YEAR: 2010

SEASON: Summer

MONTH: August

STATE: Michigan

COUNTY: Montcalm County

LOCATION DETAILS: Location would be at my cottage on Turk Lake, just a few minutes from M-91.

NEAREST TOWN: Greenville

NEAREST ROAD: M-91

OBSERVED: It was summer 2010, my girlfriend and I were saying our goodnights to each other and she left the loft in the garage. It was about midnight; she texted me about 5 minutes after she left about a banging noise. She thought it was me making those noises to scare her. And then a chill ran down my back, because the sound she was hearing was not from me. I told her it was not me and I was a little frightened at first and I did not hear the noise at all for the rest of the night. The next night around the same time, I was walking her home and her and I both heard the same noise. At first we did not mind until we heard it again, and it was closer. We rushed back inside and left the upstairs windows open to listen. We heard the banging noises multiple times, each time getting closer and closer. We kept on hearing leaves crackling like something was walking around and we could tell it was walking on two legs because it was a steady, slow walking pace. We shined the flashlight out the window but due to the trees, we could not see it. The noises continued until around 5am.

ALSO NOTICED: A few years back to early 2000's, my friends said something about seeing a tall creature walking about 25 feet into the woods.

OTHER WITNESSES: 1, my girlfriend at the time

OTHER STORIES: Yes, on this site about a sighting 1 mile east of the Flat River.

TIME AND CONDITIONS: 12a.m, conditions were clear, but dark.

ENVIRONMENT: Environment was woods, by Turk Lake Bar and Restaurant

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

After contacting the witness I asked why he thought that this was not simply a matter of someone playing a practical joke on him. He explained that this area is fairly secluded from other homes and that the average individual living around Turk Lake is a senior. He went on to say that the lake is fairly small and surrounded by either farmland or forest. He believed that there would be little reason for someone to be walking around the area after dark.

The noise that the girlfriend heard was initially described as a "banging noise" but after discussing it with the witness he added more description. He said that the sound appeared as if it may have been a noise more like "...hitting a tree with a thicker, if not larger, piece of wood." Tree-knocking is a recognized method of communication that is used by primates to send information regarding issues like location and potential threats over long distances. This sound is often heard during suspected Bigfoot encounters which leads investigators to think that they may be trying to communicate their, or our, location to others of their kind. Examples of these sounds, particularly the 1974 Morehead recordings from California, can be found on the BFRO website.

The previous night the girlfriend reported that she had heard a similar noise near her home nearby. She stated that something large then walked past her window but she was unable to get a very good look at it. The experience left her a "little freaked out."

The next night the witness was walking his girlfriend home and heard the same "tree-knocking" which caused them to retreat to his cabin and into the loft. They remained awake listening to something walking around the house. "It was awfully close, too close for comfort." At times it seemed to be as little as twenty feet or less away from the side of the cabin. As they mentioned, they did not get any sleep, nor did they leave until light.

The witness' family has owned the cabin since he was born and he has not had a previous experience like this. The area is less than twenty miles from the Pere Marquette State Forest and only Five miles from the Langston State Game Area.

About BFRO Investigator Jim Sherman:

Jim is a High School History teacher and Track and Cross Country coach. He attended the Michigan Northern Lower Peninsula Expedition in 2011, the Michigan Upper Peninsula Expedition in 2012, co-organized the Michigan UP 2013 Expedition and attended the 2014 Wisconsin Expedition. He assisted in the production of Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot Michigan episodes (Bigfoot and Wolverines and Super Yooper). He participates in Ironman Triathlons and enjoys fishing and camping with his wife and daughter. Jim can be contacted at [email protected] and Twitter @shermanbigfoot and his YouTube account is : Lordcryptid

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