The sighting is at least eleven years old, granted, but for some reason it feels like a tipping point. There are too many Bigfoot sightings in a certain area of SE Wisconsin to ignore.
Phoned in to me this July 2, I wrote it up quickly and stashed it in the already-proofed manuscript for The Michigan Dogman, Werewolves and Other Unknown Canines of the US, to use as a contrasting description to canine encounters. Here is the excerpt:
It occurred around 1999 halfway between Elkhorn and Whitewater near North Lake and only a scant twelve miles from Lima Center. A Chicago computer salesman named Joe was on his way to fish at the lake one day and was about a mile north of Millard on County Hwy. O (in map below that’s north of the bottom right intersection near small cemetery) when he noticed movement on the east side of the road through his passenger window.
He slowed down and saw a seven-foot, 400-pound creature walking through the tall grass in the ditch, swinging its long arms from big shoulders and leaning slightly forward as if intent on where it was going. It was covered in “rust brown” fur that appeared uneven and unkempt, and as it turned its head to look at him, Joe said his first thought was, “Whoa, that is not a person!” His second thought was, “Don’t stop the car.” The creature’s eyes were “sunken into” the fur that covered its face, he said, and no ears or muzzle were visible. He said it reminded him of Chewbacca from Star Wars. He kept on driving and did not look back, and never told anyone about it. He is not into the supernatural at all, he said, but he came across my Beast of Bray Road site while browsing the Internet only a few days earlier and, because that was in Elkhorn too, assumed he had seen the Beast. But when I asked him to describe what he saw, his answer made it clear this was no canine.
By itself, it might be easy to dismiss this sighting from a man who prefers to remain anonymous. But here is a quick list of my own compilation other sightings of large, fur-covered primates from Delavan and Jefferson Counties in SE Wisconsin:
Like I told you in an e-mail a few years ago, Linda, it was either a canine on steroids or “wolf-man” of some sort. The more I think of it the more convinced I am that I had two encounters. All I really know is I saw what I saw and heard what I heard. Pat ….
Seen any Dogmen lately?
Hey there! Now WHY didn’t you tell me about WordPress? I have been searching high and low (well, high when the pain meds have been working–giggle) for a new place to blog.
For why?
Because Windows Live Spaces has been WRECKED by the “Team” responsible for making it better and keeping it running. Not intentionally, of course. It’s just that they are a bunch of tecnogeeks (I use the term affectionately) whose needs and interests and ideas of what Spaces NEEDS are not the same as the average computer user.
The result is that people are fleeing spaces in droves. I have hundreds of friends all over the world and we used to blog and comment on each others blogs and generally have a great time and now everybody is trying to find somewhere where friends can leave comments and so on. Spaces has totally mucked THAT up as well.
So I did eventually find WordPress and I love it but only NOW have I discovered that YOU are here TOO!!!
This is so cool. No more hassles from MySpace when I try to leave you a link to my blog because I’m just in the blogging room next door (in a virtual sort of way). That’s the one thing that I really like about Facebook…at least they let you link to your blog no matter WHERE it is.
Anyway…just subscribed to your blog here and will be keeping in touch.
huggs from a rainy Minneapolis friend (and fan)
Cass