Yowie hunter on prowl

Combing the bush for hairy monsters

SWATHES of pristine and isolated Far North rainforest offer a well-suited refuge from curious eyes for the mythical and mysterious yowie.

Mareeba-based yowie obsessive Lionel Carroll had dedicated much of his spare time to tracking down the much talked about but elusive creatures, also known as hairy men.

The founder of a new group dedicated to chronicling and sharing stories about Far North yowies has used information supplied by members of the group to plot hairy men sightings and identify places most likely to be harbouring the shy and secretive beasts.

“I wanted to see where the clusters are so I could go out and look for them,” he said.

“And now I have all the night equipment, the brightest torch in the world and night vision.”

Mr Carroll admitted he was yet to sight a yowie but hoped with the help of other enthusiasts with hi-tech camera gear gaining photographic evidence was almost assured.

A place of interest on Mr Carroll’s radar was the Quaids Dam area, about 20km south of Mount Molloy.

“One lady a few years ago saw a big ape-like creature bounding from tree to tree,” he said.

The yowie hunter said there was a rumour that Quaids Dam was built on an ancient Aboriginal burial ground.

“You don’t want to be out there at night, it’s just not safe,” he said.

The Henrietta area in the

YOU DON’T WANT TO BE OUT THERE AT NIGHT, IT’S JUST NOT SAFE

LIONEL CARROLL

Wooroonooran National Park and areas of the Misty Mountains in the Tully Falls and Tully Gorge national parks and Koombooloomba Dam areas provided vast expanses of remote rainforest and an ideal place for yowies to inhabit without ever being seen.

“There has been a lot of things in that area that are really freaky,” he said.

“Something will happen if we go to Henrietta. If there is something there we will know about it if we go looking in their home.

“With the amount of responses there has been there is a good chance we will get something on tape.”

Hogan Road in Tarzali area was also identified following numerous sightings by a single mum living in the area last year.