Yowie sighting on the Southern Downs
A YOWIE is rumoured to be prowling through Pratten, after an incident was reported with a semi-trailer on the Cunningham Highway.
Southern Downs brothers Graham and Mark Richardson claim something “awfully big” hit a truck about 4pm on Friday, ripping off the passenger side door.
Mark had been driving in the area, and passed on the message to Graham, stating he no longer wished to go camping near the goldfields.
Emergency services have no record of the incident.
“I believe it was a yowie,” Graham said.
“They do exist, because I’ve seen one, and they live in Warwick.”
Yowies are usually described as hairy, apelike creatures that stand between two – four metres tall, with large feet and wide, flat noses.
Graham said he’d last seen one during an early morning drive to Texas a few years ago.
“We came around a bend, there was a bit of a bend in the slope, and there was a semi-trailer coming towards us,” he said.
“This figure walked out to the semi, and then all of a sudden the thing turned around and ran back into the bush.
“It looked like a big person, as high as the bloody window of the semi.”
The incident sparked a keen interest in yowie lore, prompting Graham to research further sightings.
“It’s got me hooked,” he said.
“I’ve heard of a couple of sightings at Pratten, where prospectors heard heavy breathing out on the goldfields.”
The last officially recorded sighting in the area was in Leyburn in 2008, according to yowie enthusiasts at Australian Yowie Research.
If you witnessed the crash, or believe you have sighted a yowie on the Southern Downs, email edit@warwickdailynews.com.au