YEAR: 2026

SEASON: Spring

MONTH: March

DATE: Sunday, March 15th.

STATE: Ohio

COUNTY: Ashland County

LOCATION DETAILS: 40 51’ 40.1292” N
82 16’ 0.7248” W

Information from website (https://www.ashlandcountyparks.com/parks/audubon-wetlands-preserve/): “The park lies east of a large cattail marsh that is a short walk from the parking lot. A 250-foot boardwalk crosses the marsh, and is the only access to the main body of the park. Beyond the boardwalk are two short 0.5-mile loops and a 1.5-mile loop around the edges of the park. Gravel trails wind through woods, meadows, wetlands and along the Jerome Fork River. 100 acres of swamp oak maple forest. Several wetlands are present.”

NEAREST TOWN: Ashland, Ohio

NEAREST ROAD: US Route 250, Township Road 743, Interstate highway 71

OBSERVED: My wife and I arrived at Audubon Wetlands Preserve in Ashland and around 10:30am. There were no others at the park when we arrived. We proceeded into the park and crossed over the 300-foot boardwalk “bridge” that crosses the cattail marsh to get to the main hiking area of the preserve. When we finished crossing the bridge we both heard two to three loud wood knocks that my wife commented on.

The hike was pleasant and uneventful until we found the tracks in the muddy area of the southwest field part of the preserve. We found three to four large unidentifiable tracks that measured approximately 14 to 16 inches long. They were barefoot, humanoid in appearance. No claw marks were noted. The prints were long, but narrow for the length. There appeared to be toe prints and they were pressed down deeply into the mud. I took multiple pictures of these prints. Atmosphere changed slightly, but still no other unusually events at the time. More hikers had arrived at the preserve that we encountered when walking back to the parking area. My wife was somewhat disturbed for the rest of the day.

ALSO NOTICED: There were no other hikers at the time of the knocks and the track discovery. There was some animal activity in the preserve. Mostly squirrels and two large deer sighted just before discovering the tracks. No unusual odors. The atmosphere seemed normal, not heavy or oppressive. Just a normal early spring day. There was a lot of downed trees and limbs from the recent wind storms.

OTHER WITNESSES: Yes, my wife was with me. Hiking trough the trail in the low brush / field area in the south west part of the preserve.

OTHER STORIES: Yes, Report # 69065 Submitted by witness on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Sasquatch was spotted at the edge of the tree line behind the Warehouse 24 Gym on the outskirts of Ashland.
Longitude / Latitude Coordinates:
40.855698, -82.269722

TIME AND CONDITIONS: Late morning ~10:30 to 11am.
The temperature was in the 50’s. The sky was partial sunny with some light cloud cover. Wind speed was light. No precipitation.

ENVIRONMENT: The track was found in a low brush area surrounded by wetlands and marshes with a mix of hardwood trees. The ground in this area was sandy and muddy. The ground was wet enough to leave tracks from wildlife. Low brush /field area surrounded by wetlands and marshes with a mix of hardwood trees.

Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Witness Tom Paulchell is a credible college professor who teaches at Lorain County Community College.

The area where Tom and his wife were walking around when they heard the knocks on the outskirts of Ashland is less than one half mile from the Class A sighting behind the Warehouse Gym in 2021. See report 69065 It is walking distance between the two points.

Here are the coordinates for the point where the couple was passing when they heard the knocks: 40.861068, -82.264145 They heard the knocks just after leaving the wooden foot bridge and entering the woods in this swampy preserve. They had trouble determining the exact direction the heavy knock sound came from, but it was somewhere within the woods in front of them.

Both of the witnesses were very adamant that the knocks were heavy and definitely not made by a woodpecker, etc.

The circumstances of two knocks occurring as these two people were entering the woods after the foot bridge over the marsh suggests the knocks were potentially made by one bigfoot signaling to another bigfoot (or more) that two human intruders were entering the woods. I have been in several situations like that over the years, and they usually occurred at trailheads or choke points like bridges.

I was the one who investigated the Warehouse Gym sighting previously. That young woman definitely saw a big sasquatch rushing back into the woods right behind the gym around midnight. At that time I studied the map and concluded that this Audubon Preserve area and adjacent swampy woods would be the natural place for that creature to hang around during the day. There is a natural pathway along Jerome Fork that would lead deer into this preserve from both the north and south.

At first I thought it was amusing how close this Audubon preserve is to a Walmart, and then I noticed how there is a grassy belt leading north from the preserve and looping over toward the back parking lot of the Walmart. If deer are seen from this parking lot them there's a good chance that the sasquatch comes back there too on occasion. So if there is indeed a sasquatch in this preserve I could call it the "Ashland Sasquatch" or the "Walmart Sasquatch". Either way, be on the look out in the fields behind the Walmart in Ashland if you ever shop there late at night. It would be a great place to bring a thermal camera.

About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:

Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.

- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law

- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.

- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.

- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.

- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.

- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.

- Current Director of the BFRO

- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net

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