Yowie: The Hairy Man of the Bush

The Thing in the Gum Trees

The American Bigfoot is shy. The Himalayan Yeti is elusive. But the Australian Yowie is aggressive. For thousands of years, the Aboriginal peoples have told stories of the Yahoo, Jurrawarra, or Thoolagal. It is a massive, ape-like man, standing anywhere from six to ten feet tall. It is covered in shaggy reddish-brown hair, has long arms that reach its knees, and eyes that glow red in the firelight. It does not hide. It stalks.

The Howl

Campers in the Blue Mountains often report the same phenomenon. First, the silence. The crickets and frogs stop singing. Then, the smell. A musk of rotting wildlife and wet dog. Finally, the scream. The Yowie doesn't just grunt. It screams a high-pitched, mechanical shriek that sounds like a woman in pain or a grinding machine. It throws rocks at tents. It snaps saplings like toothpicks. It wants you to leave its territory.

Ancient Roots

Some tribes describe two types:

• The Little Yowies:Four feet tall, mischievous, teeth like fangs.
• The Big Yowies:Ten feet tall, solitary, and dangerous. European settlers in the 1800s encountered them frequently. They called them "Australian Apes" and wrote terrified letters home about hairy giants running alongside their carriages.

Keeper's Log: The Footprint

I tracked a story to a remote valley in New South Wales. A hiker swore he was chased by a "bipedal bear." I didn't find the bear. But I found the footprint. It was pressed deep into the clay creek bank. It had five toes, but they were splayed wide, and the heel was enormous. It was too big for a human. Too human for a kangaroo. I took a cast, but I didn't stay until sunset.

The Final Warning

The Australian bush feels ancient. It feels like it remembers a time when we weren't the top of the food chain, so watch the tree line.