As I was ducking out the door this morning, my husband said, “Oh, there’s an article on Bigfoot on the front page of The Oregonian today.”
He knows I believe. He doesn’t believe and he spends a lot more time out there in the woods, alone, than I do.
The first thing I did when I got home tonight (while I ate the lovely dinner he prepared for me: left-over chicken, potato salad and rolls) was read the article. It’s eerie enough to make you believe that there’s a Bigfoot loose in Umatilla County, on the Reservation. You can read the full article here, but I will attempt to summarize it.
Back in November, strange sounds began to emanate from a swampy area that is close enough to a housing development that residents sat up and took notice. Some say it’s a fox. Others say it could be coyotes. Most lean toward Bigfoot. The sounds can raise the hair on the back of your neck.
One woman, Colleen Chance, even recorded the noise on her cell phone. The link is in the news article and I urge you to go read about it and listen to the cell phone recording. Turn up the volume. You can hear a stream running and then the sounds, back in the background. Over and over and over.
I was so excited! I planned a blog post while chewing on my chicken.
My husband said, “You’re going to blog about this, I know.” I nodded, being as my mouth was too full to speak.
He doesn’t read my blog.
When I settled down at my computer, the first thing I did was go to the link at Oregonlive.com to listen to the cell phone recording. And it is weird. If you didn’t read the article, at least listen to the recording.
Before I wrote a blog post, however, I wanted to get everything in order. In my mind, it is important to lay out all the facts and give the reader an opportunity to make an informed decision. I’ve heard a lot of the noises coyotes can make and some of them are pretty eerie and hair-raising. So I figured I could google coyote noises last.
I searched for fox noises first.
I decided on the spot that I wasn’t going to write the exciting blog post I had envisioned.
But the more I thought about it, the more disappointed I got: why didn’t the original investigative reporter – you know, the one who got paid to write the Oregonian article – bother to google fox sounds? Several witnesses said they thought the noise could be foxes.
I believe the whole point of researching something is to, well, research it.
Several witnesses said it could be coyotes.
I’ve heard all of those coyote sounds and more. We once had a coyote that stood outside the circle of light from our camp and barked like a lost dog. Our own dog was coyote-wise and crowded the fire more. My husband and my son sneaked off into the dark and circled around to see the coyote. (Yes, we do weird things like that when we’re camping – go sneaking around in the dark sans a flashlight in hopes of seeing what is out there.)
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Cougar_Puma_Sounds
(Check out the Female Cougar in Heat sounds)
So now I’ve done the comparisons for you. Comparisons that I think should have been done by the first reporter, and probably could have been done by any one of the witnesses simply by typing in “fox sounds” or “coyote noises” into the search engine of their choice on the Internet. It’s amazing what a little looking will get you.
I am disappointed that I can’t come here and give you the definitive “BIGFOOT IS REAL” post that I wanted to. I was even going to invite my dear friend, Jodi, on a quest into the swamp in Umatilla County.
That disappointment is tempered with this: I haven’t seen a red fox in ages. Jodi just released one on to her property. And I am certain there’s a whole family of them living in Umatilla County, mixing it up in the swamp. And that gives me peace.
What do you think? Do you think it still could be Bigfoot? Or a cougar in heat? Or are you like me, and you find the red fox sounds eerily similar to the cell phone recording?
(I do not classify this as a hoax. I truly believe the people interviewed are believers in something out there just as I am. I am not making fun of them in any way. I just made a comparison and found myself disappointed in the outcome. That is all.)
Jaci Dawn 
Dang it! How far away is this from you? I’m thinking you need to make a trip over there and listen for yourself. It’s too hard to hear on the tape!
Jodi! You’re a genius. The creature is over by Pendleton. All I have to do is figure out how to look like an official Bigfoot Hunter. There must be a way…
And, yes, the cell phone recording is not very sharp. I agree. Too much foreground noise.
I’ve heard that sound around here. Had no idea what it was. Thought maybe big cat, but it’s interesting to know that fox can sound like that too.
Sue – I’d never heard foxes before, so I would not have identified those noises with a fox until I listened to the video. Foxes are strange creatures…
If Bigfoot is as tall and solid as proported to be, then I find it hard to believe that a light scream or chirp noise would come from his vocal cords. His anatomy would lead us to believe that, like a bear, large ape, large cat, he/she would have a deep tone or resonance. Granted there are some animals in the world that make HUGE noises when they themselves are very small, (croaking frogs, howling monkeys, Peacocks) but to be large and speak small, not so common. I have heard foxes while camping in California and here in Oregon. My bet is this noise is a fox.
Yeah, I’m pretty certain it’s a fox, too.