DATE:    Spring of 1982, 6:00 AM, dawn breaking.
 
 

TERRAIN:   Wooded area along the creek, secluded from sight from any houses or roads in the vicinity.
 

LOCATION:  Tennessee, Cookeville, Putnam County
 
 

OBSERVED:   As an apprenticed taxidermist, the witness had set some traps out in a secluded area along a creek that was heavily wooded at the time.  She needed the small animals to practice the taxidermy trade she was learning and was quite good at what she did.  She’d checked the traps a little earlier than usual that morning because she was expecting company later on  and wanted to be finished and back home by the time they arrived.  As she neared a big barn she noticed that something didn’t seem right, it was too quiet.  She was accustomed to being outdoors and knew that something just didn’t feel normal.  She was the type of person that loved animals with a passion, understood them, and had many exotic animal pets in her home and also some she had to keep outdoors that she cared for.  She was also a former pet shop owner.  The strange thing now is that she was in the outskirts of a pretty good sized town, and had only gotten this feeling when she was in more remote mountainous areas before.  She went on down the creek and checked her traps anyway, finding nothing in them.  On her way back to the house the uneasiness grew.  She passed the barn then with only an open stretch of field before her.  She noticed that there was an overwhelming stench in the air, a very strong, disagreeable odor that she hadn’t noticed when passing the barn before.  The time was around 7 AM now.  The farther she walked into the field, the less the odor seemed, but she kept feeling like there was someone watching every step she took.  She shivered suddenly and a cold wave of apprehension swept through her.  She said her heart began pounding louder and faster until she thought it was going to jump out of her chest.  She couldn’t help glancing nervously around until something in the open hallway of the barn caught her eye.  A man-like creature, very tall, massive, very hairy was standing upright just inside the barn hallway on the left side.  It was dark and shadowy in the hallway but she could plainly see this thing as it stood there gazing back at her.  She was frozen with fear then, not yet able to react.  It suddenly dawned on her that this could possibly be a bear, but then she thought it couldn’t possibly be because the face was so human looking.  It was then that the animal made a few giant steps towards her and started growling very low and very menacingly.  She could see it much better then and knew at this point that whatever it was, it was NOT a bear.  It’s arms were extremely long, down to its knees, and it clearly had no difficulty in walking upright.  Although as fascinated as she was by what she was seeing, her feet finally became unfrozen from the ground.  She felt flight was imperative and finally in order.  The creatures growls were becoming louder and more threatening, so she turned and ran as fast as she could, never looking behind to see if it would follow her.  By the time she reached her back porch, she felt faint and nauseated she reported, so much so, that she had to sit on the back porch for a while, catching her breath, letting the dizziness subside before entering the house.
 
 

Description of Creature:    A man-like creature, very tall, massive, very hairy was standing upright.
 
 

Other Notes:    None