Ten years later, revisiting the first story on Weird Fresno

Ten years ago today I started something new. At that time Facebook wasn't the juggernaut it is today and Twitter was just taking off. Myspace still reined the interwebs and it seemed everyone and their mother had a blog, and Fresno was no exception. Inspired by the numerous blogs that were popping up I decided to create one about one of my biggest passions. The paranormal.

I didn't really know how to write then (some say I still don't) nor did I know how to research and my main source of any legend was the internet. Still I had something no one else did and little did I know how big it would get. So in honor of ten years of crazy weird things I wanted to revisit my first story. The Watts Valley Wolf Ape.

Before I get into the main sighting, and were the creature got it's name, a brief history of the legend of the creature is in order.

There are legends of the creature coming over the Bearing Straight when the first Native Americans migrated to this land and even coexisted with them and cave drawings that were found depicted a strange creature with long grey hair with an ape like face and human-like hands and feet. It also seemed to be always sick looking, coughing and foaming at the mouth for some reason. Legend calls it the Devil Ape or Devil Fang but with the last recorded sighting it started being called the Watts Valley Wolf Ape, named after where it was seen.

The first known sighting in the twentieth century was by the legendary photographer Ansel Adams. He was visiting Yosemite and while camping a pack of the creatures came upon his tent. Alone and terrified he stayed until they finally went away. 

Another, more terrifying story involves a lone creature entering a single room school house in the southern part of the valley (rumored to be near Hanford) and began harassing the students and teacher. To protect themselves the students piled up their desks and climbed to the safety of the rafters. The teacher was able to lock themselves safely in a nearby closet. Apparently the creature had smelled the children's lunches and tore through the desks to get them. When it finally had it's fill, it left. 

One of my favorite stories tells the tale of a local preacher that shot one of the creatures some time in the 1950's claiming it to be a "pet of Satan". He hung it up on the church walls. For several weeks it hung until the smell became too much. The preacher was able to sell it to a traveling circus. Here's the creepy part. With the money he made he went up to San Francisco dreaming of starting his own church up there. Sadly his dreams were not meant to be and he was murdered soon after arriving. His body was so badly disfigured that it took months to identify him. People whispered he was cursed for killing the creature.

Not much more was seen of the creature. A long haired creature was seen at Bass Lake in the 1990's. This could have been a bigfoot sighting (which is no less incredible) but the creature was said to walk on all fours, which was one of it's main characteristics. 



So I have to say that I heard this story on the radio (RIP KRZR 103.7) and was unable to find out who the witness was. I was able to write down most of the story and reconstruct it. I fixed the structure of the story so it reads better but it still is the same.


The most recent and detailed story was recanted on a local Fresno radio station. There were two witnesses, a man and his uncle, who were hunting for garnets near Watts Valley Cemetery when a strange looking creature came out of the bushes. The creature was described as six foot long, grey mangy hair and dog like with a face like a baboon and with eyes that were flat on its face like a human’s. It opened its mouth but only a moan escaped and then made a strange sound like a cough. Both witnesses began to run from the creature as it began to chase after them. For some reason the man threw his lunch at the creature but this only stopped it momentarily. It continued to chase them over the hills and the two witnesses jumped over fence after fence and ran through pastures trying to escape the creature. Cows fled as it chased the two men. Finally they found themselves in the Watts Valley Cemetery and hid behind several tombstones, hoping to lose the beast. Unfortunately it caught their scent and started to come towards them when, in a moment of genius, the uncle threw some cinnamon flavored chewing gum near the beast hoping the scent would distract it. It worked and the beast was momentarily occupied. Soon after that a caretaker for the small cemetery arrived and offered to give the two men a ride back to their car several miles away. All three watched the strange creature for a few more minutes in the safety of the caretaker’s truck before it went away.



The question remains, even after ten years, is what was this? Crazed dog, bigfoot, werewolf, or some freak genetic experiment run amok have all been theorized. I wish I knew. If the story is true then whatever they saw was terrifying. But I have to ask this: why haven't there been any more sightings since? If the history of the creature has even a kernel of truth to it you think there would have been more sighting since. I've never been to Watts Valley, though I do know the area. Part of me wants to take a trip up there one weekend and visit. I just have to make sure I bring some cinnamon gum to protect myself.


So that was my first story, pretty much how I originally told it. Just fixed up the grammar and structure a bit to let it read better. I can't believe I've been doing this for ten years now. I've wrote about everything from crazy things at Lost Lake, giant catfish at Millerton, UFO sightings all over Fresno, to ghosts haunting some of Fresno's most historic locations. Not sure what the next ten years will be but I can't wait to see what it will be. Thank you to everyone who has read one of my stories over the years. It truly means a lot.

California's own Loch Ness Monster

Lake Tahoe, home of Tahoe Tessie

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Situated on the California/Nevada border lies Lake Tahoe. At an elevation of 6,225 ft and over 1600 feet deep, it is a major tourist attraction throughout the entire year. What most visitors to the lake don't know is that there are stories of a large serpentine creature estimated to be at least 60 feet in length and "as wide as a barrel". Residents of the area have named the creature Tahoe Tessie (a play off of Nessie from the Loch Ness in Scotland).

Stories of the creature date back to the mid-19th century where members of the Washoe and Paiute tribes claimed that a large creature resided in an underwater tunnel beneath Cave Rock and sightings have continued to this day. Most are from somewhat of a distance where people see a large serpentine body moving in the water. One interesting sighting occured in the winter of 1979 where four witnesses saw a large snake like creature feeding off a school of trout. They estimated it to be between 30 and 60 feet in length and as thick as a telephone pole. It didn't swim like a snake would (side to side), but was diving up and splashing down with it's head into the school of fish. Speechless, they watched the creature for several minutes before it finally disappeared.

Another interesting story is that sometime in the 1970's, famed French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau explored the depths of Lake Tahoe. Whatever he encounted down there must have spooked him as he claimed the world was not ready for what was at the bottom of the lake. Subsequently he refused to release any of his underwater footage or any data he collected. I feel it's worth saying that Lake Tahoe was known to be a dumping ground for bodies by the mob during the 1950's. Given the depth of the lake and the near constant temperature of 39 degrees, it's most likely Cousteau found a large watery graveyard were the bodies were preserved by the near freezing water.

So what lurks just underneath the waters of Laka Tahoe? Theories include a Plesiosaur, Icthyosaur or a Mosasaur, due to fossils of the creatures being found in the surrounding area. But Tessie experts quickly dismissed this as the lake was formed in the last Ice Age, long after the creatures went extinct. Other theories claim that it could be anything from a population of sturgeon to some sort of undiscovered fresh water eel. Whatever it may be, there's something there as witnesses have seen it for over a century now.

How to report a ghost or monster sighting

I've talked a lot on here about local haunted places and areas that strange monsters have been spotted, but I've never really talked much about what to do if you see something strange (cause I know I'd be dumbfounded if I came across a Chupacabra that wasn't a coyote with mange).

But how does one go about reporting what they saw in a way that the skeptics would have a hard time to debunk? While searching my usual sites for a story I came across this list. While I don't agree with it 100 percent (I think taking a picture with of a ghost with a cellphone camera is pointless), most on here are pretty good. I really wish I had come up with this list, but wanted to share it nonetheless.

These steps should be taken as soon after the experience as possible, while it is all fresh in your mind.

1) Get hard evidence. If at all possible and you have a camera handy, try to get photographs. Even if it's with a cell phone camera, a low-resolution photo is better than none at all. If you can get an image, it will increase the credibility of your story manyfold. If you have a voice recorder, record what you see as it is happening.

2) Physical evidence. If it's a creature, see if you can get photos of footprints or other physical evidence it might have left. Collect hair or stool samples, if possible.

3) Time and place. Write down the exact time and place where you saw the phenomenon. In as much detail as you can, note everything you saw, every action. If you didn't have a camera, make drawings.

4) More details. Make note of its size, shape, color, gender. How far away from you was it? (Measure if you can.) How did it move? Did it speak or make noise? Did it see you and react to you? What did it do?

5) Sensory details. Was there a distinct odor or fragrance? How did it make you feel? Did it affect you physically in any way?

6) Other witnesses. If there were other people with you who witnessed the event, record their names, ages, addresses and occupations.

7) Location. Note the exact geographic location of the sighting. This is especially important if you're out in the wilderness. Otherwise, record the building name, room number, street, city and country.

8) Environment. Note the time of day, lighting, weather conditions - even if you're indoors. Was it sunny, brightly lit, dim lighting, overcast, dark, moon-lit, raining?

9) Sky position. If it was a flying creature, where in the sky was it: north, south east or west? How fast was it moving? Estimate its size in relation to something else in the environment.

10) History. Does the location have a history of ghost sightings, haunting activity or previous sightings of weird creatures?

11) Your story. From your notes, write a narrative of your experience, just as it happened. Tell it like a story, but do not exaggerate, make assumptions or add elements to make the story more interesting. Stick to the facts.

12) Other stories. If there were other witnesses to the event, have them write their own stories. Do not consult with each other during this writing; you want each story from each person's perspective.

13) Make a formal report. Report all this information you have documented to a respected paranormal research group. (Do not give them your original materials; give them copies.) You can also provide the information to an established paranormal website, like this one.

There's also several links at the bottom of the page for further reading. Some are a bit silly, but ones like the link to the Centre for Fortean Zoology are rather usefull.

Full source: paranormal.about.com

Written by Stephen Wagner