DATE:   11/80
 

TIME:   7:00-7:30 am
 

LOCATION:  Clarkedale, Mississippi, Lauderdale County
 

TERRAIN:   Wooded and extremely hilly, with a small creek.
 

OBSERVED:    At the time this happened I was about 11 years old. We came to
visit my aunt and uncle for the Thanksgiving weekend and do a little
squirrel hunting. My aunt and uncle had just moved into the house and my
uncle was not familiar with the surrounding woods. On a Friday evening we
(me, my dad, and my uncle) walked across the road from my uncle's home and
scouted out a place to come back to the next morning. Keep in mind that 21
years ago that area was not as populated as it is now. We went into the
woods the next morning at the first sign of gray in the sky. My dad stayed
in one "holler" and me and my uncle crossed over a ridge into another
"holler" and sat in a bottom next to the creek. North of me was a large
thicket and on the other side of the thicked was a large hill that was
covered with pines at the top. I recall the morning was cold and still,
perfect for squirrel hunting, only there were no squirrels, nor were there
any birds or other animals that usually accompany a sunrise in the woods on
a cold calm morning. After we had been sitting for awhile I began to hear
something walking in the thicket just in front of me. It sounded to me like a
man walking in dry leaves, but every squirrel hunter knows a squirrel sounds
like that. I became excited, anticipating bagging one, but the "squirrel" just
walked  back and forth in front of me and then suddenly ran to the top of the
hill on the other side of the thicket. The very odd thing was that I could hear
it run all the way up the hill and could still hear "it" walking back and forth on
the ridge above. My uncle was nervous but tried to play it off to me as a deer.

When "it" came back down the hill into the thicket, it was closer and my uncle
called me over to him. It continued to walk back and forth in front of us as
if it were trying to get a better look at us and then it would go back up
the hill to the ridge and do the same thing. There was a strange sensation
of being watched. This happened several times and we forgot all about squirrels.
"It" came down off the ridge one last time and me and my uncle saw something very large running down hill on two legs covered in thick black hair. I could only see it from
the chest down. The arms hung almost to it's knees and the legs were massive
and powerful looking. Whatever "it" was had to be 7 or 8 feet tall. My uncle
grabbed me and we began to leave the area very quickly and believe me I had
no objections. We ran into my dad who saw the terror in my eyes and the
urgency of my uncle to get out of there. When we finally got out of the
woods, my dad told us we were crazy. After that day my uncle would not admit
to anyone that he saw anything.

Shortly before his death in 1995 he would admit to seeing "something". My aunt, uncle and cousins told of strange noises and happenings around that house for several years. There were even times their dogs would run under the car port to hide and whimper for no apparent reason.

They no longer live there and haven't for many years. I had the pleasure of living there (Lauderdale County) and working there for about 6 years. I know that the old folks that still live in that area talk of "haunts" in those woods.
 

ACTIVITIES OF WITNESS(ES):  Still hunting Squirrels
 

DESCRIPTION OF CREATURE:  7 to 8 feet tall, covered in thick black hair. It ran down hill on two feet. The arms reached almost to it's knees. The legs were thick and
powerful. I could not see the shoulders or head.,
 

OTHER NOTES:  There were no birds or small animals in the forest that morning
like there should have been.
 

OTHER OTHER NOTES:  I have a friend that grew up in that area and still lives in the area. I still deer hunt with him. He told me of a family that had several 200 plus pound hogs pulled OVER a fence and killed by something when he was a kid and that he and his sister once found a large 3-toed footprint and made a cast of it near a dumpster. He believes his sister still has the cast.
 

OTHER SIGHTINGS IN THIS AREA?: