Homeowner recalls night time sighting in NW Decatur witnessed in Macon County, Illinois

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I know this is a years-old report, but.. I've only told 3 people about this, EVER. If I hadn't just read that another sighting occurred near the same area previously, I still wouldn't say anything. It was a very cold 3:00am sighting on the NW edge of Decatur, Il. The moon was full enough to make our whole back yard visible. I was standing in the dark at our second story window looking (south) out at the back yard, partly because I am an insomniac, but this time because our 3 Beagles at the bottom of the hill were all barking in a way I'd never heard. From the SW corner of the house walked a very large 'thing' covered in either a lighter greyish or beige fur, moving diagonally SE in front of me toward where our dogs were. My first thought (because my mind couldn't wrap around anything else) was that it was our neighbor looking for his horse again, but this 'thing' was ALL fur, huge, muscular. As I stood there, fixed, it suddenly stopped and turned a little sideways and looked s...