Report 4659: Couple hears vocalization late at night - son finds prints near Okeana

MY WIFE AND I WERE OUT ON OUR DECK ABOUT 12:30 A.M. ON JULY 14,2002. WE OFTEN SIT OUT ON THE DECK TILL LATE AT NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING. WE ENJOY WATCHING THE WILDLIFE AND LISTENING TO ALL THE SOUNDS OF THE NIGHT. WE LIVE OUT IN THE COUNTRY WITH SEVERAL WOODED AREAS AROUND US. WHILE WE WERE OUTSIDE ON THIS PARTICULAR NIGHT WE HEARD A STRANGE HOWLING NOISE THAT NEITHER OF US HAD EVER HEARD BEFORE. IT WAS A VERY LOUD AND DEEP HOWLING. IT LASTED APPROXIMATELY TWO OR THREE MINUTES. WE HAD HEARD OF SIGHTINGS OF BIG FOOT IN THE AREA JUST A FEW DAYS EARLIER. THIS PROMPTED US TO GET ON THE INTERNET. I FOUND THE TAPE OF THE HOWLING NOISE IN COLUMBIANA, OHIO AND PLAYED IT. IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME THING WE HAD HEARD EARLIER IN THE NIGHT. IT REALLY GAVE US A STRANGE FEELING TO HEAR THE SAME HOWLING AS WAS ON THE TAPE. ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER WE WENT OUTSIDE AND THERE WAS A VERY FOUL ODOR. SIMILAR TO THAT OF A SKUNK AND URINE MIXED.