Hairy, size of a chimp, says Tarzali woman

A CHILLING account of a single mother’s encounter with a yowie in a lonely corner of the Atherton Tablelands has researchers wanting to learn more about the mythical and elusive “hairy men”.

Yowie hunter and founder of Australian Yowie Research, Dean Harrison, said the Tarzali woman he recently interviewed had lived with the terrifying memory since 2016 before mustering the courage to come forward and tell her story.

“It’s not like they can go the authorities. They come to us and we document the report and put it in our database, which is protected by the Australian National Library and is taken very seriously,” he said.

Mr Harrison said yowies often reveal themselves to single women with young children living areas.

“For what reason we don’t know. You could speculate that they are non-threatening, you could also say they are taking on a protective role,” he said.

The Tarzali woman tells of moving into an old house on Hogan Rd and having rocks being thrown on her roof in within the first week. in isolated rural

“(Then) my oldest son was walking out of the bathroom at night and said he heard a very loud demonic animal growl and he ran inside and said, ‘Mum, something is out there’ and I had heard it before but I ignored it,” she said.

“I had feelings of being watched in the bathroom and just something not being right.”

After purchasing a highpowered torch, the woman was able to get her first glimpse of the yowie.

“It was pitch back, hairy and the size of a chimpanzee,” she said.

Mr Harrison said the woman lasted about 10 months before moving out of the house.

Though the phenomenon has not been recognised by the mainstream science, Mr Harrison said yowies had long been debated.

“We have people call us every single day of the year. We hear reports of people who have kept it secret of 60 or 70 years but want to come forward before they die,” he said.

Earlier this week husband and wife yowie hunter team Professor of History Dr Rex Gilroy and his wife Heather announced an expedition to find fossilised yowie footprints on the Tablelands and north of Cooktown.