‘I caught a yowie!’
THIS DAD TELLS NEW IDEA WHY HE THINKS THE AUSTRALIAN BIGFOOT EXISTS – READ THIS AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
With sophisticated recording equipment, a thermalimaging camera and ‘an open mind’, Jason Heal is a sight to behold as he heads off deep into the Queensland bush in search of Australia’s most mysterious creature.
The dad-of-three says he has had ‘hundreds’ of encounters over the years, and claims yowies have even spoken to him!
Recalling one event, he says: ‘I was in the Numinbah Valley and I heard this talking 80 metres away, down an embankment.
‘The talking was in a funny language – the best way to describe it is like a caveman noise.
‘I moved forward another 10 metres towards them, they went quiet and I thought: “What am I going to do?”’
‘I did a big upper vocal cord sound. It went quiet for a few seconds, then I got a big primal-sounding response in English. It was very clear. It said: “What’s your name?”
‘It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I shouted out, but I wasn’t expecting him to ask me what my name was!’
A shocked Jason responded with another animalistic call.
‘They chatted together really fast – it was a frustrated, angry, confused sound. I’m not sure if he was upset because I didn’t tell him my name, but then it all went quiet.’
Although Jason didn’t see anything, he was incredibly excited by the encounter.
‘I realised yowies really do exist. And they can talk to each other in groups or families.’
Jason has been obsessed with yowies since reading about their existence in New Idea several years ago.
‘I decided to do my own investigations,’ the 44-year-old says. ‘Queensland has some beautiful rainforests and mountain ranges, and I thought it would be good exercise. If I got some evidence or came across anything, that would be a bonus.
‘I started going out to Mt Tamborine, Springbrook National Park and Lamington National Park, walking along tracks through the bush and waiting for the sun to go down. I’d see what noises and activity I could pick up.’
Jason’s first yowie experience was a screaming noise at Mt Glorious, which sounded ‘like someone had fallen off a cliff ’.
‘It makes your hair stand on end,’ he says. ‘I’ve heard the same sound many, many times and in many different locations. I’ve also heard breathing and grunting, like a gorilla.’
Jason reveals that another telltale sign of a yowie is the ‘knocking’ of trees.
‘It’s how they communicate,’ he says. ‘Instead of yelling out all the time, they hit a tree and another one will knock back.
‘They use it to figure out where one another are by using these sounds.’
Jason has fashioned his own tree knocker, trimming down a baseball bat.
‘Sometimes they respond,’ he says. ‘I remember on one occasion, the knocking went on for hours. I must have heard it 200 times.’
One of Jason’s most eerie incidents took place in the Glass House Mountains. He’d been searching for yowies with a friend, but when the clock struck midnight they decided to head home.
Before leaving, Jason used his iphone to record a piece to camera – illuminating his face with a torch – to document their findings for his online channel, Youtube.com/viral6000.
It wasn’t until they watched the video back that Jason saw the profile of a yowie standing right behind him, blending into the background!
‘You can see the right side of his face. He has a very flat nose, like a boxer,’ he says.
It taught Jason an invaluable lesson: ‘You don’t find them, they find you.’
Another memorable moment came when Jason was standing by a campfire in Mundaring, WA, after a long day’s yowie hunting.
He was completely alone, but he thought he heard someone speak to him.
‘I turned and said “Hello”, but there was nobody there.’
When Jason listened to the footage, he was convinced it was a yowie talking to him.
‘It said: “You are very comfortable” in a whispering voice,’ he reveals.
On another occasion at Mt Glorious, Jason and a friend were alerted to a nearby shrub, which was shaking violently.
‘All of a sudden, this thing drops down and runs on all fours down a 75-degree angle slope. It had grey hair, but I could see the skin underneath it, like a person,’ he says. ‘My friend saw its legs. We were shocked. We decided to follow it down there, but this thing was gone. We might as
‘I got a big primal-sounding response in English. It was very clear. It said: ”What’s your name?”’
well have tried to catch up with a cheetah.’
Though it sounds incredible, for Jason it’s all in a day’s work, and luckily his family is supportive of his unusual hobby.
‘My partner was sceptical in the beginning, but over the years she’s seen all my evidence. Now she tells me to be careful because she knows there are things out there.’
Jason one day dreams of studying yowies full-time, but for the moment he makes his living as a cleaner.
The experienced bushman admits he cops a lot of criticism from internet sceptics.
‘I’m not a scientist, I’m self-taught,’ he says. ‘But I know animals in Australia, I know these things are real.’