Mississippi Swamp Apes

Date: December 2002 - January 2003 - present

Ongoing investigation by Jay Michael

I'm going to give this report in story form because it's easier for me to tell it all and try not to leave out any details. Here goes...

Around the first of December 2002 My friend Patrick mentioned to me at a party at my house that he had found some "dead deer" at a location where he works. Pat is a XXXXXX and often travels to XXXX to work on the XXXX.. He said the deer looked like they had been "ripped apart" by something. Being curious I asked him when he goes back if he would take his digital camera and take some pictures because I wanted to see it.

About four days later I got an email from him and attached were some pictures. (See below, first three) The deer did look "ripped up", so I forwarded the pix to Bigfoothunter for his opinion.

Bobby (Bigfoothunter) wrote back that he was amazed at the photos too and as a deer hunter he couldn't come up with a plausible explanation for the condition of the deer. He suggested I go down there and look around, and I agreed to take a video camera and video the area in case there were footprints or such. I also took my digital still camera. (see photos below Dig Pix 1-9)

A few days later Pat & I went to the location and I video taped the deer. I was amazed to find these bodies that appeared to be ripped in half. Their insides seemed intact. In fact I found a stomach some feet away and on another deer where it 's stomach was open and I could see the contents.

While there and videotaping I started looking around and investigating the area for any sign of what may have done this and / or if BF sign was present.

I started to find several trees that were twisted and broken over. Some were the cause of weather but some didn't appear to be a result of either trees falling on them, weather or disease.

As I walked along taping the various trees and such and looking for prints I came across another area where some cattle had been either killed or brought there. There were several bones and a couple of skulls. Rib cages, backbones and thigh bones littered the area. This was at an entrance to a trail into the woods.

As I made my way around I found a couple more trails into the woods and at each entrance were bones.

I ventured down a trail and found some stick formations that could have been natural but didn't seem so. Limbs positioned in saplings and crossed sticks and twigs. I even had a moment where I felt that I heard something walking but discounted it as just the wind. It was just a momentary feeling of being watched and I scrugged it off and went on. I mention it only because the area does give you the creeps and Pat had mentioned that he too felt "creepy" when he is down there.

This was defianantly a mystery. We stayed till after dark to listen for any calls or sounds but heard nothing. A few days later I went back and found the deer were now scattered around some. Originally two deer had been stacked on top of each other and their head & necks were crossed in an X pattern. This trip they were separated and I assumed small scavengers might have tugged at the bodies and scattered them about. Again I looked around and re-examined some of the tree breaks in the area. I have always been skeptical of tree breaks because so much is blamed on Bigfoot when no one has ever seen bigfoot make tree breaks. But they do appear in reports so I look at them anyway. In most cases I can now tell weather damage, disease and other conditions that may cause these breaks. And most of what I found appeared to me to be just weather and disease damage. But a few were not so easily discounted.

A few days later I had some time so I drove back to the area. Nothing much was changed but one curious thing. The two deer that had been scattered were now back, stacked on top of each other with their heads in the X pattern. I made a mental note of this and looked around again for prints. I found nothing.

A week or so later I went back again and the deer were again separated. This time not far but a foot or two apart. Again I looked around and went back down to see the dead cattle area, nothing there was amiss.

A couple of days ago I took yet another trip back down to the area. Guess what, the deer were back in their X pattern again. By this time the bodies were decaying badly. Insects mostly were devouring them. Some whole pieces were gone but for the most part they appeared to be intact, which makes me wonder that maybe vultures or other animals may not be feasting on them as I would assume. But I do not know.

I am keeping an eye on this area and I'll let you all know of any findings. So far, it's a mystery and I can't say "Bigfoot did it." But here is an area with tree breaks, dead deer and formations. Cattle bones and stick formations. It's enough to keep an eye on and keep an ongoing investigation.

The area itself is sparse. Houses are miles apart and it's mostly woods. There are farms nearby as well as a heavily traveled highway. No Interstates or large cities, just small rural towns and communities separated by miles of forest. The area where the Deer carcasses are is about 5 miles from the Leaf River and 2 miles from a creek. If there are Bigfoot in the area they picked a good spot.

Some subsequent notes:
When I went back with the video camera and my digital still camera I found some holes in the deer. My first thought was that these may be bullet holes. Upon investigation, and with the help of Rick Vereen I now believe these holes are not bullet holes. The holes do not appear in the deer in the Pat photos taken earlier, Pat has also assured me that when he found the deer they had no obvious bullet holes. Also if you look at the holes, you will see where the tissue is dark, indicating that these holes were made after the deer were dead. There is no blood around the holes. In fact, the bodies are almost devoid of blood. If these animals had been shot one would expect the bodies to be drenched in blood. They are clean. Nor is there much blood around them. I suspect these animals were killed elsewhere and brought here and stacked in this unusual pattern. Whatever brought them here is returning to make sure they stay stacked also.
During my investigation of these animal kills I also became aware that in every instance either Pat or myself have been back to this location we have never disturbed vultures or other animals from feeding on these kills. One would expect to have vultures descending on these animals until nothing is left, yet they appear to have been disturbed very little by scavengers. I have to assume they get scattered by scavengers and are then put back in the x pattern by whatever is responsible for their demise, but I have no proof of the existence of scavengers or a returning Bigfoot.
In fact, I am not even sure if a Bigfoot is responsible for this, only that it is a mystery and I continue to watch the area. I do suspect Bigfoot activity because:
• There are tree breaks and twists in the area.
• There are also dead cattle in the area, a large animal that would be difficult if not impossible for any known animal to drag or bring to this spot and deposit them.
• The deer appear to be left alone by scavengers, at least for the most part.
• There are twig and limb formations in the area.
• The deer are ripped in half, not chopped or cut. it would take a powerful animal to rip a deer in half.
• Bones appear to be left like markers at trail entrances.
• Myself and Pat have both experienced an unusual creepy "feeling" in the area, though not scientific or explainable I at least accept it could be a factor.

Photos:
NOTE: These Photos are Graphic in nature, Not for the squimish!

This is a shot of the deer, you can see how they are ripped in half. There are three front halves and one back half in this photo. This photo is one of three that Pat took when I sent him back to take photos.	This is Photo 2 from Pat. This shows the fawn further back and a closer look at the "stacked" deer.
This is Photo 3 from Pat, it shows another deer a few feet away. This one is a back and rib cage. This deer dissappeared from the scene before I got there with my equipment...	When I went back to the site with Pat I took my camcorder and digital cam. This is photo 1 from the digital cam. This series of photos were taken 5 days after the above "Pat" photos. Note the hole in the deer. This is not a bullet hole, tissue around the hole indicates it was made after the deer was dead, and these holes do not appear in Pats photos, so they were made after his pix were taken.
Dig Pix 2: Note the cross pattern the deer are in, in upper left. The heads are crossed across the neck. In subsequent returns when scavengers(?) had moved the bodies I would find these deer stacked back in this cross pattern. Note the "hole" in side of lower right deer, again, this is not a bullet hole. Either the deer had been poked with a stick after "pats" photos or worms burried into the flesh here.	Dig Pix 3: The deer neck cross pattern. You can see the contents of the stomach of this deer here.
Dig Pix 4: The fawn. You can see the hole poked in the side of this deer. Also it's stomach is placed on ground in the lower left, not dragged out of the carcus as one might expect by scavengers.	Dig Pix 5: This is the front half of a deer that had been moved away from the stack, in Pats photos it was closer. Also the right leg appears to be broken at the shoulder joint and is only held on by flesh.
Dig Pix 6: This is a stomach from one of the deer. Note it isn't ruptured but has been gently placed here in the grass. It was several feet away from the stack.	Dig Pix 7: Another shot of the deer. We found no footprints near the deer. The ground was moist from rain but hard.
Dig Pix 8: This is a tree bend. I doubt this is BF related. I think it's weather related.	Dig Pix 9: Tree break and twist. This is one of several twist/breaks I found. Some were caused by weather or other falling trees but I believe this one and perhaps a few more were not made by any natural cause.
From video tape: Puncture hole on deer.	Broken leg & hole in front of deer.
Close up of the head of one of the deer.	Notice how the spine is broken off.
Typical tree break with a slight twist.	Twisted and to one side.
Difficult to see in this photo but... there are several limbs layed into a X formation with limbs crossing.	Typical diseased tree, break is caused by the fungus weakening the tree.
This limb had been twisted around and shreaded.	Tree break whereby the limb broke off and was layed back into the break.
Bent and broken. Possible weather damage.	Dig Pix # 9 different angle
This is iffy, something had been peeling back the bark for bugs.	Remains of dead cow found near deer. (about 100+ yards away)
Head of another cow. Appears old as fungus is growing on it.	Closer shot of above.
More cow bones.	Here is another stick formation, saplings coming from left...
... are bent and intertwined into the above formation...	...this parallel marker is underneath and pointing toward it.
Broken limb several feet off the ground.	Another unusual formation. There are two saplings side-by-side, the limbs are stacked inbetween.
Limb shaved smooth of bark. Dunno about this.	Another break....
Deer stand found back in the woods near clearing. Attempting to locate owner.	Personally this is a long shot but may be a possible print. I wear a size 12 shoe. One of two about six feet apart. Untill I see more or better than this I'm keeping this as unknown.
I continue to investigate the above location. At this point I have very little to tie the above material into a Bigfoot situation. So, I'm leaving my skepticals on and looking to see if I can find some good prints or record some sounds from the area. Any new developments will be found here and reported to the GCBRO. This is suspected BF activity untill more data can be accumilated. More...