Name That Creature

[Night Walker]

Location: D'Aguilar Range north-west of Brisbane.
Date: 01/05/09
Time: 7.45pm
Terrain: Mountain rainforest - State Forest bordering National Park.
Conditions: First quarter moon, patchy breeze, minor cloud cover.

While walking up a slight incline I noticed a single white reflection (eye shine) seemingly low to the ground (perhaps 40cm) approximately 3 metres ahead, 2 metres to the left of the path partly obscured by vines and young saplings. I also became aware of something moving further back in the foliage to my right but tried to keep my focus on the single eye shine on my left. I was curious why there was only a single reflection - smaller than a 5 cent coin. As I approached to within 2metres it took off into the nearby bushes further to my left.

Description: creature was seen for a bare fraction of a second as it rapidly moved beyond the range of my headlamp. Thick torso - thicker than a big bull terrier's torso, for comparison. Light coloured short fur/hair. No markings noticed. No tail noticed. No clear sight of head/neck or legs but body appeared low to the ground and appeared to me in a quadrupedal manner.

I turned my lamp towards the sound further back to my right but could not get sight of what was moving about behind/among the thick foliage. I heard more brief sounds even further back on both sides. Then, again to my left from roughly the same area where the creature had moved into the bushes I heard a succession of slow guttural grunt - Huurgh..... Huurgh..... Huurgh (approx. 3sec gap between vocalisations). My torch could not penetrate the foliage but I stood watching and listening. The grunting continued, as did some infrequent noise behind me further back to the right of the path.

My on-the-spot conclusion was that it was some feral animal - pig/deer/dog - and that it may be best to move on. Which I did. There were further sounds of displaced foliage around in the forest but always further back (min. 10 metres) and less frequent.

Note: I had a camera with me but not ready since the area I had intended to go to was not far from the where I had parked my car (100m).

Interpretation: Single eye shine that of a quadruped side-on in a resting position. With a body seemingly more robust than any local native fauna, some type of feral animal seems most likely. Possibly separated from it's clumsy offspring caught up in the vines further back to my right, the creature's slow, steady grunts may have represented a warning to stay clear which was heeded.

Conclusions:

Animal unknown. Most likely some type of feral. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

ALWAYS have camera at the ready.

NW.

[Dion]

While we are playing the "Name that Creature" game, what is this?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-noDR6K ... eti_yowie/

Its a man in a suit Doc the guys that shot that video are in the film industry and has been proven fake.

NW it could have been anything the details of your observations are not to clear

Whats your gut feeling as to what it was?

[Shazzoir]

NightWalker, I'm guessing it was a wombat: There isn't much around that is that stocky of appearance, nor that low to the ground except a Wombat AND they have a girth of prodigous proportions! Photographs of people holding CW's would seem to indicate that they are in excess of 1.5m in girth. Bulldozers of the bush indeed!

It sounds exactly like a common wombat, right down to the noise you described... "Common wombats are generally quiet animals, but can make a number of different sounds, more than the Hairy-nosed wombats, tending to be more vocal during mating season (July to December). When angered, they can make hissing sounds. Their call sounds somewhat like a pig's squeal. They can also make grunting noises, a low growl, a hoarse cough, and a clicking noise.

A growling noise is made when adults confront each other. Females in heat may make calls when males pursue them. Wombats can also make noises when they're alarmed, or as a warning to other animals that they're angry. Mothers and infants communicate with short hissing sounds. This has been described as a "huh" or "hhhmmpph" sound."

http://www.wombania.com/wombats/common-wombat.htm


It would be a real coup if it were a Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat, as these are believed to be all but extinct in the wild, and have a very tiny remnant population near Chillagoe.
http://www.wombania.com/wombats/norther ... wombat.htm

Perhaps you stumbled upon either a female being pursued by a suitor/s, or a family unit separated by the track. I agree with your other suggestion that the calls were to warn the other creatures (if they were of the same species) on the other side of the track to stay clear until the danger (you) had passed.

Any chance of going back to see if there were any burrows or diggings? Might be a bit of an ask, as CW's have a wide territory of some km. They are supposed to prefer eating near creeks and riverbanks, as they do not often drink, according to the literature.

Kind regards,
Shazz

PS. Very interesting report, thank you!

[cheyenne]

While we are playing the "Name that Creature" game, what is this?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-noDR6K ... eti_yowie/

To my untrained eye it looks like they discovered Chewbacca!

[Foil_Hat_Guy(1)]

Hi Nightwalker, are you sure it wasn't a rock wallaby? (just kidding)

From your description, my first impression was that of a Koala, it fits in with the quadruped low to the ground, the light coloured short hair, the size of the torso, and especially the sound.

But that would just be my best guess from your description.

@ Doctor Scream, the "animal" in that video closely resembles a "Chewbacca Suit" or "Wookie Suit", and the video was taken soon after the last Star Wars movie was filmed in Australia, by people who worked on the film.

There was also an analagous sighting near a bridge around the same time period (within a few months or so), where the witness to the "Yowie" later suspected that he had been hoaxed by identifying the beast he saw as identical to that of a picture of a "Chewbacca Suit" for sale on eBay. (This wasn't cheap at over $500 AUD, so the hoaxers either knew someone in the industry, or had more dollars than sense!)

[Jo Blose]

Hey there Nightwalker,

A few nocturnal animals are likely suspects. It's difficult to tell from your description especially as you didn't see the neck or head. Due to the light coloured short hair you state, have you considered a sandy coloured dingo? I'd say if it were a fox, you would have seen it's tail, and were it a hare, long nosed bandicoot, or possum, you would have described it as a lot smaller.

Have that camera primed and yer digital recorder already recording. Geez, I'm one to talk, aint I?

[mikka]

Did you check for any footprints in the surrounding area ?

[Night Walker]

Thank you for all the replies. However, I think there may be some confusion to the estimated body size - "thicker than a big bull terrier's torso".

The torso of the creature I briefly saw was larger and thicker than c) a bull terrier - which is quite a large and powerful dog.

Doc - reflective eye shine. When I got to the end of the path I cranked out an hour of guitar instrumentals and Neil Young songs, left a bowl of fruit in an elevated position, and tried some non-verbal communication (no language required - no, not psychic communication) to the surrounding forest - just in case I had an audience. Damn, does that mean I am becoming a hippy?

Chew - my gut instincts were that it was a biped grunting purposely. Joking. Impressions can be very misleading particularly when searching for Yowies and especially so when in an area of previous Yowie activity (like this location).

Shaz - longer body and moved too quickly for a wombat, even a big one.

Foily - similarly too large and quick to be a koala. Grunting sounds quite different from vocalised grunting of male koalas.

Joe - I noted no tail or markings but given that it moved out of sight very quickly (viewing time less than a second when it took off) I may have missed those things like I missed a head and neck description. Body was too thick for a dingo (which are quite lean) but it could have been some type of large wild dog. The vocalisations of feral dogs are often very different to that of domestic ones (which we are all quite familiar with) so I can not rule out feral dog.

Mikka - on my return through that area I did stop and look for prints and scat but the forest floor was mostly stoney with leaf litter and moss in between. Nothing found.

On the previous occassion I was there I did inspect some stones (around 5kg in weight) which had appeared to be upturned - this would favour the feral pig hypothesis.

Most likely it was a feral pig (or perhaps even a thick bodied feral dog) with others nearby. Given that both of these can be dangerous when confronted I think I took the correct course of action - calmly walking on. I should be able to return on Monday to inspect the area in daylight.

Again, thank you for your replies.

[Night Walker]

Follow up:

I returned to the site - 9.30am, 04/05/2009 - to inspect the area in daylight. There were multiple signs of stones having been overturned and roots and soil having been disturbed. This would support the notion that I had disturbed a group feral pigs feeding.

Nearby in the undergrowth I could hear a crunch..crunch..crunch sound - like something walking cautiously on the leaf litter - but I found it difficult to estimate the size of the unknown walker or how far away it was. I could detect no obvious signs of movement and could only gauge the general direction from which the sound was coming.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of an object moving at speed through the leaves/branches higher up and became aware that something small and hard - it clattered against the stones on the forest floor - had landed nearby. Did someone/something just throw a rock at me?

I crouched low, listening to the crunch..crunch sound and looking intently for any signs of movement. Then I saw it - a small bird - black, like a large willy-wagtail with longer legs and a crest - had been foraging on the forest floor. I marvelled at how deceptive was the sound of it's approach.

Then I heard another clatter aomong the stones nearby and this time I saw the small object come to rest - a small (macadamia nit size) hard bodied fruit had fallen from 20-30m above in the canopy. I tossed it against a hollowed out log and noted it made quite a pronounced knock sound.

I then proceeded on towards the end of the path and inspected the elevated bowl of fruit that I had left behind - it remained untouched. I claimed an apple and 2 mandarines for my morning tea while leaving the rest of the fruit behind.

Conclusion: Forest sounds can be very deceptive. The timber in forest trees can act as an acoustic chamber - amplifying and altering the tonal properties of mundane sounds making them seem more than what they actually are. Similarly, hard fruit falling from high up in the canopy and aided by gravity can reach speeds which, when colliding with solid objects - branches, logs, rocks - can produce a variey of wood-like knocks. Such fruit either falls naturally or when disturbed by canpoy feeders in which case several may fall simultaneously creating a close succession of knocks.