YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Fall

MONTH: September

PROVINCE: Ontario

COUNTRY: Canada

LOCATION DETAILS: Small creek rinning under highway near north end of Lake Superior Prov. Park

NEAREST TOWN: Wawa

NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 17

OBSERVED: My wife and I along with our one year old son were moving up the side of a creek heading to a deep pool where I have fished in the past. The creek itself is generally about 20 feet wide with thick cedar bush mixed with some poplar stands along the banks of the creek. As we made our way along the bank of the creek we smelled a strong odor which I assumed was a black bear in the area. After about 10 minutes we reached our destination on the creek and I started fishing. My wife sat on the gravel bar about 13 feet behind me. After about five minutes of fishing my wife asked me if I threw a rock by her. I asked her in a strange manner as if I would be throwing a rock when I was busy fishing. She then stated again that she heard a rock land near her on the gravel bar. I thought that it was probably something that fell out of the trees that were hanging somewhat above the area she was sitting at.
Just after that she heard some noise in the forest directly behind us and called to me to come and listen. I heard some cracking like small branches breaking possibly underfoot. At this point I was thinking black bear as the strong smell on the way in and then the noise in the forest. So I picked up some large rocks and threw them into the forest to scare the assumed bear away. That didn’t really help as the crunching/crackling noise persisted so we packed up and headed back down the trail to the car. On our way back we did not hear any further noises or smell anything unusual.

OTHER WITNESSES: Just my wife and I.

OTHER STORIES: Yes, various ones that I have and currently are submitting.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: time was early afternoon, possibly 2p.m.

Follow-up investigation report:

This occurred after a "whistling" incident in August ( Report #17443 ), one-month prior and before he actually had a sighting two years later in October of 2006 ( Report #16807 ).

Important to note is that this witness stressed the fact that in all his outdoor experiences over the years, he has had many strange incidents occur. But he could explain all of them except the three that he reported to the BFRO. The only reason he reported the incidents in August and September of 2004 is because of his sighting in 2006. After reporting his sighting he realized what could have been responsible for the other two unexplained incidents and therefore reported them also.

Needless to say, he is now very interested in the subject and has already accompanied me on a field investigation.