Roar

[_crypto]

Approximately two months ago an incident occurred that I found quite disturbing. It was 12.30 am and I needed to take a phone downstairs to charge. We don't have internal stairs leading to the rooms below and as such I needed to go downstairs via the external stairs out the back. I put the phone on to charge, locked the door and was about to come back upstairs when I heard a roar. This roar sounded completely different to that of a lion or tiger. It didn't sound like it originated from a human either. I have no idea where or what the roar originated from. It sounded fairly deep and was reasonably close. As tempted as I was to look over the back fence I had visions of being mauled by some large animal. Common sense prevailed and I hurried inside.

I could speculate as to what made the roar but I guess that I'll never know for certain. I think if you discount the possibility of it being a large animal the most likely explanation is that of somebody playing a trick.

Generally when people report encounters with big cats etc, they have seen them or seen evidence of them (eg. a footprint). I think it would probably be somewhat rarer for people to report encounters based on some other sensory experience. Has anybody else here had an encounter that wasn't visually based?

 

[ginoide]

i posted this episode somewhere else a long time ago, but anyway:
one summer a friend of mine invited me me to their vacation house in pennsylvania, on the shore of a little lake. late at night i went out to smoke a cigarette and look at the stars and - well, after a while i ran back in, completely scared by some obviously threatening animal noise.

turned out it was a bull frog. they rarely attack and/or kill you, i was told.

 

[Anonymous]

Has anybody else here had an encounter that wasn't visually based?

Kinda...

When we were in our early twenties my brother and I both enjoyed camping overnight by the sides of lochs. My brother had a car and as we lived in Glasgow it would take only forty minutes of travel before we found ourselves on the shores of Loch Long or Lomond. Infact we camped by the sides of other bodies of water but we never really looked up where we were. On one occassion we had parked the car in a parking spot and were, in turns, taking items to our site down a steep embankment to the "beach". Across the road from where we parked was a dry stone wall and then a steep slope covered with fir trees and rowan, ranging I'd guess from seven foot to about ten foot. (I'm guessing the type of tree but I recall they were thin trunked and had silver bark, so I'll go with rowan). As I was waiting for my brother to return I noticed movement on the slope on the other side of the road. An animal, I'll assume, was traversing side ways across the slope. I did not see the "animal". What I did see was tree after tree being pushed aside as this creature walked across the slope. I can only liken it to "The Forbidden Planet"'s monster from the ID. It looked like a large creature was pushing aside the trees as it walked, they were bending and springing back with great force. My brother returned and we watched it head over the hill, always obscured by the trees. Once it was gone, we talked about it but decided to stay in this location. We were however quite vigilant all night.

I've always assumed it was bear, given our proximity to Loch Lomond Bear park, possibly an escaped one. If it was ABC then I don't ever want to come across it due to its size!

mooks out

 

[_crypto]

I did not see the "animal". What I did see was tree after tree being pushed aside

Mooksta,

Whilst a roar may be unsettling I think seeing what you saw would be truly frightening. I'm not sure that I would have been to keen to stay on with something so obviously large roaming around.

 

[feen5]

Mooks

Could it have been a Red Deer Stag, these animals would certainly be large enough to push trees out of their way in the manner you describe and despite their size they can be amazingly difficult animals to see?

 

[Anonymous]

"I'm not sure that I would have been to keen to stay on with something so obviously large roaming around."

It did scare me but I had me big brother with me, (Army type, no nonsense kinda guy - even now when I show him something from FT he gives me his withering stare) so I felt safe with him. I can't recall if I slept but that may have been due to our partying, though I do remember listening a lot and occassionally asking "Did you hear that?". Also I had to pee and that was quite worrying as brother, as brothers are want to do, decided to scare the bejeesus outta me. (Ho ho what a card Kenbo is!!)

And thanks Feen, a stag had never entered my thoughts. But it could have been, much more likely than Gentle ben looking for a picnic basket.

Must briefly mention another time when we camped and the trees next to us had claw marks some 5 to 6 feet up the trunk. Me bro'n'me both agreed it was a big cat though this being the early eighties and me nowt but a young teen I was unaware of the term ABC at the time.

These days I use abbrevations all the time, thanks to FT!

M. O.

 

[Bullseye]

Mooks

Could it have been a Red Deer Stag, these animals would certainly be large enough to push trees out of their way in the manner you describe and despite their size they can be amazingly difficult animals to see?

Doubt very much that it was deer, they can move through undergrowth amazingly quietly for such large animals (seen it often, with Fallows not Reds) always surprised how a fully antlered fallow can get through stuff so easily.
If it had been me,I can truthfully say, I would have followed whatever it was, my thinking would be that it was probably a cow but I'll just check anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Couldn't follow as stone wall had some wire over it, not that I would have followed it.

mooks out

 

[Anonymous]

About ten summers ago there was an unidentified animal living in the miles of woods that are behind our property. Our experience with it started one summer night. My daughter, her friend and I were enjoying a evening swim when we heard a strange animal call coming from the woods. As best as I can describe it, its loud and eerie call sounded like a long drawn out "OH-dee OH-dee OH-dee". We've lived next to those woods for many years and have seen and heard a variety of animals, but never heard anything like that before! We got out of the pool, sat on the deck and listened as the sound got closer. It was weird enough to scare us and fascinate us at the same time. But when it got a bit too close for comfort, we got scared and ran into the house!

Following that night, we'd hear snarls and growls coming from the woods, often followed by pitiful screams of small animals which we assumed were being killed by this creature. The snarls and growls were feline in nature and then at times we'd hear a thundering loud roar, exactly like you hear coming from lions or tigers at the zoo. One day, my daughter was playing in the yard and heard movement in the woods and caught a glimpse of yellow-gold fur. One night I was in the house and heard a loud commotion outdoors. I flipped on the outdoor lights and went out and saw the thick branches of a chokecherry tree shaking and snapping and heard the now familiar sounds of this animal killing something up in the tree. This was only about 20 feet from the deck. As close as it was, I didn't catch sight of it, but heard it come down the tree and heard the shrubbery rustle as it slinked off into the woods.

Our neighbors were aware of this animal too, hearing the same things we were. We feared for the safety of our children. During this period, a German Shepherd from a couple blocks over was severely attacked by something at night and required extensive veterinary care.

We decided to call the Pennsylvania Game Commission and they sent a game warden to the house who talked to my family and some of the neighbors. He never saw or heard the creature, but he was certain it was a coyote we had been hearing. We had to strongly disagree with him. Does a coyote roar like a lion? This creature's sounds were undeniably feline and we believed it was a mountain lion, although according to the game warden it been many years since mountain lions had inhabited the state of Pennsylvania. Since then, I've found there have been occasional sightings of mountain lions in our state.

By the end of summer, whatever it was must have left the area as we never heard it again.

 

[agentbuffy]

This roar sounded completely different to that of a lion or tiger. It didn't sound like it originated from a human either. I have no idea where or what the roar originated from. It sounded fairly deep and was reasonably close.

Are you certain that it was from some form of animal - my instant gut reaction from your description (and in no way trying to detract from the experience) was "Ducati". I know it is such a cliche that vehicles sound alive, but Ducati's have a really visceral sound - it does sound like a really nasty animal that would rip your throat out soon as look at you. Without visual context, the mind can play an awful lot of tricks. Just a thought.

 

[hedgewizard1]

I would like to note that while the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources denies their existence, many people in central Wisconsin have reported mountain lion (Felis concolor) sightings. In Adams County I spoke to several folks that had heard the animals' screams, sometimes on a regular basis. The cry of these animals is very spooky, I'm told. Never heard it myself.