Screaming or howling in Clark County, Washington

Mrs. Brenda G., washing the dinner dishes, looking out over her backyard, past the horse corral with its pony and off into the distance, notices that suddenly the horse becomes unruly and seems close to panic, while an indistinct figure passes through the trees behind the corral. She calls to Nick: "Nick, there are some kids out there trying to tease the horse" and steps out the kitchen back door with a BB-gun in her hands for good measure. Nick races out past her and some distance down the overgrown meadow along the stand of trees, where he comes abruptly face to face with a sasquatch standing on the indistinct foot path. Nick comes to such a "screeching halt" that he slides on moist vegetation and sits down on the ground. For reassurance he throws a backward look to his mother who, however, has returned to the house. When he looks back at the sasquatch, it is already walking with long strides across the brush and wildflower covered meadow, "lifting up his feet more than people do". As Nick scrambles to get up, a branch snaps and the sasquatch turns to look at him "with big eyes". Nick runs back into the house, tearing the screen door off its hinges in the process, to tell his mother about the creature and to change into boots from his slippery loafers. Then he charges back out, taking a large army bayonet from over the fireplace for protection, with Brenda close behind. Their two dogs have retreated under the house. As he runs down through the same meadow, the sasquatch is still walking about there, retreats downhill, crosses a small creek and stops on the far bank of the creek under a fir tree to face his pursuers, his entire body bathed in sunlight and visible from head to toe. Nick stops about 30' away, his mother stands about 15' behind him. This silent tableau holds its place for what seems an extraordinarily long time, perhaps 5 minutes, although Nick's and Brenda's estimates, colored by the adrenaline of the encounter, range as high as 20 minutes. Whatever length of time passes, it gives Nick and Brenda the opportunity for detailed inspection of the sasquatch. They describe it as being 6'6" tall (as measured against a branchlet that barely touched the crown of its head), covered with black-gray fur and golden brown patches on its shoulders and chest. The hair is 4"-5" long and dirty with burrs in it. The head is notable for its pronounced brow ridge and deep set eyes, that are "less open than human eyes" [facing into the sun]. It has a wide and stumpy nose, the hairiness under the nose getting thicker, hiding the jaw line. It has impressively wide shoulders ("Man, they were this wide!", Nick holds his hands far apart in retelling), heavy arms, wide hands with thick fingers and dark brown and rough palms. Its nails have a deep yellow "nicotine-stained" color. Its torso narrows somewhat to the waist, no genitals are visible in the fur, and it has "sort of a small butt for a man", according to Brenda's astute assessment. Both observers perceive the animal as a male. Neither of them detects any smell. In due time Brenda gets the "willies" and anxiously screams to Nick to break it off. Thereupon the sasquatch screams, takes a step across the creek toward them, while holding its arms out to the side by about 45 degrees, as if to herd them on their way. They run halfway up the hill to the house, when Nick feels compelled to give it one more look. He is rewarded by a repeat of the faintly aggressive display. They continue to the house, Brenda scooping up John from the lawn, who says: "Mommy, there is a big monkey in our backyard". Brenda climbs up on the low garage roof and watches the sasquatch walk away. The dogs stay under the house for a safe two hours and will not let themselves be coaxed out, even by having meat waved at them. The horse has substantial abrasions on its fetlocks from having gotten snagged on a rope in its panic. Brenda phones 911, but hangs up before the call is answered. After some time she phones back and reports the encounter, which is duly noted in the police blotter, but not acted upon. Only an alert reporter from the Vancouver Columbian catches the brief note and looks up the family. This reporter and several Sasquatch investigators canvas the surroundings and neighbors and come up with a few additional items. Two sets of foot prints are found, 12" long and 6" long, whereupon Brenda puts a roast chicken into a high tree fork, since she wants to see the "baby". An adjacent unused meadow has a large depressed area of grass in it. A patch of thimbleberries is found on the steep hillside to have been stripped of its fruit and leaves, leaving bare canes behind. The adjacent farmer's cows, which had just been turned loose for the summer into a higher, lush meadow, come rushing back to the barn that night, something the farmer had never observed before. After about a week, little John comments casually: "The little monkey isn't coming to play anymore".