Incident #1000942
Inchelium, Ferry Cty, Washington
Aug 1992
Account
Camping with his girlfriend, Diana James, scouting Onion Ridge for later bear hunt, Mike Bowman found tracks of three different creatures, one 17", one 17.5", one 18". Several days spent at the Hall Creek campground, Aug 4 to 9; Aug 14 to 16, and Aug 27, were marked by repeated sounds of as many as three large animals moving through brush beside them or towards them, entering their camp at night, throwing rocks in the creek, pounding something, sticks breaking, a scream, tooth-pounding, and guttural moaning, the last named apparently a threatening noise when making a close approach, but he never saw the source of the sounds. Also what looked like two heavy finger marks dragged across Bowman's boot prints. Hairs with bulbs collected from place where something large had bedded down in a grassy area near the campsite.
When
- Observation Date
- AUG 05 1992
- Month
- Aug
- Year
- 1992
- Season
- summer
Where
- State / province
- Washington
- County
- Ferry Cty
- Nearest Town
- Inchelium
- Direction from Town
- Northwest
- Distance from Town
- 20
- Population of Town
- 100
- Elevation/Altitude
- 40
- Latitude
- 4828--
- Longitude
- 11827--
What was seen
- Individuals
- more than two, sex unknown (large)
- Total Individuals
- 3
- Population Status
- wild
- First Seen
- on
- Terrain Object
- road
- Near or/at
- bushes
- Shot Hit
- No
- Track Photo Y/N
- Yes
Witnesses
- Report type
- 1st person
Setting
- Terrain
- plateau
- Exact Terrain
- dirt road
- Slope
- valley bottom
- Nearby Water
- creek
- Substratum
- forest litter
- Ground condition
- dry
- Cover
- heavy
- Tree size
- mostly large
- Tree condition
- mostly mature
- Tree type
- coniferous
- General
- none
- General undergrowth
- none
Source
- Source
- Mike Bowman call to John Green, followed by writte
- Source Type
- phone call
- Source Date
- AUG 14 1992
- Source reliability
- 9
- Incident reliablility
- 8
- Jwg file date
- AUG 1992
- Incident type
- 2
Creature description
- Aggressive To
- witnesses
- Arms Used
- hanging onto something
- Object Handled
- stick
- Sound
- scream, grunt, other
- Human Contact
- followed
- Reaction
- approached
- Attracted By
- human activity
- Other Unusual Y/N
- Yes
- Describe Unsual
- Creatures heard entering camp at night, travelling parallel to witnesses in brush, and creeping up on witnesses, but never seen. Bears were common in the area when witnesses arrived, seemed to be scared away by mystery creatures. Noises included what sounded like tooth-popping, pounding on something, rocks thrown in creek, breaking sticks.
- Anmals Present Y/N
- Yes
- Evidence Left
- footprints, hair, hand print
Footprints 1
- Set of Tracks
- 3
- Footprint Length
- 18.0
- Greates Width
- 7.5
- Stride in Inches Average
- 66
- Estimated Age
- 2
- Age Unit
- hours
- Trail Followed Y/N
- Yes
- Trail Ended Naturally Y/N
- Yes
- Track Condition
- fair
- Arc Y/N
- No
- Number of Toes
- 5
- Longest Toe
- first
- Footprint Photo Y/N
- Yes
- Other footprint codes
- 10424, 10425
- Direction of Travel
- North
- Material Tracks Made in
- dirt
- Other Marks
- hand print, finger marks
- Other Tracks
- bear
- Tracks Came From
- trees
- Tracks Went to
- trees
- Trackmaker attracted by
- human activity
- Remarks
- A lot going on besides tracks, but no sighting. The hand print was on a large, broken off, cottonwood branch, apparently used for digging. It was half again human size and showed no thumb print. What appeared to be double finger marks were dragged very heavily across two of witness' boot prints. Tracks came on the old road from the West, went a short distance North on the road, then left the road on the East side.
Footprints 2
- Set of Tracks
- 3
- Footprint Length
- 17.5
- Greates Width
- 7.5
- Longest
- 36
- Shortest
- 27
- Estimated Age
- 2
- Age Unit
- hours
- Trail Followed Y/N
- Yes
- Trail Ended Naturally Y/N
- Yes
- Track Condition
- fair
- Track Drag or Slide
- slide of heel
- Number of Toes
- 4
- Foot Deformity Y/N
- Yes
- Longest Toe
- first
- Footprint Photo Y/N
- Yes
- Other footprint codes
- 10423, 10425
- Direction of Travel
- North
- Material Tracks Made in
- dirt
- Other Marks
- hand print, finger marks
- Other Tracks
- bear
- Describe Deformity
- Protrusion on outer edge of left foot just back of ball.
- Tracks Came From
- trees
- Tracks Went to
- trees
- Trackmaker attracted by
- human activity
- Remarks
- see 10423. Heel slip was left foot only.
Footprints 3
- Set of Tracks
- 3
- Footprint Length
- 17.0
- Greates Width
- 7.0
- Stride in Inches Average
- 52
- Estimated Age
- 2
- Age Unit
- hours
- Trail Followed Y/N
- Yes
- Trail Ended Naturally Y/N
- Yes
- Track Condition
- fair
- Arc Y/N
- No
- Number of Toes
- 5
- Longest Toe
- first
- Footprint Photo Y/N
- Yes
- Other footprint codes
- 10423, 10424
- Direction of Travel
- North
- Material Tracks Made in
- dirt
- Other Marks
- hand print, finger marks
- Other Tracks
- bear
- Tracks Came From
- trees
- Tracks Went to
- trees
- Trackmaker attracted by
- human activity
- Remarks
- see 10423
Witness
- Wildlife Familiarity
- considerable
- Interviewer
- Ken Coon
- Interview date
- AUG 28 1992
- Witness Saw with
- naked eye
- Observer Was
- hunting, camping
- Track witnesses
- 2
- Age
- 31 to 40