Geographical Index > Canada > Alberta > Report # 7394
(Class B)
Submitted by Adrian Erickson on Sunday, November 16, 2003.
Hunting trailer violently shook by unknown animal
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YEAR: 2000
SEASON: Fall MONTH: September DATE: Late September PROVINCE: Alberta COUNTRY: Canada LOCATION DETAILS: Highway 3 west of Coleman to just before the British Columbia border, then turn south on gravel road and follow south and east as it winds back up the mountain for approximately 8 kms. NEAREST TOWN: Coleman NEAREST ROAD: Highway 3 OBSERVED: I am publishing this report as told to me by C.R. The incident occurred when C.R. and two other hunting buddies were camped in a relatively remote mountainous area south of Coleman, Alberta. At 11:00 p.m on the evening of their first day of hunting, one of C.R.'s buddies went out of the trailer and heard branches breaking close to camp. He thought it might be a bear and headed back inside the 18 foot trailer, which was unhooked from C.R.'s 4w4, and didn't have the jacks down.
Everyone fell asleep and sometime between 2:00 and 2:30 a.m. the trailer started violently rocking from side to side, so much so that the now awakened occupants thought that the trailer would actually tip over. They started yelling at each other in the dark, not knowing what was going on. The rocking stopped; they grabbed their guns and went outside but did not hear or see anything more. They didn't sleep much after that and at daybreak went outside to inspect what had caused the commotion. They kept asking each other if either of them had tried to pull a prank by arranging for some other friends to come up and secretly scare them - none had. C.R. said that they had not encountered anyone nor saw anyone else camped within 5 miles of them.
Upon inspection, at the back end of the trailer they noticed marks on the ground where some "heavy" animal had been but not discernible tracks. They then noticed huge "smugded print like" marks at the top of the trailer at the two corners. It appeared the animal had grabbed both corners of the trailer and rocked it violently back and forth. The trailer was approximately 7 feet wide, so the animal would have to had a huge armspread, as well as stand very tall (the large smudges were close to 8 feet off the ground) and it had to have incredible strenght. All three agreed a bear simply wasn't large enough, or tall enough or have an arm spread sufficient to accomplish what had occurred AND there would have been claw marks. They all agreed something unknown had done this and they were not going to hang around and find out what had scared the hell out of them the night before. They quickly left and have never returned, very shaken from the experience.
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Adrian Erickson:
I conversed three times with C.R. by phone and believe he is credible. I am very familiar with the area and I have been on the road that he was camped on. C.R. has not stayed in contact with his two hunting buddies; they have moved and he has no way of contacting them. Consequently I was not able to contact the other hunters, and had to rely on my discussions with C.R., who seemed sincere and genuinely shaken by the incident.
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