YEAR: 1980

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: September

DATE: 10th

STATE: Texas

COUNTY: Travis County

LOCATION DETAILS: Near the Pedernales River.

NEAREST TOWN: Spicewood

OBSERVED: My friend and I were out on Old Ferry Road near Paleface Park. My buddy, who is still my best friend, saw something big and hairy trotting upright on two legs, crossing the road ahead of us. We were parked on the side of the road. He instantly locked both doors. I saw the object from behind, moving through the brush.

This object was about 75 yards ahead of us at dusk. This scared us so bad that we went straight home.

We talked to a Travis County Sheriff several days later, and he reported seeing a bear. What we saw was not a bear, trotting on two legs. [It was] between 6 & 7 feet tall and brownish in color.

OTHER WITNESSES: [Just my friend and I.]

OTHER STORIES: Not sure of any. We don't discuss this much due to people not believing us. We did not hear or smell anything due to the fact we were in the car, but it sure scared the daylights out of us. We often fished the Pedernales River at night, and have heard lots of unexplained howls and screams that would make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 8:30 pm., clear & warm.

ENVIRONMENT: This area was all cliffs and woods. There were no houses in the area, but there were some large goat and cattle ranches.

Follow-up investigation report:

I talked at length with the witness. He stated he was 17 at the time of the sighting. He had a vast experience with the outdoors in the area. He was a trapper for predator hides. He stated that many of his large traps for cougars had the bait cage (smaller metal cage for a chicken to sit as a lure) torn apart but no predator was caught in the large trap. He has had no previous sightings or any since.

The sighting: He and his friend were going to shoot target practice at a deserted area on old Ferry road near Paleface Park. This is near the Peggy Ranch. They were in the vehicle getting their guns ready, when his friend reached across and locked both doors. He stated, "Look at that." He looked up and 75-100 yards away was a brown, hairy creature with its backside to the men trotting away upright. I asked how fast and he stated briskly. I asked for the witness's height to get a reference to the creature's size. He is 6 foot tall. He stated the creature was easily 6-8 foot tall. He stated they were scared. I asked what about it made you scared? He replied, "Not knowing what it was and the size."

After they left, they talked with his friend's grandfather and he wanted to go right back. The grandfather had experience tracking animals. They were too afraid at the time and returned several days later and looked for tracks. None found. They did talk with the sheriff and he had seen a bear prior. The witness was very convinced this was no bear, by the size and upright "trotting."

I asked about the area today. He stated he could take me to the location. The area after 23 years has built up with housing considerably. For this reason I did not visit the area.

I tried to talk with the friend several times. He is always working or too busy to give an interview. This I do believe because he is a contractor. Though he does acknowledge that a creature sighting did occur.