Heavy Breathing?

[Justin]

This past weekend while camped out along a marshy stillwater deep in the West Canada region, my friend and I heard something moving in the water on the other side of the creek from our campsite. It then began to breathe rather heavily for a few seconds before becoming completely silent. The breathing was rather loud and sounded almost like an angry winded human after climbing a steep mountain.
Even though this creature was about 20 yards or less away from us, we couldn't see what it was because it was dark and our flashlights couldn't cut through the fog. Whatever it was sounded fairly large, but made a silent get-away, which left us a bit puzzled as to what exactly it was.
My best guess is that it was a buck, moose, or possibly a bear that was a bit disturbed by our presence, and then silently swam away. Thing is, the creek was only a few feet deep in that section, and we thought that we would've heard it moving in the water again. The alders on the opposite shore were very thick, so I'm sure we would've heard it if it walked away on land.

Any thoughts?
For now we'll just call it the South Branch Swamp Monster.

[Alpine1]

Sasquatch

Kinda makes for an uneasy rest of the night?

[ADKHUNTER]

My camp is on a beaver flow and last week i actually witnessed a couple beavers get into a scrap and the loser starting swimming up and down the flow breathing really heavy. it was quite loud. I could see his nostrils flaring like crazy. Pretty cool to watch.

Ed

[Justin]

My camp is on a beaver flow and last week i actually witnessed a couple beavers get into a scrap and the loser starting swimming up and down the flow breathing really heavy. it was quite loud. I could see his nostrils flaring like crazy. Pretty cool to watch.

Ed

My initial thought was a beaver, but the loud breathing made me think it was something much bigger.

[ADKHUNTER]

The silent getaway makes me lean to the beaver. It WAS really loud.

[Justin]

Thanks Ed. I'll go along with beaver, which was my first thought. .

[yellowcanoe]

Bears are amazingly silent and per sportsmans camp owner friend, you won't hear footfalls. Moose are noisier. Neither will make a splash while swimming.

I had a bear in camp that I barely heard once. I had moose in front of my tent but only heard twigs cracking. Squirrels and birds are amazingly noisy ( but I don't think landbirds swim!)

Never heard a beaver have heavy breathing.. when annoyed lots of tail slapping and hissing.

[Gman]

Night....beaver...heavy breathing. Oh the irony!

[Justin]

Never heard a beaver have heavy breathing.. when annoyed lots of tail slapping and hissing.

That was one of the reasons why I originally dismissed the thought of a beaver.
I have heard them hiss before, but have never heard them breathe that way...and figured we would've heard a tail slap at some point during the night, but we never did.

[St.Regis]

Otters make all kinds of guttural noises.

[stripperguy]

I've had a large black bear pass within 15 feet of me, it's front shoulder was the height of my hip...it made not a sound as it sauntered away.
And I've had a bear lean against my old Ramcharger, peering in the windows looking for food (at Rollins, long back) while we slept in a pop up. I could hear the heavy breathing, and the springs of my truck creaking. In the morning, I had bear slobber on both side windows and the rear window. No footsteps, though.

[Justin]

...We had been grilling up some meat over the fire not long before the incident occurred, so now I'm starting to lean back towards a bear.
I did a quick search on the internet for similar noises, but came up empty.
The South Branch Swamp Monster has a nice ring to it I think...

[yellowcanoe]

At this time of the year bears are eating machines. They have to be.

[Justin]

...There were also a couple of piles of bear scat not too far away which didn't look very old, but I see that a lot...

[Bill I.]

This past weekend while camped out along a marshy stillwater deep in the West Canada region, my friend and I heard something moving in the water on the other side of the creek from our campsite. It then began to breathe rather heavily for a few seconds before becoming completely silent. The breathing was rather loud and sounded almost like an angry winded human after climbing a steep mountain.

Are you sure it wasn't just a deer? They make a snorting sound that sounds like someone exhaling loudly, at a rather high pitch. It's Bambi's way of being intimidating. They tend to do it near water, when they didn't expect to find a campsite on their way to get a drink. You're supposed to feel threatened, I guess.

I first heard it while camping by a lake 15 years ago, in the early morning hours before dawn. I had no idea what it was until a little bit later, when I saw a buck across the channel getting a drink of water. I've heard it off an on ever since, always when camping near water. I think the last time was at The Vly, in broad daylight.