Geographical Index > United States > California > Tulare County > Report # 19448
(Class B)
Submitted by witness C.G. on Wednesday, May 30, 2007.
Possible vocalizations heard by campers near Monache Mountain
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YEAR: 2007
SEASON: Spring MONTH: May DATE: May 26 or 27 STATE: California COUNTY: Tulare County LOCATION DETAILS: Camp was located about 150 yards west of the main Monache trail on the road toward the Monache ranger camp. Detailed topo map available on request. NEAREST TOWN: Blackrock Ranger Station NEAREST ROAD: Monache jeep trail OBSERVED: My family and I were camping in Monache Meadows, on the north side of Monache Mountain. Sometime late on May 26 or early May 27, my wife and I were startled by loud, echoing whoops.
The whooping came in groups of two, a few moments of silence and then another pair. It seemed fairly near, perhaps 100 to 200 yards south of us, toward the slope of the mountain.
The whoops were intense and were soon joined by howling coyotes. A chase seemed to erupt and the sounds began retreating away from us.
It was not clear whether the coyotes were giving chase or being chased. But as the uproar receded, it sounded as though something was being attacked, given a series of yelps and high-pitched howls. It sounded extremely violent. "Whatever it was," my wife said the next morning, "it was being torn apart."
After a minute or two, the chase faded into the distance. The normal sounds of night returned to the forest.
ALSO NOTICED: We saw nothing, but we did not go looking the next day. OTHER WITNESSES: 3 witnesses: myself, my wife and my daughter. My son did not wake. My wife and I were tossing and turning because our air mattress had developed a leak. I was wide awake when the first whoops sounded. My wife contended it was nothing but coyotes. I disagreed, saying that I had never heard such a sound in the wild. OTHER STORIES: I had read of the 1979 incident in Monache. I didn't know what to think of my own experience until I listened to the 1974 Sierra Nevada audio clip. There was no doubt in my mind the two sounds were extremely similar. However, what I heard was more intimidating and intense, full of primal aggression. TIME AND CONDITIONS: Late night or very early morning. It was a very still, cool night. The moon was not full but was casting shadows. ENVIRONMENT: Bottom slopes of Monache mountain, which is covered in pine trees. The area is right next to Monache Meadows, a large alpine meadow in the South Sierra Nevada.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Richard Hucklebridge:
Called and talked with C.G, tonight, May 31, 2007, and we went over his sound encounter up in the Monache Meadow area of the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains. The witness holds a high profile position in a large firm in Southern California, and his late night sound encounter seemed very believable and credible, because he also went to the trouble to locate and then listen to several audio clips before he settled on the 1974 sounds.
The loud echoing whoops that were heard by he, and his wife, and one of his children, gave him the impression of being belligerent compared to the 1974 whoops which were comparatively docile.
"It sounded like one of the coyotes was being chased down and caught, and them torn apart. There was another vehicle camped just south of us about 200 yards away, but we never made contact with those people, because they had been firing off there firearms before bed time, so we didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Also, the following day, there were several people repairing fences that probably held cattle but they were to the north of us.”
The lower half of California is in the midst of an extended draught, compared to previous years. One of the few, totally reliable sources of clean running water on this part of the Kern Plateau is the South Fork of the Kern River. It runs from North to South through this 8000 foot elev. plateau. The river is located fairly close to where the witnesses were camped.
This investigator has camped, rode motorcycles and hunted deer around Monache Meadows for well over three decades. Monache Meadows has had a few sightings and sound encounters over the last few decades.
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