YEAR: 1994

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: July

DATE: 7/13/1994

STATE: Florida

COUNTY: Suwannee County

LOCATION DETAILS: (Exact location omitted per witness' request.)

NEAREST TOWN: Live Oak

NEAREST ROAD: State Highway 51

OBSERVED: I had two different encounters with in a week apart, within a mile of each other. I used to take walks in the afternoons when I would get off of work. There was an old logging road that made a loop about 3 miles around in the woods across from my house. It was about 3 thirty or so when I set off this day. I always carried a little 22 pistol with me in case I came across any snakes. My grandmothers two dogs also always went with me on these walks. We had turned off the main grade and gone maybe a quarter of a mile into the woods when we started down through the slough. The logging road cut between to little swamps. There was alot of scrub oaks and low growing trees just before it opened up into the swamps. I had just cleared the scrub oaks and came into the clearing when I noticed the change. It was like everything in the woods had vanished. The birds stopped singing, I mean it was quiet. I broke out in a cold sweet and the hair on the back of my neck stood up like I had just been shot. Like when you know you are being watched. I glanced down at the dogs and both of them had come to a stop like they were frozen in place. The hair on both of them was standing straight up. They were looking off to the right of me but neither one of them so much as growled. It may sound funny but it seemed like on cue the wind picked up and I caught a smell that I really cant describe. I looked to my right, and about fifty or sixty yards up the hill I could make out the shape of something very big , standing between a couple of oak trees, and some other brush. I stood there for about thirty seconds or so trying to figure out what it was before it moved. It reached out and grabbed two of the oak trees and started shaking them back and forth. Then I heard something like I have never heard before in my life. It didnt sound like an animal growling or a person screaming, but kind of a mix of both. The next thing I knew I had reached for my pistol, looked down and both dogs were gone. I decide that it was time for me to leave at that point and made my way very quickly back to the house.

The next encounter happened about 5 days later on the other side of the main grade. I had just left the house from having lunch and going back to work. I was riding a four wheeler at the time and we had a lot of trails cut out through the woods that we rode on. I had just come out of the woods and onto a pig trail just up from what we called bathtub springs. The pig trail turns into a main grade about a quarter of a mile from where I came out on it. I started towards the main grade when I noticed something very large and brown running through the woods about 20 to 25 yards to my left. It kept up with me as I rode about 15 mph, for at least 20 seconds. I saw it sling something in a side ways motion, like throwing a frisbee. I was just about to the main grade when I realized something had hit me in the chest. I didn't stop until I got out to the main paved road. When I did stop to see what had hit me, I saw that it was a rabbit that had been turned inside out. It was several years before I worked up the courage to go back into those woods. A lot of people may not believe me, but those that know me, know that I grew up in those woods hunting, trapping, fishing, and camping out. I have walked up on and been stalked by Florida panthers and wild hogs, but I have never had that feeling of truly being scared until these to encounters.

ALSO NOTICED: Animal observed in first encounter is estimated to have stood approximately seven and a half feet tall and weighed at least 400 lbs. The trees it shook were 25-30 ft tall oaks. The sound it made was a very loud wailing like scream that lasted for what seemed like 15 seconds. Animal observed in second encounter was light brown to rust like in color. It had hands with five fingers. Palm was hairless and dark in color. Ran through thick woods effortlessly.

OTHER WITNESSES: just myself and the two dogs

OTHER STORIES: Yes I have, but it is very hard to get people to talk about them.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: mid-day and early afternoon. The weather was sunny. Really beautiful days.

ENVIRONMENT: It was pine forest that had scrub oaks growing among them. There are alot of fresh water springs in the area. Peacock State Park is directly across from the secound encounter.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Mick Minnis:

I spoke with the witness on the phone and he shared the details of both encounters. He grew up in this area, and has been hunting and trapping in these particular woods all his life. His familiarity with the local wildlife is excellent. He has had experiences with all types of large animals in Florida and throughout the United States, including black bears, panthers, and grizzlies. Until he had this first encounter, he believed he knew everything that roamed the woods of north Florida. He described to me the sound the animal made in the first encounter as a long, powerful wail. Also, he did not feel threatened by the animal but he was quite shook up by the sheer size of it and power it displayed. He was quite adamant that what he saw in both encounters was nothing he had ever seen before.

I later emailed this witness and asked him to give us more detail regarding the rabbit incident, to help us better understand exactly what occurred while he was on his four-wheeler. This is what he submitted:
"If you will pull up the area on Google Earth, if you are looking at this picture the right way, you will see a hay field on the right with 2 chicken houses about mid way of the field. Along the tree line to the west you can just make out a road. Its hard to tell from the picture but just south of the chicken house the road turns into a graded road and runs north about 1/4 mile and dead ends into a hard road. If you keep going south it turns into a pig trail more or less. There are several fresh water springs in the woods to the south of the chicken houses. It was on the pig trail just before the graded road that the siting happened. I was coming out of the woods and had just got on the pig trail, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I was going north and the bigfoot was on my left. I didn't have to look back because it was running beside me. It was about 15 to 20 feet in the woods. The woods here are really thick with small growth and scrub oaks and with me riding on a four wheeler and it running it was hard to get a clear view of it. I was able to make out the color which was a rusty red brownish color. It was hunched over I would say running on its hands and feet, it was almost like watching a short stop baseball player when it threw the rabbit at me, it just kind of side armed it at me. I was able to see that it did not have hair on its palm. Its hand looked like a gorillas hand is the best way to describe it. After I got hit in the chest I really sped up on the four wheeler and did not stop until I reached the hard top road. It was at this point that I looked down and saw the wad of fur and meat in my lap. After looking it over I determined it to be a rabbit that had been turned inside out. Now the reason that I believe that it was not a human in a suit was because I was on a four-wheeler going anywhere from 10 to 15 mph on the pig trail and it was keeping up even with me and through there it is humanly impossible. Now as I said before during both sitings I got the impression that it was more or less warning me off, because both times if it had wanted to do me harm I have no doubt that it could have done pretty much what ever it wanted to. I hope this helps and if there is any thing else that you need please feel free to contact me anytime."

Based on the witness experience and knowledge of wildlife, I found his accounts to be believable. The witness gave excellent detail regarding both encounters.

About BFRO Investigator Mick Minnis:

Mick Minnis currently resides in Cresview FL. He is the owner and operator of Bigfoot Moving Services, a moving and delivery company that operates throughout the state of Florida. He is an avid hiker, climber, and also enjoys running and practicing martial arts. His interest in Sasquatch has taken him throughout the United States on numerous personal expeditions and also visits to interesting places such as the Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek CA. He has attended the 2011 and 2013 North Florida Expeditions.