Year: 1989
Month: June
Day of Month (number only – e.g. 16): cannot remember the date except that it was a Sunday
Time of Day: about 6 or 7pm
County: New Jersey Bergen
Terrain Description: Mountainous, rocky woodland forest area below the lake itself
Lighting Conditions: daylight, bright. But a little bit darker inthe forest itself
Nearest Town or Landmark: Off Skyline Drive, close to the Wanaque Resivoir, I believe that’s Rt.511 It’s been a long time since I was up there. To be honest. All I can give is Land mark areas, I believe there was a boyscout camp acroos from the parking lot to the area.
Description of Encounter Area: Hilly and rocky. Steep incline with a small very shallow creek running down the hill. Very woodsy lots of trees mostly pines and quite a few of them were fallen.
Are There Food and/or Water Sources in the Area? (if so, describe): Besides the junk that
people leave behind, the area is well known for fishing and I was awre that it was a deer hunting area. Lot’s of rabbits, squirrels,chipmunks,possum, skunk, frogs, salamanders, ducks, geese, gulls, loons, heron,egrets and of course plenty of black bear. I’m sure there are many different berries in the woods. But I never went into them to deep.
Occupation/Background: No longer working, At the time I was a superintendent for a 76 unit
apartment community in Lodi, N.J. Inow live in Sewell, in South Jersey. I love fishing, but lately I’ve been physically unable to participate as much as I use too.
Number of Witnesses: no one but me
Length of Observation: I believe about a minute or a little more
Animal Description: Blackish brown hair all over, it was on all fours at first. I thought it was a bear.
Though the odor was more of like a skunk and something rotten. Almost like a decaying animal. Which is what caught my attention in the first place. When it stood up it made a low growl and looked at me quickly Then moved up the mountain at a good clip never looking back. The face was grayish with a darker flatish nose kind of like an ape. Dark eyes, and it was Tall and bulky
Aprox. Height: about 7 to 8 ft tall
Aprox. Weight: I’ve seen 500 lb black bear before this thing had to weigh at least 700 lbs just from it’s
height and bulk
Head/Facial Description: It made a quick glance at me, i can remember is it was very hairy around
the head. The forehead was flat and wrinkly, grayish black with the nose being flatish and darker than the rest of the face. It bared teeth that seemed yellowish but all I can remember is there color. It was a very quick glance but the eyes looked dark maybe black before it took off.
Can Witness Provide a Sketch of Animal Seen?: No
Any Odor? If so, Description: Cross between a skunk and decaying animal
Vocalizations Heard?: low growl, almost like a moan as if I was interfering in what it was doing there
Wood Knocks Heard?: No
I was heading home from a bad day’s fishing, slowly head down this steep mountain about a mile either way.
I’ve gone this way many times but this time was different. I could smell what I thought was a skunk and was trying to make sure I didn’t run into it. although I had no other way down this mountain to get to the parking lot. About half way down and to my right I thought I saw a bear and I stood still so as not to startle it. Hoping it would just go away. it was about 40 to 50 ft. away from me and to my right, on the other side of the creek. It was low to the ground kind of like it was digging out something from under a fallen tree. Then it made a low growl like moan and squatted and stood up. That’s when I realized this wasn’t a bear. It was at that point when I felt a chill run thru me, it was bigger than anything I had ever seen in the Jersey woods. The stench was terrible, it quickly looked my way which is when I saw it’s face and teeth. It scared the hellout of me because I knew I couldn’t run anywhere. It had hairy baseball mitt size hands (or i should say hand cause all I saw was his right one as it grabbed a tree to pull it’s way up the mountain. It seemed to know where it was going without any hesitation. It was all so quick, but it left quite an impression on me for sure. I was shaking and had to compose myself as I made my way back down the mountain to my car. I sat there in my car, shaking but kind of relieved. I headed home still smelling that thing in my nose, by the way that was the last time I went to ramapo lake.