From Sebeka Menagha review Messenger
Strangers in the Night
BY MIKE TRACY
It was Wednesday, July 23. It was getting dark, maybe 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. Kirk Orr was in the driveway at the Bruce Harne residence in rural Staples, watching as Amanda Schluttner drove out of the driveway and down the road. Marietta Harne was in the house taking care of the baby.
Suddenly, something ran out in front of the van, was struck, and pushed itself off the vehicle, and rolled to the side while still standing. Kirk thought he saw Amanda get out of the van and walk around it, but she was still in the van. What had Kirk seen?
The creature ran off into the woods. Amanda returned to the Harne residence, and she, Kirk, and Kirk’s brother, Matt, inspected the dent in the van and the corresponding “hand” print on the hood. Matt grabbed his .30-.30 and shot at the shape of the intruder that appeared along the edge of the tree line across the yard.
The intruder came toward them, so they retreated into the house. They reasoned that if the .30-.30 hadn’t stopped it, they weren’t going to take any chances.
Around back, a ladder was left lying on the ground next to the house. They turned the outside light on, illuminating the yard, and went inside. Marietta had called her sister, Terry Meyer, when she heard the shots.
They said they heard a howl coming from the woods. They went back outside, where they found one of their two dogs cowering in the bushes; the other was so frightened it had soiled itself. The ladder was now up against the house, and they saw a shape up on the roof.
Kirk put the ladder back on the ground, and the creature grabbed an overhanging tree branch, jumped from the roof, and ran off into the woods. They heard howling again, and at times it sounded as if there were more than one creature.
Kirk described the creature as seven feet tall at least, dark brown, hairy, and it had a head “almost like that of a wolf.”
When the Wadena County Sheriff’s Department deputy and the DNR Conservation Officer arrived, they inspected the dented van with the paw print that looked like a hand, and walked down the road and through the wooded area where the sighting first occurred. They told the reporting parties that what they had encountered was probably a bear.
Kirk questioned whether a bear would be running on two legs, or would leave “hand” marks on the van. And he said the howling was unlike anything any of them had ever heard.
When Bruce came home from work the next morning, he found broken branches and flattened brush in the nearby woods. They have heard more howling in the area, but have had no more altercations or sightings.
We attempted to contact the local DNR  Conservation Officer for a comment on this report, but got no response.
