Geographical Index > United States > Arizona > Coconino County > Report # 14508
(Class B)
Submitted by witness on Thursday, April 27, 2006.
Possible vocalizations heard by campers near Knoll Lake
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YEAR: 2006
SEASON: Spring MONTH: April DATE: 23 STATE: Arizona COUNTY: Coconino County LOCATION DETAILS: North of Knoll lake about 2 miles NEAREST TOWN: payson NEAREST ROAD: fr 300 OBSERVED: Myself and four friends we're sitting around a campfire listening to a very loud car stereo when 2 of the party simultaneously said shhh shhh what the hell is that, and 1 ran to the truck and turned the stereo off. Seconds later we all heard a loud aggressive, violent, bellowing and deep throated sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and made others run for their guns and others their trucks.
The hardest part of this event is the adjectives needed to descibe the sound we all heard. After listening to the sound recordings on your website, I and the group decided that the 1978 Snohomish County sound clip and the 1973 Puyallup Washington sound clips are close but not exactly what we heard. This sound was fierce, massive and came from a pair of lungs that nothing short of 600 lbs could produce. We all agreed the sound came through the local canyons roughly 1 to 2 hundred yards away. The 2nd vocalization seemed to come from only 50 yards away and the 3rd and 4th came from 100 yards away as if it moved unnaturely fast from 1 position to another.
We all listened to known animal sounds from the net and nothing comes close to this. ALSO NOTICED: none OTHER WITNESSES: 5 witnesses all around a campfire OTHER STORIES: 2 of the 5 campers reported an incident 1 yr prior at the same location. TIME AND CONDITIONS: midnight till 2 am ENVIRONMENT: Ponderosa pines
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator TF Zamiski:
I spoke with this witness for about 45 minutes on 5/9/06. During our conversation he corrected the location being west rather than north of Knoll Lake. He explained that after he submitted the report he discussed the incident with others on this trip and they all agreed on the camp location being west of the lake and the sounds came from the southeast.
He emphasized that although similar to sound bites on this website, this vocalization was more violent and harsh, and unlike any other animal call he has ever heard. He was impressed that the calls were heard over their music and he wondered how long they actually went on before being heard.
Each vocalization lasted about 5 to 10 seconds with several minutes between. The sound had an echo quality to it leading them to believe the calls came from a nearby canyon. About 15 minutes after the last vocalization coyotes sounded of from several directions.
The campers were quiet and a bit shaken after this incident. No more sounds like this were heard during the remainder of their trip.
About BFRO Investigator TF Zamiski:
Tim is semi retired. He attended the 2006 Arizona Expedition and the 2006 Wisconsin Expedition. Tim helped organize the 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2015 Arizona Expeditions and the 2011 New Mexico expedition. Active Investigator since 2005.
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