YEAR: 1991

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

STATE: New Jersey

COUNTY: Burlington County

LOCATION DETAILS: This occured at: Batona trail, Wharton state forest, Burlington County, New Jersey

OBSERVED: Myself and 3 friends were hiking down the Batona trail through the New Jersey pine barrens, when we stopped at a trailside campsite for the night. This was around 2030-2100 hours. At around 2330-2400 hours, we heard an odd high pitched scream. Like a cross between a howl and a whistle. A few minutes later we could hear a large animal moving through the brush, making that scream as it went. It appeared to stop every few minutes before it would continue on its way. It was about 20 yards off into the woods which are very thick at that point. There were on open fires permitted and very dim moon light, so no one could see what was making the noise. The animal moved along his way and the sound faded away. No one really wanted to go out and look since we only had one flashlight. I have hunted and fished that area often and so have my friends, but none of us have ever heard sounds like that before or since. We should have checked the area the next day, but we did not. The total time we heard the animal was about 10 minutes. It seemed to stay about 20-25 yards away as it moved past our campsite. The next day some other hikers we met coming the other way also claimed they heard the same thing..

It seemed to be making its way through the woods, maybe going towards the Batsto River.