Geographical Index > United States > California > Humboldt County > Report # 23811
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Friday, May 16, 2008.
Campers hear multiple, pre-dawn vocalizations in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
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YEAR: 2007
SEASON: Summer MONTH: August DATE: 8/11/2007 STATE: California COUNTY: Humboldt County LOCATION DETAILS: Edited- location details removed NEAREST TOWN: Edited- location details removed NEAREST ROAD: Edited- location details removed OBSERVED: We heard loud, prolonged screams every morning between 8/11/2007 and 8/18/2007. The screams sounded like some kind of unknown, wild animal but with some added enunciation and vowel sounds that were very human like. The scream had an "O" sound in the middle and ended with a definite "R" sound. OTHER WITNESSES: My wife and two sons, my wife's aunt and uncle and my mother who visited for two nights. OTHER STORIES: We have camped at this campground for about ten years consecutively and we have heard strange calls before. This time it was much closer to the campground than in previous years however and it woke everyone in the area. TIME AND CONDITIONS: Just before sunrise ENVIRONMENT: Douglas Fir forest above Redwood forest. On the steep slope of a hillside above a campground. (Edited- location details removed)
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Scott Minton:
- Witnesses (TF, his wife, SF and their fifteen year-old son) heard “loud, prolonged” vocalizations every morning they camped for a period of eight days. Several other family members heard the cries on numerous occasions during the week.
- After talking to other campers, TF realized the vocalizations were heard by them as well. Many of them were “annoyed” with the sounds.
- Vocalizations took place approximately 4:30 am, just prior to sunrise.
- They were approximately thirty seconds in duration, repeating four to five times on each occurrence.
- They sounded “half- human”, as though it was something “in pain.” At this point in the conversation, TF imitated the sound and stressed that it ended with an “R” sound.
- The volume of the cries seemed to be much louder than a "typical human” could yell.
- The campground is bordered on three sides by creeks. The cries sounded as if they were moving, both toward and away from camp along the creek beds.
- After a few mornings of repeatedly hearing the cries, TF attempted to locate the source of the sounds. Using a flashlight he moved through the brush in the direction of the sounds. As he approached the location, the cries repeated, moving up the hill towards the ridge top. He did not hear any noise in the brush as this was occurring. This happened three times until he gave up and returned to camp.
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Other stories:
TF and family have camped in same location for about ten years. They heard similar noises the previous year (2006) but with less frequency and further away. He and his wife related several stories regarding experiences in that area.
1. Summer 2006: TF went for a walk by the orchard and sat on a rock to look at stars. The time was somewhere around midnight. The night was extremely quiet and clear. He stayed in that location for about one half-hour. As he got up to leave, something in the nearby brush made a loud, rapid getaway through the forest. He described the brush as breaking in an “extremely loud” manner. This experience left him noticeably startled.
He could not tell if it had two legs or four. Until it moved, he had no idea that there was anything there.
2. Summer 2006: SF went on a bike ride by an apple orchard in the Albee Creek vicinity and smelled what she described as “100 dirty dogs”. She became nervous and left the area.
3. May 2008: Related possible activity-
TF is a geocacher (an activity using GPS to conduct scavenger hunts.) He recently left a “cache” at the campground. Someone retrieved the cache and contacted TF. In an email correspondence afterwards, they said something to the affect that it was a great place to visit, and that there had been no one around except them and "a large, unidentified creature crashing through the woods."
Upon returning the email and inquiring about that statement, the mailer responded that they had no idea what the animal was, although it made a fair amount of noise and seemed to follow them as the left the area.
It was after the combination of this exchange and the sounds that the family had heard the previous years, that TF decided to submit a report to the BFRO.
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TF has a degree in Environmental Studies with a minor in Biology. He and his family are avid campers and spend a fair amount of time in the woods.
About BFRO Investigator Scott Minton:
Scott Minton has been associated with the BFRO since 2008. He's wandered the forests, investigated reports, interviewed witnesses, co-led several public expeditions, arm wrestled Bobo and Moneymaker simultaneously (and won) as well as badgering, questioning and otherwise harassing forest service employees while conducting field research in the Southern Sierras, Tehapache, San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Los Padres, Ventura, Angeles, Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, Six Rivers, Klamath, Siuslaw, Tilamook, Willamette, Mt Hood and Olympic National Forests. For the last 7 years he's been lost, found, lost again, rescued, managed to get his friends lost, been amazed, zenned-out, scared, rejuvenated, and more, all in the pursuit of bigfooting. He has come to the conclusion that there's a lot of space out there. There's lots of stuff in that space. No one's ever going to see it all, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.
Scott is a New Jersey native by way of Philadelphia. In 2001, he relocated to California. He is currently residing in Oregon City, OR overlooking picturesque Willamette falls.
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