YEAR: 2011

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 4

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Lake County

LOCATION DETAILS: From Deland, FL go W on SR 44 across the St. Johns River. Take first right on CR 42. Travel 3 miles to Lake Mack and turn left. Turn right on Bear Lake.

NEAREST TOWN: Paisley, FL

NEAREST ROAD: CR 42

OBSERVED: Late at night as my family and I were setting off fireworks, we heard something growl loud enough for all of us to hear. My daughters boyfriend, a policeman said he thought it was a "bear" just in the treeline off to our left which was very close. Since we do have black bears, I picked up my grandbaby and we all stepped back as my husband and daughter's boyfriend had a look around. Something crashed away into the woods and was gone. The crazy thing is that the sound was nothing like we had ever heard before and we've been here a long time. I might add that we recently completely fenced the area which makes it even more odd. Accessing the yard would be hard for a bear now. Our dogs did not bark but, we had been setting off fireworks, so, I kind of let them off the hook!

This occurred again about a month later in August. I had stepped out on the back porch to get a soda from the refrigerator. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and about that time, I heard the same low growling noise straight in front of me that we had heard in July. Then, I heard rustling and what sounded like someone running into or hitting the side of our wooden shed out back very loudly. I yelled to my husband and ran out behind the shed with a spotlight. I saw nothing, and there was no noise of something running away. The woods are thick there so, someone or something would only have to stand a few feet away to disappear. The dogs finally decided to bark when I yelled at my husband, but then, they are kind of lazy and could have been sleeping. Amazingly enough, they are always manage to be awake long enough to eat.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, there were five adults and one child.

OTHER STORIES: Yes, this occurred again about a month later in August. I had stepped out on the back porch to get a soda from the refrigerator. I felt the hair on my neck stand up and about that time, I heard the same low growling noise straight in front of me that we had heard in July. Then, I heard rustling and what sounded like someone running into or hitting the side of our wooden shed out back. I yelled to my husband and ran out behind the shed with a spotlight. Nothing was there, and there was no noise of something running away. The woods are thick there so, someone or something would only have to stand a few feet away to disappear. The dogs only barked when they heard me yell for my husband. Odd again.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Late at night as my family and I were setting off fireworks, we heard something growl loud enough for all of us to hear. My daughters boyfriend, a policeman said he thought it was a "bear" just in the treeline off to our left. Since we do have black bears, I picked up my grandbaby and we all stepped back as my husband and daughter's boyfriend had a look around. Something crashed away into the woods and was gone. The crazy thing is that the sound was nothing like we had ever heard before and we've been here a long time. I might add that we recently completely fenced the area which makes it even more odd. Accessing the yard would be hard for a bear now. Our dogs did not bark, but they were freaked out by the fireworks a little.

ENVIRONMENT: Warm, humid weather. Scrub sand ridge with pine and oak trees. Small lake in the rear of the property. We had been having a long hot, dry summer. Didn't get much rain until October.
I do have bees and chickens on the property. We had to put an electric fence around the bees after a bear ate one of my hives, but that was months earlier.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:

The witnesses live on a small farm in a very remote area outside Deland, FL, between the Ocala National Forest and the Seminole State Forest.

Both areas have a high concentration of Sasquatch reports and have heavy areas of first growth forest. The area of the farm is all first growth pine and oak forest with scrub. The witnesses are very sincere and credible; one is active duty military, the other a nursing home administrator.

Many other things have happened since they first reported activity. I will cover all the activity in this report. On July 4, they had a BBQ with five adults, and a four year old child. The entire day had been spent outside cooking and playing. After 9 PM they lit fireworks. The daughter’s boyfriend is an Officer in the Marine Corps. He is also a sniper. During the fireworks, he noticed movement and a dark shape about 15 -20 feet away from them. He yelled, “I think there’s a bear.” Before everyone could look towards it, they all heard a very low, deep growl. Once they all looked, they heard it move away from them. The men got flashlights and attempted to follow the sound, but found nothing. The area the growl came from is near a path that leads to a lake on their property. From this pathway, their entire BBQ could have been watched. A bear would have run once the fireworks started, and bears do not growl. Black bears can “roar,” huff and snap their teeth, but cannot growl.

Photo of the view the growler would have had watching the fireworks:



About a month after that, the woman went on her back porch at night to get a drink from her outdoor refrigerator. She surprised something very large that growled in the same way as before but much louder. She describes it as very guttural. She heard something run away, and slap the side of the shed very loudly. She said it hit so hard, she joked to her husband that it must have knocked itself out. They retrieved flashlights, and again found nothing.

A few weeks after that, her daughter went out to feed the chickens at night, and again the shed was slapped loudly. She heard heavy footsteps move into the woods rapidly. It should be noted, that when these encounters occurred, the family’s activities were not the normal routine. As it is a working “farm", most days are routine with daily timely activities. It seems that when the routine changed, the activity of the family was reacted to.

Around the same time, the couple returned home to find a 150 lb. metal barrel removed from the outbuilding it had been in. The barrel had been behind other barrels. The left back barrel in this photo was the one that was lifted out and pillaged:



In order to remove this particular barrel, it would have had to be lifted up and over the others. The barrel has a pressure lock on it that I found difficult to remove.

Photo of the barrel spring lock:



The barrel was found about 60 feet outside the building in the woods. It was evident it had been carried – there was not a trace of it being rolled or dragged. The barrel had been opened and the dog food and chicken feed inside had been pillaged. It took two grown men to carry it back and return it to its proper place.

Several times last summer, it seemed the chickens didn’t produce as many eggs as usual. I asked if she would hear the chickens if something were in the hen house. She explained how the eggs roll to the back of the house where they are collected, so nothing goes in the hen house.

Photo of the chicken coop egg hatch:



The hinge door has a clip on it. She says it is unusual when the chickens are off by 10 or more eggs. It would seem eggs are taken on occasion. (see photo.) They have many chickens and admit that if one went missing, it would go unnoticed.

Photo of the chicken coop egg hatch latch:



One night in February, a very swift, heavy bipedal sounding sprinter ran from the back of the property, alongside the house to the front woods. The runner was so quick; it didn’t activate the sensor lights. The steps so heavy, the house shook.

Last summer her beehive was “decimated” from a bear. They put up an electric fence with three rows of barb wire on top. In May of 2012, the hive was raided again. This time, only the brood (larva) was eaten, not the honeycomb. The hive is made up of “stacked” boxes, with frames of vertical honeycomb frames. The top box of honeycomb literally dripping with honey was removed and placed neatly on the ground and ignored. The bottom box filled with the larvae was eaten. It was not destroyed as it had been before. Black hair was left on the barb wire and is being sent to a lab. (This report will be updated with results.)

Beehive section was placed neatly on the ground with the honey not being touched. Just the larva (brood) was eaten:



Four 16 inch footprints with a 52 inch stride were discovered outside the hive fence.

16 inch left foot print (1), with 52 inch stride. Track of four prints found near beehive:



16 inch right foot print (2):



16 inch left foot print (3):



16 inch right foot print (4):



The family dogs bark when a bear is on the property. The couple claim that they usually know when a bear is nearby because of the dogs. The dogs did not bark during these incidents. At one time they did bark, but it was only after the woman yelled for the man. The behavior of dogs not barking at a Sasquatch has been reported in similar encounters.

An X shaped stick structure was found very near where the barrel had been discarded. The branches had been broken and woven in to the surrounding trees to form the X.

Photo of the x shaped stick structure where the stolen barrel was found:



The property has a lake on it, and there are several other springs nearby. There are deer, turkey and edible trees in the area. Surrounding farms raise goats, pigs, chickens and cows. Every neighbor seems to have stories that are attributed to bear activity although I think that some of the incidents are not necessarily bear. As stated earlier, this area has a history of Sasquatch reports.

About BFRO Investigator R. Monteith:

Re Monteith has had a life-long interest in Bigfoot and has an extensive background in outdoor land and ocean survival as well as mountaineering. She has tran-sailed the Atlantic, backpacked in remote places throughout the world and has climbed three of the seven summits. She studied International Relations at Florida International University, and is a Financial and Real Estate Consultant. She has participated in many private expeditions as well as the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 & 2015 BFRO North Florida Expeditions and the 2013 BFRO UP Michigan & Alabama Expedition. She also organized Florida's 2017 Town Hall Meeting. She was an Executive Producer of the documentary film, "Skunk Ape Lives" and featured as a Crypto Expert on The Science Channel's television show, Strange Evidence for seasons 2 - 5.