YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: October

STATE: Arkansas

COUNTY: Polk County

LOCATION DETAILS: 4 miles east of cove

NEAREST TOWN: Cove

NEAREST ROAD: County Rd 32

OBSERVED: I am a native of this area. I am an experienced woodsman and this is my first siting at the age of 38. It occured on county road 32 east of Cove AR. I came around corner it was standing on left side of road. It immediately turned its face away from me and was standing there. As I got behind it, it was between nine and ten foot tall and three foot wide at shoulders. Its fur was the same color as the dirt road it was on. I drove past it and was as close as 6 foot to it. It kept its face turned away from me the whole time. I drove away in disbelief and shock.

OTHER WITNESSES: no

OTHER STORIES: yes heard vocals about a mile away at a different time but same time of year

TIME AND CONDITIONS: before dusk

ENVIRONMENT: pasture at edge of pine and hardwood trees

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:

I spoke with this witness by phone. The sighting occurred about one mile from the witnesses' home. The sighting was preceded by some unusual occurrences and vocalizations. The witness related that shortly after he moved into the house bags of garbage left outside would occasionally go missing, but without any accompanying scattered garbage or other mess animals usually leave.
On another occasion the witness and his wife had been sitting outdoors watching the sunset. Just after dusk they hear "weird whistles, like some kind of jungle bird". The whistles were then followed by a series of clicking sounds "like those clickers used to train dogs with ". The clicking sounds were then followed by vocalizations which sounded almost like someone speaking. "It sounded like words, but words we didn't know". The witness also described these vocalizations as "like a crazy auctioneer- like words you couldn't make out".
The sighting occurred late in the day, but "there was still plenty of light out". The sighting lasted approximately 15 to 20 seconds. The witness actually saw the creature as it finished crossing the road. He compared the movement to "that film you always see " (the Patterson footage). When the creature crossed the road it stopped facing away from the road. "He could have just gone down into the gully and disappeared, but he just stood there." The witness felt that the creature either didn't want to look at him, or it didn't want it's face to be seen. This behavior is similar to Report #8732.
At the closest point the witness was only six to eight feet from the creature. The hair was reddish brown in color and looked fairly uniform in length. He estimated it's length to be about two and one half inches. "There was nothing scruffy about it- its hair was all going in one direction".
The witness was most struck by the size and girth of the creature. He estimated its height to be between eight and nine feet tall. "I was in a pickup and I was still looking up".
He described the body build as massive and muscular, with very wide shoulders and a narrower waist. He did not really notice the hands or feet- "I was looking up".
The witness is a lifelong outdoorsman and has never seen anything similar before or since. He now has several large dogs and reports no other incidents near his house.

About BFRO Investigator Tony Gerard:

Tony Gerard is a community college biology professor.