Bigfoot Sasquatch Yeti
He's tall, he's hairy and you don't want to run into him at night. No, it's not your dad going for a midnight snack. He's known by many unique names, with the ones used most often being Bigfoot, Sasquatch and Yeti. This creature has been a mystery of the woods for hundreds of years. But does he really exist?
Though the name of the beast has changed from place to place, it is clear that all the legends share the same fundamental characteristics. It's known as the Yeti or Abominable Snowman in the Asian mountain range of the Himalayas, Bigfoot in the American Northwest and the Sasquatch in Canada. There have been recorded sightings of this creature all over the world for hundreds of years.
It is said to forage for food at night and sleep during the day. This nocturnal beast stands between seven and eight feet tall and can weigh over 450 lbs. (200 kg.) Most people who have encountered Bigfoot or his counterparts have described the creature as being half-man/half-ape, with dark, long fur all over its body. Of course, no one is ruling out a female Bigfoot. Many people have reported seeing whole Sasquatch families. There have also been Bigfoot and Sasquatch encounters where the hairy creature is described as being all white, and the Himalayan species of Yeti is often said to be white.
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The Kraken
Probably no legendary sea monster was as horrifying as the Kraken. According to stories this huge, many armed, creature could reach as high as the top of a sailing ship's main mast. Kraken's would attack a ship, wrap their arms around the hull and capsize it. The crew would drown or be eaten by the monster. What's amazing about the Kraken stories is that, of all the sea monster tales we have, we have the best evidence that these are real.
Early stories about Kraken, from Norway in the twelfth century, refer to a creature the size of an island. Even in 1752, when the Bishop of Bergen, Erik Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, wrote his The Natural History of Norway he described the Kraken as a "floating island" one and a half miles across. He also noted: "It seems these are the creatures's arms, and, it is said, if they were to lay hold of the largest man-of-war, they would pull it down to the bottom." Later Kraken stories bring the creature down to a smaller, but still monstrous, size.
The Kraken of legend is probably what we know today as the giant squid. While a colossal octopus might also fit the description, the squid is thought to be much more aggressive and more likely to come to the surface where it might be seen by man. Though giant squids are considerably less then a mile and a half across, they are large enough to wrestle with a sperm whale. On at least three occasions in the 1930's they attacked a ship. While the squids got the worst of these encounters when they slid into the ship's propellers, the fact that they attacked at all shows that it is possible for these creatures to mistake a vessel for a whale.
What if a large squid, say a hundred feet long and weighing two or three tons, attacked a small sailing ship? (Remember many early vessels, even those that crossed the Atlantic, measured much less than one hundred feet in length) It might well have been able to turn it over.
THE LIZARD MAN OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA SWAMPS
If one didn’t know better, they’d see Bishopville, South Carolina as just another sleepy small southern town surrounded by swamps. One would never guess that this quiet place could ever become the focus of international attention. But that’s just what happened one summer fifteen years ago, when reports of a strange and never before seen creature turned backwater town of Bishopville into a place rife with frenzy and fear.
In 1988 the eyes of the world focused on Bishopville in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious and dangerous Lizard Man. The sensation began in June of that year when seventeen year old Christopher Davis was on his way home from working the late shift at a local McDonald’s. As he drove along the outskirts of town, along the border of Scape Ore Swamp, his tire blew out. It was already approaching two in the morning, and the exhausted teenager simply wanted to go home and get to bed. The events that occurred that warm June night as Chris labored to change his tire would make it difficult for the young man to ever sleep soundly again.
Suddenly the quiet stillness of the darkened back road was shattered when Chris heard a loud thump in a bean field across the street from his disabled car. What happened next incited a panic which would last for three straight months. Davis described his experience this way to the AP wire services a few days later:
“I looked back and saw something running across the field towards me. It was about 25 yards away and I saw red eyes glowing. I ran into the car and as I locked it, the thing grabbed the door handle. I could see him from the neck down – the three big fingers, long black nails and green rough skin. It was strong and angry. I looked in my mirror and saw a blur of green running. I could see his toes and then he jumped on the roof of my car. I thought I heard a grunt and then I could see his fingers through the front windshield, where they curled around on the roof. I sped up and swerved to shake the creature off.”
When Chris Davis arrived home late that night, he woke up his parents who found him to be absolutely panicked. They tried to calm him down, but Chris insisted he had been assaulted by some sort of strange beast. His father checked the car in an effort to figure out what exactly was going on. The mirror on the car door was twisted and hanging off. The roof of the car had deep scratches and grooves etched into it.
Police were contacted and Davis told them that the creature was seven feet tall, had red eyes, lizard-like skin and scales.
In the ensuing months, hundreds of people claimed to have encounter the Lizard Man in one fashion or another. Numerous three toed footprints were found in the area, some as long as fourteen inches. The press picked up on the story quickly and drew massive amounts of attention to the town. Posses formed and hunted the swamps for any sign of the reptilian creature. The Lizard Man was also spotted outside of Bishopville, as residents of all of the greater Lee County area claimed have witnessed him. Local businesses cashed in, manufacturing and selling Lizard Man bric-a-brac in their stores. The sheriff’s department was receiving so many calls about the Lizard Man that they had to set up a hotline specifically for leads and reports related to the creature.
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Werewolves
Although most people know werewolves as simply creatures of nightmares and horror movies, they were once viewed as real beasts who killed savagely. The creatures are less feared in today's society but the sheer terror can still be inflicted; fear of wolves and things that go bump in the night is almost natural.
The history of the werewolf can be traced back to Greek mythology, when the god Lykaon was turned into a wolf after serving Zues human flesh. This myth helped fuel a cult in Arcadia which involved human sacrifice and the thought of transformation into wolves. Although lycanthropy is usually associated with the metamorphosis into a wolf-human hybrid, different legends include the mutation into bears, cats and birds of prey.
During the medieval times, the fear of werewolves took grip of Europe. Wolves were known to attack man, as wolves during those times had no reason to fear man; guns were unheard of. In most of Europe, the fear of werewolves included wolfmen ("berserkers") who wore wolves skin and killed savagely. Germans, however, viewed the wolf with honor. Names such as Wolfgang and Wolfhard were common. As Christianity slowly gained prominence, such beliefs were condemned as Satanic.
Philosophers and religious thinkers contemplated the theory that perhaps the person did not physically change into a wolf but had been tricked by Satan into acting like the creatures. Generally, though, most believe that only God has the ability to change the body or mind of man.
Means of Metamorphosis
Most werewolves claim they change into the hybrid by rubbing salve on themselves. Today, we know salve has hallucination producing characteristics when mixed with certain plants such as henbane and nightshade. Those who participated in the witch trials of the Renaissance concluded the only transformation took place in the victims mind.
In most cases those who believe they can change into werewolves are considered mentally ill. In 1589 a German man named Stubbe Peeter was put to trial for the murder of twenty five adults and children, including his own son. Peeter said he had not only killed the victims but also ate their flesh. Peeter also claimed he committed incest and violence against animals. Peeter also claimed to have made a pact with Satan.
Sightings of Wolfmen
Perhaps one of the most famous and recent cases of a werewolf is told by Delburt Gregg of Greggton, Texas. During a stormy night when her husband was away in July 1958, Gregg moved her bed close to a screened window to catch the breeze of an approaching storm. Deep in the night, Gregg awoke to the sound of scratching at the screen next to her face. When the lightening flashed in the rumbling sky, Gregg saw a "huge, shaggy, wolf-like creature" that was "clawing at the screen and glaring ... with baleful, glowing, slitted eyes." As she jumped from the bed to grab a flashlight, the creature quickly dashed into a large collection of bushes. Gregg later saw a tall man walk down the road and into the darkness.
Mark Schackelman claimed to have seen a six foot tall, hair covered creature digging in an Indian mound in 1936 near Jefferson, Wisconsin. Schackelman claimed the creature had a large muzzle and included both ape and dog characteristics. With pointed ears and human-like hands, the creature stunk of dead meat. The next night, Schackelman saw the same creature making a strange "three-syllable growling". When he began to pray, the creature quickly turned and dashed away.
On October 31, at about 8:30 PM, a young woman was driving along Bray Road near Delavan, Wisconsin when she felt her car jump as if the right tire had hit an object. Stopping the car, the young woman saw a dark and hairy figure running towards her. She sped away only to have the creature jump onto the car's trunk. Due to the slick metal, the beast was unable to gain a hold of the vehicle. When returning with a friend, the duo saw a large shape standing near the side of the road.
When the report got out, several other people also claimed to have seen the strange creature. In 1989, Lorianne Endrizzi was traveling along the same road when she caught site of a figure kneeling at the side of the road. When she slowed the car, Endrizzi claimed to have seen the creature staring through the passenger window. She estimated the beast was about six feet away and had grayish brown hair with large fangs and pointed ears. She also claimed the creature had a snout and human-like hands. A local farmer also saw the creature, but took it to be a gigantic dog.
An Unsolveable Mystery?
It seems with so many reports, separated by so many years, werewolves seem to allude capture due to lack of evidence. Without the solid proof that science requires, these strange beasts will be little more then myth and movies.
Special
Section Lake Monsters provided by the Wright Family Cats
The lakes of North America, both in the United States and Canada, have
produced more reports of lake monsters than any other continent. More than
90 lakes and rivers are credited with being haunts of "unidentified swimming
objects." Few of these are backed with anything as concrete as photographs
or film and one wonders if there are so many of these creatures at large, how they remain so elusive.
Reports of American lake monsters have a long history. The Indians had many
legends of large lake monsters, mostly grouped around the area of the Great
Lakes. Further west, in the Rocky Mountain states, there were other legends.
During 1855 Silver Lake in New York state was the scene of a great sensation...a "sea serpent" had been sighted in the lake. There were
numerous sightings and the local press took up the tale but then it faded.
Then there was a fire at a local hotel and in the attic firemen discovered
the remains of the "sea serpent"...a dummy kept afloat with compressed air,
which the hotel owner made to boost his business. First people were angry,
then they forgave the perpetrator of the hoax and today, they hold a "Sea Serpent Festival" to commemorate the hoax.
In Simcoe Lake, Ontario, which is near Toronto, a creature called Igopogo has been searched for by several expeditions. It was said to be charcoal
colored, 30 to 70 feet long with dorsal fins and was reportedly seen by a minister, an undertaker and their families. It was described by others as a
dog-faced animal with a neck the diameter of a stove pipe.
Lake Manitoba has a monster called Manipogo...described as having "a bellow
like a train whistle" and although expeditions failed to find anything, the
reported sightings persisted.
Ogopogo is the doyen of North American lake monsters. The beast's name means "remorseful one" for in Indian legend he was a murderer who had been
changed into a sea serpent in punishment for his crimes. A lady named
Arlene Gaal made the study of Ogopogo her special study and in 1981 she believes she photographed the monster. There is a sign near the lake
reading:
Ogopogo's Home
Before the unimaginative , practical whiteman came, the fearsome lake monster, N'ha-a-itik, was well known to the primitive superstitious Indians.
His home was believed to be a cave at the Squally Point , and small animals
were carried in the canoes to appease the serpent.
Ogopogo is still seen each year....but now by the white man.
Dept of Recreation & Conservation
ADDENDUM:
A Touch of the Sun
An atmospheric effect that could distort ordinary objects to give rise to monster reports has been described by W. H. Lehn, a Canadian scientist. It
can occur when a layer of relatively warm air lies over cold air just above
the water. Light rays traveling upwards from an object in the water, such
as a boulder, are then deflected downward in the transition region between
the two temperature zones. A person at an appropriate distance will see a
composite of multiple images of the object...one formed by light rays that
have travelled in a straight line to his eye, and others formed by rays that
have followed a curved path. This composite image of the object can be distorted in a vast number of different ways. One of the most common ways
is to "stretch" the image upwards, without making it correspondingly wider.
The long thin shape resulting is very much like many descriptions of sea serpent's necks. The object may be significantly distinctive to be
recognizable...for example, it may be a ship. Or the atmospheric conditions
may change, leaving the object in plain view. But in other cases the
shifting layers of cold and warm air can create the illusion of a creature
submerging and reappearing. The object may also have its own real motion,
for example, a "sea serpent" may be a killer whale projecting its head from
the water briefly...a hunting procedure that is called "spy-hopping". The
phenomenon is, in fact, a mirage.