YEAR: 2008

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

DATE: 1-2 week

PROVINCE: British Columbia

COUNTRY: Canada

NEAREST TOWN: Lumby

NEAREST ROAD: Creighton Valley Road

OBSERVED: I was on holidays the first 2 weeks of August 2008, and camping with my daughter at Echo Lake Fishing Resort, in Echo Lake Provincial Park. The resort is just off Creighton Valley Road, which in turn is off HWY 6 east of Vernon. Being on holidays, the exact date I cannot recall, everyday runs into each other.
Every night before falling asleep, one can hear loons on the lake, only until a certain time. We were camping in a tent, with one other tent beside us and the rest of the sites occupied by RV’S.
I was awakened around 2:00 AM to a loud shrieking noise. It wasn’t close to my tent, which of course was my main concern, with my daughter sleeping beside me. This sound was coming off the water, it seemed to be coming from the west side of the lake, which would put it closer to Lumby. I was bolt upright and after ascertaining that it was not close I slowly put my jeans, hikers and jacket on so as not to make too much noise. I did not want to wake up my daughter and plus I wanted to continue to listen to the sounds. I got out of the tent with a flashlight and walked across the lot to the shore of the lake, everybody in the campground had gone to bed. No fires, no lights from RV’s, no noise but this screaming. I stood there on the shore and listened intently. I knew this was a sound I had never heard before. It was not a bear, not a cougar, not a loon or other fowl. This was a screaming or shrieking that lasted 4-5 seconds each and continued for 9 minutes. Then abruptly stopped.
I was not the only one to be awakened by this noise. Parked behind me in an RV there was a family with 3 young kids. The Dad came out of his RV and stood beside me and asked me what the noise was. I replied it was something I had never heard before. We both stood there and listened until it stopped, conversed for a moment and said goodnight. I did not talk to him the next day about this, as he was packing up to leave.
I will never forget this sound. It has seared my memory.
At the end of August 2008, I searched the world wide web and found a vocal recording on youtube. The recording taken from Payallup, WA. This is exactly what I heard.

OTHER WITNESSES: One other man/father of 3 kids, camped in a RV.

OTHER STORIES: Only what I have since read on your website, youtube, and other websites.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 2:00 AM

ENVIRONMENT: Pine and cedar forest. Lakeside campground/resort.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Blaine McMillan :

I contacted this witness by phone and talked to her for more than an hour. I found her to be honest and factual in her report. In August of 2008 the witness and her daughter were camping at a Provincial campground near Lumby, BC. Every evening the loons could be heard on the lake, which the campers soon became accustomed to hearing. After several nights of camping the witness was awoken at 2 AM by a new sound that she could not identify. The witness said that this new sound was a scream which lasted five seconds in duration and after a pause it would repeat itself.

After listening for several minutes she realized that it was coming from some distance away and she felt that this new sound needed to be investigated further. Once dressed and standing outside of her tent she was joined by another camper who was also awakened by the 'screamer'. As they continued to listen to the vocalizations they both mentally went through the list of possible animals who could make the sounds. Neither of them could come up with a plausible solution.

After her holidays the witness searched the internet and found the Puyallup vocalizations on Youtube. After my interview she listened to the vocalization on the BFRO website and then confirmed to me that the following recording was the same as the one she had heard at the lake.

1973 Whoop-Howl from Puyallup, Washington

In around the same time frame as this incident there was another report of vocalizations heard in the Lumby area, see BFRO Report #24377.