The Thing in Ottine Swamp

[Ulalume]

(I've included these photos I took at Palmetto state park in March of 2012, just to give a general idea of what the entry area near Gonzales looks like, including the lookout point mentioned in the linked article below. Unfortunately, I did not capture any photos of "the thing" - though the linked website does have have an alleged one!)

Sightings of the ape-like "thing" had seemed to drop off in the 80's and 90's - or at least I didn't hear about them, but they seem to have picked up again in recent years. The Texas Crypid hunters website gives the account of The Thing mentioned in the excellent (and sadly out of print) book "Ghost Stories of Texas" as well some more modern tales.

http://texascryptidhunter.blogspot.com/2014/07/sasquatch-classics-ottine-thing.html

To many, the Ottine Swamp is but 198 acres of bog and thicket located almost exclusively within the confines of Palmetto State Park. It is much more than that, however, and is actually made up of some 10,000 acres that flank the San Marcos River between Luling and Gonzalez. There is an amazing diversity of plant life in this area ranging from hardwood bottoms, mesquite flats and true palmetto dominated swamplands. It is a spot out of place geographically and out of time chronologically where people have reported strange encounters with a hair-covered, bigfoot-like creature known locally as “the thing”[...]

The Lookout Hill area has remained a hotspot for encounters with the thing. Many an amorous couple has been run out of the area. Sometimes they abandon their parking spots because of blood curdling screams emanating from just inside the brush line. Others have reported having their vehicles shaken violently or struck by something amazingly strong. A smaller number of people have reported actually catching a glimpse of a huge, hair-covered creature that glowered at them from the edge of the woods or, in rare cases, actually approached their vehicle and peeked in the window or windshield at uncomfortably close quarters. These types of experiences are not limited to only the Lookout Hill area; however, they have been reported for several miles up and down the river between Luling and Gonzales. Mobile homes have been slapped and shaken, pets have come up missing and strange tracks have been found over the years.[...]

Ecologically, the region is a transitional area where the Balcones escarpment (an area of rocky hills and canyons) becomes post-oak savannah and blackland praire, so it's quite different from the usual heavily forested area where sasquatch sightings occur. It's also (IMO) far less swampy than some of the areas where where "swamp monster" lore is more common. So it seems a bit out of the ordinary in either case.

While South-Central Texas does not contain the type of habitat most would consider ideal for a sasquatch-type animal (the possible exception being Ottine Swamp) the area actually has a long history of encounters with such creatures. The tales of the Wildwoman of the Navidad, the beast of Bear Creek, the bear king of Marble Falls, the Converse werewolf, the naming of Woman Hollering Creek, the hairy man of Round Rock and, now, the Ottine thing all contain elements that, if described today, would have most people thinking “bigfoot.” Granted, most of these tales involve flaps of sightings that took place decades ago but encounters continue to be reported sporadically, especially along the San Marcos River between Luling and Gonzales, to this very day.

I don't really have an opinion on whether said Thing exists. Maybe it's sasquatch, maybe it's pranksters, vivid imaginations or maybe it's locals who have gone "back to nature" down in the river bottoms. The tales perhaps skirt the line between cryptozoology and folklore. But still I thought it was worth posting here.

 

[kamalktk]

I like stories of local cryptids, and have posted a couple of threads of them as well.

 

[amyasleigh]

A bit of a "non-post" (time must be hanging heavy on my hands); but, interested to learn the location of Ottine Swamp and its "thing". As Ulalume says, different from the often-postulated --thickly forested or swampy -- "prime habitat" areas for Bigfoot or similar "whatevers". But, to be honest -- there have been reports (taken seriously by those who take it upon themselves to attempt research into the Bigfoot phenomenon) of sightings / encounters in every US state on the North American continent, plus in various parts of Canada. This has factored into my coming to a point of considering that if anything on this scene is indeed happening outside of people's own heads; in some way it partakes of the paranormal, and thus is likely not to have a lot to do with conditions of biological habitat.

Looking momentarily at Bigfoot in terms of its being reckoned purely-flesh-and-blood: one gathers (backed up by greatest concentrations of sighting / encounter reports) that the creature would seem to be putatively most pronouncedly present (1) in mountainous and forested northern California / Pacific North-West, spreading north from there into British Columbia and south-eastern Alaska; (2) in Florida (the swamp-dwelling "Skunk-ape" variant of the creature); and (3) in the quite-well-forested and not-heavily-populated regions spreading out from the area where the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana quite closely meet. (I recall many years of reported Bigfoot activity, with some close encounters, around the town of Fouke near the south-west corner of Arkansas.) Whilst the Ottine region is a good way south-east of the abovementioned "patch" -- one tends to have it in mind that the eastern half of Texas would seem to be a quite prominently "Bigfooty" area; whatever B/F may or may not be.

 

[Ulalume]

Good Points, Amyasleigh.

[...](3) in the quite-well-forested and not-heavily-populated regions spreading out from the area where the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana quite closely meet. (I recall many years of reported Bigfoot activity, with some close encounters, around the town of Fouke near the south-west corner of Arkansas.) Whilst the Ottine region is a good way south-east of the abovementioned "patch" -- one tends to have it in mind that the eastern half of Texas would seem to be a quite prominently "Bigfooty" area; whatever B/F may or may not be.

Fouke, Arkansas - the legend of Boggy Creek. That film scared me senseless as a child, not the least because the landscape of the film looked (without using too much imagination) not unlike the territory East of here, along the rivers - I could easily imagine the Boggy Creek monster popping over for a visit.

East texas - the big thicket and the piney woods. Yes, I think it is more "bigfooty" kind of territory - IMO it would be easier for B/F to keep kidden in such an area, rather than in the open-canopy savannah that covers more of the South-central part of the state. (I assume so, anyway, as I'm thinking about it from a strictly human perspective - it would be easier for a human to hide in such a setting. How a sasquatch would go about staying under the radar is unknown to me.) There were also some tales (mentioned in the local newpaper and even in FT mag once, IIRC) of "wildman" sightings in the coastal plains, which would be much more difficult for hiding - a creature would have to keep to the underbrush and river bottoms to keep out of sight.

This is a completely subjective feeling on my part, obviously, but I'm uncomfortable in the piney woods of East Texas and avoid them, even though one of my siblings lives there. There is an unnerving atmosphere to them and it's the kind of place that plays visual and mental "tricks" on a person - losing one's bearings, optical illusions, "seeing things" and so on. Some places in the Pacific Northwest have a similar effect, too, at least to my limited experience - I never ventured very far into the woods in either place, for good reasons - with my poor sense of direction, I probably would never make it out again!

ETA - for those who are not familiar with the areas mentioned, here are some relative distances between them (I can't look up actual mileage at the moment, so will use the Texan method of using drive time Using the Interstates and going the speed limit, of course.) From Ottine swamp to the piney woods would be approximately a 5 to 6 hour drive East, distance to the Louisiana border is a couple of hours more. To the coastal plains maybe 2 to 3 hours South. To the Arkansas border, more like 8 to 10 hours going Northeast - so the range between sightings in these areas is fairly sizable.

 

[Ulalume]

An organization called the North American Wood Ape Conservancy has a report of recent sighting, from June 2014, here:
http://woodape.org/reports/report/detail/22498

From the report:
"Shortly after entering the Mesquite Flats Trail, the pair heard another loud vocalization from behind them that was identical to the first howl a few minutes earlier. The pair, getting more uneasy by the minute, picked up their pace significantly. They hiked roughly ¾ of a mile without incident, the female walking about 15-20 feet in front of her husband. About ¼ of a mile from the point where the Mesquite Flats Trail transitions to the Ottine Swamp Trail, the couple crossed a long boardwalk-style bridge. The male witness was no more than 30 feet beyond the bridge, his wife ahead of him, when the couple heard a loud snap behind them. They wheeled around quickly to see what had caused the loud snap. The male witness's attention was focused on a tree limb that had appeared in the middle of the trail. It had not been there moments before. The limb was a bit curved, almost bow-like, in shape and was still rocking or wavering as it rested on the trail. As he stared at the stick, he caught a glimpse of something black to his left moving quickly away from the trail. The female witness was not distracted by the stick in the trail and caught site of a large, black figure running at breakneck speed from her right to left away from the trail. She got a good, if brief, look at the figure. She described it as jet black and “ungodly fast.” She was positive that what she saw was upright and bipedal. While mainly taken aback by the speed of the figure, she also noted that it was very large. The female witness described the figure as “massive.” The only sound the pair reported hearing was four heavy “thumps” as the figure ran away from them.

Now thoroughly unnerved, the couple hiked quickly down the Ottine Swamp Trail and back toward Park Road 11 and the parking area. Roughly ½ mile from the end of the trail, the pair heard one last loud vocalization. It was the same loud bellowing/howl they had already heard twice previously. This time, however, the vocalization originated from a spot much closer to them and, much to their chagrin, ahead of them, between them and the perceived safety of the park. Cautiously, but quickly, the couple covered the final ½ mile and made their way back to their vehicle."

 

[rynner2]

Seems to me these copter-style drones would be useful tools for Monster hunters. They could follow and video a 'suspect', while remaining high enough to be out of reach. Probably some people are trying this already...

 

[GNC]

Seems to me these copter-style drones would be useful tools for Monster hunters. They could follow and video a 'suspect', while remaining high enough to be out of reach. Probably some people are trying this already...

The drones would still have to be able to see through the cover of the trees. I don't know if heat sensitive cameras would work, since a human and an apeman would presumably look much the same through that technology.

 

[amyasleigh]

Good Points, Amyasleigh.



Fouke, Arkansas - the legend of Boggy Creek. That film scared me senseless as a child, not the least because the landscape of the film looked (without using too much imagination) not unlike the territory East of here, along the rivers - I could easily imagine the Boggy Creek monster popping over for a visit.

East texas - the big thicket and the piney woods. Yes, I think it is more "bigfooty" kind of territory - IMO it would be easier for B/F to keep kidden in such an area, rather than in the open-canopy savannah that covers more of the South-central part of the state. (I assume so, anyway, as I'm thinking about it from a strictly human perspective - it would be easier for a human to hide in such a setting. How a sasquatch would go about staying under the radar is unknown to me.) There were also some tales (mentioned in the local newpaper and even in FT mag once, IIRC) of "wildman" sightings in the coastal plains, which would be much more difficult for hiding - a creature would have to keep to the underbrush and river bottoms to keep out of sight.

This is a completely subjective feeling on my part, obviously, but I'm uncomfortable in the piney woods of East Texas and avoid them, even though one of my siblings lives there. There is an unnerving atmosphere to them and it's the kind of place that plays visual and mental "tricks" on a person - losing one's bearings, optical illusions, "seeing things" and so on. Some places in the Pacific Northwest have a similar effect, too, at least to my limited experience - I never ventured very far into the woods in either place, for good reasons - with my poor sense of direction, I probably would never make it out again!

ETA - for those who are not familiar with the areas mentioned, here are some relative distances between them (I can't look up actual mileage at the moment, so will use the Texan method of using drive time Using the Interstates and going the speed limit, of course.) From Ottine swamp to the piney woods would be approximately a 5 to 6 hour drive East, distance to the Louisiana border is a couple of hours more. To the coastal plains maybe 2 to 3 hours South. To the Arkansas border, more like 8 to 10 hours going Northeast - so the range between sightings in these areas is fairly sizable.

If I'm right -- the Fouke / Boggy Creek Monster scared people, but did not actually physically harm anyone (please correct me as appropriate)? I do get the picture that in the main, Bigfoot -- whatever it may be, and assuming that in some sort, it exists at all -- usually (not absolutely always) eschews physical violence towards Hom. sap. sap. -- it doesn't much like us, but for whatever reason, stops short of physically harming us: shifts us away from its territory via not-directly-physical intimidation.

I gather from Bigfoot lore, that there's a place called Honobia, in the east of Oklahoma, where some years ago there was reportedly a situation of a remote dwelling being besieged by Bigfoots -- the Bigfoot Field Research Organisation got involved: nothing substantial was discovered resulting from this, and the business died away (if anything had ever truly happened) -- but I get the picture that on the part of the BFs, it was basically stuff "full of sound and fury", but no physical harm. I understand that Honobia has since become an iconic location for the US's Bigfoot enthusiasts, including their holding conferences there.

(I'm a citizen and lifelong resident of the UK -- interested in the USA, but not hugely knowledgeable about the country: before reading about this stuff on the Bigfoot scene, I had no idea that Oklahoma included areas of [modest] mountains and quite expansive forests -- had thought the state to be all flat, boring, wide-open prairie. One lives and learns.)

I do "get" that North America's wilderness areas can be eerie and unsettling -- living in my small, crowded, and thoroughly tamed island (the Scottish Highlands maybe somewhat aside), I realise that first-hand, I "don't know from" much-larger remote tracts. I also, have a pretty lousy sense of direction, and have managed to get wonderfully lost in pathetic apologies for forests in England -- but here, you can basically walk in the same direction for a relatively small amount of time, till you get to a road !

 

[amyasleigh]

An organization called the North American Wood Ape Conservancy has a report of recent sighting, from June 2014, here:
http://woodape.org/reports/report/detail/22498

From the report:
"Shortly after entering the Mesquite Flats Trail, the pair heard another loud vocalization from behind them that was identical to the first howl a few minutes earlier. The pair, getting more uneasy by the minute, picked up their pace significantly. They hiked roughly ¾ of a mile without incident, the female walking about 15-20 feet in front of her husband. About ¼ of a mile from the point where the Mesquite Flats Trail transitions to the Ottine Swamp Trail, the couple crossed a long boardwalk-style bridge. The male witness was no more than 30 feet beyond the bridge, his wife ahead of him, when the couple heard a loud snap behind them. They wheeled around quickly to see what had caused the loud snap. The male witness's attention was focused on a tree limb that had appeared in the middle of the trail. It had not been there moments before. The limb was a bit curved, almost bow-like, in shape and was still rocking or wavering as it rested on the trail. As he stared at the stick, he caught a glimpse of something black to his left moving quickly away from the trail. The female witness was not distracted by the stick in the trail and caught site of a large, black figure running at breakneck speed from her right to left away from the trail. She got a good, if brief, look at the figure. She described it as jet black and “ungodly fast.” She was positive that what she saw was upright and bipedal. While mainly taken aback by the speed of the figure, she also noted that it was very large. The female witness described the figure as “massive.” The only sound the pair reported hearing was four heavy “thumps” as the figure ran away from them.

Now thoroughly unnerved, the couple hiked quickly down the Ottine Swamp Trail and back toward Park Road 11 and the parking area. Roughly ½ mile from the end of the trail, the pair heard one last loud vocalization. It was the same loud bellowing/howl they had already heard twice previously. This time, however, the vocalization originated from a spot much closer to them and, much to their chagrin, ahead of them, between them and the perceived safety of the park. Cautiously, but quickly, the couple covered the final ½ mile and made their way back to their vehicle."

Interesting, as ever -- tends to evoke in me, the response "it keeps happening -- it can't always be lies / misidentification / hallucination -- but nothing has ever been brought in, re a purely Earth-bound flesh-and-blood creature. It would seem that there's stuff going on, which we wot not of."

 

[Ulalume]

I think I recall hearing about the Honobia incident - I think it was mentioned on one of the "in search of..." episodes? But that does seem to be a rare kind of case. It's true that, if they exist, they don't seem inclined to attack. If they were, there would be more tales like the ones we hear about grizzly bears. Bears may want to be left alone, too, but if the bear decides for some reason you're going down, you're going down.
*is glad I don't live in bear country*

I do "get" that North America's wilderness areas can be eerie and unsettling -- living in my small, crowded, and thoroughly tamed island (the Scottish Highlands maybe somewhat aside), I realise that first-hand, I "don't know from" much-larger remote tracts. I also, have a pretty lousy sense of direction, and have managed to get wonderfully lost in pathetic apologies for forests in England -- but here, you can basically walk in the same direction for a relatively small amount of time, till you get to a road !

Ah, but Britain has loads of mysterious forests with strange happenings. Maybe not too many Bigfoot sightings, but one thing that's never far from my mind is a study (this may have been referenced somewhere in the big cats threads) in suburban Los Angeles, tracking mountain lions. When researchers tracked the movements of these tagged mountain lions, they found they were all over these suburban neigborhoods (which are as tighly packed with humanity as anywhere) but hardly anyone reported seeing them. A mountain lion sighting in the suburbs would cause a lot of worry, so I'm quite sure they would have been reported had they been seen.

Seems like when creatures really don't want to be found, we puny humans can be hard-pressed to find them.

 

[hunck]

Ah, but Britain has loads of mysterious forests with strange happenings. Maybe not too many Bigfoot sightings, but one thing that's never far from my mind is a study (this may have been referenced somewhere in the big cats threads) in suburban Los Angeles, tracking mountain lions. When researchers tracked the movements of these tagged mountain lions, they found they were all over these suburban neigborhoods (which are as tighly packed with humanity as anywhere) but hardly anyone reported seeing them. A mountain lion sighting in the suburbs would cause a lot of worry, so I'm quite sure they would have been reported had they been seen.

Seems like when creatures really don't want to be found, we puny humans can be hard-pressed to find them.

I've seen a similar programme about leopards in an Indian city - Calcutta I think - they're pretty common, people sleep outside on their porch in hot weather, but there were no reports of attacks on people. Dogs, cats & domesticated animals did go missing occasionally, but they weren't seen often, if at all.

 

[amyasleigh]

Very interesting -- and to me, heartening -- to hear thus, about big cats thriving under humans' radar, in huge cities in various parts of the globe. I have to feel, though, that managing such a feat would be a tall order (pun intended) for putative purely-flesh-and-blood Bigfoot !

By the way -- Ulalume, re Britain's "mysterious forests with strange happenings"; there's one such, quite near to where I live: Cannock Chase (extensive forest area among extensive conurbations), which is renowned for weirdly spooky goings-on -- including sightings of Bigfoot-like figures. Those -- if they're anything happening outside and beyond people's own heads -- have got to be, I feel, in the "paranormal" ballpark in whatever way.

 

[FrKadash]

 

[Old_Shoe]

We live in Montgomery County in Texas and I've seen reports of investigated sightings here on the North American Wood Ape Conservancy site. http://woodape.org/
My wife and I have heard inhuman sounding, LOUD screams in the small hours of the morning coming from the bayou behind our house. I've heard similar sounding screams on the internet which were purported to be bigfoot screams, although I couldn't rule out something like coyotes making that sound.

 

[hunck]

We've had another thread about animal screams. Badgers & foxes can sound awfully like a woman being murdered. There's probably some other candidates in Texas we don't have in the UK.

 

[Skrymr]

We've had another thread about animal screams. Badgers & foxes can sound awfully like a woman being murdered. There's probably some other candidates in Texas we don't have in the UK.

I once had a female fox call by my tent in the middle of the night, once. She was right by and I was asleep. Scared the hell out of me at first.

I've heard from American camper friends that cougar can sound similar

 

[Ulalume]

I once had a female fox call by my tent in the middle of the night, once. She was right by and I was asleep. Scared the hell out of me at first.

I've heard from American camper friends that cougar can sound similar

Yeah, cougars can sound outright terrifying. Not sure if we have them in Texas. We do have foxes and bobcats, though. Also, badgers.

Bobcats can makes some strange sounds. I kept hearing a weird sound from the woods at night and later learned from youtube videos that these were bobcat calls.

 

[GNC]

Bobcats can makes some strange sounds. I kept hearing a weird sound from the woods at night and later learned from youtube videos that these were bobcat calls.

He certainly sounded strange in Police Academy 2.

 

[Ulalume]

He certainly sounded strange in Police Academy 2.

That's all we need, Bob Goldthwait lurking in the woods at night!

 

[skinny]

BG gave a spectacular turn in Blow. He's even better than himself.

 

[Dunbaraj]

Seems to me these copter-style drones would be useful tools for Monster hunters. They could follow and video a 'suspect', while remaining high enough to be out of reach. Probably some people are trying this already...

I'm still waiting on Meldrum's silent Bigfoot hunting blimp.

 

[Dunbaraj]

We've had another thread about animal screams. Badgers & foxes can sound awfully like a woman being murdered. There's probably some other candidates in Texas we don't have in the UK.

I feel like Banshee lore may have roots in these creepy calls.

 

[gerhard1]

Yeah, cougars can sound outright terrifying. Not sure if we have them in Texas. We do have foxes and bobcats, though. Also, badgers.

Bobcats can makes some strange sounds. I kept hearing a weird sound from the woods at night and later learned from youtube videos that these were bobcat calls.

Living just south of the Kansas/Oklahoma state line, I hear on occasion about cougar sightings up there, but the Kansas wildlife people are adamant in saying they are not there. Just FTR, I think that they are there.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Living just south of the Kansas/Oklahoma state line, I hear on occasion about cougar sightings up there, but the Kansas wildlife people are adamant in saying they are not there. Just FTR, I think that they are there.

There are recent documented mountain lion sightings in Kansas ...

http://www.kansas.com/sports/outdoors/article110088707.html

... and this Kansas-centric article mentions some factoids about the previously-eradicated mountain lions returning to the Plains states (in general ... ) during the last few decades.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation seems to avoid denying the notion of there being mountain lions in remote parts of Oklahoma, though they don't mention any reliable evidence later than 1984 ...

https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlifemgmt/species/mlion.htm