The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 604: Cryptids Vol. 4 | Bunyips, Yowie and Australian Nightmare Fuel

Episode Date: July 26, 2025

Australia's Outback hides more than deadly snakes and crocodiles. Ancient creatures stalk the wilderness, leaving behind torn campsites, blood-stained trees, and terrified witnesses. The Yowie towers eight feet tall, attacks isolated hikers, and left researcher Dean Harrison scarred for life. Water-dwelling Bunyips drag victims underwater while museums hide skull evidence that proves their existence. Most disturbing are the Yara-ma-yha-who - red tree vampires that drink blood slowly, transforming humans into creatures like themselves. Aboriginal elders warned about these predators for centuries. Police reports document modern encounters. Veterans and park rangers describe glowing amber eyes watching from shadows. Victims return from the wilderness changed, missing time and memories.

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Beyond the bustling modern Australian cities is the Outback.

It's a land that's ancient, remote, and deadly. Animals here evolved in isolation. Marsupials with pouches, mammals that lay eggs, flightless birds that can kill with one kick. And these are just the animals we know about. People disappear here. Campsites torn apart, blood smeared across tree trunks, claw marks and footprints that don't belong to any known animal. But the locals know what they are. They have stories, warnings.

The land doesn't just hide these creatures, it protects them. And sometimes the land gets hungry and those creatures have to hunt. In the forests of Eastern Australia, you hear the typical sounds of any forest. Wind rustling through the trees, birds, the chatter of small animals. But there's a sound that stands out. Almost human.

A deep growl that rattles with every breath. Aboriginal people have several names for it. Dulaga, Quinkin, Yahoo. Dulaga, Crinken, Yahoo. Yahoo. Why? Sorry, sorry. All those names sound like websites from the 90s. Please, go on.

Well, the settlers gave it a name that stuck. The Yowie. Yowie? They literally named it the word they said when they saw it. I guess it's better than naming it. Holy s***, look at the size of that thing! Dean Harrison tracked the yaoi for over 25 years. He interviewed hundreds of witnesses.

He had his own encounters and the scars to prove it. Dean described it as massive, 7 to 8 feet tall, covered in dark hair with broad shoulders, a sloped forehead, and glowing amber eyes. It also gave off a stench that made him gag, sweet and sickly, like the smell of death. And the yow is like nothing else that you could describe. And the stink from that is just, once you smelt one you never forget it. It's like a burnt electrical, like if you blew up a TV or a radio that burnt bakelite electrical smell, then it seems to permeate everything in the area.

One night he was attacked, thrown to the ground, his ribs were bruised, his spine was injured. He still can't walk without pain. But to Dean, the yaoi is no myth. This is a real creature, a dangerous predator, and it's been seen by people for years. The stories show up in police records, park ranger logs, modern newspaper articles, reports from just outside Brisbane, the Blue Mountains, dozens more from hikers and campers who thought they were alone.

And if you've ever hiked alone in remote areas, you know that feeling when everything goes too quiet. Dean's research revealed something else. The yaoi doesn't just attack randomly. It watches. It watches. It follows. It likes to attack people who are isolated and vulnerable miles from help.

But Dean wasn't the first to track these creatures. In 1882, Henry James McCoy spotted what he called an indigenous ape on the New South Wales coast, five feet tall, black hair, red fur around the throat. Mukui was so confident in what he saw, he offered the Australian Museum 40 pounds to capture one alive. That's four thousand dollars in today's money.

The museum never took him up on his offer, but the sightings, they kept coming. Ever notice how the right story can completely turn your day around? Whether you're stuck in traffic or just need a mental reset, listening to something great can instantly boost your mood and shift your whole mindset. That's the magic of Audible. Audible is your all-access pass to audio entertainment. From the dark suspense of Mad Love to the fantasy romance of Onyx Storm to Stephen King's chilling Never Flinch.

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New members can try Audible now free for 30 days and dive into a world of new thrills. Visit audible.com slash Y-Files or text Y-Files to 500-500. That's audible.com slash Y-Files or text Y-Files to 500-500. 500. The Yaoi reports span decades, and they're not all from the bush. Yeah, that surprises me. When you're looking for something hairy, you usually go straight for the bush. Stop that. something hairy, you usually go straight for the bush. Stop that.

In 1977, hikers near Springbrook saw something massive watching them from a ridge. It was hunched, covered in red hair, and then stood upright. And then it was gone. Not out of sight, just gone. All that was left was the smell, wet, sweet, and rotten. In 1994, a Camberra man known today as Tim the Yahweh Man, was hiking alone when he stopped to adjust his pack.

That's when he saw it. Tall, hairy, the creature stared back at him, then it turned and disappeared into the trees. Tim's been tracking the Yahweh ever since. In 2009, a former SAS soldier That wasn't a man. And it wasn't any animal I've ever seen. I've seen things most people haven't but not like that. At Dalesford Victoria a woman was sitting by her campfire. She looked up and saw a massive silhouette just 20 feet away. She described it as ape-like, powerful and watching her. It didn't growl, it didn't charge,

it just stood there like it was waiting. That same weekend, another camper nearby reported hearing branches break and something pacing through the woods. People said it might be a kangaroo, but he said it was too heavy. You could feel the steps hitting the ground. Researchers logged both accounts and hundreds more. The reports continue to pour in.

Rural farmlands, suburban backyards, outer Brisbane, everywhere. But here's what bothers researchers most. When people talk about the yaoi, they don't say they saw something. They say something saw them. Something deadly lives in Australia's rivers. Something hungry.

Aboriginal people call it the bunyip. It means devil in Wemba Wemba. Did I get knocked down? Did I get up again? You're never gonna keep me down. I get knocked down. What are you doing? I'm hearing that song by Wemba Wemba. That was Chumbawumba. What'd I say? Anyway, almost every aboriginal group has its own version of the legend. The creature changes depending on the region.

Sometimes it's described like a giant seal, other times like an emu with bangs and the body of a crocodile. But a few details never change. It lives in deep water. It drags people under. Some stories claim it can paralyze its victims with its gaze. And the last thing the victims hear are the bunyip's screams. The bunyip isn't just a monster. It's a punishment. Elders say it feeds on those who disrespect sacred sites.

It's a guardian dragging away people who pollute the water. How dare you! Oh, you didn't see that coming? Around the 19th century, settlers started hearing something at night near still water, screams and roars, the sound of something heavy surfacing. Then livestock started going missing. People saw huge glowing eyes watching from the reeds. In 1846, something strange washed up along the banks of the Marimbiji River.

A skull, waterlogged and weathered. It didn't belong to a cow, a sheep or a crocodile. Its jaw was too broad, its eye sockets were too large, and its snout had a strange shape. Locals brought the skull to the Australian Museum in Sydney who put it on display. When tribal elders were invited to see it, they looked once and pointed and they all said the same word. Bunyip. The museum locked the skull away and it hasn't been seen since.

But the sounds didn't stop. From the Murray to Brungle Creek, something was moving through the water or a mumbidgey river, something was moving through the water or a Mumbidgee River, something large. When more livestock was reported missing, the locals knew what was happening. The bunyip was back and it was hungry. You know that one meal you just can't stop thinking about? For me, it was this little neighborhood Thai place I found last summer. I ordered coconut curry salmon, creamy, a little spicy, perfectly cooked, and I've craved it ever since.

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Museums don't always want the truth to get out Museums are just government storage units with gift shops. In 1883, a group of Aboriginal men sat around their camp at Kakatu Flat. They were winding down around the fire. One by one, they drifted off to sleep. The last man was about to close his eyes when he looked past his feet and his blood ran cold.

A huge pair of wide-set yellow eyes stared at him from the trees. At first he thought the fire was playing tricks on him. Then the eyes moved. Branches snapped. He heard rustling. Before the man could utter a word, the bunyip had crept to the edge of their camp. It was massive. Its body was covered in short prickly hair like a porcupine. It had a long thick tail. Its pale yellow eyes were locked and unblinking. It had a long beak full of pointed teeth and two large tusks.

It roared and charged. But the creature tripped on something and stumbled, just long enough for the men to run for their lives. Some ran for miles. They never again went back to that place. Months later, Henry Wilkinson was walking along the banks of Brungle Creek. The seasonal flooding had receded, and as he walked, something caught his eye. A carcass. Something huge, with a thick tail, and hair like a porcupine. A local newspaper published a story,

and this caught the attention of the Sydney Museum. Uh-oh. They asked Henry Wilkinson to send them the remains so they could study it. Yeah, do it, Hank. Wilkinson agreed and sent the creature to the Sydney Museum. The museum said the package never arrived, and it was never seen again. The package never arrived and it was never seen again. I thought I had a pretty good handle on my finances until Rocket Money uncovered a subscription

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High in the branches of fig trees, it sits motionless, watching and waiting. It's called the Biyara Mayahu. It's small, red, hairless. Its body is squat, kind of like a frog. Its fingers have suckers like an octopus. Its skin is wet, wrinkled, and the color of raw meat, like an animal turned inside out. Its head looks too big for its body. Its black eyes never blink. Where a mouth should be, there's just a wide, fleshy circle.

When you stop to rest beneath its tree, the Yaromayahu drops. No sound, no warning. It attaches its suckers to your skin, pierces it, and drinks your blood. But it does it slowly. not enough to kill you, just enough to control you. Oh, this sounds like the worst hickey ever. Then it swallows you whole. My analysis did.

But it doesn't digest you. After a few hours, it regurgitates you. You're still alive, but different. You're smaller. Your skin is a little more red, a little more like the thing that took you. You're still alive, but different. You're smaller. Your skin is a little more red. A little more like the thing that took you. If it happens again, the changes continue.

Victims become even smaller, even redder. This isn't just an attack for food, it's how it reproduces. In the Blue Mountains, a boy disappeared from a school field trip near a fig grove. Search teams found him the next day, curled beneath a tree. His skin was red, and within days he stopped playing and making eye contact. Within a week, he stopped speaking. In Queensland, a woman returned from a hike three days late. Her skin was blistered.

But she wasn't upset. She was quiet. Over the next few weeks, she withdrew. She stopped talking to people, stopped taking calls. Then one day, she packed her things and was never seen again. But here's what makes the Aramayahu different from other cryptids. The victims don't just come back changed. They come back missing time. The boy in the mountains couldn't account for six hours. The woman in Queensland lost three days. Every fig tree in Australia could be hiding something red and hungry and completely still. It doesn't hunt. It doesn't chase. It waits. It waits for animals. It waits for people.

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That's 15 percent off one skin dot co with code the Y files. Tell them we sent you. Australia is dangerous enough without cryptids. That continent is constantly trying to kill you. The saltwater crocodile is an apex predator that targets humans in northern Australia. The eastern brown snake is the deadliest snake on the continent. It's highly venomous, fast, and likes to live near people. The coastal Taipan snake is even faster and among the most venomous snakes on earth. The funnel-web spider is aggressive, highly venomous, and famous for its painful bite.

And if you do get bit by a funnel-web spider, you better hope there's a hospital nearby with a decent supply of anti-venom, because you're now in an emergency situation. In the water off Australia, you've got great white sharks. You've got box jellyfish, where one sting can cause cardiac arrest. The blue-ring octopus packs a neurotoxin that causes paralysis and respiratory failure. There's no known antivenom. Even Australian snails are dangerous. The cone snail has a venomous harpoon that can kill a human in minutes.

Locals call it the cigarette snail because you only have time for one smoke before you die. Those animals are all real. But what about Australia's cryptids? Well, if you follow this channel, you know that I don't like to cover cryptids because there's never any good evidence. There's never any good photos or videos. Same goes for all the creatures we talked about today.

There's no hard evidence for any of them. So what's really happening? The yaoi sounds like a creature we see all over the world. Bigfoot in the US, the Yeti in the Himalayas, Canadians have the Sasquatch, Sam's Grinch, thousands of reported sightings, many from credible people. Rangers, veterans, police officers. Some accounts are detailed, some are compelling. But just like Bigfoot stories, when you look closely, they don't really hold up. Footprints are too vague. Hair turns out to be possum, dog or human.

Dean Harrison's yaoi story is inconsistent. In some versions, he's attacked running away from a yaoi. In others, he's attacked while tracking it. And when stories change, you have to question them. Or maybe, maybe when a giant hair it throws you into a tree, your memory gets a little fuzzy. You ever think of that? It's called PBFASD, post-bigfoot attack stress disorder, human.

Look it up. But the bunyip is different. Unlike the yaoi, it never had one form. It changes from region to region. It just became a catch-all for any people disappearing near water. Sometimes it has feathers, sometimes it's reptilian. Reptilians are shapeshifters. Do they drag people underwater?

No, they prefer to eat human souls from the moon. But here's what bothers me about the bunyip evidence. The skull was displayed in a museum for two days. Elders identified it as a bunion. Experts said it was a deformed calf. Either way, it vanished. So did that package of the remains of another bunion. Look, I don't trust museums. And when museums get a hold of inconvenient evidence, that evidence tends to disappear.

Yeah, you're right about that. Just ask the Smithsonian about giant human skeletons, Viking artifacts in North America, Egyptian artifacts in the Grand Canyon. Right. The Yaromayahu is easier to explain. It's a myth that's been told to children for generations by indigenous tribes. It's a warning. Stay with the tribe. Don't wander off alone. It's caution wrapped in a horror story. Some people laugh at stories meant to scare children, but many fairy tales are based on fear.

They're designed to frighten us, to activate our survival instincts. Hansel and Gretel don't wander too far. Little Red Riding Hood don't talk to strangers. Dozens more fairy tales have lessons just like this. Oh, like Don't trust the media. What fairy tale is that? Oh, no, no, that's not a fairy tale. It's a true story.

It just seemed like a good time to remind everyone. These cryptids probably don't exist. But if you're alone in the outback, the danger is real. The silence that feels like it's listening is real. That shadow that moves at the edge of your sight, that's real too. Dismiss these legends at your own risk because in the Australian wilderness,

ignoring the lessons and the wisdom in these ancient stories might be the last mistake you ever make. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. My name is AJ. You know, hecklefish. This has been the Y Files. Get fun or learn anything and do him a favor. Subscribe, comment, like, share. It's such a small thing to ask, but that stuff really helps the channel, especially these

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you can check out our production calendar. It's the y-files.com slash cow. There we post our episode schedule, upcoming podcasts, live streams, all that stuff. Now, special thanks to our patrons who made this episode happen. They've made every episode happen. They made this whole channel possible. I could not do this without you. And if you'd like to join us, support the channel, keep us going, become part of this

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We got it, huh? I played Polybius in Area 51, as well as music, so I'm singing like I should But then another peach theory, see theory becomes the truth, my friends And it never ends, no it never ends I fear the craft cat and got stuck inside Mel's hole with MKL truck being only two aware Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone on a film set Where the shadows be pulled there The rise well aliens just fought the smiling man I'm told And his name was cold I can't believe

I'm dancing with the fish And the fish are Thursday nights with AJ too And why am I beat on through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the one ball's come To have got the secret city underground Mysterious number stations, planets are full too Project Stargate and what the Dark Watchers found In a simulation, don't you worry though The Black Knight said a lot, it told me so

I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish Handlefish on Thursday nights with AJJ When the wildfires are free all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wildfires are free all through the night Handful fish on Thursday nights when they change you And the wild boar's summer feet all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth

So the wild boar's summer feet all through the night Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance on the dance floor Because she is a camel Camels love to dance when the feeling is right on way We're wasting time Girls love to dance Girls love to dance you you