August 30/31, 2008 River Crossing

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Event Report/Field Notes:  Saturday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008

Team Members in Attendance:
Mike Bardsley
Pat Barker
(Landowner - left camp before incident occured)

Audio Equipment:
HI-MD Sony Walkman MZ-RH910 portable minidisc recorder with pre-amp in an insulated camouflage pelican case, two external omni-directional microphones. Placement location: 100 ft north of Base Camp  Recorder is positioned approx. 5 ft. high in a sapling tree. Two external microphones are clamped to tree branches approx. 3 ft. to south of recorder and approx. 3 ft. to north of recorder. The left mic is pointed slightly SW; the right mic slightly NW. Recorder set to long play, manual internal volume set at 13, external pre-amp setting at +30.

Video/Photographic Equipment:
Sony HV-20 Hi-definition Mini-DV Camcorder Placement Location: Base Camp
Digital Game camera. Placement Location: 3/4 of the way down the Game Trail

Night Vision Equipment:
Bushnell 2.5 x 42 Monocular
NightOwl 5x Marine Monocular

Spotlighting Equipment:
2 - 6 volt lantern-style lights
1 – 2 million candle spotlight

Strategies and Planning: Team members Mike and Pat will use a combination of inactive and active methods.

1. Bait: Using themselves as bait, they will sit by the fire pit with a small fire burning and the propane lamp lit, talking conversationally. They will not attempt to hide the fact that they are in camp. They will try to create just enough of a presence in camp to cause curiosity in the subject and perhaps entice it to come in for a closer look, or cause some kind of vocalization or other event to occur. They will set out an audio recorder before dark, and will use night vision after dark. Mike’s hi-definition camcorder will be kept in Base Camp in “stand-by” mode in case it’s needed.

2. If activity occurs: They will not react immediately, but will wait for a while to see if the subject will come in closer. Past experience has shown that rushing to spotlight the area only puts a halt to activity and may scare the subject away prematurely. Night vision will be used exclusively during this timeframe. If activity continues, and only when they feel it’s appropriate, they will use spotlights to light up the area and see what is out there.

3. If vocalizations occur: Mike will reply with a “whoop” vocalization. The goal is to determine if the subject exhibits a response to the introduction of a human-made whoop sound.

If vocalizations occur: Pat will reply by repeating a single word several times at spaced intervals. The goal tonight is to determine if the subject exhibits a response to the introduction of a female voice repeating a word. The team plans to employ this technique again in the future. The long-term goal is to habituate the subject to both the human voice and the specific word, to see whether the use of a repeated recognizable word will eventually draw the subject into interaction with the team, or if, at the very least, it will elicit a predictable response after this technique has been used during many nights of vocalizations.

Description of Incident:  This event happened at Base Camp from 11:30 pm Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008 to 12:10 am Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008.

Precursor to Sound Event: 11:30 pm to 12 midnight
Time of Sound Event: 12 midnight to 12:10 am

Saturday, Aug. 30/08
8:30 pm – 70 F, Sun is setting. Beautiful day. Mike sets up Hi-Definition Camcorder on a tripod in the shelter area, turns it on and puts it on stand-by mode.

9 pm – Pat hangs audio recorder 100 ft. to the north of Base Camp in a sapling poplar tree.
Landowner builds a medium-sized fire in the fire pit.

9:40 pm – Landowner has a bad head cold, is feeling sick, needs medicine and sleep. He leaves Base Camp for home. Mike lights the propane lamp, hangs it from a support beam at the entrance to the shelter area and sets the flame to medium-low. It casts a 40 ft. circle of light across Base Camp.

During the next couple of hours, they sit talking at the fire pit. Mike is positioned on the south side of the fire pit, Pat on the north side. The bonfire is medium sized and only makes small crackling sounds. Pat and Mike are intentionally talking in normal speaking voices as a baiting technique, to create curiosity in any subject that happens to wander into hearing range.

11:30 pm – Coyotes to the SE. 55 F. No moon. Sky is clear, stars and Milky Way visible.

From 11:30 pm to 12 midnight – Mike hears small sounds of something moving slightly but inconsistently. He describes the sounds as staying in one place all the time, but moving as if something is shifting its weight. The sound comes from the area between the old growth oak tree and the south end of the shelter, well below the lip of the embankment, perhaps 15 to 20 feet up from the river. Pat and Mike continue to talk during this time. At several points they use their night vision scopes to search the area, but they don’t see any source for the sounds.

After a half hour, at 12 midnight, Mike and Pat decide to pan the area with flashlights. They switch on a 6 volt flashlight and a 2 million candle spotlight.

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008
12 Midnight to 12:10 am - As soon as they spotlight the upper area and begin to spot down embankment, they hear a loud splash in the river at the bottom of the embankment below Base Camp. They hurry into the shelter area keeping their flashlights on.

Mike grabs the camcorder which is on a tripod in the shelter area.

In total, they hear eight or nine loud splashing footsteps running away from them across the river at a rapid pace in the darkness, and the splashing appears to be heading toward the opposite riverbank. The sound is coming from slightly north of the cleared area below the shelter area, closer to the Game Trail. Mike switches on the camcorder, and both Mike and Pat pan their lights down the embankment through the trees and across the river. The tree trunks and boughs are too thick to see anything to the north or south. They can only see the river directly in front of camp where the trees have been somewhat cleared of lower branches. Given the steep downward angle toward the river and the intervening vegetation, even with Mike’s 2 million candle spotlight, they can’t quite see to the far bank of the river.

Mike has removed the camcorder from its tripod and is holding the spotlight in one hand and his camcorder in the other. The camcorder is pointing across the river, but as explained by Mike below, was acidently left on standby. He is crouched down beside Pat. Pat is now using two 6 volt flashlights, one in each hand. Both Mike and Pat are squatting near the edge of the embankment, keeping as low as possible to the ground in order to get the clearest view beneath the foliage of the trees, trying to see across the river to the Cedar Flats on the other side. From the sound and direction of the splashes, the runner is quickly approaching the far side of the river.

The moment the runner, Subject 1, gets on the far riverbank, there is a very loud whoop vocalization followed by hissing (which sounds like blowing between clenched teeth to create a "shhhhe" sound), loud violent tree knocking and a splash. From the location of the sounds, we can tell that Subject 1 has entered the Cedar grove Flats directly across from Base Camp, an area where other vocalization incidents have occurred since 2005. Mike immediately responds with a short “whoop” in reply. [**note--this is the only sound made by the team until Pat calls "Hey" and "Hello" later during the event.]  Subject 1 on the opposite bank whoops again and continues to make a variety of vocalizations, including hissing and tree knocking/bashing. It’s unclear whether Subject 1 is responding or just continuing to call regardless of what Mike does.

At the same time as the whoops are heard from Subject 1, another vocalization is heard, an “AAAAAAAH” scream, which overlaps Subject 1’s whoop. The scream comes from the Cedar Grove as well, but approximately 20 to 40 ft. south of Subject 1 (to Pat and Mike’s left), and appears to be coming from a second individual, Subject 2. The two calls are different from each other. Each Subject has a very distinctive “voice” which both Pat and Mike recognize from previous incidents over the past four years.

Mike and Pat continue to pan with their lights across the river, and never turn their spotlights off at any point during the vocalization incident. They aim at the Cedar Grove throughout the entire event and keep trying to see across the river into the Cedar Grove without success.

There’s more blowing, whooping and tree knocking – very loud tree knocking, which is so violent that it could be characterized as tree bashing. At one point it sounds like the branch that is being used to hit the tree trunk breaks and splashes into the river.

Then, Pat calls “Hey”. The whooping vocalizations and tree knocking continue. A bit later, Pat calls “Hello” several times at well spaced intervals. The vocalizations and tree knocks from Subject 1 continue. Pat and Mike can hear deep guttural grumbling, interspersed between the whoops, and all of these sounds appear to be coming from Subject 1. Screams also continue from Subject 2.

The sound event begins to die down, and Mike suggests that it would be good if one of them saw what was making the sounds. He thinks someone should go down the hill. Pat comments that she will need to leave her flashlight on to safely navigate the very steep descent. She thinks the subjects could possibly stop all activity if she uses light to get down the embankment. She considers shutting off the flashlight, but decides to leave it on rather than break an ankle trying to get down the steep hill in the dark. Mike moves forward about 15 feet down the upper slope of the embankment, and lies flat on the ground beside a large tree stump with the 2 million candle spotlight and his camcorder stretched out in front of him, both pointed toward the cedar grove at the most advantageous angle possible to see across the river. He still can’t see beyond the opposite river bank, even with the powerful spotlight, which is very frustrating.

Pat descends down the embankment with a flashlight, reaches a point approximately 2/3 of the way down and stops. She points the light across the river, trying to spotlight the Cedar Grove. The flashlight still doesn’t penetrate beyond the first 10 to 15 feet of the Cedar Grove, and she can’t see anything moving in the area she has lit up. There is silence now from across the river. Pat continues to scan across the river, and considers climbing further down toward the riverbank.

Mike quietly but urgently tells Pat she should come back up the hill. She doesn’t quite hear him. A bit louder this time, Mike says, “I heard a growl.” He tells her the growl came from beside him no more than 20 to 30 feet to his north (his right) on Base Camp side of the river, near the crest of the Game Trail, or possibly closer. He says, “Come back up the hill, NOW.” He thinks there may be a third Subject on their side of the river. Pat hesitates for several moments, calls "hello" again, scans the river and opposite Cedar Grove one more time, and then reluctantly returns up the embankment to Base Camp.

On return to Base Camp, they hear no other sound events.

The entire incident from the beginning of the first splash to the last vocalization lasts approximately 10 minutes.

For the next half-hour, Mike and Pat discuss the incident, and continue to spot with their lights all around camp. They hear small crackles and several snort/grunts from below the hill between the old growth oak and the south end of the shelter. They scan the embankment over and over but don’t see anything. They hear another snort/grunt about 5 minutes later and hear the sound of motion or footfalls, but are unsure if it came from across the river or from Base Camp side of the river.

Pat and Mike walk up to where the audio recorder is placed (just beyond the crest of the Game Trail), to see if it is still there. It is.

1:20 am – No other sounds are heard.

Temp. 56 F Clear night, stars, Milky Way, crickets. Owls calling.

1:34 to 1:35 am – Pat calls “Hello” several times, getting no response. Pat and Mike go to check the Game Trail. When they get to approx. 50 ft. from it, they smell a skunk odor. Both game cam and recorder are where they’re supposed to be and intact.

** Note from Mike:
In the initial excitement of starting up my camcorder, I somehow managed to 'stop' recording within about 2 or 3 seconds of activating the recording, so none of the event was recorded by the camcorder.

** Note from Pat:
This is the first time we've used spotlights during an incident. We've been reluctant to spotlight in the past, thinking the event would stop prematurely. We were amazed to find that our lights didn't stop the incident from happening at all. In fact, turning on our lights seemed to initiate the incident which continued for 10 minutes WHILE we were lighting the whole area. It was remarkable, and opposite to what we thought would happen.

- End of Report -