A LONG TIME Numinbah Valley resident says he knows the mysterious yowie that was sighted in rural NSW 20 year ago.
It was his former drinking buddy who used to don a suit of hessian sacks.
“I had a mate who lived here who did get a kick out of dressing up as a yowie and surprising people coming out of the bush,” former farmer Peter Yaun told the Bulletin in July 2020, declining to out his friend.
“I think he did it when he got bored. He had a gorilla-type walk and did noises.
“It was mainly in the bush at night. He had a call like (furry Star Wars character) Chewbacca.”
Mr Yaun said he believed the suit looked convincing from a distance.
“It was all hessian bags frumped up. I forget what he made the head out of but the suit looked fairly authentic and hairy. He had a lot of fun doing it.”
Mr Yaun said he was aware of stories of yowie and big cat sightings in the area.
“I worked as part of the group that collected some of the history around here.
“A pioneer known as CFO Lentz had historical notes talking about two large animals.”
Mr Yaun’s family had been in the region since the 1890s and were related to Mr Lentz.
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In his historical notes, published in the 1988 history of the area, Carl Lentz described the creature he shot on a hunting trip at Tallai Mountain. He said it was 6ft long, but the size of an German shepherd with two long, sharp fang teeth, two well-developed front quarters and five short, orange hairy rings around his eyes.
“It had round ears, of a pale fleshy colour, dark brown hair, and under that a short thick coat of pale blue-grey with stripes downward,” the account read.
Mr Yaun contacted the Bulletin after a former Palm Beach man last week spoke about a yowie sighting when he was in a school boy in 1978.
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Kieron Darcy said the yowie was of auburn colour, and had a flat-to head and red eyes.
Cryptozoologist and yowie hunter Dean Harrison said he doubted any of the witnesses in the area could have mistaken Mr Yaun’s friend for a yowie, given the alleged Numinbah sightings occurred more recently.
“We don’t have reports of it from there 20 years ago. They are from five to 10 years ago.“ Mr Harrison said.
“Plus a hessian sack doesn't fit the description of an 8ft heavily muscled primate looking Neanderthal with large piercing eyes and 4 inch hair covering the entire body except the face.”
“A man with a sack over him isn’t quite the same.”
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