(Original headline: Ringing phone thwarted me, says Bigfoot hunter )
KOTA TINGGI: A recent close encounter with the Johor Bigfoot near Gunung Panti has turned a construction worker into a full-time Bigfoot hunter.
Kong Nam Choy, 38, who loves jungle trekking and lives alone in Kampung Lukut, found the first clear Bigfoot footprints on a tar road in Kampung Temening here in January.
He also led a team of local and foreign filming crews which found fresh Bigfoot footprints in the secondary forest near the same area on Feb 20.
The team succeeded in making the first plaster casts of the footprints of the Johor Bigfoot.
Kong guided a team of State Government officials including State Tourism and Environment committee chairman, Freddie Long to check for evidence of Bigfoot in Panti recently.
Recounting his Bigfoot encounter, Kong claimed he saw the creature going down a hill in Kampung Lukut.
Kong who often goes into the jungles of Kota Tinggi to enjoy the cool and peaceful environment, said he was alerted by a rustling sound at the hill slope in front of him.
"Fearing that it was an elephant I quickly hid behind a rock.
"It was then that I saw the Bigfoot which was more than three metres tall emerging from the jungle. It walked with a slight crouch like an old man.
"I was shaking all over with fear thinking that the creature might come towards me. However, to my relief, it stopped about 30m away and sat down on a log."
Kong said the creature, which was covered with black hair, raised one of its huge arms, the size of a man’s thigh, and began rubbing its face.
He said he could see clearly its bushy eyebrows and long incisors jutting out slightly at the corner of its mouth.
"Although I was scared, I managed to take out my camera and emerged from behind the rock.
"But before I could take a picture, my handphone rang.
"I panicked, fearing that the creature would come after me. But it just got up, glanced at me and hurried back into the jungle."
Earlier this month, two plantation workers at Ulu Sungai Johor claimed to have seen Bigfoot as they were going to the river for a bath.
Those with information on the Bigfoot are requested to call the State’s Bigfoot Research Committee at 07-2222221.
