YEAR: 2005

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: June

DATE: 15

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Clay County

LOCATION DETAILS: Middleburg

NEAREST TOWN: Middleburg

NEAREST ROAD: Lenda Ln.

OBSERVED: It was a warm day in June of 2005 it was around noon and me and three of my friends decided to go fishing we had cooked left over pork chops as bait since where we were fishing on private property and we were tresspassing I have been reluctant to say anything about this, after about an hour or two of fishing the older of my two friends said "Hey (name) I think theres a bear in those pallmetos."
So I being the oldest of the three decided to go over to the bushes and check it out when I got about ten feet from the bushes I saw two dark brown eyes filled fear and curiosity I stopped dead in my tracks and then the creature let out a loud grumbleing noise so naturally being as terrefied as
I was I let out a yell which is when I saw the creatures eyes go from fear and curiosity to rage and anger then it rose out of a crouching position to tower about nine feet above me I can distinctly remeber the odor coming off the creature and around the eyes there was no fur the creature also had a very noticible mark on it face right above the upper lip I cant remeber if it was the left or right side, the creature had a flat nose kind of like a gorilla and human mix the skin was really dark and course the creature had extremely long arms and also there was no hair around the lips the fur was really dark and notted sort of like a matted dog. So after the creature rose out of the crouching position we all ran up the hill to the house to get a camera and a .270 we returned to the scene several hours later to find the pork chops gone the fish gone the poles scatterd around on the ground and we had all had our shirts off since it had been hot and they were laid about 11 feet up on a live oak branch with no sign of the creature left. Then about five days later I was riding my bike down a trail that is by my house going to a freinds house who lives on bluejay when out of the corner of my eye I saw something that grabbed my attention I looked to my left to see a huge creature walking across the scrub oaks about 200 yards away this was to the left of me by the swamp which has since dried up so I proceeded to quickly turn around and head home. And recently since about the begining of the summer of 2007 I have been hearing wood knocks in the woods by my house, normally they come from three diffrent locations but sometimes there will be four or five, the knocks are about two to three minutes apart the most recent knocks were on monday october 15 2007 at 6:32 in the morning I havent wanted to report these because I was tresspassing and I never really knew how to.

ALSO NOTICED: no

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes 2 Playing Madden 06

OTHER STORIES: yes ive read other bfro reports

TIME AND CONDITIONS: During the day with clear skies and bright sun

ENVIRONMENT: Near a creek in hardwood forest

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator David Wright:

This witness was interviewed on two separate occasions; the first being on 10/26/07, and the second being on 11/1/07. The second interview was more formal and extensive. I also accompanied the witness to the site of the second sighting, the first being on private property, and inaccessible.

The following is an account based on the witness' report, both interviews, and the accompanying trip to the second site.

-The witness (age 15 at the time) and two younger friends (ages 14 and 12) snuck onto a nearby wooded property to fish a deep hole on a creek. They took left-over pork chops wrapped in foil to use as cut bait.
-They had been fishing for a while when one of the younger witnesses heard something in the palmettos nearby, and nervously asked the older witness to investigate.
-The witness circled a palmetto hammock and slowly approached the source of the sound. Upon doing so, he noticed a pair of large, brown eyes peering through the palmettos, directly at him, about 4' off the ground.
-Thinking, "...what the?..." he stopped about 8' to 10' from the eyes, trying to figure out what he was looking at, when the animal made a deep, but not loud growl, lasting about 1-2 seconds. This witness currently works in a vet clinic, and described the growl as very similar in nature to a warning growl from a dog that doesn't want you to approach it.
-This elicited a somewhat loud, fearful cry from the witness, whereupon he noticed a distinct change in the expression in the eyes of the creature, as changing from a look of curiosity, to an angry sort of scowl, with the eyebrows and forehead scalp taking on a threatening expression.
-The witness described the creature’s posture at this moment as squatting, with its forearms and elbows rested across the lower thigh/knee area, apparently watching them.
-When asked how he could see such features, the witness stated that the splaying structure of palmetto leaves afforded him the opportunity to see them through the breaks in the palmetto leaves.
-The witness stated that upon his fearful cry, the creature immediately, and deliberately, stood to its full erect height of 8.5' to 9'; all the time, staring down at him as it rose.
-The witness was frozen with fear until the creature reached its full height, whereupon he turned and ran, along with his younger friends.
-They returned several hours later to retrieve their gear, and found their fishing poles scattered, their pork chops (but not the foil wrapper) missing, along with their fish that they had caught. The witness stated that he had neglected to mention in his report that along with the missing fish, was the bucket that contained the fish. In addition, and curiously, the witness found their three shirts which they had removed due to the heat, draped over a "live oak branch" about 11' up in the tree. When asked if they seemed to have been thrown there in a wad, he stated that they were surprisingly and apparently, deliberately draped side by side. He had to climb the tree to retrieve them.
-He also added that upon their return, they noticed two pine saplings of approximately 3" in diameter and about 5' apart which were next to the tree where their clothes were draped, were broken off at about 5' high. Their broken boughs, still attached to the trunks, were crossed in apparent deliberate or ornamental fashion.
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The witness' physical description of the creature is as follows;
-Approximate height was 8.5' - 9'
-Body was bulky and stocky. When it stood, he could see its thigh muscles bulging and also got a view of what he described as large, thick calf muscles. He could not see the feet.
-The fur was coarse, blackish brown, thick, and matted like that of a weathered dog.
-He stated that he focused on the face as the creature stood to an erect posture. He described the face as having dark brown eyes with no visible sclera (white), stating that "...those eyes are in my mind, permanently!"
-He described a flattened, bald nose with visible nostrils, as being more ape-like than human-like.
-He described a hairless mask of black skin across the eyes, the black color of a dog's muzzle.
-The lips/muzzle color was darker than the color of the skin around the eyes.
-There was a very visible scar on the upper lip of the creature.
-The hair on the head was shorter than that on the body.
-The head was somewhat ovoid, with a slight crest along the sagital plane of the skull.
-Physique was muscular, "like a body builder", including a description of a very short, web-like, muscular neck.
-Long, very thick arms with wrists hanging well below its hips.
-He described visible, black fingers, with a thumb parallel to the fingers.
-Nothing visibly apparent to determine gender.
-He did notice a "nose burning" smell.

His second sighting took place five days later when he was riding his bike down a dirt road on the edge of Jennings State Forest. He saw a large, dark, apparently hairy creature walking on the outside boundary of a cypress hammock, about 200 yards away. I have investigated this location, and a large, biped would be easily discernable at that location from that distance. The witness stated that while the creature was large, it was nevertheless noticeably smaller than the one of his close encounter, five days before. Again, he found this second sighting particularly unnerving after his first encounter, and immediately left the area.

One of the other witnesses was contacted and interviewed. His best recollection was of screaming and running, primarily in response to the above witness doing the same. He was apparently not fishing with the other two, and was in a position where he saw the back of the animal.

This investigator finds the primary witness to be one of the most credible ever interviewed. His posture, inflections, expressions, and entire demeanor were noted to be as of one who had experienced an incredible encounter.

About BFRO Investigator David Wright:

• Certified Florida Master Naturalist (U. of Florida)
  
• Visual Tracker, Level 1
• Teaches Biology, A.P. Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Science at a rural high school SE of Jacksonville
• See local TV interview with D. Wright
• Participated in the 2007 Private Florida Expedition [Click the video link on that page.], the 2007 South Carolina Expedition, the 2008 South Florida Expedition and assisted with the organization of the 2008 North Florida Expedition. Assisted with the organization of the 2009 Central Florida Expedition.

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