I have a story to share with you. About (1993) - 17 years ago when I was a teenager and before everybody had a cell phone in their hand I used to live at a place about 13 miles outside of Meridian Mississippi. There is nothing there but hunting and fishing man's dream; a lot of creeks, rivers, ponds, small lakes, woods and old logging roads that went on for miles. Some relatives of mine owned a great deal of land close to where I lived and on their land was an old logging road that went to a creek called Tallahatta ( tal-la-hatta ) it is a long and winding creek.   

This creek in some places is as wide as most rivers but its always shallow until it rains. And on my realities property close to this creek they had built a simple one room cabin for camping - it was built high on five foot telephone poles for when the creek floods it would be above water. I had camped there a many of times. But one fall night when I went camping there (and the last time) I went with some friends there were four of us. We had been wade fishing all day and we had planned to stay there for the night. So we fished till dark and we went back to the cabin we made a simple fire and hung out a while drank some whiskey we had borrowed and cleaned lots of fish. We did that till about 11:00p and then all went into the cabin for the night and lit up a couple Coleman lanterns and got a good fire going in the wood heater and we laid down for the night. 

The next thing I knew I woke up to some noise in the cabin and I looked while rubbing my eyes to see one my friends almost jogging through the cabin from the door to his bed. And I guess I was last to wake up. And I asked what are yawl doing they said all at once there's something out there. I rolled my eyes turned away and laid back down. And I said there's nothing out there go back to sleep.  

Just as I finished saying it I heard the noise. It sounds like limbs breaking in a short distance. And one of my friends yelled, “What the hell is that?” Another replied he didn't know. So let's just say I was awake now; I got up and tried listen better and I could hear it. When I put my ear to the wall I could hear what sounded like something hitting trees and walking heavily though the woods next to us.  

I started to think what that could be. I new it wasn't a buck. Rutting season is later in the year. And there are black bears here but I never heard any commotion like this. Plus it sounded like it was growling. Well I was freaked now.   

My friends and I grew up hunting fishing and camping in the woods and are very experienced in sights and sounds of the woods and its animals but I was not familiar with this type sound and behavior. As I listened I could here it pacing back and forth through the woods next to us. And it seemed to be breaking limbs. And one point it made a loud noise like a growl and then a large limb break. I stepped back from the wall and said what we are going to do. One of my friends asked what we should do. “What do you mean?” I said what if whatever that is tries to get in here. A silence came over us all as we were all thinking about the same thing - PROTECTION.  

We scrambled to find what we had. I had a .38 snub nose pistol with five shells that I always take camping, we had a few knives and a machete and some long logs from the small wood pile inside. So I focused on getting some clothes and boots on as did everyone and all the while the noise had not stopped and as we where spreading out in the cabin it stopped. One of my friends thought it was gone.  We listened and I thought to myself what if it's not in the woods anymore what if its closer.  One of my friends went to the door that had the only small diamond shaped window to look down the steps outside and I yelled, “Don't open the door!!” He yelled back that he was just going to have a look. He looked through the window for a while and asked for a flashlight so we took him one and he shined it outside for a while and didn't see anything. So he asked, “do yawl want to make a run for the four-wheelers.”  

 And I was trying to think how far they were about 30 yards from the trail to the logging road. I thought that is was a very long walk, especially if that thing is still out there. We listened for a little longer, all of us still on edge. Then one of my friends asked what is it? A pissed off bear! You think? Another friend replied, "I don't know but I can't stand this we got to see what it is." I told them I was staying put. I'm waiting for daylight so I can see.  Two flashlights two lanterns and one little gun isn't enough for me. So everyone agreed and sat back down and waited while one friend stayed looking out the door. It had been ten or fifteen minutes since had heard any noise.  

And then all of a sudden a big thud on the backside of the cabin halfway ups the wall. We all scrambled to the center and we all yelled and cussed. And we were yelling at whatever it was to go away. So at this point I was pissed I thought somebody is messing with us. So I ran to the wall where I heard the thud I banged back on it as hard as I could and yelled I've got a gun in here go away or I will shoot you!!  

Everyone went quiet to see if we got a response. But we heard nothing so I put my ear to the wall to see what I could hear. What I heard still freaks me out today.  It sounded like heavy breathing about waist down from me and what sounded like a hand rubbing against the outside wall like it was trying to find a way in. I stepped back and looked at the wall it was head level where I heard what sounded like a hand rubbing the wall;  if you where standing outside would be almost twelve feet from the ground. As I was thinking about this one my friends said did you hear anything but I said no - but they knew I did. So I said we might need to make a run for it. To the four-wheeler's I mean.  

We walked to the door and got ready. One my friends said when I open this door, don't stop, just run and crank them up. It don't matter who's driving! Just who ever gets there first...  

And then I said let me shoot a couple times in the air as we run out. Two of them said ok and the other friend said why is that thing close? I didn't want to say but I said yes and at that moment my friend opened the door. I ran out and shot twice as I ran down the steps and then I noticed I must have been running slow because I was getting passed up by my friends. So I sped up and when we were at the four-wheeler's they cranked up and we were gone. We had them wide open all the way home. I felt like something was going to snatch me off the back that thing so I stayed turned around so I could see behind us... but I didn't see anything. It felt like it took us forever to get back to my house.  

But at 50 miles per hour it was probably only 15 minutes until we got to my house at almost 3 in the morning and I banged on the door until my dad got up. And he was mad he asked me I thought you were camping.

He asked what happened and I said we just wanted to come back here is all. He said where my cooler and stuff you took. I said back at the cabin we will get it tomorrow. I never saw him so mad that we just left everything there. But he could see I was upset so he left me alone and went back to bed.

Needless to say we did not sleep we just talked about what it could have been and what was it doing. As we talked and fussed about, our courage was building as daylight approached. So we waited to about 8 am and loaded up some shotguns and rifles and we went back ready for whatever we might have to face.  

When we got there everything was in order. As they went inside I went to the back of the cabin and looked up at the wall where I heard the breathing it was about eight feet and where I heard the hand rubbing the wall had to be twelve feet. I looked all over the ground there were no tracks of any kind the ground was hard. But as we searched the woods around the cabin we did find limbs broke and pulled down from all different heights. Highest was nine feet up and the lowest about four feet. No hairs, no smells. Just broke limbs.  

We looked for hours then we gathered our things and went back home and we didn't talk about it because we knew people would laugh and make fun of us. So I didn't talk about it again for a few years.  It makes a great camping story of course, people think you are pulling their leg, or messing with them.... I just laugh along. But I did go camping again a year or more later just not there.  I did go back to the cabin a few times to go fishing and arrowhead hunting in the water but always during the day. I'm not scared of the woods I grew up around but I do fear what might be in them.  

So what do I believe it was? I don't know I didn't see it? So I try not to think about what it could have been… I just know don't take my surroundings lightly.  And if there is such a thing as a Bigfoot or whatever out there anywhere, I'm sure as a wild beast or an animal it does not want to be messed with and that it can be hostile like a bear can be so be careful.

Brian Freeman
Sunday, December 05, 2010

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