All language subtitles for Expedition.X.S11E02.Atomic.Ape.Cat.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- What do you mean, whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa?
- Look, there's
a warm spot.

That means that something
was here.

I think this thing is close.

- Whoa.
- What?

- What?
- Holy...

On this episode of
"Expedition X,"

my team investigates reports of
a horrifying hybrid creature

stalking the woods
of Washington.

- It's moving.
- Oh, my God.

That looks big.

Witnesses describe
a monstrous black cat

that shockingly
has the face of an ape.

This thing is an apex predator
built for stealth.

Ooh.

I just saw eyeshine over there.

Some whisper this could
be a top-secret government

experiment gone wrong.

Could an animal have escaped
that resulted in this thing

that people are calling
the ape cat?

Absolutely, it could have.

Look, down here.

Heather and Phil
will prowl for proof

as they attempt to track
the atomic ape cat.

We want answers, but I don't
wanna be dragging you out

of the woods in a body bag.

Oh!
Oh, no!

So I just got a desperate
request for us to take on

a case in my own backyard
about a cat.

A cat in your backyard?
It sounds riveting, Phil.

Maybe next week we should
investigate my kid's goldfish.

- That's funny.
- No, seriously.

It's been acting fishy.

So listen, this is
no ordinary cat.

And by backyard, I mean
the millions of acres

of Washington wilderness,
more specifically,

the Columbia River Gorge.

Volcanic mountains,
raging rivers, dense forests.

And you know, if I'm a secret
monster, that's definitely

where I make them at home.

And apparently this cat is
just as extraordinary

as its habitat.
It is large.

Unlike any known species,
there have been hundreds

of terrifying encounters.

And strangest of all,
people who see it, some of them

say it looks
half-feline, half-simian,

so they call it
the "ape cat."

The ape cat-- I have to say,
this is one of those great

cryptid stories that I have
never investigated myself.

A monster cat with the face
of an ape.

Some people say it was cooked
up in a top-secret government

lab or that it's been wandering
in this gorge for centuries.

Any way you cut it,
this story is wild.

More than 80 miles long,
the Columbia River Gorge is

a natural border between
Washington and Oregon

in the Pacific Northwest.

The gorge was formed when

saber-toothed tigers
still ruled the region.

Although those fearsomely
fanged ancestors are long

extinct, there's evidence
that monstrous cats

may have never left.

A 3,000-year-old petroglyph
on a gorge canyon wall depicts

a giant cat-like figure.

In the 19th century,
the earliest colonists

in the region write about a huge
beast prowling the forests.

A century later, in the 1960s,
reports of a ferocious

jet-black feline become
disturbingly frequent.

However, the only known big
cats in the area are cougars,

which do not have a gene that
can produce an all-black coat.

As the mysterious sightings
continue, locals whisper

that sinister animal experiments
at a nearby top-secret

government facility called
the Hanford Site

may be to blame.

For decades, it produces
plutonium for the U.S.

nuclear weapons program,
but residents suspect it's also

conducting grotesque
experiments, leading to escaped

mutant test subjects.

In the 1990s, reports
of the pitch-black cat

take a truly terrifying turn.

Witnesses describe the beast
as standing five feet tall

with a nightmarish
ape-like face.

Today, encounters with
the so-called ape cat are still

surging alongside horrifying
reports of mutilated livestock.

Many believe this strange
creature possesses

an uncanny intelligence.

A seasoned hunter insists
the monstrosity deliberately

lured him into a trap
from which he barely escaped.

Is the ape cat an undiscovered
ancient animal, or could it be

some kind of mutant feline?

With no easy answers,
officials fear the gorge is

no longer home to a legend,
but instead hosts a very real

and vicious predator,

stalking humans
from the shadows.

So?

Listen, I think there
could be something

really interesting here.

Some sort of undiscovered
monster cat on the prowl.

And for the record,
we had success in England

finding evidence of
a previously undocumented

big cat out there.

But I gotta say, the whole
ape-face thing sounds bananas.

Well played, Phil.
Skeptical and funny.

Heather, what say you?

Well, I'm thinking if it is
that monster in

those petroglyphs, then it has
to be dang smart to win

at hide-and-seek for centuries.
You know what that means.

Bigger brain, bigger threat.

Well, whether it's related
or not, cougar attacks

in the area have been
on the rise,

with someone being killed
just a few years ago.

But the bottom line here is

the locals are asking
for our help.

I think we need to get there
and figure out what's going on.

Absolutely.
Let's get into it.

And while the two of you start
looking for the creature,

I'm gonna dig into
these reports surrounding

this top-secret
Hanford government base

where some say
this thing originated.

Let's see if there really is
a cat to let out

of the proverbial bag.
Happy hunting.

- We're on it.
- Next week, the goldfish.

It's a six hour flight from
New York to Portland, Oregon.

Phil and Heather then cross
into Washington and spend

another hour and a half
driving deep into

the Columbia River Gorge,
averaging one majestic waterfall

every two and a half minutes.

All right, Heather, welcome
to my home state.

It's so exciting.
I've never been here.

You've never been here?

No, I've never been to
the Pacific Northwest.

- I did not know that.
- It's crazy beautiful.

It is crazy beautiful.
I mean, take a look around.

This is why I moved here.
It is green all year round.

All right, I think this is
James' spot right up here.

OK.

- Hey, James.
- Hey, good to see ya.

Good to see you.

We're meeting with
James Szubski, a local

whose terrifying encounter
with a monstrous creature

in the woods inspired him
to seek out stories

similar to his own.

You think you have seen
an ape cat?

That's right.
It was about four years ago.

I was in the East Gorge
hiking above a lake.

And I saw something large
and dark swimming in the water.

It was at least 10 feet long
and all black.

- Hm.
- You know, there's not a lot
of creatures around here

that are that big.

I couldn't figure out
what it was.

You know, we do have a lot
of black bear.

Of course, you know,
black bears don't have a tail,

and this thing that I saw,
it had a tail, a long tail.

The next option would have been
a cougar, but there are no such

thing as black cougars,
and they're not that big.

I probably watched the thing
for 20 minutes in total,

and I took my attention off it,
and when I got to another

vantage where I could see
the lake again, it was gone.

What were you thinking
at that time?

I was shocked.

To think that there's
a creature out here in

these woods that we don't know
what it is, and it's that large,

it was a little disconcerting,
I'll be honest with you.

When did you connect
your sighting to the ape cat?

My wife and I own an outdoor
store, and one night,

a guy came in and told me

a story that really
kind of blew me away.

He was up near
the White Salmon River,

one of the major rivers here.

He saw this enormous cat,
and he described it as having

black fur and a long tail.

And then he said,
"You know, James,

"the strangest thing...

was that it had a face
that looked like a monkey."

And I had no idea, like,
how genetically a cat

and a monkey be combined
into a thing.

But it seemed like he was very
genuine and credible.

And I really wanted to
understand what this thing was.

So I started asking around.
I put up flyers.

We put out radio ads.

And now we have over
130 reports of the cat.

- No.
- Wow!

- Yeah.
- So, considering

all the reports you've heard,

where do you think we should
focus our efforts?

You got that map
I sent you, right?

Yes-- let me get out.

OK.

So I created this map based
on all the reports that I got.

And these icons, each of these
represents a credible sighting.

- That's correct.
- That's a ton.

I know, and do you see
how they're clustered

along the waterways?
- Yeah.

It seems like they're using
the waterways

as their sort of
transit system.

So that's really where I would
start, right along

the White Salmon River and right
along Panther Creek Falls area.

Well, thank you, this is
incredibly useful data for us.

Any advice for us as we go
looking for this thing?

This thing is an apex
predator, built for stealth,

and it's gonna see you
before you see it.

Before you head out,
there's one more person

you gotta talk to.
- Who?

- The sheriff.
- Thank you.

- You bet.
- All right, James.

Appreciate it.

Never wanting to keep the law
waiting, Heather and I head

into town for our summons at
the Skamania County Courthouse.

- Hi, Sheriff.
- Hi.

- I'm Phil.
- Hi, nice to meet you.

Sheriff Summer Scheyer oversees
search and rescue operations

throughout the Columbia River
Gorge region and has chilling

reports to share
from deep in the wilderness.

There's something out in
these woods that might be

dangerous for our community.

I want that identified,
and that's why you are here.

- OK.
- We'll do our best.

We've heard a lot of stories,
but from you,

we want the facts.
What's going on out there?

I have heard reports
of this ape cat.

I've been very skeptical of it.

However, one of my deputies
came to me and said, "I've seen

something similar to ape cat."
- One of your deputies

has seen it?
- Yes, yes.

He was out hunting...

and he saw a very large black
cat walking across the field.

He's very well versed
in the outdoors.

He knows what's indigenous
to the area.

He said, "He's never seen
anything like it before,"

and could not figure out
why he saw

what he saw.
- Wow!

I wasn't expecting that answer
from you.

You're telling me this could
really be out there?

Absolutely.

Beyond the ape cat,
there are a lot of hazards

and dangers out there.

In fact, last year,
two gentlemen were about

30 miles away from here
and died

in the woods looking
for cryptids.

And that's my team that has
to bring those bodies out.

So we want answers, but I don't
wanna be dragging you out

of the woods in a body bag.

- We don't want that either.
- No.

We'll be careful,
and we'll let you know

what we find out there.

- Excellent.
- All right.

- Thank you, Sheriff.
- Thank you.

- Great to meet you.
- Great to meet you.

- Lovely-- good luck.
- Thanks.

Heeding the sheriff's
warning, Heather and I prepare

to set out for the rugged
terrain of what some say

is ape cat country.

James's map points us
to two hotspots.

We'll tackle Little
White Salmon River first,

navigating a three-mile
stretch, placing trail cams

along the way.

Then we'll hike up to
Panther Creek Falls, which has

the highest concentration
of supposed sightings.

Little White Salmon River has
some seriously tough

white water to navigate.

Let's hit the water.

So we enlist a local guide
to help us ride the rapids.

Heather, I'm at your pace.

So, you see a lot
of cougars out here?

We sure got them out here.
They're here.

There's a reason they call it
Panther Creek Falls.

What about black ones?

I haven't seen a black one
myself, but I've heard stories.

Cats don't like people.
They're really reclusive.

So, the further you get away
from civilization,

the more likely you are
to find them.

So we're heading in
the right direction.

- Oh, yes, we are.
- Copy that.

All right, looks like we got
some rapids coming up.

All right, let's get this.

Yeah.

Whew.

Here we go, here we go!

- Keep it going!
- Oh!

All right.

Gotta move up!
Watch it!

- Go team!
- Let's go!

Keep it going, keep it going,
keep it going.

Phil, Phil, Phil!

- Phil, are you OK?
- Whoa.

You good?
You good?

Yeah-- I'm good.

Yeah.
That'd be great.

Though it's not easy with
rough water, Heather and I scan

the shoreline as we go,
searching for the best spots

to mount our trail cams.

Little game trail coming
right down to the water.

Any animal around here that
wants to go for a drink is

gonna pass through
this trail.

I douse the trees with
a horrifically pungent cocktail

of animal musk and pheromones
designed to attract any

wild predators.
Oh, that is horrible.

Hopefully, including
the ape cat.

We blanket the three-mile
stretch of river

with six trail cams.

The camera trap is set.

Then it's time to shift
our focus to our main hotspot

of sightings--
Panther Creek Falls.

This is the end of the line.

All right.
From here, we hike, Heather.

- All right.
- All right, guys.

I'll secure the raft.
I'll set up camp.

- I'll see you when you get back.
- All right, Mark.

- Thanks for the ride.
- Good luck out there, guys.

- Be careful.
- You got it.

Look, I know we have
our bear spray with us,

but what do we do if we see
a big cat?

Well, first of all, don't run.

You wanna look as large as
possible, maintain eye contact,

then back away slowly.

OK, so only the most

dangerous staring contest
of my life.

Yeah, pretty much
if you blink, you die.

Great-- no blinking.

Wait, wait, wait.
You hear that?

Water.

That's gotta be
Panther Creek.

Follow that upriver,
we hit Panther Creek Falls.

- Awesome.
- Let's go.

- All right, look at that.
- Whoo!

Welcome to Panther Creek Falls.
It's amazing.

It's incredible.

Whoa!

I see the creek.
I see the falls.

Now all we need
is that ape cat.

Who knows?
Maybe that's what they were

seeing back in the 1800s.
- Who knows?

So notice how we kinda have
to yell here?

Yeah.

I wanna use that
to our advantage.

For any of the wildcats in
the area, their main advantage

over us is their ability
to hear us coming

and their vision.

This noise, it levels
the playing field a bit.

And when it comes to that
vision of theirs, when we are

out here tonight, I'm gonna go
completely lights out,

only night vision.

You wanna look
for this thing in the dark?

You look for ghosts
in the dark all the time.

- They're not gonna eat me.
- True.

Well, I'll tell you what.
While we do have some daylight,

I wanna put up some
camera traps.

Then let's head to higher
ground so we have a better

vantage point over everything.
- All right, let's get to it.

OK.

OK.

I think this might be
the sweet spot because...

the creek and the falls are

still masking our noise
a little bit.

We have a very
good vantage point

of the habitat around here.

Right-- what are you thinking?

I'm thinking you post up here,
take advantage

of the visibility.

I will head further upstream,
see if I can find some physical

evidence of what's living
around here.

- OK.
- And from here on out,

if you're gonna use a light,
use these red lights.

Cats can't see it very well,
and the red light wavelength

doesn't travel very far.

And cameras,
let's switch to IOI.

All right.

- Good luck and stay safe.
- You got it.

It is incredibly creepy
in these woods.

It's pitch black,
and I can't hear anything.

So the best way that I think
I'm gonna feel somewhat

aware of my surroundings
are night vision goggles.

I'm looking for signs of scat,

markings, clawed up trees,

anything that could be a sign...

of a large cat.

I'm not seeing anything
right now, though.

Whoa, whoa.

Look at these scrape marks.

The way that this bark is
peeled back and slashed up,

I'm sure many of you have seen
a house cat

do this to furniture.

This is what the bigger
cats do.

Look at the size the animal
would have to be to reach

all the way up here
and scrape the bark off.

If this were a bear,
you would just see claw marks.

But this is continual scraping.

That is a large animal.
I'm like, shaking.

I'm not seeing any fur,
any scat.

So I'm gonna get a photo.

All right, if this thing is
close, it is time to get

out the FLIR.

This is slightly terrifying.

We are in...

this thing's territory.

It will see us before
we see it.

I can make out the stream
down below.

Dark, dark blue.

Not seeing anything alive
around here, though.

It's awfully quiet.

Ooh.

Did you hear that?

There's nothing
on the goggles.

What is that?

Oh, my God.

I just saw eyeshine over there.

It's gone.

I can't see anything.

- Phil, I just saw eyeshine.
- You got eyeshine?

Yes, it looked big.
But it completely disappeared.

Stay put.
I'm heading your way.

All right, let's move.

Where's the eyeshine?

- It was this way.
- That way, that way.

- Yeah.
- Keep the light low.

Use the FLIR.

Could you make out any details
from this?

No.

It looked like two
glowing eyes.

If they were glowing like
that, you may have seen

a big cat.

- There is something out there.
- I'm not getting anything.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

What do you mean, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa?

Look.

- There is a warm spot.
- Where?

On the ground,
right in front of us.

Look!

Look at that leaf.
It's bent down, right there.

- Something was sitting there.
- Are you kidding me?

Were you down on
the ground over here?

No.

No, that means
that something was here.

I think this thing is close.

- Whoa.
- What?

Oh, my God.

- Heather?
- What?

- You got bear spray?
- Yeah.

- Something just jumped.
- No.

Something just jumped
down there.

- It didn't look like a cat.
- What?

I mean it.

There was something
here, Heather.

Where is it?

Did it go?
Where'd it go?

Where'd it go?

Not seeing any signatures
right now.

Whoa.

OK.

Looks like there's a bit of

a game trail here
along the creek.

It must have gone past this.

There's a scent mark here.
Smell that?

Come here.
Smells musky.

Any animal passing underneath
this might leave a hair behind.

I'm gonna look for hair,
scat, claw marks.

You watch my back.

- Cool?
- OK, OK.

Oh! Look!

That is a hair.
Right there.

Yes, I see that.

That has to be
from what we just saw.

We've walked right through
here, left a hair behind.

And Heather, the craziest thing
about this hair, it's color.

- What color is it?
- It's black.

- It's black?
- Yes.

We may be onto something here.

All right, I'm gonna bag it
before it blows away.

Got it.

All right, not to freak
you out even more, but that heat

signature I found on
the ground,

that was close to you.

That could have been
this animal

stalking you, watching you.

Of course it was.

And the way it moved on
the FLIR, it seemed like it

knew where it was going.

So what, it comes in here

to hunt and then heads back
to its den somewhere else?

I mean, that's kinda
what James is saying.

He thinks that ape cats use
this waterway

to navigate the area.
Question is, where's that den?

Let's keep looking.
But no more splitting up.

Phil and I continue searching
Panther Creek Falls until

sunrise, but we don't uncover
any additional leads.

It did feel like we were being
stalked by whatever

we encountered
at Panther Creek.

So the next morning, I connect
with an eyewitness who reported

experiencing something similar.

He felt certain he was being
pursued by the ape cat.

Jasper, thanks for meeting
with me.

Yeah, of course.

Jasper Foster is
a seasoned hunter,

familiar with every animal
in these woods.

But he says one fateful night,
he encountered a beast

with a frightening
unnatural intelligence.

I hear you've had an encounter
with what people are calling

the "ape cat."
- I did.

Tell me what happened.

Well, me and my buddy were
driving out to the Big Lava Bed

to go camping.

It's an extremely
dangerous place.

In the last 50 years,
there's multiple people

still missing out there.

And all of a sudden,
we saw a massive black object

bound down off the embankment.

Stopped in the road
in front of us.

It looks at us,
and we see its eyes.

It was a cat, but neither one
of us ever saw a cat like

that before.
- How is it different?

Now, all the cougars I've
seen, none of them have been

black, and this one was.
Jet-black.

And it was massive, far larger

than any other cougar
I've seen before.

And its face looked flat,

more like an ape's face
than a cat.

We're just sitting there
staring at each other until it

bounded off the side of
the road and into the woods.

Our curiosity, you know,
got the better of us.

Me and my buddy decided
to head on in after it.

- You decided to go in after it?
- Yes, indeed.

We're pursuing it
into Lava Bed,

but we lost its tracks.

The only thing I could think
was it took high ground.

We were in a box canyon,
walls on each side of us

15, 20 foot high.

And I had a moment of
realization that it may be

setting an ambush for us.

You think this thing led
you into a box canyon to be

trapped and killed?
- At that moment, yeah.

Is that typical
cougar behavior?

No-- it seems a little bit
more intelligent

than your normal cougar.
- I mean, that's terrifying.

It was.

And me and my buddy made
the best decision we made all

night, probably,
and got the hell out of there.

While Heather meets
her eyewitness, I'm eager

to interrogate the conspiracy
theory that the ape cat is

a product of secret experiments
gone wrong at a nearby former

government facility,
the Hanford Site.

Nice to meet you.
I'm Phil.

Nice to meet you.

I'm meeting with
Professor Robert Franklin,

chief archivist of the Hanford
Project, who has researched

the site's once
top-secret records.

A lot of people talking about
this thing that they're calling

the "ape cat,"
- Mm-hmm.

and linking it
to the Hanford site.

I'm wondering if there's any
merit to it and trying to get

a sense of what really
happened there.

Well, Hanford site is one
of the three sites

of the Manhattan Project
where we made plutonium

for the world's first test
of a nuclear weapon

and for the Fat Man bomb
that was dropped on Nagasaki.

It made two-thirds of
the United States' plutonium.

Wow!

How come no one knows about
this place?

It was designed to be secret,
and it was

a pretty well-kept secret.

Hanford is creating massive
amounts of radiation.

And one way
that they determined

radiation's effects on the body
was to experiment with animals.

So it is a fact that animal
experimentation was happening

at the Hanford Site?
- Absolutely.

I gotta know.
What kind of animals?

- Dogs, sheep, alligators.
- Alligators?

Alligators.

Did they have cats?

Yes.

In the 1980s, when they were
digging up the corpses

of the animals to dispose
of them properly,

they found felines
within the carcasses.

No way!

So it's possible the ape cat
could have come from

experiments done at this site?
- Absolutely.

And so I guess the question on
everyone's mind around here is,

could an animal escape
and insert a novel set

of mutations into the population
here that resulted

in this thing that people called
the "ape cat"?

Absolutely, it could have.

And Hanford is having an effect
on surrounding communities.

We know that Hanford discharged
radiation into

the Columbia River,
and wild animals

were getting exposures too.

- Really?
- Oh, yeah.

Sometimes truth is
really strange.

And Hanford did some really
crazy stuff.

Still digesting the fact
that many of the wildest claims

about the Hanford Site
are actually true,

I meet back up with Heather.

Her witness has given us
the coordinates where he had

his encounter,
miles off the main road.

So, get this--

not only is it entirely
possible that a radioactive cat

escaped from the Hanford Site,
but it is a fact that radiation

contaminated the local
environment, meaning it would

have caused mutations in
the wildlife surrounding it.

So you're saying ape cat

could have been a result
of this?

Listen, I still think that's
a stretch, but I guarantee

you that the secrecy
of the Hanford site has made

the lore surrounding the ape cat
much, much louder.

Oh!

You don't get car sick,
do you, Heather?

I really, really do.

I guess I'm having a lot more
fun than you are.

Yep, we're testing
limits today.

- Oh, my God .
- Whoo-hoo-hoo.

Our bumpy ride is just
a preview of the punishing

ground we'll be
covering tonight.

The Big Lava Bed is
an 8,000-year-old lava flow

fractured into sharp ridges
and hidden caves.

Only four miles from Panther
Creek Falls, this area is

another hotspot that local
expert James marked on his map

of supposed ape cat sightings.

But it remains largely
unexplored, and he gave us

a clear warning why.

This lava bed is some of
the most treacherous landscape

you're ever gonna find.

It's filled with microcanyons
and hidden lava-tube caves.

The rock is unstable.
No one goes in there.

And because of that, I think
the creature might be actually

living there.
Be careful out there.

I've been in every kind of
terrain there is,

and that place terrifies me.

All right, waypoint should
be right up here.

- Just get set up.
- Yeah.

We gotta keep
our eyes peeled.

This ape cat could be out here.

I feel like
we're about to find out.

Whoa!

I see why they call it
the Big Lava Bed.

- Look at all that volcanic rock.
- Yeah.

It's like another planet.

They were not kidding
about this terrain.

It is rough out here.

This is a perfect example of
a collapsed lava tube, which is

gonna result in caves.
- Right.

And this lava bed is the size
of Manhattan, so that means

there's plenty of potential
dens for the ape cat.

Yeah, and I knew we were
gonna have a lot of ground

to cover, which is why I brought
us something special.

So, this is a military-grade
thermal drone

with target-tracking
capabilities.

We had such great luck last
night using the thermal camera,

I figured, why not take it
to the air?

Perfect-- let's get eyes
on the sky.

Let's do it.

OK.

- All right, that must be us.
- Yeah, that's us.

OK, let's see what else is
out there.

This is gonna be challenging,
though, because these lava

rocks are absorbing heat
all day from the sun.

So we're seeing a lot
of red areas.

What we really gotta look out
for is movement.

OK.

I'm gonna send this thing

really far out there, but we
also gotta know what's close.

I got my thermal scope
in my bag here.

OK, on it.

I'll make sure nothing sneaks
up on us.

Perfect.

I'll tell you what,
I don't know if I could not run

if I saw a big cat staring
at me back through this.

I wouldn't mind if you ran.
Go after you.

All right.

You seeing anything?

Nothing yet, but we got time.

- It's so quiet.
- Yeah.

Can't even hear the drone,
it's so far off.

Oh, got some movement,
got some movement, Heather.

Look on the left
of the screen.

Oh, my God, what is that?

Oh.

Looks like it has a long tail.

Yeah.

- It's moving.
- Oh my God,
that looks big.

It just disappeared.

Yeah, it's like it
just vanished.

You seeing it?

- No, I don't see it.
- I don't either.

Do you know where that is?

Looks like it's about
500 yards away.

Tell you what, I'm gonna turn
on the beacon light,

leave the drone hovering.

Let's get over there
and find this thing.

OK.

- I see
the drone up there.
- I see it.

- You got it?
- This way.

OK.

Yeah, there it is,
around these trees.

And look, down here.
Game trail leading right to it.

Do you see anything
on there right now?

No, I don't see anything.

But the drone
could be scaring it off.

I'm gonna back it off
and set it to run a grid on

the rest of the big lava bed.
As for us, let's head in.

OK.

- Whoa.
- Look at that.

Is that the tree?

Yeah, that's gotta be
the log that he was running on.

Oh.

- Let's get down there.
- OK.

Not seeing any tracks
in the dirt here.

Not seeing any hairs.

Oh, Heather, look.

- Is that a cave?
- We got ourselves a cave.

Now we know how this thing
disappeared on us.

Must have ran straight inside.

You know, it might still be
in there.

Yeah-- let's suit up.

All right, let's go in.

Wow.

There's so many boulders
for this thing to hide behind.

Yeah.

This cave could be the
perfect den for a large cat.

It's critical that our rules
of engagement change

from last night.

In the open forest, any cougar
we encounter could easily

run away from us.

Deep in this cave,
a cornered cat is much more

likely to violently
defend itself.

We need to be extra cautious.

Anything could happen
down here.

Wow-- look how
far back it goes.

It just keeps going.

I'm not seeing any scat, fur.

No signs of what might be
living in here.

Ugh, what is that smell?

I don't know.
It does smell awful.

- Oh, look.
- Oh.

Oh, my God!

The top secret Hanford nuclear
site, said by some to be

the source of the ape cat,
is confirmed to have birthed

irradiated alligators.

But there's one
more infamous fugitive

from this government facility.

In 2009, the base went on high
alert when radioactive

bunny droppings were discovered.

No, this wasn't
from some mutant super bunny.

Instead, it was a wild rabbit
with a taste for the toxic

material buried at Hanford.
Crews sealed its burrow.

But where was
the "wadioactive wabbit"?

Well, luckily,
the bunny droppings were so hot

on the Geiger counter,
they were trackable.

By helicopter, officials
scanned over 10,000 acres,

GPS tagging every piece
of plutonium-powered poop.

Unfortunately, no DayGlo bunny
was ever found.

It's all just another
strange chapter

in Hanford's hare-raising
history.

Hare, rabbit?
You get it.

Those hooves!

Those are deer legs.

Oh, my God, this smells awful.

There's no air
circulation down here.

Heather, I'm trying to figure
out if this is just an animal

that got lost in this cave,
fell and died, or if there are

definitive marks on it that say
a predator did this.

Phil, there's pieces
of it everywhere.

That animal didn't fall.

Yeah, and I'm seeing
some bite marks on there.

Heather, I gotta document this.
You watching my back?

Watching it.

There's a significant chance
that this is where whatever

we just saw brings its prey.

I mean, a cougar can drag
an entire deer up a tree.

It absolutely is strong enough
to drag it through this cave.

Holy.

What was that?

I think there was
something up there.

- Look, there's another way out.
- OK.

Oh, wow.

Look, look in the dirt.

See this?

This is scuffed.

So something just ran
right through here.

Looks like it was going
this way.

Oh, Heather.

What?

My gosh, look at that.

See the three lobes,
four toe pads.

Yeah.

Typical of a cat,
but these things are huge.

Is this the ape cat?

I don't know, but this is
the biggest cougar print

I have ever seen.

I'm gonna get a scan
of it, OK?

- OK.
- Look at that.

I don't know what we are
dealing with here.

Well, one thing's for sure,
it's a massive cat.

Yeah, and we may have
just followed this thing

through its den,

and we know it went that way,
so we gotta see what other

physical evidence we can find.

Let's move.

Phil and Heather spent
the rest of the night trying

to track down the huge cat-like
shape they saw

on the thermal drone.

Oh, my God.
What is that?

But found no more signs of it.

It just disappeared.

The team still captured
a wealth of remarkable evidence

showing that there is something
special stalking

Washington's Columbia
River Gorge.

Oh, look!
That is a hair.

We conducted DNA tests testing
on the hairs Phil found near

Panther Creek Falls.
The results were conclusive.

They belong to
Puma Concolor cougar, a.k.a.

a North American cougar.

Cougars have been known
to kill humans.

Heather's life truly was
in danger.

That heat signature
I found on the ground,

that was close to you.

That could have been
this animal stalking you.

We also did tooth pit
analysis on the deer bones

the team found in the lava tube.

The mark's left on the bones
match those made by carnassial

teeth used by dogs,
cats, and other beasts to tear

meat off the bone.

Humans don't have
these teeth, but theoretically,

could an ape cat?

My gosh, look at that.

The paw print Phil
documented just outside

the lava tube
was also intriguing.

It measured four
and three-quarter inches long,

which is very
large for a cougar.

Heather, you are gonna
wanna see this.

But a bombshell
was yet to come.

All of this evidence for
and against the existence

of the ape cat would arguably
be put to rest by video the team

caught on the trail-cams around
Panther Creek.

In addition to capturing an owl
and an impressive black bear,

there is footage that seems
to reveal the truth.

Went up on the ridge to check
this camera trap

and wait till you see this.

- Oh, look at that!
- Isn't that incredible?

You know, it's not black,
but to me, this looks a few

shades darker than
your average cougar.

And look at the size.
It looks huge!

This is great!

To me, the evidence doesn't

get clearer.
It's a cougar.

This is a case
of misidentification.

There is no ape cat.
Case closed.

Yes, it appears the case
of the ape cat is closed.

That is, until something
altogether more monstrous

is caught on camera.