| This was about three or four years ago and I was conducting experiments on local streams for my biology degree's capstone project. I chose a stream called Big Pipe Creek, which was adjacent from a soybean field in rural Carroll County, MD, close to the Carroll/Adams county border. This was around mid October. This area is very rural with farms and woods being the norm. I was standing on top of the bridge and noticed that large patches of vegetation were matted down like when a deer lies in a field. But these were much larger. Then descending toward the stream I found tracks going towards the stream, one in particular was in mud were there was no grass around. This track was about 14 inches long and about four inches wide and was sunk in about 2 to 3 inches in the ground. I weighed about 225 lbs at the time and did not sink in at all. Fallowing these footsteps I happened upon a huge pile of scat. Not sure how to describe it except it was black in color with a yellowish tint in large clumps making a large pile. It looked to be composed mainly of vegetable matter. I have grown up around the woods and farms all my life and was not sure of its origin. Also thought I detected a slight odor like a skunk but could have been my imagination. After the incident I contacted the bfro and they explained there have been quite a few sightings in that area. I have also notice strange things (mainly vocalizations) in the area throughout the years. To this day I kick my self for not collecting samples (especially considering the fact that one of the leading parasitologists at the time was a professor of mine) but I was very involved with graduating at the time. I did take pictures of the footprints but the memory card they were on malfunctioned. Go figure! |
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