YEAR: 2022

SEASON: Winter

MONTH: December

DATE: December 17

STATE: Georgia

COUNTY: Cherokee County

LOCATION DETAILS: Whitestone Dr, Canton GA

[Investigator (MM) notes:
GPS Coordinates for location of howler
34.173506, -84.464559

NEAREST TOWN: Canton ga

NEAREST ROAD: Hickory road

OBSERVED: I have heard a strange “mournful howling” (as I’ve heard it described) several times in the middle of the night, but last night it was only 50 feet from my house at 2am.

It was a loud howl like humanoid or larger, not a dog..

I grabbed my rifle and opened the door and immediately it stopped. About 30 minutes go by and i hear it again. This time sounds like it’s a quarter mile away (but very loud).

I have been researching all types of animals that could make such a noise and have found no answers, except Sasquatch. I have heard the noise 4 or 5 times within a 3 year period of living here, always in late November or December.

ALSO NOTICED: My dog caught and maybe killed a rabbit about an hour before the sounds. The rabbit escaped my backyard but was injured. The next morning (just now) I discovered a patch of rabbit fur beyond my fence (maybe it died on the other side and then was eaten?)

OTHER WITNESSES: Not this time but in the past my mother has heard the same howling at 1-3am.

OTHER STORIES: No because I’m not very social around here and relatively new to the area.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Cold but clear skies (50 degrees or so). Very little outdoor lighting. Lighting does not reach the tree line.

ENVIRONMENT: There is a small forest (if even that) between two neighborhoods but it connectc to other larger areas I’m not sure. Check Google maps with the address I provided it happened behind my house.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

I spoke with witness Shawn L. by phone.

Very credible 30-something software developer. Not from the area. Lived there since 2020. Works from home for a company in Atlanta.

The incident definitely happened. The only question is whether it was a misidentification.

It has happend three years in a row, a few times each year, always in December or late November. The howls were previously in the distance. The incident two nights ago was just the loudest and closest it has come to his property.

The howls always came from the north of his property, or the northwest direction.

Some people may initially question the location after taking a brief glance at the surrounding area shown in aerial photos. They will think there are way too many houses and roads and people in this area.

But it is one of those situations where the aerial photos are actually deceiving. The area is not solid suburbia. It is tracts of homes interspersed in dense woods with lots of unfenced gaps in between the tracts.

Deer freely move around in these gaps. Shawn has seen deer on every side of his property. No hunting is allowed so close to homes so it's actually a sanctuary for deer, with respect to human hunters.

There is definitely a green belt path for many deer to come down into this sanctuary zone from the expansive forested hills of Lake Allatoona area to the northwest. After midnight a bigfoot could cross all the roads only where there is forest on both sides, never leaving itself exposed to headlights for more and few seconds. Not many cars on the road at 2am around here.

To return unseen to those expansive forests to the northwest in the wee hours it would head north from that property through woods out of view and cross only a few small roads for 2.5 miles until it reached the abandonned railroad bed following Scott Mill Creek.

Following that railroad bed northward late at night it can cross UNDER the freeway (595) out of view and shortly thereafter reach Canton Creek, then through cover follow Canton Creek to the Etowah River. From the Etowah River it is home free to the wide open hills.

As for the potential for misidentification:

I had Shawn listen to the Ohio Howl recoring on YouTube. He said the howls he heard were similar but not as baritone. He said it was almost like a human, but different.

He imitated the duration and nuance. It was shorter in duration than the Ohio howl, but still a mournful wail with a sustained, descending pitch -- descending both in tone and volume. He compared it to an big exasperated, long drawn out "yawn."

For someone who has never heard bigfoots, or recordings of bigfoots, prior to this incident, the sound he described was very much on the mark for a bigfoot.

The main reason he thought it could not be a person:

It made no noise, yet the ground cover beyond his yard fence is a carpet of crunchy dry leaves nearly three feet deep. Even a squirrel moving through them makes enough noise to be heard from inside the house.

This animal stopped howling as soon as the guy opened the door, and made absolutely no noise after that, even though the Shawn listened patiently for a long time. He was pretty convinced that the creature must have been in the trees, which are tightly packed out there.

A little while later he heard the same howler much further away, which indicates it was on the move through the woods rather than just a neighbor making a loud yawning sound.

He said it was definitely in the woods between the houses, where he has seen deer moving through in the past.

Even though it was around 2am and it was cold (hence windows were closed), he says it was loud enough that some people in the homes to the north of the gap should have heard something unless they were all deep asleep.

We are seeking feedback from others in the area on the Facebook Group for the BFRO. To find that group on Facebook, search the Groups section for "BFRO 1995". Don't be fooled by imposter BFRO Facebook groups.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net