YEAR: 2004

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 18th

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Harrison County

LOCATION DETAILS: In the Northwest Corner of Harrison County. The road is about 3 to 4 miles north from State Route 250 (in the corner of Harrison, Tuscarawas, and Carroll Counties).

NEAREST TOWN: Dennison, Ohio

NEAREST ROAD: Fernwood Rd

OBSERVED: We have had sporadic, maybe a couple times a year, activity (sightings, tracks, screams, wood-on-wood, deer kills, bent and snapped trees) on our property in Harrison Co. for the last 25 years. We have had several reports filed with BFRO. The investigators think this may be a migratory route between two remote areas. We have not heard or seen anything much for about the last year and wondered if the activity had ended.
We were there for the weekend last week and had some 10 overnight guests staying in our cabins. It had rained nearly all day on Saturday or up until about 2 to 3 PM. We retired around 1 AM. At about 3 to 4 AM Sunday morning, many of us were awakened by wood-on-wood. It hammered on and off for about 5 min. in series of 5 or 6 hits and all was again quiet. We could not really tell the direction nor the distance. All spoke of the noise the next morning and why someone would be making the racket. We explained what we thought that it was and all agreed that it made sense. What fool would be beating on a tree or log or cutting wood with an ax at that time of the morning since no one really is out in the wet woods on steep inclines. The neighbors don't burn wood. It was too warm for a fire anyway and who cuts wood with an ax anymore. Also, my large dog saw something after dark across the hollow the night before and went ballistic with his hair standing on end. Some of the people noted a foul odor before retiring for the night.

ALSO NOTICED: Just the dog being aggressive and the odor. We really saw or heard nothing extraordinary.

For the last year something has been seen by myself and 4-5 others that is unusual. It is the size of a dog, is dark gray or black and neighbors have seen it with a rabbit in its mouth crossing the road. It has a long catlike tail and moves like a cat.

My wife was outside before light last summer and had something scream at her and make a circle around the perimeter of our lights, this happened about 4-5 in the morning. She was pretty unnerved by it. It was not a sound that she was used to hearing. there.

OTHER WITNESSES: About seven people heard the racket that was loud enough to awaken them from a deep sleep.

OTHER STORIES: We have had quite a few incidents over the years and things were seen and heard by 10 to 15 other folks visiting us.

One of the long time residents told us that he was startled by something shaking a large tree limb during the 60's and ran away. This was at the bottom of our hollow.

There are many other incidents in the area but folks mostly decline to talk about them. One guy owns a local gun shop where I live and belongs to a shooting club between Cadiz and Stuebenville. He claims there is activity at this club in an old strip mine but wouldn't elaborate.

There was an incident on my buddies property on a hill near Tappan Lake several years ago where a large hairy thing threw rocks and screamed at campers on the Buckeye Trail causing them to leave the area in fear. He also claims he saw something on two legs and hairy standing in his drive before dawn one morning.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3 to 4 AM. It had rained the day before and all was damp in the woods. It was pitch dark and very quiet.

ENVIRONMENT: My place is a saddle between two steep hills with a spring fed creek coming through it from up the hill. Across the street to the North is a remote area of old strip mines and is sparsely populated for miles. Up the hill to the South is very rugged and gives access to other remote areas with only gravel roads through it. State Route 151 and 250 run through the area. This leads down to Tappan Lake area and down to Clendening Lake region.

An aerial view of the general area. Note how remote the area is.

Follow-up investigation report:

After a day-long on-site investigation we came to a conclusion. The wood on wood sounds were coming from at least two different locations on the hills surrounding their cabins. Out of the ten people that were sleeping, seven of them were awakened by the loud knocking sounds. After about five minutes, the sounds stopped, but the smell still lingered in the air.

Knowing the history of this property for (there has been two sightings) sometime now, I'm highly confident that their hollow is a main travel route into the Tappan Lake region for a family of bigfoots. A surveillance camera has been set up on the property and will be left up for thirty days. The property owners are usually at the property ten days a month. This was the first bigfoot related incident for over a year. They've owned the property for over 25 years.

We had the opportunity to talk to some of the neighbors who concurred with the property owners that these creatures have been in the area for over 20 years. I'm hoping that some of them will come forward and submit a report to the BFRO for further investigation.

Here is a picture of the area where we believe the creatures come through their property. Believe it or not, there's a spring fed creek beneath all that thick undergrowth. A surveillance camera has been set up near this location.

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