visual cues are available, a lot more detail pops out of the recording.
I took screen grabs of the spectrogram and put them up at the links below. I edited notes into each image to indicate what I heard at each point in the audio file. Normally there's an easily visible "signal" just above or below the text I put on the image. But just to help, here's a little explanation of what I think each segment of the file contains (note, all of these images will look better if you click on the magnifying glass to enlarge the image).
Spectrogram 1 is from the first 6 seconds of the recording, and in it I can make out the loud howl of an unknown source, a quick bark-howl response, and the fading echo of the loud howl (an indication of the overall power behind the call):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
In spectrogram 2 I can hear the wolf howl response to the howl(s) in the spectrogram above. The spectrogram also shows what appear to be harmonics of the wolf howl that run in sync, and at higher frequencies than the powerful base howl. But I think the interesting bit in this spectrogram is the second, faint ascending howl that appears at about second 10 of the original audio file. It's easy to overlook with all the loud howls in the foreground, but its there:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
In spectrogram 3 I can make out two faint but noteworthy sounds. The first is a distant, descending call. It's too weak to discern if its a howl, but it has some of that characteristic. It also a lot like an owl, so that's what I tentatively label that call. The second sound is very difficult to see on the spectrogram, and almost impossible to note in the audio without a spectrogram. It's represented by a faint point of reddish color just below the "f" in the phrase "faint wood knock?". That's what it sounds like to me, not unlike the wood knocks I recorded in August of this year:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
In spectrogram 4 we have a replay of the faint ascending howl noted in spectrogram 2 above. Sounds very similar to me, possibly the same animal. And competing with that howl, I can also hear the distant descending call from spectrogram 3, again. But this time its clearer, and doesn't sound much like an owl at all. It has more of a low, moaning howl quality to it in my opinion:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
In spectrogram 5 we have a repeat of the first howl on this recording from the unkown animal. This howl is loud, clear and powerful. I used the term gutteral (sp?) to describe the quality of the howl, which seems so powerful it has qualities nearly approach that of a roar. This is a spectacular call: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
And the final spectrogram, number 6, is the wolf howl response. Notice the harmonics reappear in this image, and note how level wolf's call is through out its duration. I've seen the same signature in several other wolf calls in these recordings (and others):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...feat=directlink
Hopefully ya'll find this interesting (I do anyway). And I'll be trying to do similar reviews of the rest of the recordings, time permitting.
Monongahela
sites.google.com/site/mongahela |
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rbirch
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 218
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 12:07 AM |
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Very interesting report guys!! Amazing activity.
And pretty awesome studying of the audioclips Monongahela.. thanks!
2009 Alberta Expedition |
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Archdlx1958
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Joined: Aug 2008
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 02:03 AM |
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That was an awesome report Andrew!
As was mentioned, I too held my breath through the entire (well almost lol) post.
RealNewby, I have hunted big game in some pretty wild areas of Alberta in my 35+ yrs of hunting, and I KNOW for a fact, I would NOT be able to any better than you, on my first, and probably my second trip out! So please don't feel bad.
Glad you all got to hear/see/experience something so wonderful.
Mono...great job on the audio!
Hope to make a trip with some of you in 2010!
Later....
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RealNewby
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Joined: Apr 2008
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 08:23 AM |
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Quote:
monongahela wrote:
RealNewby, you're right, that flying candy had to be a real shocker. SO many questions, like when did sas manage to pick it up from the ground? How long had he been carrying it around? What thought process goes on in sas's head leading from picking something up from a camp, and deciding to throw it back at the campers later? Certainly sounds playful and inquisitive. And I wonder what sas thought of your laughter reaction to the candy toss. Do squatches recognize the mood that laughter conveys? What an amazing event. So simple yet so fantastic.
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Looking back through my trip notes, DD spilled the candy just after we made dinner, around 6:00 p.m. We left the camp for a group meeting and didn't return until around 11:00 p.m., so there was ample time to cruise through our site. During the Wisconsin expedition, Don Young put together a mixture of different items and boiled them in a pan, one of the items was licorice. He felt the smell attracked them, so it is possible that is why it was picked up off the ground.
Great analysis on the recordings. Keep it up.
To squatch, or not to squatch? That is the question. |
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AndrewP
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 08:43 AM |
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Monongahela,
Great work on the audio analysis. I really appreciate it. I PMed you about this as well. The mpegs you're using are quite stripped down from the original, high resolution, 96 MHz WAV files. These are quite large (3 to 16 MB), but I can zip them up and send them to you if you'd like to use them for your analysis. You'll likely get more definition out of them, than with the mpeg files.
See my PM for e-mail info and the like.
Thanks,
Andy
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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RNOFFKE
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 09:06 AM |
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Dear Andy and others,
I do have the full hour or two of this Wednesday night event recorded and saved. The couple clips I sent you were just a "sample" of a few of the howls. If you or anyone else is really interested in analyzing these further there is plenty more audio there to be listened too? Just let me know. A great time indeed!
Rick
SQUATCHER from Central Wisconsin |
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AndrewP
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 10:26 AM |
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Quote:
RNOFFKE wrote:
Dear Andy and others,
I do have the full hour or two of this Wednesday night event recorded and saved. The couple clips I sent you were just a "sample" of a few of the howls. If you or anyone else is really interested in analyzing these further there is plenty more audio there to be listened too? Just let me know. A great time indeed!
Rick
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Thanks, Rick. Yeah, I have the whole thing too, but mine is over 800 MB in the entireity because of the HR recording. I'll have a hard time sharing my complete set of files from that time unless I burn it to a DVD and mail it (which is why I cut it down to the more interesting segments in Audacity). Is your set smaller? We also have the audio recorded of this incident by Hill camp.
JH may also have recordings of some of the other events, but he's out of contact for a while and won't get to them for a couple of weeks yet.
Thanks,
Andy
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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RNOFFKE
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 37
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 11:36 AM |
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Andy,
The complete audio file from that night is about 2GB on my recorder. I'll see if I can chop out a few of the most interesting sequences that include that "thing" howling with the wolves. I think it's awesome that there's some people with some pretty sophisticated audio skills who are interested in looking at these. I'm still unsure what this "thing" was, but it's unusual enough to warrant listening further. I'll see what I can find.
Rick
SQUATCHER from Central Wisconsin |
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AndrewP
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 158
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| Posted: October 15th, 2009 11:54 AM |
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I am just amazed at how different the spectrogram signature of it is compared to the wolves. That in and of itself blows me away.
Andy P.
MN BFRO Investigator
2009 Minnesota Expedition Organizer |
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