Yowiehunters Forum

Hi,

I am new to this site but was wondering why are they attracted to a babies cry and children?? I do understand that if i was 9 foot high and i seen 3 foot little people i would want to watch too. Its a little scary to think they are watching your kids. I also have a 7 week old baby that likes to cry loud, and the next night i heard horrible screechy howls coming from the dense Forrest behind our property and our animals where going ballistic as was the other farmers dogs too. I didnt hang around to find out i was too busy trying to beat my dogs inside. One last question, If they are predators and hunter why on earth do the make so much noise???, like the howling screams and stomping etc...

Feel free to drop me a line pleaseeeee.

Hey spooked

There hard questions to answer I guess they have a liking to children just as most adults do, it’s a human instinct, because they big guys seem to be mainly solitary (some live within groups) it may be a lonely thing, when a child cry’s for example it may be empathy etc., there only guesstimates. It would also depend on the personality of the Yowie whether or not it has motherly instinct, some Yowies probably don’t give a rat’s hoot about children, it all depends on the personality. Though generally speaking most often Yowies have a fascination with little ones, why I do not know, I can only think of the above reasons.

I wouldn’t consider them predators they mainly like to keep to themselves and are pretty elusive, they can be curious and sometimes aggressive but that’s only when their territory is being encroached upon,

Hope this helps, the above is only my opinion.

BTW welcome to the forums.

Thank you, i am very interested in them i guess because they are very secretive and hard to get a look at, hence the curiosity. Looking forward to more pics and videos on this site.

Spooked,

To add to what Chewy said, and agreeing, there also may be a connection with females of the species and crying. As I'm certain you know, women tend to be reactive to crying sounds..... Empathy and curiosity may both play a part. Until we can ask them, it's all guesswork.

As for danger to young ones, I would not be overly concerned, but aware. The noises you hear very often are just them sayin I'm here, or, I want this territory. Like me yelling at the brush turkeys to get them to stop messin up the garden (it didn't work btw), or someone yelling at trespassers. I purposefully am not attempting to get you scared, but being aware of large animals of any kind, and making certain to pass that awareness along to children helps keep ya calm and them safe.

Please take all of the above as opinion, I know I have grumpy days, so I figure our friends have theirs also.

You mentioned farm animals in the area going ballistic. Could you elaborate on this? I'm begining to see more correlation between different animals and their reaction to our hairy friends visiting the neighborhood.

Good Luck on your search to find out more about these guys, but a word of warning..... It becomes addicitvie !!!!

I don't pretend to understand any of this, I'm still trying to figure out the questions to ask.

cheers

Hey Spooked, welcome to the forum!

I hope it wasn't my post that, well, "spooked" you about the whole baby's crying thing. To add to what NoPolys & Chewy said - i'm sure its just more natural curiosity, or even a coincidence perhaps, as you said you have animals and your dogs were outside? I'd say more likely it was the combination of animal/dog smells/sounds that set them off more than anything else.

Oh, and NoPolys? Yelling at brush turkeys does not work at all. Running at them screaming does the trick perfectly. Then again, if something came at me running and screaming, i'd probably run too. I nearly did the other night - damn curlew came flying out of the bush all hissing and flapping - damn near had to change my shorts! Then I told it to bugger off, and enforced my statement with a stick thrown in its general direction.

Sorry, tangent there; if I may ask Spooked, where abouts are you located? Just want to see if theres any previous reports from your area.

Hey guys, I am in North West Tasmania backing into the Aurther Forrest. It is very dense, wet and very thick Forrest. There is also clay everywhere so if they do leave a foot print it would be a very good one, it rains just about everyday here 6 days out of 7 its raining, perfect for a Forrest to thrive. There is allot of dairy farmers here so allot of milking cows. The cows sounded like they were bellowing with fear. and my dogs and both neighboring dogs (they are working dogs) were making a bark that makes you scared because they only do that when something is around that scares them i have only heard my dogs do this bark once when a stranger startled them, you could hear the fear in their bark. and they were going around in circles up and down. You could hear the cows moving away fast into another paddock. this noise i heard when the dogs stopped was like a screechy howl off and on, sent chills up my spin because i knew it was not a tas devil as they are right next door and our dogs do nothing when they are fighting. This sounded unnatural and nothing ive ever heard. But i am more aware of my surroundings now, im too scared to let my 3yr old out side.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I'm sure your 3 year old will be fine. As stated in previous posts, its more curiosity than anything else. I've read reports on sites where kids have said they have a "hairy friend" in the bush. All they'd do is watch the kid play around as kids do. Just like, if we had the chance, we'd watch them. I'm sure if hominids could operate cameras they'd be taking happy-snaps of us . Cows running around/away & your dogs barking like mad, to me from what reports I've read, you might have yourself another "neighbor". I'm just going off what you've said in your posts though.

Onto the screeching howl & prints.. any chance you could get a recording of the noises? Also, during the day, as you said its prime land for prints, etc - maybe go for a short walk and look for prints one day?

One more question, are you anywhere near Bridport or Lake Dulverton?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more questions you ask, the more answers you get and eventually a conclusion will arise.

Yeh those two places are about 150 to 200kms away from our house, would you know how far these creatures travel? When i pluck up the courage, i will venture out a lil bit to look for anything like foot prints or devastated trees I would freak if my child told me they had a hairy friend ha! I guess its no different to a ghost friend. Do their eyes reflect? I keep reading things and some people say they do and others not?? and if they do what colour? They must be quiet interested in us as we are them, I wonder if they realise the psychical power they have? If i don't come back on i have run into this unknown creature and died from fright, looking for prints ha! And how does dean and his team pluck up the courage to go looking for them?? very brave , i would be staying in the car under a blanket.

Sorry, allot of ??

Ok i'll admit im addicted!!

Hi Spooked Gal
Yes I would say you do have a few more locals in your area. Beautiful area, the forested areas have a bit more life than people in the Timber Industry will talk about. Nearest Sighting to you I have heard of was near the camping area at Kanunnah Bridge about 50 Klm from Smithton, People in a caravan got scared during the night and spotted something walking in front of their car with torches, they thought they were alone.
Sightings of Tassie Tigers or anything else are kept quite, as it could put mills out of work. Protected Habitat areas would be proclaimed. Sightings are kept hush but most locals will admit to seeing them. The same with Yowie sighting's. I saw something heading north from the Piedman ferry head into the forest. A couple of backpackers wanted a lift , but I made out I couldn't understand them. and I was turning off the main road soon.
My Cousin was a Doctor at Zeehan for a while and she heard good reports from Mine workers of sightings, Both Tigers and the Yowie.
We went to Tassie on our Honeymoon in 1961 when I first got married and saw one just after sunset.
Travelling between Launceston and Hobart, we were on the road above Poatina Hydro Power Station near Great lake. A person walking in the same direction was after a lift. it was warm (February ) and we had the windows down. I almost stopped but they walked away from us into the scrub. We didn't stop as they had gone but the smell was terrible, still thinking it was a person wearing an old Army coat. My wife asked, did I see the Height and size of it, realising it would have been impossible to fit it in the car. Put it down to being a bushie in breed at the time. LOL After travelling another 20 minutes to Flintstone intersection. We spoke to a local who told us what it most likely was as there are no houses or people living in that area.
I had an Uncle that worked as a Cave guide at Kings Solomons Cave and he said Tigers and Yowie are often seen near by.
So yes I believe you have a few more Pets than you need, but I haven't heard of them interfering with Humans.
Enjoy that Beautiful area, what a great spot to bring up Kids.

Welcome Spooked

I am a bit jealous of where you are living, i think that Tassie is the perfect refuge for the Hairy fella, very dense forests and a low modern hominid population

ME.....id be out Yowie and Tiger hunting e v e r y weekend

hey, thanks guys. You know when i first moved here i seen 2 big yellow eyes at my fence line which is about 50meters from my balcony, our house is about 100meters long and the balcony runs right down the length of the house, i was on the phone to my sister for a good 15mins strolling up and down having a smoke while chatting away and didnt see it but ended my call and ducked inside to put the phone down and stepped out to get a lump of wood for the fire and i recon i didnt get the other foot out the door as i looked out over the yard to walk out as you do, i seen the eyes reflecting from the balcony lights. i stopped frozen for about 2 mins looking at it thinking i didnt see that before and talking myself out of it that it must be a reflector post until it blinked lol, yes i shat myself and backed back inside. It was at a low level like a cat prowling i guess i thought maybe a cow but no cows in that paddock, if it was a cat it must of been big because the eyes were really big and round and facing front on to me.
I have read reports of panthas in the area and read up on the extinct tazzy tiger also, how would anyone know if they are really extinct unless they searched every inch of the forrest, no one goes in there and i know why cats, yowies lol OMG! Can you imagine a pantha taking on a yowie!! This is a waring on a state forrest map of my area:-Disclaimer: Visitors to this area should be aware that natural hazards occur within Tasmania’s forest environments. Forestry Tasmania does not accept liability for any injury or damage resulting from such hazards. lol yeh big hairy fellas and cats. That Kanunnah Bridge, is about 10kms from my house!! its really is a beautiful place here so green.

Hey there Spooked

"Do their eyes reflect? I keep reading things and some people say they do and others not?? "

Just wondering if you've heard of Tony Healy's and Paul Cropper's book "The Yowie: In Search of Australia's Bigfoot"?

There's an excellent description on p136 of yowie nocturnal eyeshine which basically says that it's been reported to be mostly red, sometimes yellow and occasionally green, and once even an iridescent blue-green.

It also says that the colour can change from red to yellow depending on the location of light sources and the position of the observer, and can even seem to glow with little or no ambient light to cause eyeshine.

It's also reported in the book that many people have shone bright lights directly at yowies with no eyeshine reflected at all.

Hope that helps. Sounds like you are living in a beautiful and interesting place.

I can totally understand why you feel spooked, though. I can imagine seeing big glowing yellow eyes blinking at you in the dark would be scary. : )

Take care,

Jezebel

hey Jezebel,

No i have not see that book yet, my balcony is 100mtrs long and has 50w lamps all the way down spaced out there are 5 of them and it does light up that side of the yard where the paddock is. It scared this c**p out of me especially when it blinked lol. I dont know much about yowies but i know those big eyes wernt there the next night I was too scared to go back out with a torch to see if i could see anything. My hubby said it might be a wombat, but i know they dont stand there and watch you like that, they just go about their business and their eyes are sort of on the side of its head not straight on. If it was a yowie it must of been laying on its belly watching me i guess, wonder why it would just stand there because its very dark out there at night unless the moon is out and you cant see more than a few mtrs with no lights on. It felt very creepy too, the eyes were so still until the blink maybe it thought i couldnt see it. Dunno....

Hey Guys,

I took a few pics of where i seen those yellow eyes and i hope you can see them properly, That spot is directly on the other side of my fence line and we are out of town so no one walking around there and too cold for bare foot. The size looks like a child's size 3 or an 11yr old size foot weird shape too. Human? or Baby yowie? Anyone want to check them out and let me know their thoughts, also big paw paints in the same area too.

Hi Spooked
From your description and the photo's. My guess is four legged animal, is the sight sheltered ?
No sign of food scraps. bones, fur, scat etc.
See if you can set up food sources and pick it's diet. Fruit, Pet food, Dry pet food. It may help narrow it down.
If you have Kids in the area that annoy you ask them would like they like to camp over. Check in the morning maybe 2 problems solved. Ha ha.
Good researching.
Dash

hey Spooked

If you want to narrow down what it is, put out some baits, as in nice friuits eg, mango, cut passion fruit, rockmelon etc and put them in a basket suspended from a tree at a height of 6 feet...then check the basket every morning, the other popular bait seems to be freshly cooked bacon or sausages...now dont be a chicken Spooked..get out there and try to attract this thing back...go on...off ya go....i'm right behind you...

hey guys,

Dashboard, that site is not sheltered it has wild blackberries throughout the paddock and they run along the ground with big thorns like roses so whoever or what ever it is would get a nasty stab unless u have tough feet. HA! can u imagine 'hey kids would you like to hang up side down in this tree for the night' lol.

Topender, HA! you will be going 1st and i got your back (meanwhile, spooked is back inside watching from the window 'did you see it, did you see it' ). We are going to dump some clay over there this time to see if we can get some real prints. Going back out to look for bones, fur etc. I'll take a few pics of the landscape here so you can see the area.

be back soon.