Hoosier National Forest
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Reporter Kurt Van der Dussen writes in the Indiana Hoosier
Times about a strange ape-like creature sighted along Chapel
Hill Road in remote Polk Township near Hoosier National
Forest.
The sighting occurred at the house of Rick Deckard and his
sister, Sue Taylor, which is west of the entrance to the
Hardin Ridge Recreation Area. Their friends Dale Moore and
Penny Howell had just driven up when they all spotted the
creature about 200 feet away from them at the back of the
Deckard property.
They described it as standing in a sort of crouch on its rear
legs, with its long front legs hanging down in front. It was
covered in long black hair, and they estimated its height to
be around 5 feet and its weight at 200 pounds or more.
When the creature saw them, it turned and moved away,
heading down the slope and into the woods. Howell saw a
patch of white fur atop its head and down its neck. It left
tracks in the damp clay that remained visible for several
days. They were about 4-by-5 inches, with four toe
impressions and a heel mark. Since it was four-toed rather
than five-toed, it couldn?t have been a bear.
The prints were similar to cougar tracks, except that many of
the toeprints made deep punctures in the clay, apparently
from its long claws. In one print, three claws had cut deep
incisions into the ground that were 1 ? inches long. Wildlife
biologist Jim Mitchell says that cougars don?t leave claw
marks when they walk.
People walking in the same area didn?t leave prints in the
clay, despite the fact that the creature?s tracks were
pressed a half-inch or more into it. In some spots its feet had
stripped the grass off the clay. The prints were more than
twice the size of one left by Deckard?s German shepherd.
Moore and Howell say the dog was in the back yard when
they spotted the creature. Although the dog was only a few
feet away, it didn?t bark but stood still instead. ?It was twice
as big as that dog,? Howell says. ?I?ve never seen an animal
like that in my life?It?s got me scared. What if it grabbed a
kid and dragged him down into the woods?? Moore says it
looked and walked like a bear. But Howell says its appearance
and movements were more ?apelike.?
Christi Kline, who works at the nearby Hardin Ridge Store,
says the sighting was the third she?s heard about in the past
six months to a year, all describing the same animal.
She says a woman described seeing it at the Hardin Ridge
area entrance and it didn?t seem to show any fear or run
away. She also says that one night a delivery man came into
the store shaking with fear and saying he had just
seen ?Bigfoot.? ?We know it?s not Bigfoot, but whatever it
was, it scared him,? she says.
State conservation officer Marlin Dodge says a Bigfoot
sighting wouldn?t be unusual.
?I?ve had a lot of complaints over the years on a Bigfoot, a
lot of ?em in that area,? he says.
Big cats are in the area as well--Paynetown property
manager Bruce Whiting says black panther sightings have
been reported ?over around Fairfax.?
At the Bloomington Fish and Wildlife Division office, wildlife
biologists Mitchell and Gary Langell studied a sketch of the
footprint. They are not ruling out the possibility that the
creature may be an escaped exotic animal. But Deckard
dismisses this. ?I?m a bow hunter,? he says. ?I know a bear
when I see one. I know a panther when I see one. This isn?t
a bear or a panther. We?ve got a panther back there, too,
but this is not a panther. It walks on its rear legs.?
Mitchell and Langell say an escaped ape of some sort might
be the best explanation. Indiana University anthropologist
Dick Adams originally thought an ape was a strong
possibility. ?It very well could be; this sounds very much like
an orang,? he said, referring to an orangutan, which is native
to Borneo and Sumatra. But the black hair of the creature
didn?t match the reddish-brown hair of an orangutan.
Dodge disputes the ape theory. ?This doesn?t sound like an
ape to me,? he says. ?The only ape I know of that would
weigh 200 pounds is a gorilla.?
Adams and his son Scott went to the site, where at least
two of the tracks had survived a night of heavy rains. They
took many photos and poured plaster casts. Adams now
says, ?After seeing the prints, I would say on first thought
that it is not an ape. We can safely say it was not a Bigfoot.?
Scott Adams climbed down a ravine to a creek and found two
places with five possible footprints from the animal, including
one with claw marks. Finding these other tracks, especially
on a steep, slick hillside, made them rule out a hoax.
Howell?s description of a white patch of fur on the animal?s
head and back neck made Adams decide it wasn?t an
American black bear, which also has five toes, not four. He
says it?s possible the animal is an ?exotic? pet bear that
escaped. ?We just don?t have enough evidence at this point,?
he says. ?Let?s hope there?s more sightings.?
Exotic animals have been found in the area before. Last year,
a piranha was caught in Griffy Lake, a 12-foot python that
had escaped its owner was found in Yellowwood State
Forest, and a monitor lizard native to the South Pacific was
spotted and chased for several hours at Lake Lemon. ?I?ve
taken all kinds of animals out in this county,? Dodge
says. ?I?ve taken bears, cougars, lions,? all of them escaped
from their owners.
Mitchell is urging people in the area not to shoot the animal if
they spot it. If it did turn out to be a kid carrying out a hoax,
it would be tragic. He says, ?You can?t take back a bullet.?
Kevin Burrin, another area resident, says he sighted a similar
animal in the same area a decade ago. It occurred while he
was camping with three other people in the Hardin Ridge area
by Blackwell Lake. ?While walking around the lake, I saw an
animal similar to what was described ... only it appeared to
me to be taller than five feet,? he says. ?It quickly
disappeared into the woods when I moved toward it to get a
better look. I couldn?t find any tracks, but it did run off
upright with a gait unlike any I have ever seen.?
?We?ll go down there and take a look and see what we come
up with,? Dodge says. ?I don?t know what it is.?
To investigate further, read ?Mysterious America? by Loren
Coleman, click here.
To learn more,
click here.
To see a photo of one of the footprints,
click here.
For more information, click here.
