General area.

I got the following report in a couple days ago. While the people submitting the report do not refer to the dog like animal as a Shunka Warakin, it sure sounds like one. I have taken in a couple other reports of an unknown dog like animal from Iowa, could this be the same creature? Here is the report.

- Start Report -

Name: Diane & Roger ******

Email Address: on file

State: Iowa

County: Audubon

Date of Sighting: July, 2nd,  2015

Time of Day: around 4:00  in the afternoon.

Nearest Town: Elk Horn, Iowa

Length of Sighting: three minutes

How many Witnesses: two

Any Photos/Videos: no

Describe sighting in detail:

We were coming home from shopping on the gravel road Falcon Ave.  We were only a mile and a half from home when my husband said, What's that?  I looked out the window and saw a strange animal in the ditch.
The animal looked dark gray and tan, mostly dark gray, had large pointed ears, and a long snout.  It's shape was like a hyena and it ran with a different gait than a coyote or dog.  We watched it run under the fence and up a waterway to a terrace at top of hill.  Animal kept looking back as it ran which gave us a good look at shape of head and body.  Body and gait were shape of a hyena.
We reported this to sheriff at the time.  No tracks were found as ground was too dry and hard.

- End Report -

Now, the other reports can be found HERE and HERE. I used google maps to check how close the two counties, where the sightings took place, are to each other. The first two reports came from Van Buren county and this report comes from Audubon county. They are not close together at all. So, could there be a growing population of these critters in the state of Iowa? It may just mean that, and if so there might be more reports in the future.

As for this report, I sent the people a picture of the taxidermy Shunka Warakin in the picture below. I ask them if what they seen looked like it. I have not gotten a reply yet, but will update this post if I do.

The Shunka Warakin -
is an animal mentioned in American folklore that is said to resemble a wolf, a hyena, or both. According to cryptozoologist Loren Coleman, shunka warak'in is an Ioway term meaning "carries off dogs". Coleman suggested that the creature was some animal unknown to modern sources.

Here is a possible Shunka Warakin mounted. It was shot in 1886 by Ammon Hutchins in Montana and is the only possible physical evidence of the creature.

© Lance Foster 2009

!!UPDATE!!

I just heard back from the witness in regards to the picture I sent them of the stuffed Shunka Warakin (pictured above) and here is what they said.

"Yes, similar in color, a little darker and thicker hair, larger snout, but it's back was more pronounced, coming down at an angle from front shoulders to it's rear, showing front to be much higher than the rear, just like a hyena. It also had a gallop like a hyena when it ran, not like a coyote or dog."

!!!!! End UPDATE !!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks
~Tom~


This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet



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Area where the sighting took place - Photo credit Corey & Tye

There might have been another sighting of a Shunka Warakin in Iowa. If  you remember back in July we got a report of a possible sighting.  Now, we have a possible new sighting. For those who may not know, the Shunka Warakin is a wolf/hyena type creature mostly reported out west.

Here is the new report.

- Start Report - 

Name: Corey & Tye

Email Address: On file

State: Iowa

County: Van Buren

Date of Sighting: December 9-12, 2015

Time of Day: 10 pm-12 am

Nearest Town: Bonaparte

Length of Sighting: approx. 15 mins.

How many Witnesses: Tye and I (2)

Any Photos/Videos: photo of footprint

Describe sighting in detail: 
This is our second sighting of this creature this year.
Around 10 pm, Tye and I were squatching down on the river road and when we came back about 2 hours later, we heard something big take off real close startling both of us but saw nothing. Right after that we heard a scream on the other side of the river and I shined the spotlight and we saw the creature which appeared to be a very large canine-type creature. We watched it for awhile as it was walking among the trees. It had very big green eyes.
We went down by the river bank to get a closer look and watched it, then lost track of it. I was scanning back and forth and then it reappeared. Tye thought she saw red eyes and reddish-brown fur on its head and stood up on its back legs momentarily. Then my spotlight started acting up and we lost track of the creature.
We describe the vocalizations as a long high-pitched whinning scream resembling a hyena but much higher or a human baby crying. We heard it twice that night. It sounded very similar to what we heard near Vernon back in July which is 5 miles up river from Bonaparte. I am very familiar with the local wildlife and I can guarantee that it was not a coyote, wolf or mountain lion. I have never heard anything like this around here. Whatever it is can bring a chill through your body.
Tye and I went over the next morning to investigate. We discovered there were piles of deer carcasses along the river bank from local hunters and it may have been feeding on them but found no footprints around them. However we did find an impression of a huge print on the side of the gravel road which appeared to have 3 toes and around 7 inches wide, bigger than any wolf print. That night we heard it again as we were squatching but further down river. I saw the creature again and saw red eyes this time. But the red eye shine may have been from the angle of its head. Then it disappeared.

Print

On the third night, I walked down the river on town side but heard nothing and Tye walked across the bridge and as she got to the other side she heard the scream way down the river. Later that night we met up and went squatching where we saw the creature and sat at a gun firing range and listened for a couple of hours. We did get some bigfoot activity in the nearby woods and distant vocalizations around 1 am. We also heard a high pitched scream which may have been the creature but was down river from us. It started raining so we headed home. Since then, the river filled up due to recent rains covering up the deer carcasses and we haven't heard or seen it since.
We believe it maybe the same creature that we saw back in July. It's certainly a cryptid and not any known animal. We know it is living around the Des Moines River in southeast Iowa. Is the Shunka Warakin real? We sure think so! Hopefully someday we can capture it on film or even audio. It would certainly blow the cryptozoology community away!

- End Report -



Thanks to Corey and Tye for continuing to investigate this unknown creature. The duo have been doing heavy Bigfoot research for a long time now but have another mystery on their hands.


Thanks
~Tom~


This post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.


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