Currumbin family on Gold Coast claims to have been stalked by yowie

A Currumbin Valley family say they are living in terror after months of being stalked by what they claim is a hinterland yowie.

A CURRUMBIN VALLEY family say they are living in terror after being stalked by what they claim is a hinterland yowie.

A report of their harrowing encounters, made this week to local yowie hunter and cryptozoologist Dean Harrison, details an ongoing series of blood-chilling incidents around their bushland home.

The report comes a week after bushwalkers discovered what appears to be a giant footprint, believed to be that of a yowie or Australian “bigfoot’’, at Mount French in the Moogerah Peaks National Park in Scenic Rim.

‘I ALMOST HIT A HINTERLAND YOWIE’: TRUCKIE CLAIMS

A suspected yowie footprint shared by Australian Yowie Research discovered on Mt French along Scenic Rim.

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The print, which appears to be a metre in length, was found on July 7 by bushwalkers who gave their names as Laura and Gary and shared widely on the Australian Yowie Research Page.

The Currumbin Valley family, who now say they are considering moving from the area, claim a nightly visitor has regularly prowled their house since November last year.

The first sighting occurred when the mother was sitting on her back deck about 9.30pm on a Sunday and heard loud noises in the bush.

GOLD COAST YOWIE WITNESS SPEAKS OUT

Pushed down grass which was the spot of an alleged Yowie sighting in Currumbin Valley in 2007.

“It was clear, loud footsteps,” she wrote to Australian Yowie Research.

“I moved to the railing to get a closer look and there I saw it.

“As it was walking, I bumped something on the deck, the noise stopped it dead in its tracks, it turned from the waist, looked in our direction and snorted loudly and quickly twice — it was huge.”

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The woman said she and her dog ran into the house and she turned all the lights out.

“I just stood there staring out in pure terror shaking and afraid. This massive thing was so close to the house,” she wrote.

THE FULL HISTORY OF THE GOLD COAST YOWIE

New artist impressions of an alleged Numinbah Valley Yowie sighting.

The woman said the creature returned the next night, rushing the deck and making gorilla-like sounds.

“I hadn’t been down the backyard since first seeing it. I don’t let anyone go down there actually,” she wrote in her report.

Other members of the family, including her husband and two children, also claim to have seen the animal.

Incidents included seeing two bright yellow eyes peering in from the dark, strange sounds and rocks being thrown from the bush.

“My daughter came home freaked out one evening as she was certain she saw it in the gully,’’ she wrote.

“She even rang me from her car to open the front door and turn the light on before she got out of her locked car.”

MORE YOWIE SPOTTERS COME FORWARD

A sketch by artist Buck Buckingham based on witness descriptions of the Yowie. The image is part of Yowie hunter Dean Harrison's research into the beast.

Encounters continued until Thursday July 11, when — the woman said — a metal dog bowl was flung at the house.

“We are pretty vigilant knowing what’s out there, lock up early, turn the floodlight on at night out the back, and front light on most nights and stay out and away from the bush all the time,’’ she said.

The youngest child was not allowed out by himself.

“We talk about it among ourselves except for the young fella who is nearly 10, as we don’t need him being petrified again,” she said.

“We are moving out soon.”

Mr Harrison said the area was known for regular sightings.

He said yowie stalkings typically involved a single mother living with young children.

“Our hypothesis is the yowie feels less threatened and has an interest in the mother and children (but) this situation is different,’’ he said.

“Due to its actions, I would estimate that it either has an issue with the occupants or is one of these bad ones that we sometimes hear about.”

Mr Harrison said he hoped to set up night vision cameras near the home.

WHAT ARE YOWIES?

Said to be a hairy, apelike creature standing between 2m-3.5m, much like the fabled Yeti or Big Foot.

WHERE DO THEY LIVE?

Witnesses claim to have seen them, heard their bloodcurdling screams, or found footprints in the rainforests of eastern Australia. Springbrook in the Gold Coast Hinterland is said to be a hot spot.

WILL THEY EAT YOU?

“Experts’’ generally say the yowie is timid, but some — including Dean Harrison — have told hair-raising tales in the past of being pursued by aggressive apelike animals.

MOST HIGH PROFILE WITNESS

Former senator Bill O’Chee, who as a Gold Coast schoolboy was with a bunch of 20 TSS students on camp near Springbrook when they saw what they described as a 3m tall, hair-covered creature. He told the Bulletin in November 1977 the animal approached their camp several times. He has stuck to the story over the decades, saying his memory of that day remains vivid.