In Cat country you need to make sure you are aware of a three dimensional threat. Cougars can and will drop down on you, but typically they prefer to ambush when you are kneeling or sitting. Hard for a Squatcher to avoid kneeling or crouching to look at something on the ground. If you are confronted by a big cat stand your ground and make yourself appear as large and formidable as possible. There is a fellow here in Texas that has a rescue organization for big cats that are out of control former pets and such, circus rejects etc. Whenever he goes into the enclosures to feed them he carries a large sheet of plywood with him as a shield. As long as he has it they cats wont come near hin no matter how aggressive they are. If you have on a jacket take it off and swing it. According to this fellow cats are all about attitude.

Is BigTex still around? I was hoping to hear more about his "close calls"...

Hey Mulder....'Close Calls' are always fun to talk about, but too many critics here, and would rather talk about things that I can post pictures of, and let others form their own opinions. I'm just a guy who has spent many years hiking in the woods with a good eye for detail, and a good working knowledge of the wild life. Of course, my one sighting of a Bigfoot, and what I would term as several 'near misses', has caused me to look at things a bit different, but like to stay more objective in this forum. It is easy to get 'BTV' (Bigfoot Tunnel Vision), and always think....."Bigfoot did it".....but I am the oposite, as he is my last choice to explain what I see.

So you mean "close calls" in the sense of "not sure" encounters. I thought maybe you were talking about situations where you felt physically at risk. Sorry about the misunderstanding.

I was thinking the same thing Mulder lol

BigTex I'd love to come out to Austin and go Squatchin' with you sometime. I used to spend alot of time in the Devils Backbone area when I was a teenager.

Hey Mulder.....I am sure about the encounters, and have felt 'at risk' on a few occasions for sure.

I see. The reason I was asking is that I am of the opinion that the prevailing public image of BF as "gentle giant of the woods" is a bit off, perhaps dangerously so. Therefore encounters that involve an element of actual conflict and/or tension between witness and BF interest me to see if they bear my theory out.

I have to agree with you there. In just being primate, and closer to the human side of things (as the shape of the foot indicates to me) makes them potentially extremely dangerous. Lots of people mention high aggression and territoriality, particularly from males. Even monkeys are very dangerous and unpredictable animals. Great apes are even more so, coupled with prodigious strength. Unreached indigenous people groups are highly dangerous (those little poisonous blow darts, spears, and so on) to make first contact with, and some really will eat you...Most North Americans really have no idea.

Yes Mulder....I hear you.....VERY dangerous customer, and just like people, their mood can be effected by many things at any given moment. It's just my opinion, but the Southern species seems quite a bit more aggressive, and apey, than their Pacific NW cousin. Plus they have been shot at plenty down here - that's the mentality in the South - shoot first, ask questions later. If you are looking for them, you will get a different and aggressive response than you would them seeking you out for curiousity sake. They can also seek you out over territorial matters, and more aggression. If I catch some fool sneaking over my back fence, they will get a totally different side of me than the UPS guy ringing the door bell.......same for our hairy friend.........try not to PISS HIM OFF!

How goes the search?
Hear Travis is down to 48% ..
Good time to hunt for arrow heads just north of the old Bar-K golf course, next to the river.
Might be a good time to look for some odd prints in the silt and flats that are showing.

Hey Wheel.......and everybody else. My hikes are down to 1 or 2 a week now, kids home for the summer, and it's blazing hot! I wait til 6 or 7:00PM, but t's still over a hundred........can't even imagine being in a fur coat like our hairy friend.

The woods are so dry right now, that I'm scared to even fart. The creeks that usually have water are dry as a bone, and the spring-feed ones are not flowing like normal. At midnight, it's still 90 something.

Here's something interesting.......found a Buzzard nest, which are made on the ground. One chick, and he is mean as hell, even scares the dog. This was back in the Spring, and we sotra made friends. I would take meat scraps to him, and he would hop over to me very close to get his treats. Last time I saw him a few weeks back, he was nearly fledged. The dog finally felt brave enough, and chased him to the top of a dead tree. I went over to take some photos, and there were at least 8 or 9 adults flying close to the ground, and diving on me. Could also smell this awful smell, and realized the adults were dive bombing me, and trying to hit me by puking up rotten meat! They didn't hit me, but man......what a effective defense!

First picture shows Buzz up in the tree, and he's nearly grown, second pic shows him in his little cave when younger, and covered in orange down feathers, and the third picture is one of the puke bombs they tried to nail me with.....nasty stuff.

Man, I think I'd prefer the hummingbird poop defense to the buzzard puke defense. Glad to hear you are still kicking but laying a little lower due to the sizzle down there BT!

Hey Bigtex,
I talked to you a while back about helping you out with audio, sinceI own a recording studio and have all kinds of gear (I live in San Antonio.)
Anyway, I was in a bad car wreck riight after we talked, broke my back in 3 places and was laid up for a while. Any way I am back to about 90% and still willing to do any audio type stuff from a "base camp" if you do anything like that. You should have my contact info in those old PM's from march if you didnt delete them..

Hey Rex, great to hear from you, sorry to hear about your accident, and glad you are doing better........my prayers are with you for a full recovery!

Please send me your contact info again if you can........I couldn't seem to find it, but my computer skills are lacking.

It RAINED.........went out for a hike in it.......felt like Gene Kelly, then the humidity made me fell like Dr. Livingston.

Here are two old prints; the one on the left is a re-visit, and a current picture of a print posted back a ways, the one where it looks like something swung from a fallen tree branch. This is a strange surface, almost like rock. My 220lbs. won't break through it. Even after several months of weathering, including rain, it's still there in pretty much in the same detail. The other is an older print I found......of course, could be human, but he was a mighty big fellow, and I could hardly make an impression.

I went to the 'Kill Zone' yesterday, referred to in earlier posts, and for the first time since May. From what I could tell, there were 3 new dead Deer, and this poor dog pictured below. Teeth were not used to kill this poor fellow, and appeared to be beaten to death, like something had it by the back legs, and beat it up & down on the ground. It was torn in half, the neck was twisted around, the lower jaw was pulled back at 180 degrees and dislocated. This was somebodies pet, and far from home. Has anyone seen anything like this?

Damn, that's exactly what King Kong did to the T-Rex. That dog bit off more than he could chew.

Man, you better get a high powered "go team" down there BigTex, you are hot onto something big, bad, and primed to tango. Sounds like high-tech and high caliber is the only way to go. Know any good INS people with a predator drone, this bears watching from a distance? Could you check for organ placement in the dog to see if anything was missing? Where was the other half? How about the condition of the deer? Worthy of checking organs or not?

Hi

Man that is wild ~ Something around there is not to happy with it's fellow animals, Can't say i have ever seen pictures of a dog busted up like that.

Peace
Tim

Hey Bipedalist, sent you an email, but not sure it worked, and sorry for my lacking computer skills. The dog appeared to have been carried to the Kill Zone, as it was 2 or 3 days dead, and any drag marks would have been still visible. The organs were gone too, but there were buzzards on it when I got there, and they probably ate those. Seems like the dog was able to bite his attacker during the struggle, and got his neck twisted & jaw cracked open for his trouble! Here's another picture too.

Now I see why you've got such a healthy buzzard crop down there, hahahaha

As far as the Kill Zone, and what human activity might be causing this, I have three ideas......but I am not a hunter, and never have, so any input from hunters would be greatly appreciated!

One : Poachers are ambushing these critters at this location. Unlikely, too close to town, and they would be using bows or crossbows, no sign of that, plus the carcases would still have to be carried down in this ravine on slippery 45 degree inclines on both sides. You would think they would quit using the same location for fear of being caught as well. Also, wouldn't all the 'death' in the area scare other animals? Place stinks a little too.

Two : Poachers are killing at another location, and dumping the bodies here.......seems unlikely too, and many are male deer with antlers, don't most hunters keep those? Example below.

Three : They are road kills, and being dumped here by road maintence crews........maybe they save a few extra bucks if they don't have to take it to where ever road kills are disposed of? Still, one might spread the bodies around more not to get caught, and not dump them in one spot. Getting a car near would be tough too, and no tracks in the field above, plus once agian, you would have to carry them down in the ravine.

Any more ideas?

Like you mentioned, it makes no sense for it to be poachers. They would either be after the meat or after the horns. If they were after the meat, they would have taken the whole deer, or at least cut out the backstraps and the hams.

As far as the road crew theory, exactly how far is the nearest road? No one is going to want to carry a rotten stinking animal corpse, if they can dump it from a vehicle wihtout handling it much...

In this killing zone place, is there signs like things are being eaten here in mass amounts, or just dumped here?

Great pics and interesting stuff!

Rex

Any tags on that dog collar? If you asked the County, they should give you the owners contact info? At least that could give you an idea as to where the dog may have come from and a possible distance from home...

Thanks for the posts guys, and I was thinking the same thing Titus, but didn't want to disturb the scene quite yet. Plus, with the 103+ heat, you can imagine the smell.......makes my eyes water. I went back over there yesterday evening to get a closer look, and armed with a rag soaked in Old Spice.......did I mention the damn thing stinks? Anyway, I posted the picture again for a quick reference. I will be cutting the collar off in a few days, and report back on that.

There is a well traveled Game Trail just to the left of the body, and it appears to have been killed right there. The Game Trail runs along the Kill Zone side of the ravine, and about midway down from the top.

The rock just above the dogs head has what appears to be blood stains, and the discoloration of the soil below & around the body appears to be blood as well. The back end of the dog, including legs, are still behind the front part, but the spine is twisted around and severed, and there is no skin or meat at all on the rear part of the dog. Almost looks like something had the dog by the rear legs, and was beating it against those rocks. Weird scene for sure.

That really is odd.

I'd think the carcass is a little older than 2-3 days, just looking at the pics and the way the hair is dislodging from the hide. Hard to tell from a pic though. Maggots present? Or is it past the maggot stage?

The staining could also be from body fluids which leaked from the carcass.

Also, it's hard to tell from the pic, but is the jaw actually broken? Or is it dislocated?

Broken may indicate different forces at work than dislocation. It could have been dislocated by something going after the tongue/soft tissues or something, but if the bones of the lower jaw are actually broken, well, that's interesting.

LOL.. Tex.. May not wanna answer those questions just yet.. I'm guessing that carcass might smell a little bit..

Can't really tell for sure from your posts...

Hey Titus, it did have maggots, but baby ones, so I figured around 3 days dead for that small size. I will go back in a few days to get answers to your other questions.

BigTex,

Curious - have you considered putting up a trailcam in that vicinity, or perhaps baiting? Or even camping out overnight? Or going out in the early morning hours / evening hours and doing some calling?

Crazy pic of the dog...

any poo around? If something is eating there it might also be leaving scat piles.

Hey All, and Uncle Billy......I have a tentative plan for Saturday night (8/8), nice big moon, and all night if necessary. Going to bait and predator call from a hidden blind, set up a special camera rig I made, which fires multiple cameras and triggers off of a pressure sensative device buried in the soil, on the game trail. No beams and/or electrical impulses to give this baby away, and is nearly invisable, great care taken to make it stealthy. Also, it's nice to know your depth of field, unlike the store-bought kind, and have different pictures/angles of the same event at a known location. I will have some quality sound recording going as well, and over $1,500 spent on that stuff (please, nobody mention this to my wife!).

Now........the ONLY thing that I need is a volunteer......anybody in the area need a thrill? Something tells me I should take a buddy, and not do this alone. PLEASE send me an email if interested.......this could be my last post!

PS.......parked yesterday at my usual spot near my main research area, and near the Kill Zone. Pic #1 is the dead end dirt road where I park, and to the left by the rock. Pic #2 shows a Deer carcus right where I normally park, like some kinda twisted message, and Pic #3 is just to show whoever, man or beast, that I have a sense of humor.

Big Tex if I lived near you I would be right there with you. Please get some pictures even if its just the area you are searching. It sounds like a fun adventure.

I'm down the road in Conroe Bigtex, I might be able to make it out that way and go with ya

Looks like Dantallus will join the little stake-out this Saturday night.......hope at least we have some excitement, maybe get a few photos, and some good sound recordings. I was over near the Zone today, and found this rather impressive foot print, and it wasn't there yesterday. This was on a game trail about a mile from the kill zone, heading away, and toward the river. My 220 lbs. can't make a print like this, not even close. It's hard to see the detail in this photo, the heel is defined, and ends just to the left edge of that small white rock, even with my heel, grass blades pressed down, with nice toe definition......this is a right foot.

That's an AWESOME print...were there more than one? Was there a trackway? Did you measure it, length, width and depth? Man oh man, if you get a glimpse of that fella! Looks like a pretty big one! Keep your eyes peeled!

I will go back and measure that one tomorrow......also, where are the best instructions for making plaster casts? I find so many prints, and really need to do more than take pictures of them.....so much detail is lost. The one above is one of the better ones I've seen in a while, probably because it was so fresh, hours old.

http://www.evidentcrimescene.com/cata/cast/dscasting.html

Study this page, they make some similar casting material to dental stone that is available at hardware stores that is better than plaster of paris,
but not quite as costly as the dental stone, forgot the name of it......comes in one pound and five pound boxes. Baggie the stuff for quick mixing and pouring by cutting out one end of the bag to pour it, maybe better get the biggest baggies you can for that critter (prob. be better off getting 25 lb. bags of dental stone or more). Good luck, stay safe, wished I was a little closer, I'd join you.

Ok, its Saturday night, not tonight, anyway, hope you guys get some corporeal shadows of the fifth kind tomorrow night!

Let's hope so something weird is definately going on in Bigs area.

Alright you guys have had enough time to sleep in and get the adrenaline levels down. Wha' happened?

It was a great weekend to be out researching and nosing around in the woods. We had no sightings or encounters directly but there is certainly indirect evidence that uncle hairy could be lurking around the woods and streams there. In my opinion it is a prime location for BF activity. I want to thank BigTex for inviting me to tag-a-long. He is an outstanding researcher. He knows his area of research like the back of his hand and he's out there everyday so he notices anything that has changed or that's out of place from one day to the next. He's a careful observer, taking time to notice even small things, slow and methodical in his approach doing his best to rule out all possibilities before ascribing something to Sasquatch. I have spent time in the field with the "Bigfoot behind every tree" types as well as the "No Bigfoot for a thousand miles" types. BigTex falls nicely in-between which is a good place fore an objective researcher to be. It was a long night, hot dark night in some angry and stifling topography but he and I had an immediate sense of trust which is critical if you're going to be possibly putting your life in some elses hands.

The terrain is rough, steep ravines hundreds of feet deep interlaced with dozens of game trails that make their way, cutting back and forth through Mesquite, Post and Pin Oaks, Sweetgum and Cedar trees. The trails are narrow and steep so a person really has to watch their step or you could wind up sliding, bouncing and falling 100 feet into the limestone-lined ravines and dry creek beds below, coveniently hitting rocks, trees and stumps all the way down to the sudden stop at the bottom. I was impressed that even on our night walk which lasted to the wee hours of Sunday morning BT knew exactly were each twist and turn of the trails lay. It was full moon, but with the trees and scrub pressing in on each side of the trail it was still very dark once we got down to the bottom. We practiced some pretty strict light discipline as well, preferring to take our time and ease along the trails in the dark over using our lights. We only popped them on a few times when negotiating some pretty hairy obstacles. Out there a broken ankle can be serious business, especially in the dark. Shortly after I arrived Saturday afternoon we went on a scouting hike for about 4 hours. We covered alot of ground and I could feel it in my legs the next morning. He showed me most of his research area and the places of special interest that he has posted about. I have to tell you that the body count in this area of the woods is staggering. Literally hundreds and hundreds of various bones, animal carcasses, half carcasses and limbs. Mainly deer, wild hogs and more than a few a dogs and cats. BT has some theories on what "COULD" be happening here and he and I discussed them at length interposing some alternatives. But something weird is definately happening be it Sasquatch related or not. I am not positive that it is directly BF related but my gut tells me that it may very well be. BT and I set up his cameras with pressure sensitive triggers along the main game trail leading up this area. (He uses standard film/flash cameras which are highly reliable by the way). It is the only easy avenue of approach to the meadow from the ravine below. He also deployed a very nice Marantz 8 hour digital recored with 2 parabolic mikes hiddden in a nice faux stump blind which he camoflaged with surrounding brush. He is still going over the recordings and that will take some time. After setting up the gear we decided to leave the tech alone and let it do it's job so we left the area and went to another research area a few miles away and did a 2 hour night hike which ended around 2 am Sunday morning. I had to be back in Houston Sunday afternoon so we turned in for the night. BT called me yesterday morning as I was just getting home and told me he was about to go retrieve the gear and see what if anything might be on it. Cross your fingers guys! I dont want to take anything else away from BigTex so I'll bow out until he can post.

Anything else that comes from the tech and the research area I will leave to BigTex to discuss since it's his spot and his show. I can see why he wanted someone there to watch his back. It's dangerous terrain with some dangerous wildlife regardless of Bigfoot very likely being in the area as well. At night it's close quarters and you are in a world of hurt if anything goes wrong and you're alone. I do believe that Bigfoot are using this area and terrain as an easy way to ambush prey as well as conceal their own movements. These ravines and trails intersect with power and gas line senderos as well giving these creatures a secluded super-highway to travel upon from protected land up above down to the lake and river miles below. There are thousands of places to lay up during the day were noone would ever find you if you didnt want to be found. Thanks BigTex!

Next time you'll have to come down to the Big Thicket with me : )


(edited for grammer)

Hello all, and thank you Dantallus for the kind words, and joining me Saturday night. Dantallus was an outstanding research partner, and I felt an insant bond with him, not only on a personal level, but our shared love of the woods - day or night. Hopefully, this will be the first of many such research activities with him, and I will be heading down his way when the weather cools off.

As he stated, not much to report the other night. It was god awful hot, and even at midnight. So many of the normal watering holes have dried up this year, and the woods just seem very quiet, almost spooky quiet. Normally you will hear the Coyotes howling away at some point, but didn't even hear any of those. Anyway, about the only thing I can share today is only two pictures, and the first is of me testing my Camera Trap after we got it set up. Hopefully, you can get an idea of just how fast the cameras fire by noticing my foot placements (in the middle of a step), and my 'thumbs-up', which I only did for a second. The 'trigger' is buried in the Game Trail.

It will take me a few days to go through the audio portion, and will certainly report anything unusual.

The second picture is a light weight plastic 'tree stump', which is where I put my recording gear to keep it dry and hidden. I put some holes in the top lid, and cut fresh branches and slide them in to make it look even more natural.

And again......Dantallus........thanks for watching my back!

BigTex


That's some awesome equipment you've got! I thank you and Dantallus for going out in the field to investigate and wish you the best with future research--keep up the good work!

By the way.......if anyone knows of a trail, or 'spot' where a Bf might frequent, I will come to YOU with one of my camera traps. I REALLY think they will work great for this type of research, and I made them to be 'Species Specific'. Maybe Dantallus can elaboate a little more on that, and the stealthiness of the rig. One thing that I didn't do the other night was camo the camera more. I will either put fresh cut leaves/small branches around them for concealment, or set in between branches so it is hidden from view on both sides, and can't be seen coming or going down the game trail.......the latter method is what I used the other night. My little homemade camera boxes are pretty stealthy anyway.......what did you think Dantallus?

I thought the equipment was perfect. Simple, easy and ultra reliable. With the sensor pads you dont have to worry about falling leaves or wind blown trees causing the camera to snap a photo of nothing. Anything that crosses the pad will be imaged and that's it. The camera was nicely hidden from view as you approached from either way on the trail and I think that's all you can ask for. However since they are small and their casings are lightweight they are easy to hide with vegetation if necessary. The cameras can also be trip-wired, a fact I almost found out the hard way on our afternoon hike when BT pointed it out to me. I was 2 feet from the wire and camera and never even saw them. Perfect. I also like the fact that the ground sensors can fire multiple cameras simultaneously.

Great report guys, glad you were able to cover so much ground and get a feel for the area Dantallus. Sounds like we can look forward to more in the future from you both re:
the boneyard. Sounds like a hardhat area for sure. Excellent technology and not so complicated that it is open to a lot of snafu's. I would imagine that sound recordings should prove productive in that area. Keep up the good work. When the temps chill and the rain comes back something tells me we'll be hearing more from you.

You are so right Bipedalist........it is just too dang hot, and the draught we are in is having an effect on everything. I'll still be checking around and hiking, but am looking forward to some cooler weather.

Did you ever retrieve the collar from the dog?

yes Tex has the collar and we located the owner. He is planning to go speak to them about it tactfully. It will help possibly eliminate any conjecture. What struck me as strange is that the carcass had been relocated from it's original position and the collar was now removed albeit without being unbuckled. It appeared to have been pulled over the dogs head and cast aside. In the original photo you can see the collar still on the carcass neck though. Strays and house-pets in BT's neck of the woods don't have very good survival rate. You wont find stray casts and dogs milling about. They all wind up dead either from coyotes and cougars or quite possibly from something else though that remains to be proven beyond a doubt. That whole area is like some twisted anacronysm. You have astounding beauty coupled with the aftermath of gruesome prey activity everywhere you look. Creepy to say the least.

^Thanks for the reply!

Are you and/or Tex in communication with any of the research groups? They might have additional resources that could help.

Have you reported this "killing zone" to the Fish and Wildlife people? They too might be interested.

I'm not affiliated with any research groups personally.