Is Green Co. pterodactyl terrain? Some think so
Sep. 15—Stories swirl about what resides in the thickness of Green Country, Oklahoma, with tales of strange sightings abundant -whether real or imagined.
In a recent episode of "Last Podcast On The Left" — a popular podcast that covers true crime and the paranormal — the hosts read aloud an email from someone claiming to have grown up outside of Tahlequah, in the small community of Briggs. The person claimed to have once seen a pterodactyl after picking up a friend in the Pumpkin Hollow area, and asserted another friend once saw a similarly large-winged creature.
It's not the only story of unusual sightings, but few are ever reported to area officials. Cherokee County Game Warden Cody Youngblood said if locals do have such accounts of flying dinosaurs, river or lake monsters — or Bigfoot, for that matter — they're keeping it to themselves.
"Mountain lions and bears are about the only thing they're calling us with, saying they saw them," he said.
Tales of unidentified creatures are widespread, though. Each year, the Oklahoma Bigfoot Symposium is held in Stilwell, giving believers and those looking for answers a chance to meet and discuss possible evidence of the large, hairy mammal. There is even a reported $2.1 million bounty for a Bigfoot to be captured alive and unharmed.
Then there is the freshwater cryptid known as the Oklahoma Octopus, which people believe inhabits Lake Tenkiller.
Whether authentic or for laughs, it appears many in the area have their own stories of mysterious species and peculiar phenomenon. The Tahlequah Daily Press asked readers on Facebook to share their own strange experiences. Some respondents singled out the creature they believe they saw, while others only hinted at seeing something "spooky."
J.T. Beeler came face to face with a creature in the woods outside of Hulbert around eight years ago.
"The thing stood upright at the base of a small incline and was eye level with me, standing at the top," Beeler said. "No smell, no nothing, but when I scared it off, it turned and jumped off a 20-foot cliff and kept running, pushing trees over as it went up the hill."
Tiffany Cooper reported a strange experience during which she and her neighbors noticed a "heavy and odd walking across" their roofs late at night, and could hear something jumping from home to home.
"We know the difference in an animal, human, and whatever this was," she wrote. "It was pretty creepy and it happening to a neighbor the same time as me, and was happening multiple times, is why I didn't chalk it up to hearing things or figment of imagination. We went outside, but no tracks, never saw it, and couldn't tell ya what it was."
Several respondents pointed to the Oklahoma Octopus as being genuine, despite there being no known physical evidence.
Dawn LeForce said she's felt and seen ghosts, as well as shadow people.
"I've seen lights in the sky that moved in such a way I don't see how it could've been a plane or a helicopter," she said.
Linda Gill said she and her daughter saw a Bigfoot running across a large field and into the woods, just east of Stilwell.
"It was an awesome thing to see," she wrote.
Some people might want to be cautious when in the woods near Burnt Cabin, according to Brandon Thorne.
"You won't find something, something will find you," he said. "Different kind of energy out there around 3 a.m."
Other strange sightings from readers include: chupacabras, a mothman, catman, zombies, and giant lizards walking on hind legs. As for the chances of a pterodactyl flying around Tahlequah, readers offered their own explanations.
"I saw a baby blue heron on the Illinois River that looked a lot like a pterodactyl," Cassidy Henshaw said.
Jay Jones didn't think the pterodactyl sighting was a big deal. "I thought everyone around here had a pet pterodactyl?" he asked, jokingly.
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For more comments on pterodactyls and other strange creatures — some tongue-in-cheek and some quite amusing! — go to www.facebook.com/tdpress and scroll down to the Sept. 14 question on the topic.