Oregonbigfoot.com file# 00022

REPORT OVERVIEW

Date: April , 1998
Clackamas county, OR
Nearest town: Molalla
Nearest road: Molalla River Rd
Conditions:
Time:
Location:

REPORT DETAIL

Description of event: On Easter Sunday, we no sooner got out of the car at the campsite at Molalla River when we heard what sounded , I guess I can't say it any other way, like someone beating on their chest, except very loud. It was coming from the direction of the opposite hill across the river. It lasted 3 to 4 seconds and starts very very slowly and finishes rapidly. We heard it three times in a space of 5 min. As long as I've been going into the woods, I've never heard anything even close to this. Teresa got very nervous and wanted to go somewhere else, I wanted to go up Copper Creek to see if we could get closer so that's what we did. Never heard it again. Was not a bird flying, was not a grouse, Was not a woodpecker, Was not a cutting device, Was not even a slow starting engine. I just flat have ran out of possibilities. If you have any ideas let me know. If it was one of our hairy buddies, he could have been upset. There was a lot of shooting going on down river. At least two different spots. No one up river though. Would like to hear a detailed description of possible chest beating. How it starts etc. Let me know what you have.

(Ray...I suggested it might be a ruffed grouse, but got this reply from Steve, an experienced woodsman) Sorry if I sounded a little testy about your explanation of a grouse. But after 30+ years of going out in the woods, grouse noises come in one ear and out the other. I do appreciate any explanations or comments that you make. It's how we keep learning. This was not the same sound that wings beating on air makes, this was different from anything I've ever heard yet. This is not the first time I've heard different noises from this campground. Remember the Yahoo and the whistling noises a while back. I still can't explain those. Something about this place that is intriguing. Just when I get tired of going there, something else happens. I sure wish the same thing would happen more then one time so I could get a better grip on it. Also the chest beating sound (still can't think of a better thing to call it) did not taper off. It ended abruptly.

(OREGONBIGFOOT.COM EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the same this Bob and I heard at Fall Creek and while following up on the Johnson report at Oregon Caves. In both instances, we were following up on reports/sightings were the witness had described this sound. However, I have heard the sound multiple times since then, and believe it is the sound of "normal" wildlife, such as a grouse)

* Did a three day camp-out on the Molalla River, about 20 miles south of Molalla, OR, after having a report from Steve Williams on a chest beating episode. He is adamant it wasn't a bird. Just back from the campout. Spent Friday, 4/24 by myself to get the lay of the land. Had several visitors show up, but alas, no Bigfoot showed up to join the party...but a few loud rock n' rollers did...their drums didn't attract anything either (I was sure it would Henry!). "Beating of chest" in the brush turned out to be grouse doin' his thing every fifteen minutes, Friday thru Sunday; wood on wood noise was a noisy woodpecker; strange thump on car roof was a tree cone; stomach turning smell was from a dead deer on the road (three turkey buzzards spinning above)...and a nearby silo on the way out; screams in the night were the rock n' rollers...ah well, maybe next time.

Source: The Track Record #76
record updated:2002-07-09 00:00:00