Number of Witnesses: 1
Length of Observation: 3 – 10 minutes
Animal Description: See below
Aprox. Height: 7 – 7.5 feet
Aprox. Weight: 400-500 lbs.
Head/Facial Description: Facial profile had a blunt nose and a protruding chin and brow. Investigator
Commentary from Witness Interview: Witness described head as large and rounded atop a
thick/muscular neck with a heavy brow ridge. Witness said the size and breadth of head gave it a dome appearance like a helmet. Witness said head structure and facial features were similar to a Chimpanzee head and not like Gorilla Head (crown was not heavily saggital or pointed).
Can Witness Provide a Sketch of Animal Seen?: Yes
Any Odor? If so, Description: Yes, a strong “musk” smell – not really a stench but more like you
would have with a large group of animals in a pen.
Vocalizations Heard?: A grunt – see encounter details.
Wood Knocks Heard?: No
Recordings Made?: No
While breaking the limbs for my fire, I heard a rustle in the underbrush and thought it was a red fox that had visited near my “camp” areas before begging for bits of hot dog. I did not pay much attention to it but then I heard a limb break in response to the one I had broken. I turned, expecting to see one of the other kids that live in the area. I saw, instead, a crouching dark brown, hair-covered figure. At first I thought it was a bear, but it then stood up on two legs. It was at least seven feet tall with long arms and huge “hands” (not paws.) It looked like it had a recent injury to its right leg, as the hair was not as thick and the skin in the area was what looked like to be a dark pink. Its eyes were large with dark brown on black coloring. It seemed more curious than threatening, but at 16, I was scared. We both heard what sounded like an ATV and it turned its head in the direction of the sound. The face profile hand a blunt nose and a protruding chin and brow. I think it growled or grunted at the sound and then looked back at me then started off at a quick pace up the hill toward a denser area of trees. It became obvious it was a
male as it left, as identifiable anatomy was present.

Investigator Commentary from Witness Interview:
Witness estimated the time of encounter somewhere between 3-10 minutes and said he was very
unnerved about sighting and with adrenaline rushing, couldn’t say for sure exactly how fast things
happened.
Witness indicated his purpose at the encounter location was to do some hiking and wildlife watching as well as search for some caves rumored to be in the area. The greater area around this location is noted for its numerous caves and caverns (some of which can be toured commercially at Howe Caverns or Secret Caverns.) The witness said he was (and still is) a spelunker and was looking for caves in this area that were rumored to exist from various acquaintances he spoke with. No one he spoke with had been to these caves nor could confirm the exact location of them, so he was scouting the area. Witness never did find the caves. He started hiking in the AM and planned to build a makeshift lean-to/campsite for the evening and cook some hot dogs for dinner and retire.
Witness said the creature approached his campsite from the woods and made snapping sounds that got louder on approach. Witness estimated the approach lasted approximately 5 minutes and he initially thought the approach sounds/branch snaps were from a “friendly” fox, deer or possibly another human. Witness was snapping gathered branches in preparation of starting a fire in the fire ring for cooking. After the approach sounds stopped, witness began to hear branch snapping mimicry at close range – witness would snap a branch and then hear something do the same almost immediately. After a few mimic snaps, witness became intrigued and looked to right of fire pit in a westerly direction to where he was hearing the mimicking snaps and saw the creature crouched at about 10 – 20 ft. away. Creature was partially obscured from witness, crouched behind large a large oak or maple tree trunk.
Witness said creature stood up as soon as he spotted it. Both the witness and creature stood and
observed each other intently for a period of time.
Additional Creature Description Details:
Witness said creature stood with its left arm up holding on to tree branch above it and right arm
hanging by its side. Witness indicated the arms of creature were unusually long (compared to a human). Witness described creature had what looked like a healing injury on its right leg just below knee. Witness described the area as a patch without complete hair and pinkish scar. Witness described normal skin of creature was much darker – see blow.
Hair on Creature: Witness described the creature’s coat was definitely more hair-like than fur-like and hair was fairly clean with little matting.
Color: Brown with auburn highlights
Hair described as having a “nice sheen”
Hair density described as heavy on the arms and legs and long in these areas (3-4″ in length)
Hair density described as thinner on the chest and shorter in these areas (1-2″ in length)
Hair on back of feet and hands very thin and none on palms or on foot pads. Hair was thin
around face and portions of chest.
Witness described the hair around the face and ears was more “silky” than the hair atop the head and said the hair on top blended down the back with the back hair. He described an indent were the head hair ended at the neck and the back hair started. The hair on head seemed shorter than on back and not as thick and closer to the skin whereas the back hair seemed a bit “shaggy”.
Hands & Feet: Witness described the creature’s feet looked like “furry slippers” with no hair on bottom or edges and feet skin appeared calloused and thick. Witness described hands as large with clearly- defined opposable thumbs and “leathery” palms. Witness noted the thumb appeared longer than a human’s proportionally and described the thumbs as “more elongated”. Witness said hair on back of hands and feet was less dense and thick than other parts of body and there appeared to be no hair on palms or on the foot pads or edges of feet. Skin: Witness described skin color on most of body, feet and hands as very dark dark brown to charcoal. Witness described skin tone of face as a “sandalwood dark brown”. Eyes: Witness described eye color as “dark brown or black-on-black” with no discernible whites in the eyes noticeable. Witness said that this characteristic of the eyes was particularly unnerving.
Locomotion and Gait: Witness described creature’s gait as a forward-leaning, gliding motion like a
cross country skier. Witness noted that the hill on which the creature retreated was very steep (45-50 degree angle) with loose rock and branches. Witness said he was intrigued with the ease and speed with which the creature traversed this difficult terrain without the need to hold on to trees as it moved or the fact that it never slipped and lost its footing. After the ATV was heard, the creature vocalized/grunted and turned northerly and retreated up the hill towards a thicker patch of woods. Witness said as the creature retreated, it stepped over an old 4′-high pasture rock wall with ease. At the time the ATV was heard, witness noted that animal had to turn its head and upper torso as it turned in direction of the sound – it did not turn its neck independently.
Vocalization: Witness described that the creature “grunted” at the sound of an ATV approaching and described the grunt as a deep, bass-y, gruff grunt that lasted 1-2 seconds long. Witness characterized it as a seemingly “annoyed grunt”.
Additional Notes:
Post-Encounter: Immediately after creature retreated, witness said he grabbed his gear and ran out of the area. Witness said he lost a hatchet and a emergency blanket in the rush leaving and never found them when he returned to area. Witness said he was partly getting away from the creature and also trying not to been seen by the people on the ATV.
Witness said he knows of no other encounter reports in his immediate area, but did say he has heard of reports from neighboring counties (Otsego, Schenectady, Albany).
Witness also said, around time of encounter, there was a rash of activity that many locals were
attributing to a nefarious black bear. Most notably, a local farmer’s grain silo had been broken
into/damaged and grain feed stolen and/or consumed. Also, he was hearing complaints from
friends/acquaintances about animal traps (mostly rabbit snares) being raided – the snared animals taken and traps torn up.
Witness also noted that his dog, a medium sized shepherd mix, began behaving oddly for a few days before and a few weeks following the incident and would not leave his yard and refused to enter the wood line behind his house as the animal had always done .
Interview conducted by NESRA Investigator, C. Bartow, 7/14/2012.
5/30/2012 – Accepted encounter assignment and sent witness email requesting interview follow-up.
7/14/2012 – Completed in-depth phone interview with witness. Witness said exact location of encounter happened across the road from his rural house in West Richmondville off Rt. 7 near crossroad with Mill Street, Northwest from intersection. Witness estimated he was approximately 1 mile from the edge of Rt. 7 at time of the encounter. Witness requests exact location be kept confidential, as he found out later he was on private property/tresspassing. Witness indicates property is still privately-owned, but he does not know who the current owner is. GPS Coordinates: 42.641031,-74.581718 (approximate location of Rt. 7 entry point to woods)