FG & AM

[forestguy]

Late last week Anonimust ducked out to one of our research areas for a late afternoon recce.

As we've noted previously, the only wildlife we've seen are snakes and some birds - no roos, wallabies, rabbits, etc., so we wanted to sit down on some high ground and spend some time in the late arvo observing with the binos – looking for any of the local fauna you'd expect to see at this time of day.

So we did that for a while (again, no wildlife) and then couldn't resist a quick stickybeak around... despite v. limited time, so we knicked off up the creek to an area we'd baited previously.

The mandarin we'd put out was gone – not odd in itself, but still interesting. It had been in a tree beside one of the few areas of consistent standing water and a scout around showed several indentations where something heavy had travelled through.

Most were pretty indistinct due to the rocky nature of the surface, but this one seems to indicate a few toes.

PGX Indent 061108.JPG

PGX Indent (v) 061108.JPG

These indents were a couple of metres behind the tree, facing the water – as Anonimust said at the time, looks like the kind of dents you’d make if you were standing there having a look around rocking on your feet.

PGX Dual Indent 061108.JPG

Also noticed some clumps of grass that appeared to have been pulled out, rather than dug out.

PGX Clump 061108.JPG

After finding one mandarin gone, we had to go check the other one, even though it was time for us to head home.

It was on dusk and we were running late so I switched the camera over to video and recorded the next 15 mins – we found some prints I want the forum to look at, as well as some fresh breaks, but I’m having trouble pulling stills off the video at the moment.

[forestguy]

I'll give it a go - how do I do that?

[stickyfingers]

...Forestguy my friend... another way of doing it is to open up a free account in PhotoBucket on this link below...

http://photobucket.com/

...then download your video to it... (being 15 minutes long... it may take a fair amount of time to download on to)...then post the link onto these forums... I don't believe that there is a size limit on the video... so we should be able to see the entire video methinks... another good thing about it... you don't have to post it on YouTube for the whole world to see and it can be exclusive to these forums only ... just a suggestion... cheers... Stickyfingers.

[forestguy]

Ok - after just giving myself a (very) rough and ready tutorial in Windows Movie Maker I've taken the original 15-odd minutes & 930 meg and cobbled this together at 3.30 mins and 14 meg. It's got the prints, as well as some of the fresh breaks:

http://s513.photobucket.com/albums/t332 ... 061108.flv

[forestguy]

YL1 - if you can I don't know how...

But WMM did help me get some stills of the scuffs on the track - any ideas anyone?

PGX Scuff 061108.jpg

PGX Scuff 2 061108.jpg

PGX Scuff 3 061108.jpg

[forestguy]

INVESTIGATIONS AT SITE FCX – 21 January 2009

In attendance: Forestguy & Anonimust

INTRODUCTION
We last visited this site in late 2008 at the invitation of another local researcher after he had found what he identified as prints on 2 occasions, had a possible unsighted encounter, and received a possible vocalisation in response to his calls.

We decided to visit the site again after receiving advice from an AYR forum member that this is also the exact location a friend of theirs had a possible unsighted encounter in the 1990’s.

Although that particular report didn’t include an actual sighting (it was one based on the familiar “feeling”) it’s one that’s intrigued me for a while – probably because I knew the general area as a kid.

ENVIRONMENT & SETTING
This site is located within 10km of our own main research area. It’s part of the same water catchment reserve, but the landscape and vegetation are quite different from Site PGX.

The majority of the site is lightly wooded scrub, with corridors of thick, almost rainforest-like vegetation, as well as heavily-grassed sections which would usually be underwater when the catchment is at capacity.

Access to the site by the public is discouraged. It has no established walking tracks and all fishing is currently prohibited. I saw no evidence of the illegal trailbike riding that I saw in the adjacent area last year, and even the access tracks – well-maintained by the rangers in all other areas we’ve visited – are heavily overgrown.

Evidence of recent human activity was quite limited. The majority of rubbish I saw was roughly in the area where the shoreline would have been in the early 1990’s, and it all appeared quite aged & weathered (eg: the empty beer longnecks were still crown tops, not screw tops…).

ACTIVITIES
We entered at a break in the treeline and after a plunge through the (over) head-high grass we moved back into the treeline and then spent the next half hour or so following the edge of the grassed areas – basically what would have been the shoreline in the early 1990’s.

Since the November storms we’ve largely been ignoring tree breaks in each of our research areas due to the level of general damage each area received.

That said, on this site I did note a few breaks, largely because they were in clearly sheltered positions and were obviously green and healthy when broken.

There were also a number of possible stick structures. I took particular note of a few that consisted of at least 3 or more branches which seemed unlikely to be formed by natural deadfall alone.

FCX Sticks 210109.jpg

FCX Sticks 2 210109.jpg

FCX Sticks 3 210109.jpg

FCX Sticks 4 210109.jpg

Nearby these structures we found a mound. I could most closely compare it to a scrub turkey mound, but it was significantly different from any turkey mound I’ve seen – some of the branches that formed it were too big, and it contained a lot of soil rather than leaf litter and mulch.

FCX Mound 210109.jpg

FCX Mound (side) 210109.jpg

Anon noticed an apparent burrow hole on top with what appeared to be claw marks gouged in the entrance.

FCX Burrow 210109.jpg

Shortly after this we crossed another small gully so we could continue following the old shoreline. On the corner of the far side of the gully there was a dense stand of trees, with a thick patch of bracken between the trees and the high grass.

As we moved behind this stand of trees we both heard a noise that seemed out of place. Anon described it as something mechanical – he thought it was my camera turning off (it wasn’t), whereas I thought it was the squeal of 2 trees rubbing together.

We both stopped to listen further – I kept a close eye on the nearby trees but despite several gusts during which I clearly saw branches rubbing together none made a similar sound.

However soon after we heard the noise again, and then several more times, each fainter as they appeared to come from further away in a south-easterly direction.

During this time we also heard a similar noise several hundred meters away in a north-westerly direction.

After this we continued along a sort of peninsular of scrub between 2 seas of grass before our way was blocked by lantana. It was very hot and neither of us felt up to fronting though a large expanse of the grass so we then headed back in a south-westerly direction so as to complete a loop before arriving back at the car. Nothing else of particular interest was noted during the remainder of the visit.

RESULTS
As is now apparently usual in our research areas, we saw no live fauna – either native or feral.

There was a very limited amount of scat found, and unlike in our main research area we found no dog scat in this location.

CONCLUSIONS
The sounds we heard were interesting but inconclusive. I was unable to identify them, but I was also unable to view the source.

After the first one I was torn between setting my camera to record audio, or to stay on digital still pictures. In the end I stuck with pictures and moved back slightly to try and improve my view of the grassed area, but had no luck in finding the source.

The mound was also interesting. As noted it seems different from a turkey mound, and it was well away from any track where it could possibly have resulted from cleared debris being pushed aside.

During this visit we didn’t even make it through to the current waterline, which is what we were aiming for. As we now know that any attempt in this direction will mean having to cross an expanse of the grassland we’ll enter from another direction on any subsequent visit.

[iwanttobelieve]

Hey FG & AM.

Love your reports guys and the photos are much appreciated.

Sounds like you have some good research areas. Hope you find something definitive soon.

Not sure what to make of the claw marks. As Seeker pointed out it would be good to have something as a reference to get a sense of scale. I've noticed you usually use you hiking stick in your photos, maybe that could work for close up shots as well.

Any luck working out what made those scuff marks in your last post? They're also very interesting.

Thanks for sharing your report.

Cheers.

[bush baby]

Great report guys and top photos. I say sooner or later you may find something in that area for sure...

bb

[forestguy]

Thanks guys.

Iwanna - we're still not 100% on the scuffs, but we did find dog prints in the area on a later visit that seemed to be of a comparable size pre-slide. Not sure though, I've never really seen a dog sliding in the mud.

[Shazzoir]

My hat is off to both of you - great report, loads of details, good, clear photos. I have a personal interest in this area, as you know, so I am really enjoying your expedition reviews.

I hope you get some contact in the future, THAT would be a blast!

Kind regards,
Shazz

[Night Walker]

Damn system break down…

Forestguy - I’m not going to re-write my analysis of your report again but I did manage to read your reply before they were wiped. You were right - I did miss your point about the absence of wildlife. That’s the strange thing about the Australian bush - some days there is absolutely nothing (other than bloody insects) while other days it is a veritable menagerie.

I’d also like to thank you for taking my analysis well (“Playing the ball” as Marivs would say) and accepting the criticisms in a constructive manner (ie in the way intended) instead of crying like a schoolgirl with skinned knees.

I think it is important for this Forum to be not just supportive but critical of how we gather, present, and interpret evidence. None of us are real experts until that conclusive piece of evidence is found. We can all learn and we can all strive to do better. ALL of us.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to comparing notes in person.