YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 21st and 23rd

STATE: North Carolina

COUNTY: Ashe County

LOCATION DETAILS: Buffalo Rd./ Hwy. 88 area near Three Top Mountain.

NEAREST TOWN: West Jefferson

NEAREST ROAD: Buffalo Rd./Three-Top Mountain area

OBSERVED: I was staying at a vacation rental property and heard vocalizations on two evenings over a one week period. They sounded exactly like the Ohio recordings. (Long howl). The howls really got the local dogs to barking also.

ALSO NOTICED: Nothing except dogs barking.

OTHER WITNESSES: No other witnesses.

OTHER STORIES: No.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Around 8 to 11 PM.

ENVIRONMENT: Mountains and forests.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator MB Pope:

The witness and I spoke by phone and he detailed his account to me. He rented a house for a week so he could do some fishing in the area.The witness is very familiar with the area and once a year takes a similar vacation in this same general area to fish.This particular year, he took the vacation alone.
The witness added the following details to his posted account:
-The house is very secluded , with only a few houses in the area. None are visible from the house he rented.
-The house is in an area surrounded by gamelands, national forest, and steep mountains with numerous ridges and coves.
-The witness stepped out on the deck about 10pm to smoke on the evening of July 21st. It was a beautiful night, cool and still. A few dogs barked in the background.
-The howls on the 21st came from the northwest. They started around 10pm and went on until about midnight. The howls each lasted about 30 seconds and were about 15-20 minutes apart over the two hour period. The howls were deep, long and low.
-The howls on the 23rd also came from the northwest, but were more distant, perhaps on the other side of the mountains or ridges.The witness heard several howls on the 2nd night, all similar to the howls from the 1st night.
-The witness listened to the Ohio recordings on the BFRO site and said the howls he heard sound very similar to the 1994 Ohio - Moaning Howl.
-The other nights at the vacation house were very windy. He did not hear any coyotes while he was there.

Lives in coastal South Carolina and is self employed in construction and development. Loves the outdoors and has hiked throughout the Pacific Northwest, the Rockies, Chile, Argentina, and the Appalachians. She attended BFRO in SC (2007), NC (2008), and Georgia (2008). She will be attending the 2009 expeditions in North Carolina and Georgia.