BIGFOOT: Some Monsters Are Real USA & Worldwide Beasts

BIGFOOT

Some Monsters Are Real 

USA & Worldwide Beasts 

Photos,History.Sightings

Edited, Written & Forward By Bill Knell

I had some limited experience chasing Florida's version of Bigfoot when I was in high school. The Skunk Ape is the South’s Bigfoot. It gave off an odor like rotten cabbage. Some Florida Natives (Seminoles) called it something like “the rotten food man” in their language. That later morphed into The Cabbage Man. I assume they gave it that name because centuries ago they probably would not have known that Apes existed.

The Skunk Ape appears throughout Florida, Louisiana, Georgia and elsewhere in the South. Modern sightings in Florida began in 1909. The creature is tall, furry and walks on two feet. And yes, it smells really bad. Part of the reason for that may be that it spends time in swamp water, ponds and lakes. Unlike its Northern counterpart Bigfoot, the Skunk Ape is said to be a good swimmer.

Apes cannot swim, though orangutans will wade through swallow water if they think it is safe. That makes me think that calling it an Ape is good for descriptive purposes, but not really accurate. That's the problem. No one seems to know what Bigfoot, the Skunk Ape or Sasquatch really is. They are all often ⁸seen in conjunction with increased UFO sightings.

That makes me wonder if Aliens bring creatures from other worlds to Earth to see how they react to our environment, people and creatures. That might explain how they appear and vanish so quickly. The same is true of other Cryptids (from the Greek κρύπτω, krypto, meaning "hide" or "hidden"). Creatures like Mothman (WV), Lizard Man (SC), Jersey Devil (NJ) and the Van Meter Visitor (IA) also fall into that category.

I didn't know it at the time, but as luck would have it, our part of Florida (and others) were experiencing a rash of UFO and Skunk Ape sightings and encounters. Most of the Skunk Ape reports came from an area that was overgrown and situated along the Intracoastal Waterway in St Pete off Park Street North.

One day in early October my friend Bruce and I were driving home from school when the DJ on a local radio station we were listening to announced that he had just received an unusual call. The caller lived on the Intracoastal Waterway across from the Jungle Prada area. He claimed he watched a large, hairy creature swim across the Waterway to an overgrown area near the Jungle Prada Pier.

The DJ said it was too early for Halloween pranks and made it clear that he believed the caller. Others reported the same type of creature in that area earlier that week, so it seemed plausible. I know there was at least one article on these reports in the St Pete Times, but I have never been able to track it down. We went there to investigate.

Despite our best efforts the Skunk Ape eluded us. However, when we got back in the car to leave, the same radio station began to put people LIVE on the air because so many called in saying they saw the Skunk Ape swimming in the Waterway, near Treasure Island and close to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over the summer.

Bruce Weber posted this on FB as a comment to my post about the Florida Skunk Ape in my high school Facebook group…

"One evening during the summer of '73, I was out in the John boat checking a few traps west of Bay Pines in that natural marina area south of the causeway. By the time the sun started to set, a couple of guys in the insane asylum on the top floor of the western most ward started howling and screaming like bloody murder. I had heard of this but never experienced it. So we cruised out the opening and headed east to Long Bayou. By the time we entered Long Bayou with a little light left we encountered a large hulking figure emptying a trap (not one of mine). We just passed on the idea of heading up Long Bayou and veered south back to the Prada. I kinda always figured it was either a big smelly crab thief, or a skunk ape."

BIGFOOT: Who Or What Is It?

A youth group was camping in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, California, when leader Jim Mills noticed a strange-looking creature skulking along a ridge nearby. He filmed it for nearly seven minutes, making the somewhat-grainy footage the longest video of an alleged bigfoot sighting.

The BIGFOOT BASICS

Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch and other things, is a large, hairy, ape-like creature believed to inhabit forests, particularly in North America. It's primarily described as a bipedal, eight-foot-tall creature with large footprints. While sightings and footprint discoveries are frequently reported, there's no definitive scientific evidence to prove its existence, making it a prominent figure in folklore and cryptozoology. 

• Description:

• Bigfoot is typically 

• described as a large, 

• hairy, bipedal creature, 

• often taller than humans,

•  with apelike features and 

• large footprints. 

• 
  

• Habitat:

• The creature is most 

• commonly associated 

• with the forests of the 

• Pacific Northwest.

• 
  

• Sightings and Evidence:

• Many individuals have 

• reported seeing Bigfoot 

• or finding large 

• footprints, and there are 

• occasional photos and 

• videos, but none have 

• been definitively verified. 

• 
  

• Folklore:

• Bigfoot has become a 

• significant part of North 

• American folklore, with 

• stories and traditions 

• passed down 

• through generations. 

• 
  

• Cryptozoology:

• The study of hidden or 

• unknown animals, such 

• as Bigfoot, is called 

• cryptozoology. 

• 
  

• Popular Culture:

• Bigfoot has been featured 

• in movies, television 

• shows, and other media, 

• solidifying its place in 

• popular culture.

Known as the “The Independence Day” film, a beast was caught in a remarkably clear video that shows an alleged bigfoot walking through the woods, with a cub in tow.

The legends of Bigfoot go back beyond recorded history and cover the world. In North America – and particularly the Northwest – you can hear tales of seven-foot-tall hairy men stalking the woods, occasionally scaring campers, lumberjacks, hikers and the like.

Bigfoot is known by many titles with many different cultures although the name Bigfoot is generally attributed to the mountainous Western region of North America. 

The common name Sasquatch comes from the Salish Sasquits, while the Algonquin of the north-central region of the continent refer to a Witiko or Wendigo. 

Other nations tell of a large creature, much like a man, with special powers and characteristics. 

The Ojibway of the Northern Plains believed the Rugaru appeared in times of danger and other native nations agreed that the hairy apparition was a messenger of warning, telling man to change his ways.

North American settlers started reporting sightings during the late 1800s and into the 1900s with the occasional finding of footprints, sporadic encounters and even a few photos and videos adding to the mystery. 

Those who claim to have seen Bigfoot have described everything from a large, upright ape to an actual hairy human, sometimes standing over eight feet tall and described as powerfully built. 

Entire organizations exist to study and document Bigfoot and prove its existence. Groups regularly search the Northwest woods looking for credible proof.

In one very real sense, however, Bigfoot does exist. The Western Air Defense Sector, Washington Air National Guard, adopted the mascot of Bigfoot and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week monitoring the skies of nearly 73 percent of the United States and Canada. Just like the real Bigfoot, the sector is rarely seen and rarely heard, but continues to observe and – if necessary – serve as a messenger of warning.

October 2012, a group of siblings hiking in Provo Canyon thought they spotted a bear in the woods and started filming. When the creature stood up on two legs, the hikers ran.

Legends of wild humanoid creatures are as old as human history and span the globe. Names and other details vary, but common traits of these undocumented animals are bipedalism, gigantic size, hair-covered bodies, and a potential to cause harm. 

A Native American tradition in the Pacific Northwest tells of a giant hair-covered ogre named Tsonoqua who steals children and food. This is likely the origin of

Sasquatch or Bigfoot.

The beast was popularized in 1958, when news media picked up a story about Ray Wallace, a road contractor working in northern California, who made plaster casts of giant footprints that he found near his worksite. Hundreds of similar footprints and a few handprints have now been reported.

This footprint cast is associated with the most celebrated Bigfoot sighting of modern times. 

In October 1967 Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin ventured into the woods in search of Bigfoot near where Wallace found his Bigfoot tracks. In Bluff Creek, they sighted a creature strolling through a clearing and they managed to film a short sequence from a reported distance of about 80 feet. 

The resulting movie is grainy and difficult to interpret, but clearly shows something unlike any animal known to inhabit the region. To some this is incontestable proof that Bigfoot lives among us, but to others it is merely a man or a woman in a gorilla suit.

This handprint cast is a copy of the original made by Ivan Marx. Grover Krantz, a physical anthropologist who studied the anatomy of Bigfoot hand and foot impressions, found many details in this impression that he thought were too difficult to fake. The fact that these prints were obtained during the heyday of the Bigfoot phenomenon makes them important historical artifacts. The search for Bigfoot and other undocumented species falls under the scientific discipline of cryptozoology. 

Some have suggested the possibility that an extinct giant ape named Gigantopithecus may be the ultimate origin of the legends. This ape has been identified from fossils found in southeast Asia and it is possible that early humans and Gigantopithecus were contemporaries.

Take A Deeper Walk In The Woods

  Actual. Vintage Photo  1800s

Folklorists trace the phenomenon of Bigfoot to a combination of factors and sources, including the European wild man figure, folk tales, and indigenous cultures. Examples of similar folk tales of wild, hair-covered humanoids exist throughout the world, such as the Skunk ape of the southeastern United States, the Almas, Yeren, and Yeti in Asia, the Australian Yowie. and creatures in the mythologies of indigenous people.

Bigfoot is often described as large and muscular. Ecologist Robert Pyle argues that most cultures have accounts of human-like giants in their folk history. Each language had its name for the creature featured in the local version of such legends. Many names mean something like "wild man" or "hairy man", although other names described common actions that it was said to perform, such as eating clams or shaking trees. European folklore traditionally had many instances of the "wild man of the woods," or "wild people," often described as "a naked creature covered in hair, with only the face, feet and hands (and in some cases the knees, elbows, or breasts) remaining bare”. These European wild people were described as human-like monsters. In North America, stories of the "wild people" have been plentiful with documented sightings of "wild people" reported in what is now New York state and Pennsylvania.

Many of the indigenous cultures across the North American continent include tales of mysterious hair-covered creatures. According to anthropologist David Daegling, these stories existed long before contemporary reports of the creature described as Bigfoot. These sometimes differed in their details regionally and between families in the same community and are particularly prevalent in the Pacific Northwest. 

Chief Mischelle of the Nlaka'pamux at Lytton, British Columbia, told a bigfoot story to an historian visiting his village in 1898. He claimed that the village was attacked by two creatures that were very tall, hairy and walked on two legs. This happened in daylight. The beasts threw rocks and made noises “louder than a bear”. They tore off large tree branches and threw them as well. Homes were damaged, but no one was seriously injured. The attack stopped after younger male tribe members defended everyone by chasing them off with fiery torches. Afterward, the attack was blamed on three young people who were exploring an area which all tribe members knew was taboo. It's possible that the creatures were trying to defend their territory. No one wandered into the forbidden area after that and no more attacks occurred.

On the Tule River Indian Reservation, petroglyphs created by a tribe of Yokuts at a site called Painted Rock depict a group of Bigfoots called "the Family”. The largest glyph is called "Hairy Man" (also known as Mayak Datat) and they are estimated to be 1,000 years old.

According to the Tulare County Board of Education in 1975, "Big Foot, the Hairy Man, was a creature that was like a great big giant with long, shaggy hair. His long shaggy hair made him look like a big animal. He was good in a way, because he ate the animals that might harm people", and Yokuts parents warned their children not to venture near the river at night or they may encounter the creature.

16th-century Spanish explorers and Mexican settlers told tales of the los Vigilantes Oscuros, or "Dark Watchers", large creatures alleged to stalk their camps at night. In the region that is now Mississippi, a Jesuit priest was living with the Natchez in 1721 and reported stories of hairy creatures in the forest known to scream loudly and steal livestock.

In 1929, Indian agent and teacher J.W. Burns, who lived and worked with the Sts'ailes Nation (then called the Chehalis First Nation), published a collection of stories titled, Introducing B.C.'s Hairy Giants: A collection of strange tales about British Columbia's wild men as told by those who say they have seen them, in Maclean's magazine. The stories offered various anecdotal reports of wild people; including an encounter a tribal member had with a hairy wild woman who could speak the language of the Douglas First Nation. Burns coined the term "Sasquatch", believed to be the anglicized version of sasq'ets (sas-kets), roughly translating to "hairy man" in the Halq'emeylem language. Burns describes the Sasquatch as, "a tribe of hairy people whom they claim have always lived in the mountains – in tunnels and caves".

The folklore of the Cherokee includes tales of the Tsul 'Kalu, who were described as "slant-eyed giants" that resided in the Appalachian Mountains, and is sometimes associated with Bigfoot.

Members of the Lummi tell tales about creatures known as Ts'emekwes. The stories are similar to each other in the general descriptions of Ts'emekwes, but details differed among various family accounts concerning the creature's diet and activities. Some regional versions tell of more threatening creatures: the stiyaha or kwi-kwiyai were a nocturnal race, and children were warned against saying the names so that the "monsters" would not come and carry them off to be killed. The Iroquois tell of an aggressive, hair covered giant with rock-hard skin known as the Ot ne yar heh or "Stone Giant", more commonly referred to as the Genoskwa. In 1847, Paul Kane reported stories by the natives about skoocooms, a race of cannibalistic wild men living on the peak of Mount St. Helens. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, in his 1893 book, The Wilderness Hunter, writes of a story he was told by an elderly mountain man named Bauman in which a foul-smelling, bipedal creature ransacked his beaver trapping camp, stalked him, and later became hostile when it fatally broke his companion's neck. Roosevelt notes that Bauman appeared fearful while telling the story.

The Alutiiq of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska tell of the Nantinaq, a Bigfoot-like creature. This folklore was featured in the Discovery+ television series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, which claims the Nantinaq was responsible for the population decrease of Portlock in the 1940s.

Less menacing versions have been recorded, such as one by Reverend Elkanah Walker in 1840. Walker was a Protestant missionary who recorded stories of giants among the natives living near Spokane, Washington. These giants were said to live on and around the peaks of the nearby mountains, stealing salmon from the fishermen's nets.

Ape Canyon incident

On July 16, 1924, an article in The Oregonian made national news when a story was published describing a conflict between a group of gold prospectors and a group of "ape-men" in a gorge near Mount St. Helens. The prospectors reported encountering "gorilla men" near their remote cabin. One of the men, Fred Beck, indicated that he shot one of the creatures with a rifle. That night, they reported coming under attack by the creatures, who were said to have thrown large rocks at the cabin, damaging the roof and knocking Beck unconscious. The men fled the area the following morning. Stories of large, hair covered bipedal ape-men or "mountain devils" had been a persistent piece of folklore in the area for centuries prior to the alleged incident. Today, the area is known as Ape Canyon and is cemented within Bigfoot-related folklore.

Origin of the "Bigfoot" name

In 1958, Jerry Crew, bulldozer operator for a logging company in Humboldt County, California, discovered a set of large, 16 inches (410 mm) human-like footprints sunk deep within the mud in the Six Rivers National Forest. 

Upon informing his coworkers, many claimed to have seen similar tracks on previous job sites as well as telling of odd incidents such as an oil drum weighing 450 pounds (200 kg) having been moved without explanation. 

The logging company men soon began using the word "Bigfoot" to describe the apparent culprit. 

Crew members and others initially believed someone was playing a prank on them. After observing more of these massive footprints, Jerry Crew contacted reporter Andrew Genzoli of the Humboldt Times newspaper. Genzoli interviewed lumber workers and wrote articles about the mysterious footprints, introducing the name "Bigfoot" in relation to the tracks and the local tales of large, hairy wild men. A plaster cast was made of the footprints and Crew appeared, holding one of the casts, on the front page of the newspaper on October 6, 1958. The story spread rapidly as Genzoli began to receive correspondence from major media outlets including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. As a result, the term Bigfoot became widespread as a reference to an apparently large, unknown creature leaving massive footprints in Northern California.

In 2002, the family of Jerry Crew's deceased coworker Ray Wallace revealed a collection of large, carved wooden feet stored in his basement. They stated that Wallace had been secretly making the footprints and was responsible for the tracks discovered by Crew.

Wallace was inspired by another hoaxer, Rant Mullens, who revealed information about his hoaxes in 1982. In the 1930s in Toledo, Washington, Mullens and a group of other foresters carved pairs of large feet made of wood and used them to create footprints in the mud to scare huckleberry pickers in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Wallace, also from Toledo, knew Mullens and stated he collaborated with him to obtain a pair of the large wooden feet and subsequently used them to create footprints on the 1958 construction site as a means to scare away potential thieves.

Other historical uses of "Bigfoot"

 In the 1830s, a Wyandot chief was nicknamed "Big Foot" due to his significant size, strength and large feet. Potawatomi Chief Maumksuck, known as Chief "Big Foot", is today synonymous with the area of Walworth County, Wisconsin, and has a state park and school named for him. William A. A. Wallace, a famous 19th century Texas Ranger, was nicknamed "Bigfoot" due to his large feet and today has a town named for him: Bigfoot, Texas. Lakota leader Spotted Elk was also called "Chief Big Foot". In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at least two enormous marauding grizzly bears were widely noted in the press and each nicknamed "Bigfoot." The first grizzly bear called "Bigfoot" was reportedly killed near Fresno, California, in 1895 after killing sheep for 15 years; his weight was estimated at 2,000 pounds (900 kg). The second one was active in Idaho in the 1890s and 1900s between the Snake and Salmon rivers, and supernatural powers were attributed to it.

Regional and other names

Many regions throughout North America have differentiating names for Bigfoot. In Canada, the name Sasquatch is widely used in addition to Bigfoot. The United States uses both of these names but also has numerous names and descriptions of the creatures depending on the region and area in which they are allegedly sighted. These include the Skunk ape in Florida and other southern states, the Ohio Grassman in Ohio. Fouke Monster in Arkansas. Wood Booger in Virginia, the Monster of Whitehall in Whitehall, New York, Momo in Missouri, Honey Island Swamp Monster in Louisiana. Dewey Lake Monster in Michigan, Mogollon Monster in Arizona, the Big Muddy Monster in southern Illinois, and The Old Men of the Mountain in West Virginia. The term Wood Ape is also used by some as a means to deviate from the perceived mythical connotation surrounding the name "Bigfoot". Other names include Bushman, Treeman, and Wildman.

Patterson-Gimlin film

On October 20, 1967, Bigfoot enthusiast Roger Patterson and his partner Robert "Bob" Gimlin were filming a Bigfoot docudrama in an area called Bluff Creek in Northern California. The pair claimed they came upon a Bigfoot and filmed the encounter. The 59.5-second-long video, dubbed the Patterson-Gimlin film (PGF), has become iconic in popular culture and Bigfoot-related history and lore. The PGF continues to be a highly scrutinized, analyzed, and debated subject.

Extinct hominidae

Primatologist John R. Napier and anthropologist Gordon Strasenburg have suggested a species of Paranthropus as a possible candidate for Bigfoot's identity, such as Paranthropus robustus, with its gorilla-like crested skull and bipedal gait.

Michael Rugg of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum presented a comparison between human, Gigantopithecus, and Meganthropus skulls (reconstructions made by Grover Krantz) in episodes 131 and 132 of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum Show. Bigfoot enthusiasts that think Bigfoot may be the "missing link" between apes and humans have promoted the idea that Bigfoot is a descendant of Gigantopithecus blacki. Some suggest Neanderthal, Homo erectus, or Homo heidelbergensis to be the creature.

Claims about the origins and characteristics of Bigfoot vary. Thomas Sewid, a Bigfoot researcher and member of the Kwakwakaʼwakw tribe claims, "They're just the other tribe. They're just big, hairy humans with nocturnal vision that choose not to have weapons or fire or permanent shelters”.

The subject of Bigfoot has also crossed over with other paranormal claims, including that Bigfoot, extraterrestrials, and UFOs are related or that Bigfoot are psychic, can shapeshift, are able to cross into different dimensions, or are completely supernatural in origin. Additionally, claims regarding Bigfoot have been associated with conspiracy theories including a government cover-up.

There have also been claims that Bigfoot is responsible for the disappearances of people in the wilderness, such as the 1969 disappearance of Dennis Martin in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Additionally, there have been claims that Bigfoot has been responsible for vehicle accidents, vandalizing property, delaying construction, and killing people. In 2022, a man from Oklahoma claimed he killed his friend because he believed he had summoned Bigfoot and was going to be sacrificed to the creature.

Sightings

According to Live Science, there have been over 10,000 reported Bigfoot sightings in the continental United States. About one-third of all claims of Bigfoot sightings are located in the Pacific Northwest, with the remaining reports spread throughout the rest of North America.

Sightings predominantly occur in the northwestern region of Washington state, Oregon, Northern California, and British Columbia. According to data collected from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization's (BFRO) Bigfoot sightings database in 2019, Washington has over 2,000 reported sightings, California over 1,600, Pennsylvania over 1,300, New York and Oregon over 1,000, and Texas has just over 800. The debate over the legitimacy of Bigfoot sightings reached a peak in the 1970s, and Bigfoot has been regarded as the first widely popularized example of pseudoscience in American culture. Reports of alleged Bigfoot sightings are often featured in news stories throughout the United States

Alleged behavior

Some Bigfoot researchers allege that Bigfoot throws rocks as territorial displays and for communication. Other alleged behaviors include audible blows struck against trees or "wood knocking", further alleged to be communicative. Skeptics argue that these behaviors are easily hoaxed. Additionally, structures of broken and twisted foliage seemingly placed in specific areas have been attributed by some to Bigfoot behavior. In some reports, lodgepole pine and other small trees have been observed bent, uprooted, or stacked in patterns such as weaved and crisscrossed, leading some to theorize that they are potential territorial markings. Some instances have also included entire deer skeletons being suspended high in trees. Some researchers and enthusiasts believe Bigfoot constructed teepee-like structures out of dead trees and foliage. In Washington state, a team of amateur Bigfoot researchers called the Olympic Project claimed to have discovered a collection of nests. The group brought in primatologists to study them, with the conclusion being that they appear to have been created by a primate.

Jeremiah Byron, host of the Bigfoot Society Podcast, believes Bigfoot are omnivores, stating, "They eat both plants and meat. I've seen accounts that they eat everything from berries, leaves, nuts, and fruit to salmon, rabbit, elk, and bear. Ronny Le Blanc, host of Expedition Bigfoot on the Travel Channel indicated he has heard anecdotal reports of Bigfoot allegedly hunting and consuming deer. In the 2001 nature documentary Great North, a dark bipedal figure was captured on film while the filmmakers were recording a herd of caribou. The footage has sparked debate, as some Bigfoot researchers claim the figure is a Bigfoot stalking the caribou. In 2016,

Some Bigfoot researchers have reported the creatures moving or taking possession of intentional "gifts" left by humans such as food and jewelry, and leaving items in their places such as rocks and twigs.

Many alleged sightings are reported to occur at night leading some cryptozoologists to hypothesize that Bigfoot may possess nocturnal tendencies. However, experts find such behavior untenable in a supposed ape- or human-like creature, as all known apes, including humans, are diurnal, with only lesser primates exhibiting nocturnality. Most anecdotal sightings of Bigfoot describe the creatures allegedly observed as solitary, although some reports have described groups being allegedly observed together.

Alleged vocalizations

Alleged vocalizations such as howls, screams, moans, grunts, whistles, and even a form of supposed language have been reported and allegedly recorded. Some of these alleged vocalization recordings have been analyzed by individuals such as retired U.S. Navy cryptologic linguist Scott Nelson. He analyzed audio recordings from the early 1970s said to be recorded in the Sierra Nevada mountains dubbed the "Sierra Sounds" and stated, "It is definitely a language, it is definitely not human in origin, and it could not have been faked”. Les Stroud has spoken of a strange vocalization he heard in the wilderness while filming Survivorman that he stated sounded primate in origin. A number of anecdotal reports of Bigfoot encounters have resulted in witnesses claiming to be disoriented, dizzy and anxious. Some Bigfoot researchers, such as paranormal author Nick Redfern, have proposed that Bigfoot may produce infrasound, which could explain reports of this nature.

Alleged encounters

In Fouke, Arkansas, in 1971, a family reported that a large, hair-covered creature startled a woman after reaching through a window. This alleged incident caused hysteria in the Fouke area and inspired the horror movie, The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972). The report was later deemed a hoax.

In 1974, the New York Times presented the dubious tale of Albert Ostman, a Canadian prospector, who stated that he was kidnapped and held captive by a family of Bigfoot for six days in 1924.

In 1994, former U.S. Forest Service ranger Paul Freeman, a Bigfoot researcher, videotaped an alleged Bigfoot he reportedly encountered in the Blue Mountains in Oregon. The tape, often referred to as the Freeman footage, continues to be scrutinized and its authenticity debated. Freeman had previously gained media recognition in the 1980s for documenting alleged Bigfoot tracks, claiming they possessed dermal ridges.

On May 26, 1996, Lori Pate, who was on a camping trip near the Washington state-Canada border, videotaped a dark subject she reported encountering running across a field and claimed it was Bigfoot. The film, dubbed the Memorial Day Bigfoot footage, is often depicted in Bigfoot-related media, most notably in the 2003 documentary, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. In his research, Daniel Perez of the Skeptical Inquirer concluded that the footage was likely a hoax perpetuated by a human in a gorilla costume.

In 2018, Bigfoot researcher Claudia Ackley garnered international attention after filing a lawsuit with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for failing to acknowledge the existence of Bigfoot. Ackley claimed to have encountered and filmed a Bigfoot in the San Bernardino Mountains in 2017, describing what she saw as a "Neanderthal man with a lot of hair". Ackley contacted emergency services as well as the CDFW; a state investigator concluded that she encountered a bear. Until her death in 2023, Ackley also ran an online support group for individuals claiming to experience psychological trauma as a result of alleged Bigfoot encounters.

In October 2023, a woman named Shannon Parker uploaded a video of an alleged Bigfoot to Facebook. The footage went viral on social media and was shared via various news publications. Shannon Parker reported she and others observed the subject while riding a train on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado. The authenticity of the video was debated across social media.

Anthropologist Jeffrey Meldrum notes that any large predatory animal is potentially dangerous, specifically if provoked, but indicates that most anecdotal accounts of Bigfoot encounters result in the creatures hiding or fleeing from people. The 2021 Hulu documentary series, Sasquatch, describes marijuana farmers telling stories of Bigfoots harassing and killing people within the Emerald Triangle region in the 1970s through the 1990s; and specifically the alleged murder of three migrant workers in 1993. 

In 2007, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization claimed to have photographs depicting a juvenile Bigfoot allegedly captured on a ³ press release on November 24, 2012, claiming that they had found proof that the Sasquatch "is a human relative that arose approximately 15,000 years ago as a hybrid cross of modern Homo sapiens with an unknown primate species." Ketchum called for this to be recognized officially, saying that "Governments at all levels must recognize them as an indigenous people and immediately protect their human and Constitutional rights against those who would see in their physical and cultural differences a 'license' to hunt, trap, or kill them.” 

In Popular Culture

Bigfoot has a demonstrable impact in popular culture and has been compared to Michael Jordan as a cultural icon. In 2018, Smithsonian magazine declared, "Interest in the existence of the creature is at an all-time high”.  A poll in 2020 suggested that about 1 in 10 American adults believe Bigfoot to be "a real, living creature". According to a May 2023 data study, the terms "Bigfoot" and "Sasquatch" are inputted via internet search engines over 200,000 times annually in the United States, and over 660,000 times worldwide.

The creature has inspired the naming of a medical company, music festival, amusement park ride, monster truck, and a Marvel Comics superhero. Some commentators have been critical of Bigfoot's rise to fame, arguing that the appearance of the creatures in cartoons, reality shows, and advertisements trivialize the potential validity of serious scientific research into their supposed existence. Others propose that society's fascination with the concept of Bigfoot stems from human interest in mystery, the paranormal, and loneliness. In a 2022 article discussing recent Bigfoot sightings, journalist John Keilman of the Chicago Tribune states, "As UFOs have gained newfound respect, becoming the subject of a Pentagon investigative panel, the alleged Bigfoot sighting is a reminder that other paranormal phenomena are still out there, entrancing true believers and amusing skeptics".

In the Pacific Northwest

Bigfoot and its likeness is symbolic with the Pacific Northwest and its culture, including the Cascadia movement. Two National Basketball Association teams located in the Pacific Northwest have used Bigfoot as a mascot; Squatch of the now-defunct Seattle SuperSonics from 1993 until 2008, and Douglas Fur of the Portland Trail Blazers. Legend the Bigfoot was selected as the official mascot for the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon.  In 2024, the United Soccer League (USL) announced the Bigfoot Football Club based in Maple Valley, Washington will begin competing in 2025.

There are laws and ordinances regarding harming or killing Bigfoot in the state of Washington. In 1969, a law was passed that criminalized killing a Bigfoot, making the act a felony, that upon conviction was punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or by five years imprisonment. In 1984, the law was amended to make the crime a misdemeanor and the entire county was declared a "Sasquatch refuge". Whatcom County followed suit in 1991, declaring the county a "Sasquatch Protection and Refuge Area". In 2022, Grays Harbor County, Washington, passed a similar resolution after a local elementary school in Hoquiam submitted a classroom project asking for a "Sasquatch Protection and Refuge Area" to be granted.

In media and the arts

Bigfoot is featured in various films. It is often depicted as the antagonist in low budget monster movies, but has also been depicted as intelligent and friendly, with a notable example being Harry and the Hendersons (1987). Sasquatch Sunset (2024) depicts a family of Bigfoot engaging in alleged behaviors reported by Bigfoot enthusiasts and researchers. Bigfoot is also featured in television, notably as a subject of reality and paranormal television series, with notable examples being Finding Bigfoot (2011), Mountain Monsters (2013), 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty (2014), Expedition Bigfoot (2019), and Alaskan Killer Bigfoot (2021).

Dean Mitchell is a saxophonist notable for musical performances in a Bigfoot costume, going by the stage name of Saxsquatch.

A post shared on Twitter in 2022 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that depicts Bigfoot and a UFO to promote responsible conduct in national forests.

Bigfoot has been used for environmental protection and nature conservation campaigns and advocacy. Bigfoot was used in an environmental protection campaign, albeit comedically, by the U.S. Forest Service in 2015. Bigfoot is a mascot for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's "Leave No Trace Principles", a national educational program to inform the public about reducing the damage caused by outdoor activities. The 360 mile "Bigfoot Trail" in Oregon, is named for the creature. Environmental organization Oregon Wild also uses Bigfoot to promote its nature advocacy, stating, "If there really is a Sasquatch out there, there is definitely more than one, and in order to maintain a healthy breeding population a species of hominid (as Sasquatch is assumed to be) would need extremely vast expanses of uninterrupted forest. Remote Wilderness areas would be prime habitat for Sasquatch, so if there are any out there to protect, making sure Oregon's forests get the protections they need to stay untrammeled is of the utmost importance". In 2024, Bigfoot was used as a mascot for a government recycling campaign in Whitfield County, Georgia.

In the 2018 podcast Wild Thing, creator and journalist Laura Krantz argues that the concept of Bigfoot can be an important part of environmental interest and protection, stating, "If you look at it from the angle that Bigfoot is a creature that has eluded capture or hasn't left any concrete evidence behind, then you just have a group of people who are curious about the environment and want to know more about it, which isn't that far off from what naturalists have done for centuries".

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Bigfoot became a part of many North American social distancing advocacy campaigns, with the creature being referred to as the "Social Distancing pChampion" and as the subject of various internet memes related to the pandemic.

Bigfoot subculture

There is an entire subculture surrounding Bigfoot. The act of searching for the creatures is often referred to as "Squatching", "Squatchin'" or "Squatch'n", popularized by the Animal Planet series, Finding Bigfoot. Bigfoot researchers and believers are often called "Bigfooters" or "Squatchers". 20th century Bigfooters Peter C. Byrne, René Dahinden, John Green and Grover Krantz have been dubbed by cryptozoologist and author Loren Coleman as the "Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery". The 2024 book The Secret History of Bigfoot by journalist John O'Connor explores this subculture of Bigfooters, particularly the wide assortment of beliefs enthusiasts of the subject hold. In 2004, David Fahrenthold of The Washington Post published an article describing a feud between Bigfoot researchers in the eastern and western United States. Fahrenthold writes, "On the one hand, East Coast Bigfooters say they have to fight discrimination from Western counterparts who think the creature does not live east of the Rocky Mountains. On the other, they have to deal with reports from a more urban population, which includes some who are unfamiliar with wildlife and apt to mistake a black bear for the missing link"

People have been injured or killed while searching for Bigfoot in the wilderness. On December 28, 2024, two men were found deceased in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state after setting off on Christmas to search for Bigfoot. Their disappearance prompted a large scale search and rescue effort, with the Skamania County Sheriff's Office concluding they were likely not prepared for the inclement weather.

October 20, the anniversary of the Patterson-Gimlin film recording, is considered by some enthusiasts as "National Sasquatch Awareness Day". In 2015, World Champion taxidermist Ken Walker completed what he believes to be a lifelike Bigfoot model based on the subject in the Patterson–Gimlin film

 He entered it into the 2015 World Taxidermy & Fish Carving Championships in Missouri and was the subject of Dan Wayne's 2019 documentary Big Fur.

Tourism and events

Bigfoot and related folklore has an impact on tourism. Willow Creek, California, considers itself the "Bigfoot Capital of the World". The Willow Creek Chamber of Commerce has hosted the "Bigfoot Daze" festival annually since the 1960s, drawing on the popularity of the local folklore, notably that of the Patterson-Gimlin film. Jefferson, Texas proclaimed itself the "Bigfoot Capital of Texas" in 2018. The city has hosted the Texas Bigfoot Conference since 2000.

In 2021, U.S. Representative Justin Humphrey, in an effort to bolster tourism, proposed an official Bigfoot hunting season in Oklahoma, indicating that the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation would regulate permits and the state would offer a $3 million bounty if such a creature was captured alive and unharmed. In 2024, mayor Grant Nicely of Derry, Pennsylvania declared Bigfoot the "official cryptid" of the borough and stated, "Willful harm or capture of the species will be punishable by law." Council Vice-president Nathan Bundy stated, "By proclaiming Bigfoot as our official cryptid and establishing Derry as a sanctuary, we are embracing our local folklore and the rich history that makes our community unique".

Events such as conferences and festivals dedicated to Bigfoot draw thousands of attendees and contribute to the economies of areas in which they are held. These events commonly include guest speakers, research and lore presentations, and sometimes live music, vendors, food trucks, and other activities such as costume contests and "Bigfoot howl" competitions. Some receive collaboration between local government and corporations, such as the Smoky Mountain Bigfoot Festival in Townsend, Tennessee, which is sponsored by Monster Energy. The 2023 Bigfoot Festival in Marion, North Carolina, saw approximately 40,000 people in attendance, resulting in a large economic boost for the small town of less than 8,000 residents. In February 2016, the University of New Mexico at Gallup held a two-day Bigfoot conference at a cost of $7,000 in university funds. Bigfoot is also featured in events alongside other famous cryptids such as the Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, and Chupacabra

There are museums dedicated to Bigfoot. In 2019, Bigfoot researcher Cliff Barackman, notable for his role on Finding Bigfoot, opened the North American Bigfoot Center in Boring, Oregon. In 2022, The Bigfoot Crossroads of America Museum and Research Center in Hastings, Nebraska, was selected for addition into the archives of the U.S. Library of Congress. The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon features an exhibit called Sensing Sasquatch, which presents the subject from an Indigenous point-of-view. According to Executive Director Dana Whitelaw, "Rather than the popular, mainstream view of Sasquatch, this exhibition shows Sasquatch as a protective entity for many Indigenous peoples of the High Desert. The exhibit reflects the reverence that Native peoples have for Sasquatch and will be centered on Indigenous art, voices and storytelling".

Organizations

There are several organizations dedicated to Bigfoot. The oldest and largest is the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO). The BFRO also provides a free database to individuals and other organizations. Their website includes reports from across North America that have been investigated by BFRO researchers. Other similar organizations exist throughout many U.S. states and their members come from a variety of backgrounds.

The North American Wood Ape Conservancy (NAWAC), a nonprofit organization, states its mission is to "ultimately have the wood ape species documented, protected, and the land they inhabit protected. Author Mike Mays of NAWAC states, "If just anyone hauled in a Bigfoot carcass the blowback from animal rights groups and beyond would be ruinous".

Similar creatures

Almas – Central Asia

In North Caucasian and Turkic folklore, an almas, alma or almasty, is a cryptid folk creature said to inhabit the Caucasus, Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains of Central Asia and the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia.

The term "almas" and numerous variants thereof appear in Mongolian, Turkic languages and Iranian languages.

Scholar P. R. Rinčen (aka Byambyn Rinche) in a 1964 paper also referred to the creature as "wild man" (Mongolian: kümün görügesü, cf. "kung-guressu" of Przhevalsky below), and commented that "the origin of the old name [Almas] is quite unknown … and it does not lend itself for translation in other languages".

The name is connected to a variety of place names (toponyms) in southwestern Mongolia, including Almasyn Dobo ('the Hills of Almases'), Almasyn Ulan Oula ('the Red Mountains of Almases') and ('the Red Rocks of Almases').

Folk belief in the almas in Oburkhangai and Bayankhongor has resulted in a name-avoidance taboo there, wherein the entities may be referred to as akhai, meaning 'uncle-brother'.

The folk traditions of Darkhad include the deity Almas khara Tenguer, meaning 'Almas the Black God' and associated with highland prairies and mountain forests. According to Rinčen, the god may be offered edible wild roots and wild animal meat.

Am Fear Liath Mòr – United Kingdom

In Scottish folklore, Am Fear Liath Mòr (Scottish Gaelic for 'Big Grey Man'; pronounced [əm ˈfɛɾ ʎiə ˈmoːɾ]; (also known as the Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui or simply the Greyman) is the name for a presence or creature which is said to haunt the summit and passes of Ben Macdui, the highest peak of the Cairngorms and the second highest peak in the British Isles after Ben Nevis.

Although there have been many purported encounters with the Big Grey Man, few eyewitnesses report to have actually seen the creature. It is said to be very thin and over ten feet tall, with dark skin and hair, long arms, and broad shoulders. Most often, the creature remains unseen in the fog of the mountain, with encounters limited to the sound of crunching gravel as it walks behind climbers and a general feeling of unease around the mountain. Tangible evidence of its existence is limited to a few photographs of unusual footprints, so the majority relies on the credibility of eyewitness encounters.

The figure has many similarities with the Brenin Llwyd (English: Grey King) of Welsh mythology, this figure is also semi-corporeal, silent and uses the mists as a cloak to prey on unwary travellers. Unlike the Am Fear Liath, Brenin Llwyd is found in mountainous locations across Wales, and is particularly noted to prey on children.

Amomongo – Philippines

the Amomongo is a creature described as a hairy, man-sized ape with long nails. The name is probably derived from the Hiligaynon word amó, which translates "ape" or "monkey". Residents of La Castellana in Negros Occidental view the Amomongo as a violent, wild creature that lives in caves near the foot of the volcanic Mount Kanlaon. Amomongo is featured in a local folktale called "Amomongo and Iput-Iput," or "The Ape and the Firefly." The name Amomongo has also been translated to mean the word "gorilla," though this is not a native animal to the region.

Barmanou – Afghanistan/Pakistan

The Barmanou is the Pakistani equivalent of the Bigfoot. The term Barmanou originates in Khowar, but is now used in several Pakistani languages including Urdu, Shina, Pashto and Kashmiri. In addition to the name Barmanou, there are a few local variant names.

The proposed range of the Barmanou covers the Chitral and Karakoram Ranges, between the Pamirs and the Himalayas. This places the Barmanou between the ranges of two more famous cryptids, the Almas of Central Asia and the Yeti of the Himalayas.

The Barmanou allegedly possesses both human and apelike characteristics, and has a reputation for abducting women and attempting to mate with them. It is also reported to wear animal skins upon its back and head. The Barmanou appears in the folklore of the Northern Regions of Pakistan, and depending on where the stories come from, it is described as an ape or a wild man.

The first search in Pakistan for a Bipedal Humanoid man was carried out by a Spanish zoologist living in France, Jordi Magraner, from 1987 to 1990. He wrote a paper titled Les Hominidés reliques d'Asie Centrale, on the Pakistani cryptid – the wild man.

He later researched the Barmanou extensively in the 1990s, but was murdered in Afghanistan in 2002. Loren Coleman wrote that he "collected more than fifty first hand sighting accounts, and all eyewitnesses recognized the reconstruction of Heuvelman's homo pongoides ["apelike man"—i.e., a living Neanderthal.]. They picked out homo pongoides as their match to Barmanu from Magraner's ID kit of drawings of apes, fossil men, aboriginals and monkeys.

In May 1994, during a search in Shishi Kuh valley, Chitral, the cryptologists Jordi Margraner, Anne Mallasseand, and another associate reported that once during a late evening they heard unusual guttural sounds, which only a primitive voice-box could have produced. No further progress could be made.

Bukit Timah Monkey Man - Singapore

Bukit Timah Monkey Man, commonly abbreviated as BTM or BTMM, is a legendary creature said to inhabit Singapore. chiefly in the forested Bukit Timah region. The creature is often cited as a forest-dwelling hominid or primate, and is also accounted for as being immortal; however, its exact identity remains unknown, and its existence disputed. Documentation of the BTM is sparse and scattered; the creature is largely considered a product of local folklore.

Alleged sightings of the animal are rare. Records mainly come from Malay folklore, accounts from Japanese soldiers in World War II, and occasional unconfirmed reports from local residents. The first claimed sighting is said to have occurred in about 1805; the most recent was in 2020.

The BTM is said to be hominid-like, greyish in colour, and about 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) in height, with a bipedal gait. All sightings have been centred upon the Bukit Timah.

In late 2020, the Bukit Timah monkey man was allegedly spotted by a night hiker, an event which was extensively covered in local media reports.

Ebu gogo - Indonesia

Ebu Gogo are a group of human-like creatures that appear in the folklore of Flores, Indonesia. In the Nage language of central Flores, ebu means "grandparent" and gogo means "one who eats anything". A colloquial English equivalent might be something like "old glutton". It is hypothesized that the Ebu Gogo folklore is a product of ancient contact between modern humans and Homo floresiensis, a hominid species that inhabited Flores until c. 50,000 years ago.

The Nage people of Flores describe the Ebu Gogo as having been able walkers and fast runners around 1.5 m (5 feet) tall. They reportedly had wide and flat noses, and broad faces with large mouths and hairy bodies. The females also had "long, pendulous breasts". They were said to have murmured in what was assumed to be their own language and could reportedly repeat what was said to them in a parrot-like fashion.

The legends relating to the Ebu Gogo were traditionally attributed to monkeys, according to the journal Nature.

An article in New Scientist gives the following account of folklore on Flores surrounding the Ebu Gogo: in the 18th century, villagers gave the Ebu Gogo a gift of palm fiber to make clothes, and once the Ebu Gogo took the fiber into their cave, the villagers threw in a firebrand to set it alight, killing all of the occupants (one pair may have fled into the forest).[5][6]

There are also legends about the Ebu Gogo kidnapping human children, hoping to learn how to cook them. The children always easily outwit the Ebu Gogo in the tales.[7]

Fouke Monster. Boggy Creek Monster– USA

In Arkansas folklore, the Fouke Monster /ˈfaʊk/, also known as the Boggy Creek Monster and the Swamp Stalker, is purported to be a humanoid creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, that was allegedly sighted in the rural town of Fouke, Arkansas during the early 1970s. The creature was alleged to have attacked a local family. It has since become a part of Arkansas folklore. Stories of the creature influenced the 1972 docudrama horror film The Legend of Boggy Creek, which became the 11th highest-grossing film of 1972 and is today considered to be a cult classic.

Various reports between 1971 and 1974 described it as being a large, bipedal creature covered in long dark hair. It was estimated to be about 7 feet (2 m) tall with a weight of 250–300 pounds. Later reports claimed that it was far larger, with one witness describing it as 10 feet tall, with an estimated weight of 800 pounds.

Some accounts describe the Fouke Monster as running swiftly with a galloping gait and swinging its arms in a fashion similar to a monkey. Reports also describe it as having a terrible odor, the odor being described as a combination of a skunk and a wet dog, and as having bright red eyes about the size of silver dollars.

A variety of tracks and claw marks have been discovered which are claimed to belong to the creature. One set of footprints reportedly measured 17 inches in length and 7 inches wide, while another appeared to show feet that only possessed three toes.

Prior to the 20th century, several alleged sightings in the general area related to a large, hairy creature circulated in an 1851 report in the Memphis Enquirer, and an 1856 report in the Caddo Gazette.

Local residents claim that the creature had roamed the area since 1964, but those sightings had not been reported. Local folklore also holds that the creature can be further traced back to sightings in 1946. Most early sightings were allegedly in the region of Jonesville as the creature was known as the "Jonesville Monster" during this period.

In 1955, the creature was allegedly spotted by a 14-year-old boy who described it as having reddish brown hair, sniffing the air, and not reacting when it was fired upon with birdshot. Investigator Joe Nickell observed that the description was consistent with a misidentified black bear (Ursus americanus).

The Fouke Monster first made local headlines in 1971, when it was reported to have attacked the home of Bobby and Elizabeth Ford on May 2, 1971.

According to Elizabeth Ford, the creature, which she initially thought was a bear, reached through a screen window that night while she was sleeping on a couch. It was chased away by her husband and his brother Don. During the alleged encounter, the Fords fired several gunshots at the creature and believed that they had hit it, though no traces of blood were found. An extensive search of the area failed to locate the creature, but three-toed footprints were found close to the house, as well as scratch marks on the porch and damage to a window and the house's siding. According to the Fords, they had heard something moving around outside late at night several nights prior but, having lived in the house for less than a week, had never encountered the creature before.

The creature was allegedly sighted again on May 23, 1971, when three people, D. C. Woods, Jr., Wilma Woods, and Mrs. R. H. Sedgass, reported seeing an ape-like creature crossing U.S. Highway 71. More sightings were made over the following months by local residents and tourists, who found additional footprints. The best known footprints were found in a soybean field belonging to local filling station owner Scott Keith. They were scrutinized by game warden Carl Galyon, who was unable to confirm their authenticity. Like the Ford prints, they appeared to indicate that the creature had only three toes

The incident began to attract substantial interest after news spread about the Ford sighting. The Little Rock, Arkansas, radio station KAAY posted a $1,090 bounty on the creature. Several attempts were made to track the creature with dogs, but they were unable to follow its scent. When hunters began to take interest in the Fouke Monster, Miller County Sheriff Leslie Greer was forced to put a temporary "no guns" policy in place in order to preserve public safety. In 1971, three people were fined $59 each "for filing a fraudulent monster report.”

After an initial surge of attention, public interest in the creature decreased until it gained national recognition in 1973 when Charles B. Pierce released a docudrama horror film about the creature in 1972, The Legend of Boggy Creek.

By late 1974, interest had waned again and sightings all but stopped; only to begin again in March 1978 when tracks were reportedly found by two brothers prospecting in m whereas all primates, including hominids, have five toes. In addition to the number of toes, Schambach cited several other anomalies as part of his conclusion: the region had no history of primate activity, ruling out the possibility of the creature being the remnants of an indigenous species; all apes are completely diurnal, as the Fouke Monster was reported to be nocturnal.

By 1986, the mayor of Fouke, Virgil Roberts, and former Miller County Sheriff Leslie Greer, were of the opinion that the alleged Fouke Monster tracks were man-made. Greer's working colleague at that time, Chief Deputy H. L. Phillips, said that he had not taken calls regarding the monster in years. He does not believe the creature exists, stating, "...I don't believe in it. But I'd say you don't argue with people who say they've seen it. Many were respectable and responsible folks".

Since 2013, the Fouke Monster Festival, previously called the Boggy Creek Festival, has been an annual event dedicated to discussions, presentations, and lore related to the creature and other similar monsters. Proceeds benefit the Fouke School District, with over $3,000 having been raised in 2019.

The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)

The story of Bobby Ford's encounter with the Fouke Monster was the subject of a 1972, docudrama horror film, The Legend of Boggy Creek (initially titled Tracking the Fouke Monster), which played in movie and drive-in theaters around the country. It was written by Earl E. Smith and directed by Charles B. Pierce. The part of Bobby Ford was played by Glenn Carruth and the part of Elizabeth Ford was played by Bunny Dees. Fouke Garage owner Willie E. Smith, on whose land three-toed footprints were found, starred as himself. Many characters were named after the people who played them. Much of the film was shot on location in Fouke and nearby Texarkana, though some scenes also were filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana. Most of the cast were local people or Texarkana college students. The film is believed to have cost $160,000 to make. It grossed $20 million at the box office.

Return to Boggy Creek (1977)

A second Fouke Monster film, Return to Boggy Creek, was filmed and released in 1977. The movie had an entirely fictional plot and was not intended to be a sequel. It was directed by Tom Moore, written by John David Woody, and starred Dawn Wells as the mother of three children who become lost in the swamp. Some of the film's scenes were shot on location in Dallas, Texas, and Loreauville and Iberia Parish, Louisiana.

Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues (1985)

Originally titled The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II, the third Fouke Monster film was written as a sequel to the original film. Charles B. Pierce wrote, directed, and played the role of Brian Lockart, a University of Arkansas professor who leads a group of students into the swamps around Fouke. The film was shot on location in Fouke, but included some scenes shot at the University of Arkansas. In 1999, Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues was lampooned in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Boggy Creek: The Legend Is True (2010)

Boggy Creek: The Legend Is True was released to home video in 2011. Early buzz suggested that the film, directed by Brian T. Jaynes, was to be a remake of Charles B. Pierce's original 1972 film. However, it is an unrelated story set in the fictional town of Boggy Creek, Texas. Even so, the film obviously draws influence from Pierce's film with its small-town setting and use of spooky swamp scenes for this Southern Sasquatch horror slasher.

The Legacy of Boggy Creek (2011)

This low-budget indie film was originally released in 2009 under the title The Skunk Ape Story, but was later re-edited and released to home video in 2011 as The Legacy of Boggy Creek. The docudrama chronicles the events that began after the original attacks in Fouke. It was written and directed by Dustin Ferguson.

Boggy Creek Monster (2016)

In 2016, a documentary film about the Fouke Monster entitled Boggy Creek Monster was released. Directed by Seth Breedlove, who co-produced the film with Lyle Blackburn under the banner of Breedlove's production company Small Town Monsters, it was filmed in Fouke and features accounts from claimed eyewitnesses of the purported creature.

Hibagon – Japan

The Hibagon (ヒバゴン) or Hinagon (ヒナゴン) is the Japanese equivalent of the North American Bigfoot or the Himalayan Yeti. Sightings have been reported since the 1970s around Mount Hiba in the Hiroshima Prefecture.

The Hibagon is described as a "black baked creature with white clay hands and large white feet, standing about five feet tall”, and has been said to resemble a gorilla. A sighting from 1972 reports that the creature "has a chocolate brown face and is covered with brown hair ... [and] is said to have 'deep glaring eyes', in two reports by a Mr. Sazawa and a Mrs. Harada, the creature took no hostile action and fled from four armed residents intent on hunting it.” Japanese Boy Scouts, "claim to find footprints 25 cm (10 in) long and 15 cm (6 in) wide."

Mande Barung – India

In Indian folklore, the Mande Burung is an alleged ape-like creature said to inhabit the Meghalaya subtropical forests in the remote Garo Hills of Northeast India.

Generally described as a large, hairy bipedal hominid, some believe that this animal, or its relatives, may be found around the world under different regional names, such as the Yeti of Tibet and Nepal, the Ban-manush in Bangladesh, the Yeren of mainland China, and the Bigfoot of the Pacific northwest region of the United States and all of the Canadian provinces, including British Columbia where the majority of all Sasquatch reports and sightings occur.

Momo the Monster – USA

Momo the Monster, also known as the Missouri Monster (Momo), is a purported ape-like creature, similar to descriptions of Bigfoot, that was allegedly sighted by numerous people in rural Louisiana, Missouri in 1944 and 1945. Unlike some other areas with similar reports of cryptids such as the Fouke Monster in Fouke, Arkansas or the Mothman in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Momo did not become a major tourist or economic folklore attraction.

Alleged witnesses describe the creature as a large, bipedal humanoid, with a pumpkin sized head, about 7 ft tall, covered in dark hair that emits a putrid odor.

The most well known alleged sighting occurred on July 11, 1972, when two young boys were playing in the backyard on the rural outskirts of Louisiana, Missouri. Their older sister, Doris, was in the kitchen when she heard her brothers screaming. When she looked out of the window, she observed a massive, dark haired, man-like creature holding what appeared to be a deceased dog. She described it as having a "pumpkin-shaped head", and large glowing orange eyes.

Many alleged sightings occurred that year, most notably local fire department chief and member of the city council, Richard Allan Murray, who reported driving along a creek bed when he saw a massive upright creature in his vehicle's headlights. As a result of these reported encounters, a 20 person posse was formed to hunt the creature but nothing was ever found.

In 2019, a docudrama horror film entitled Momo: The Missouri Monster, was released and features a dramatization of the events of 1972. The film's cast includes Cliff Barackman and James "Bobo" Fay, best known for their appearances as Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) members on the Animal Planet series Finding Bigfoot.

American theme park Six Flags St. Louis had a ride that operated from 1973 until 1994 named after the creature.

Nittaewo - Sri Lanka

Nittaewo (or Nittevo) were said to be a small tribe of small bigfoot or Yeti-like hominid cryptid native to Sri Lanka. No archeological evidence has been found to prove the existence of these humanoids, but they are ubiquitous in Veddha mythology and Sri Lankan folklore.

The nittaewo were described as being even smaller than the diminutive Veddahs, only between 3 and 4 ft in height, with the females being even shorter. They were covered in hair, which was often said to be reddish in color, and were said to have very short, powerful arms with short, long-clawed hands. Unlike monkeys, they walked upright always and had no tails.

The nittaewo lived in small parties, and slept in caves or among the branches of trees, in leaf-nests of their own design. They had a varied diet, eating whatever raw game they could catch, including squirrels, small deer, tortoises, lizards, and sometimes even crocodiles. They did not use tools, instead disembowelment of their prey with their long claws or hooked nails, allowing them to feed on the entrails. They were said to have a sort of language of their own, a "sort of burbling, or birds' twittering," which a handful of Veddahs could understand. The Veddahs themselves were the enemies of the nittaewo, which had no defense against the Veddahs’ bows and arrows. It was said that whenever a nittaewo came across a sleeping Veddah, it would disembowel them with its claws.

During an exploration of caves at Kudumbigala, army captain A. T. Rambukwelle discovered a stone building, "reminiscent of the miniature Stonehenge" in the forest. The Veddahs in the area told him that it was "the nittaewo altar," but Ivan Mackerle later discovered that it had been built by Veddah monks.

Hugh Nevill explained that, "nittaewo" may be a derivative from "niṣāda", a term used by the Indo-Aryans to describe the more primitive tribes which inhabited India when the Indo-Aryans invaded. The Sinhalese form of this word was "nigadiwa" or "nishadiwa," from which "nittaewo" may have derived. A possible alternative etymology given by George Eberhart is "niya-atha" ("one who possesses nails").

The nittaewo were described as being even smaller than the diminutive Veddahs, only between 3 and 4 ft in height, with the females being even shorter. They were covered in hair, which was often said to be reddish in colour, and were said to have very short, powerful arms with short, long-clawed hands. Unlike monkeys, they walked upright always and had no tails.

The nittaewo lived in small parties, and slept in caves or among the branches of trees, in leaf-nests of their own design. They had a varied diet, eating whatever raw game they could catch, including squirrels, small deer, tortoises, lizards, and sometimes even crocodiles. They did not use tools, instead disembowelling their prey with their long claws or hooked nails, allowing them to feed on the entrails. They were said to have a sort of language of their own, a "sort of burbling, or birds' twittering," which a handful of Veddahs could understand. The Veddahs themselves were the enemies of the nittaewo, which had no defense against the Veddahs’ bows and arrows. It was said that whenever a nittaewa came across a sleeping Veddah, it would disembowel them with its claws.

During an exploration of caves at Kudumbigala, army captain A. T. Rambukwelle discovered a stone building, "reminiscent of the miniature Stonehenge" in the forest. The Veddahs in the area told him that it was "the nittaewa altar," but Ivan Mackerle later discovered that it had been built by Veddah monks.

The last of the nittaewo were said to have been exterminated by the Veddahs of Leanama during the late 18th century, when they were rounded up into a cave, the entrance of which was then blocked up with brushwood which was set alight, suffocating the trapped nittaewo over three days. The cave's position was lost when the Veddahs of Leanama themselves became extinct just a few generations later. Bernard Heuvelmans estimated that the genocide took place in around 1800, whilst Ivan Mackerle estimates 1775.

The story of the extermination was first reported by explorer Hugh Nevill in 1887, who was told of it by a Sinhalese hunter, who was himself told by an elderly Leanama Veddah, who himself had been told by a relative of his named Koraleya. Despite being a fourth-hand account, the story was confirmed in 1915, when Frederick Lewis was given the same information by several informants in Uva and Punawa Pattu. According to an old Veddah named Dissam Hamy, the nittaewo were exterminated no more than five generations earlier than his visit—Dissam Hamy's grandfather had taken part in the genocide. Lewis made inquiries of other people in the village, and in another village, and was given the same story.

In 1963, Sri Lankan army captain A. T. Rambukwelle led an expedition to the caves of Kudumbigala to search for evidence of the nittaewo. He discovered the shells of molluscs and vertebrae and shells of turtles, animals which the nittaewo were said to have fed on.

The first and so far only recorded sighting of the nittaewo since the 18th century supposedly occurred in 1984, when one was allegedly seen by the Spanish anthropologist Salvador Martinez. He claimed that the nittaewo he saw was human-like, with a coat of long hair with scabs, and emitted unintelligible sounds before fleeing into the forest.

In 2019, sightings re-surged again starting in several locations such as Walasmulla and Bambaragala and Anuradhapura which often caused panic in certain villages. Villagers reported the creature to be totally black, gorilla faced and having long claws which was different from the Veddah descriptions.

Orang Mawas – Malaysia

Malaysian folklore, the Orang Mawas or Mawas (also known as the Orang Dalam) is an entity reported to inhabit the jungle of Johor in Malaysia.

It is described as being about 7 ft 10 in – 9 ft 10 in tall, bipedal and covered in black fur, and has been reported feeding on fish and raiding orchards.

There have been many sightings of the creature, which the local Orang Asli people call hantu jarang gigi, which translates as "Snaggle-toothed Ghost". Recorded claims of Mawas sightings date back to 1871.

Some speculate the creature may be a surviving Gigantopithecus (or at least a folk memory of the animal), while the scientific community tends to dismiss the sightings as misidentified sun bears. Similar creatures are reported in other countries in southeast Asia, such as the Muwa in the Philippines or the Butnak in southern Thailand. In Sumatra, mawas (sometimes maias) is a common name for the orangutan.

Orang Pendek – Indonesia

In Indonesian folklore, the Orang Pendek (Indonesian for 'short person') is the most common name given to a creature said to inhabit remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra. The creature has allegedly been seen and documented for at least 100 years by forest tribes, local villagers, Dutch colonists, and Western scientists and travelers. Consensus among witnesses is that the animal is a ground-dwelling, bipedal primate covered in short fur, standing between 80 and 150 cm.

Sisimito - Central America

In Belizean and Honduran folklore, the Sisimito (alternatively called Sisimite, Sisimita, Súkara, and Itacayo) is a bipedal upright gorilla-like creature that possesses a head much like a human, with long hair or fur covering its body. It is also referred to as "the Mexican Bigfoot", though it is also known in the neighboring countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua.

The Sisimite is believed to resemble a humanoid creature with black or dark brown fur, described as larger than an average person. It is said to have four fingers on each hand and no thumbs, ape-like facial features, and backward-facing feet with no knees. Its name differs between ethnic groups, for example, the Garifuna call it Sismidu. The name has no true English translation and it is believed to have come from the Nahuatl word, Tzitzimitl.

According to Honduran legends, it is believed that the Sisimite targets and kidnaps human women. It is believed that when a woman falls in love with a Sisimite, the Sisimite will claim her as his own, and she will never be seen again.

Honduras 

The Honduran explorer and historian, Jesús Aguilar Paz (1895-1974), said that the Sisimite lives in the highest part of the Honduran mountains, more specifically in the inaccessible caverns found there. Aguilar also explains that the Sisimite feeds on the wild berries from the mountains and that it is not a carnivorous being or a hunter, however, it usually goes down to the village to kidnap women to take them to their cave. The union of a Sisimite and a human is believed to produce ape men.

Belize

In Belizean legend, the Sisimite is said to also feast on humans. Tales of the Sismite were told in the camps by the mahogany cutters of earlier days and are still passed along in villages like Ranchito and Hill Bank. The Sismite is said to live in high forest areas and in caves and on rocky land. In the Toledo District, forest areas have decreased over the years because of agricultural development and the Ketchi believe that Tzultacah, the thunder deities who protects them from wild animals, has pulled the Sismite back into the few densely jungled areas remaining, so he is rarely seen today.

The Sisimite diet is believed to consist of raw meat and fruits, and when feasting on human beings, he will tear the body into several pieces before devouring it. Though fierce and malevolent towards humans, he is afraid of water and dogs and will avoid them at all costs. The Sisimite is believed to often assume human form in order to lure people out of villages with the purpose of killing them. Because of this, he is sometimes confused with Xtabay or La Llorona.

On Sundays and religious holidays, such as Good Friday, the Sisimite is believed to prey on hunters and other people who stray into the bushes. He follows human footprints, with its main purpose being either to kill its victims or to rip off their thumbs; the Sisimite is also believed to attack men who are killing animals needlessly or destroying the forest.

According to beliefs, the Sisimite can be outsmarted due to its lack of intelligence, allowing its victim to escape being pursued.

-If one dances in a circle, the Sisimite will try to follow them. However, due to his backward-facing feet he would trip and fall

-Having a dog by one's side is said to discourage the Sisimite from coming close.

-The Sisimite is said to be afraid of large bodies of water such as rivers or lakes.

-Making a path of footprints leading into a bush will cause the Sisimite to lose track of the prey and will begin to follow its own tracks thinking it is someone else's.

-The ultimate way to get rid of the Sisimite is to set fire to his long hair.

In Popular Culture

The Sisimite is featured in the 1951 B-movie Bride of the Gorilla, directed by Curt Siodmak. The film refers to the creature under one of its many regional names, the súkara. In this film, an Amazonian witch curses a European landowner to turn into the súkara whenever he enters the jungle.

Belize writer Henry Anderson has written several adventure novels set in his home country; they are known as the ‘Sisimito’ series.

In the 2018 video game Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Sisimite is referenced in a collectible document discovered by the protagonist, Lara Croft, within the Peruvian jungle.

Skunk ape – United States

The skunk ape is a large and hairy human-like mythical creature purported to inhabit the forests and swamps in the southeastern United States, most notably in Florida. It is often compared to, synonymous with, or called the "cousin" of Bigfoot, a prominent subject within North American popular culture.

Many articles have been presented in an attempt to prove the skunk ape's existence, including sightings, photographs, audio and video recordings, and casts of large footprints. The skunk ape has entered the popular culture of the southern United States, especially in Florida.

The skunk ape is commonly described as a bipedal human or ape-like creature, approximately 5–7 feet tall, and covered in mottled reddish-brown hair. The skunk ape is often reported to be smaller in stature compared to traditional descriptions of Bigfoot from the northern United States and Canada. It is named for its foul odor, often described as being similar to that of a skunk.

Contemporary descriptions of the skunk ape in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama folklore have occurred since European settlers first occupied the region. In 1818, local newspapers reported a story from what is now Apalachicola, Florida, that spoke of a "man-sized monkey" raiding food stores and stalking fishermen along the shore. 

Seminole and Miccosukee cultures include stories of a foul-smelling, physically powerful, and secretive creature called Esti Capcaki, a name which roughly translates to "Furry Tall Man" or "Hairy Giant".

In 1929, an alleged sighting occurred at the famous and then recently constructed Perky Bat Tower at the Florida Keys. Witnesses reported that an unknown ape-like creature was drawn to the construction site. After inspecting the bat tower shortly after it had been stocked with bats, the creature shook the tower, driving off the bats before running off into the woods.

In 1942, a man in Suwanee County reported a similar creature rushing out from the brush line while he was driving down an isolated road. It was alleged to have grabbed onto his vehicle and beat on the running board and door for half a mile before departing. In the small community of Bardin, in Putnam County, Florida, beginning in the 1940s, there were a number of alleged sightings of a creature that came to be known as the Bardin Booger. In the 1960s, a rash of sightings in central Florida happened around Alachua County and Marion County. One such report from 1963 involved several members of a family encountering an ape-like creature around their rural home, including one instance of it approaching a window to peer inside at night.

Reports of the skunk ape were particularly common in the 1950s through the 1970s. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization has archived hundreds of alleged sightings across almost every county of Florida, beginning in 1955 into the present day.

In the 1970s, two Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies named Marvin Lewis and Ernie Milner reported that an ape-like creature stalked them through a grove before they shot at it with their firearms. They reported following a trail of footprints where they recovered hair snagged on a barbed wire fence line that had been pushed down. In 1971 to 1975, a rash of sightings occurred in Broward County and surrounding areas. Multiple eyewitnesses reported nocturnal encounters with a 5 to 7 foot ape-like creature with dark red to black fur. These events were heavily covered in newspapers, both local and in other Florida cities such as Miami, and were some of the earliest instances popularizing the term "Skunk Ape" in the state lexicon. Reports alleged that the skunk ape had invaded homes, stalked people, and killed several of a farmer's livestock including a horse and a bull. The local police department investigated after one law enforcement officer reported striking the skunk ape with his car. Posses were formed in an effort to locate the alleged creature, but no body or evidence was found.

In 1977, a failed-to-pass bill was proposed to the Florida state legislature to make it illegal to "take, possess, harm or molest anthropoids or humanoid animals".

Several Everglades wildlife tour bus operators and their guests have reported alleged sightings. In July 1997, one such operator, David Shealy, reported wildlife bait stands laden with lima beans had been raided and he noticed strange tracks surrounding them. He baited several locations with more lima beans and multiple witnesses reported skunk ape sightings soon after. Witnesses reported that Skunk Apes drove numerous animals into tighter ranges around higher ground. One such sighting was by Everglades tour operators Steve Goodbread and Dow Rowland; some of their guests reported skunk ape sightings as well. Both operators claimed that 100 °F weather, high humidity, and the rural location would make a hoax unlikely.

In 1997, a photograph of a dark upright figure in the swamp was taken by Ochopee Fire Control District Chief Vince Doerr that he claims depicts a skunk ape. He reported observing the creature cross the road, and stopped his car to capture a photograph. Within two weeks, over fifty people reported alleged sightings of a hairy creature within the Big Cypress National Preserve.

In the year 2000, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office received two anonymous photos depicting a large, hairy, ape-like creature. The author of the letter claimed to be an elderly woman who reported the creature had been stealing apples from her back porch near I-75, and upon surprising it with a camera she was afraid it was an escaped orangutan that might harm her family. 

The scrutinized photos, dubbed the "Myakka skunk ape," remain a polarizing topic and their authenticity remains debated. One critique highlighting the photographs as a potential hoax is the subject's resemblance to a Bigfoot statue known from a Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. However, the position, expression, and posture of the creature changes in both photos adding doubts to it being a hoax.

Sightings continue to the present day, with forty-eight out of sixty-seven counties in Florida reporting sightings. The skunk ape has been widely adopted across Florida as an unofficial mascot for wilderness and rural culture, including appearing in roadside businesses and attractions, television commercials, and on signs. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Orlando's Gatorland park used the skunk ape's reported foul smell to promote social distancing. The skunk ape is often the subject of conferences that host guest speakers, research presentations, trail running events, and vendors.

Wild Man of the Navida

The Wild Man of the Navidad, sometimes referred to as the Wild Woman of the Navidad, in Texas folklore, is the story of an escaped African slave and other alleged wild humans reported to have been living in the Texas wilderness near the Navidad River during the mid-19th century. Various accounts of the story exist, and the tale has become intertwined with other alleged accounts of wild humans, as well as with Bigfoot.

According to a historical marker previously erected in Lavaca County: "A mysterious runaway Negro slave who alternately terrified and aroused pity of settlers in this region for about 15 years. The mysterious exile, at first with a companion, appeared along the Navidad bottoms about 1836. Hiding in trees during day, he stole into kitchens at night for food, but always left half. He also took tools, returning them later, brightly polished. Slaves called him "The thing that comes", fearing a ghost. Captured in 1851, the wild man proved to be an African chief's son. Resold into slavery, he died peacefully as "Old Jimbo" in 1884".

In 1836, residents living along the Navidad River in what is now Sublime, reported food and items missing from their homes and farms. Various tools were reported to have disappeared only to reappear later after seemingly being polished, and torn clothing was returned after having been stitched. According to writer Murray Montgomery of Texas Escapes magazine, various accounts of wild people were reported by fearful residents, describing the culprits as stealthy and hair-covered. Some reports described both a male and a female pair, and local slaves referred to the alleged female as "The Thing that Comes". Attempts to capture the alleged wild people were unsuccessful.

According to historian Myra Hargrave McIlvain, in 1851 residents captured a nude African man of unknown origin who was living in the wild and did not speak English. It was reported that a sailor arrived in the area who spoke the man's language and claimed the man was an African prince who had been sold into slavery as a child. After reaching Texas, he and another slave escaped, but the other died from exposure. According to some reports, the Wild Man of the Navidad was eventually sold back into slavery in Victoria, Texas, and died in 1884.

The Texas State Gazette published a runaway slave notice from June 24 to August 12, 1854, that read "an AFRICAN well known as the Wild Woman of the Navidad, supposed to belong to Beckford, late of Virginia".

A collection of these early accounts were later published in their entirety in J. Frank Dobie's book Tales of Old-Time Texas in 1928.

In 2008, a horror film loosely based on the folklore entitled The Wild Man of the Navidad was released, written and directed by Duane Graves and Justin Meeks, and co-produced by Kim Henkel. The filmmakers based the story on the journals of Dale S. Rogers, who claimed bizarre encounters he and his family had with Bigfoot-like creatures in the Sublime area in the 1970s.

Yeren – China

The yeren (Chinese: 野人; lit. 'wild man') is a cryptid apeman reported to inhabit remote, mountainous regions of China, most famously in the Shennongjia Forestry District in the Hubei Province. Sightings of "hairy men" have remained constant since the Warring States Period circa 340 BC through the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), before solidifying into the modern legend of the yeren. Generally, they are described as savage, strong, and fast-moving, living in mountain caves and descending only to raid villages in search of food or women.

Titular inscription at the entrance to the "Yeren Cave" in Shennongjia

Scientific interest in such apemen erupted in the 1950s and 1960s in conjunction with pseudoscientific discoveries relating to Bigfoot and the yeti, but pressure by the Maoist government to leave behind these kinds of legends and folk stories repressed further interest in the yeren until its dissolution in 1976. Afterwards, large expeditions were launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to investigate alleged eyewitness accounts, footprints, hairs, and bodies as "yeren fever" took hold, with scientists working with an unprecedented reliance on citizen science. The yeren was often speculated to be a far removed human relative, such as Gigantopithecus or Paranthropus robustus. All forwarded evidence of the creature originated from known animals — namely bears, monkeys, and gibbons — and scientific interest waned by the late 1980s. Nonetheless, organized yeren research still persists, though no serious scientific institutions recognize such apemen.

The creature has become an artistic icon of wildness and nature, and was used in the wake of the Cultural Revolution to challenge sexually restrictive and egalitarian ideals, as well as to address deforestation and other environmental issues in China.

Oral traditions and literature of "wild men" (野人; yěrén) and similar creatures have persisted for millennia in Chinese folklore. Their oldest ostensible appearance in writing may lie in the Jiu Ge ("Nine Songs") by Qu Yuan who lived from 340 to 278 BC in the state of Chu during the Warring States period. His 9th Song speaks of a "mountain spirit" (山鬼; shān guǐ); these characters generally refer to a human figure. The mountain spirit has variously been interpreted as a humanlike creature clad in a fig leaf, a yaoguai (a demon), or an ogre. In 1982, Chinese paleoanthropologist Zhou Guoxing discovered a 2,000 year old lantern with an ornament apparently depicting a "hairy man" (毛人; máorén), which similarly speaks to an ancient tradition surrounding wild men.

Written reports of "wildmen" became more frequent in the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), though they are quite inconsistent in how visually human these creatures are.

The Yi Zhou Shu and Erya compiled in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC mention a fast-moving, long-haired creature using a character commonly translated as "baboon" (狒狒; feifei) that supposedly ate people:

-The Erya also mentions a creature using a character translated as "orangutan" (猩々; xīngxing), an animal not native to China, or more generally "ape". In 139 BC, Gao Yu described the xingxing in the Huainanzi as having the face of a human but the "body of a beast".

-In 650 AD, Zhao Yanshou detailed a band of maoren who scaled a city wall.

On account of their "wild" nature, these creatures were often portrayed as lustful, capturing and raping villagers, the latter especially if the victim was female. Usually referred to as the jue (玃; jué), these apemen purportedly lack females entirely and need to abduct and rape women to breed. The reverse is said for the "wild women" or "wild wives" (野妻; Yě qī) or sometimes xingxing, where they would abduct and sling men over their backs, carrying them up the mountain to wed.

The exact name "yeren" has typically been used in the mountains of the Shennongjia Forestry District in the Hubei Province, though the earliest written reports of the yeren are from Fang County 90 km (56 mi) north of Shennongjia. In 1555, during the Qing dynasty, its local newspaper Fangxianzhi published a story about a group of yeren sheltering in nearby mountain caves which preyed on their dogs and chickens. In rural Hubei, the yeren were rumored to be the descendants of the runaway laborers conscripted to build the Great Wall of China. Other newspapers as well as Chinese natural history works, such as Li Shizhen's 1578 Compendium of Materia Medica, frequently mention yeren or similar apemen.

Testimonies of the alleged creature typically agree the yeren walks upright and stands over 2 m (6 ft) tall; is covered in tawny hair all over the body, especially long at the scalp; and has a face reminiscent of both an ape and a human. Other common descriptors include black-red hair, distended eyes, long arms hanging all the way down to the knees, and big feet. The yeren supposedly laughs when coming across a human.

The yeren is often associated with the forests of Shennongjia.

Reported sightings of apemen increased during the 20th century, prompting small scientific investigations in the 1950s and 60s. The first such expeditions focused more on the yeti, a similar apeman cryptid from Tibet, funded by the Soviet Yeti Research Commission. The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) headquartered in Beijing followed suit and included the yeti as part of its survey of Mount Everest in 1959. Prominent paleoanthropologist Pei Wenzhong communicated to Soviet colleagues a small collection of similar apeman reports across China. 

In 1962, another prominent paleoanthropologist, Wu Rukang, led an investigation of reports from the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in the Yunnan Province, but dismissed them as a misidentified gibbon. Separately, Professor Mao Guangnian linked the yeti with the yeren. His interest in the topic began when he heard his colleague Wang Zelin's story of an ape man shot dead in 1940 while in the field on behalf of the Yellow River Water Control Committee.

During the Mao era (1949–1976) under chairman Mao Zedong, fervent government campaigns aimed to squash superstitious beliefs and to quell debates surrounding mysterious apemen. They believed stories of yeren, ghosts, and spirits would impair productivity, such as by scaring farmers from tending to their fields, and circulating such stories were sometimes punishable offenses. 

Scientific interest quickly dwindled and Guangnian became one of the only scientists researching the yeren. He used primarily recent scientific reports and ancient literature as opposed to contemporary eye witness accounts. Other scientists, such as Pei, ascribed apemen testimonies to scientific illiteracy and strong superstitious beliefs among villagers in these remote areas, though they remained supportive of further study. 

Soviet historian Boris Porshnev suggested these apemen are a relict population of Neanderthals, but Guangnian believed the yeren were far too primitive, more likely a descendant of the giant Chinese ape Gigantopithecus.

In 1974, historian Li Jian, the vice secretary of the Prefectural Propaganda Department of Shennongjia recorded testimonies from locals regarding the yeren, the oldest occurring in 1945. This earned Li the nickname "The Minister of Yeren". His work attracted the attention of Liu Minzhuang, a professor at East China Normal University, as well as several IVPP scientists, in 1976. 

As the Mao Era ended on the downswing of the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, the taboo against superstitions diminished, and popular Western works regarding the yeti and the similar North American Bigfoot were translated into Chinese. Coupled with Li and Liu's work and increasing commercialization with newly wrought publishing freedoms, interest in apemen surged as "yeren fever" took hold. In subsequent years, Liu would become the most prominent worker on the yeren, earning the nickname "The Professor of Yeren".

In 1977, Zhou Guoxing along with military personnel, zoologists, biologists, and photographers launched a yeren expedition in Shennongjia on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (though the group size was probably counterproductive, generating too much noise). Subsequent expeditions comprising scientists, technicians, government officials, and local villagers collected alleged footprints, hair samples, and sightings of the yeren, published in scientific journals, pop science magazines, and newspapers. Yeren hunts effected an unprecedented involvement of untrained laypeople, and was by-and-large fueled by citizen science.  In 1981, the China Wildman Research Society formed with the help of the famous Chinese paleoanthropologist Jia Lanpo, and offered a cash reward for a yeren body, ¥5,000 dead and ¥10,000 alive (at the time, $1,750 and $3,500).

Much like Guangnian, the majority of scientists worked to prove these apemen were undiscovered early offshoots of humanity rather than supernatural entities, while a minority maintained they were misidentified ordinary animals. The most popular candidates include a descendant of Gigantopithecus or an undiscovered Chinese variant of the African Paranthropus robustus (at the time considered to be gigantic like Gigantopithecus). Another notable hypothesis, though not the most popular among scientists, was that the yeren are a backwards and unevolved race of modern humans, often supported by racist comparisons with local ethnic minorities. In 1984, local Li Mingzhi, when detailing his yeren sighting, remarked that at first he, "thought it was a local Wa woman climbing the mountains to collect pig food.” The yeren being a far removed human relative would have confirmed several popular Chinese theories of the time, which depended strongly on Marxism. Most notably is Friedrich Engels' concept of "labor created humanity", because, despite being bipedal with hands free to labor, the yeren did not organize into a laborious society and remained evolutionarily stagnant. It would also support the Out of Asia theory (that modern humans evolved in Asia) which was being overturned by the now-popular Out of Africa hypothesis. Consequently, hypothetical yeren society was often characterized using Marxist feminism, a polygynous and matriarchal one. Yeren were also sometimes ascribed feelings of love and familial bonding; for example, in 1976, a pregnant yeren was rumored to be searching for her "husband" in Shennongjia.

By the 1980s, whole books about the yeren were being published, and a substantial collection of such literature has since amassed. Some yeren hunters — generally men — dedicated their lives to the chase, leaving their families behind. In 1981, Li received funding by the Chinese Anthropological Society to found the Chinese Yeren Investigative Research Association. Four of their exhibitions that decade garnered audiences upwards of 400,000.

Owing to their mysterious yet humanlike atmosphere, the yeren became a popular symbol in fiction writing of wildness and savagery. Kidnapping stories from antiquity have inspired modern, though usually far less graphic, imaginative retellings. 

Among the more popular was Song Youxing's A Yeren Seeks a Mate which erotically described an attractive female yeren with big breasts and long hair, as such a subject is often portrayed both in literature and by eyewitnesses. It was particularly significant as the yeren was described as a loving wife (to an abducted husband) and mother, and the story juggles feminine sexuality with traditional family values, concepts under much discussion and evolution subsequent to the egalitarian and sexually conservative Mao Era. Ascribing such qualities to a normally savage subject makes for easy contrast with "civilized" people with differing values, popular in the midst of the "primitivism" trend of the 1970s and 80s in China, which celebrated "primitive" ethnic minorities. 

In Post-Mao China, the yeren became an ideal of humanity in its natural state, untainted by the malices and vices of civilization, especially in reference to the humanitarian crises of the Cultural Revolution.

Alongside the giant panda, the yeren was also used to spotlight environmental issues in China in the 1970s and 80s, specifically widespread deforestation which many researchers were worried would lead to the extinction of the yeren before it could be discovered. "Yeren fever" may have been at play, among many other factors, in the establishment of the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve in 1983.

Hubei capitalizes on the creature's infamy to attract tourists to remote villages within the province. A statue depicting a female yeren and her child exists within the nature preserve, serving as another popular tourist attraction.

In the film Big Trouble in Little China, one of David Lo Pan's henchmen, the Wild-Man, is based on the yeren.

Yowie – Australia

The Yowie is one of several names for an Australian folklore entity that is reputed to live in the Outback. The creature has origins in Aboriginal oral history.

In parts of Queensland, it is known as a Quinkin (or as a type of Quinkin), and as joogabinna

In parts of New South Wales, it is referred to by various names, including Ghindaring, Jurrawarra, Myngawin, Puttikan, Doolaga, Gulaga and Thoolagal.

Other recorded names for similar entities include, Noocoonah, Wawee, Pangkarlangu, Jimbra and Tjangara. Legends of Yowie-type creatures appear in Aboriginal Australian legends, particularly in the eastern Australian states.

The Yowie is typically described as a bipedal, hairy, and ape-like creature, standing upright at between 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) and 3.6 m (12 ft). Reports of Yowie footprints describe them as significantly larger than a human's, but alleged Yowie tracks are inconsistent in shape and toe number. The Yowie's nose is described as wide and flat.

Descriptions of the Yowie's behavior vary; some accounts depict the Yowie as timid and reclusive, while others suggest it can be violent or aggressive.

The exact origin of the name "Yowie" in reference to Australian hominid legends is uncertain. The term was documented in 1875 among the Gamilaraay people by Rev. William Ridley in Kámilarói and Other Australian Languages, where "Yō-wī” was described as a spirit that roams the earth at night.

Some researchers suggest that the term arose through Aboriginal legends of the "Yahoo". Nineteenth century European accounts describe the creature and deem it the Yahoo, specifically the entry of Robert Holden, who described it saying "The natives of Australia... believe in... [the] Yahoo.”

Another story about the terms origins come from an Aboriginal source. One account from Old Bungaree, a Gunedah elder, stating that the Yahoo was an ancient race that once inhabited Australia. He describes conflicts between Yahoos and Aboriginal people in an event called Dreamtime, claiming that the latter usually overpowered them, although the Yahoo is said to be a fast runner.

Additionally, some scholars propose that the Yowie legend may have been influenced by European folklore. Possible sources for this claim include:

-Jonathan Swift's yahoos from Gulliver's Travels, depicted as primitive, bestial humanoids.

European myths of hairy wild men, describing hairy, ape-like beings

Early 19th century public excitement with captive orangutans for display, which sparked curiosity about large primates.

The “Bombala Anthropoid", seen by Charles Harper in southeast Australia in 1912. This fanciful drawing is based on his description in an interview in the Sidney Sun: "A huge man-like animal stood erect not 20 yards from the fire, growling, grimacing, and thumping his breast with his huge hand-like paws.”

He noted that its small, restless eyes were partially obscured by matted hair. McCooey claimed to have thrown a stone at the creature, prompting it to flee.

McCooey offered to capture an ape for the Australian Museum for a reward of £40. According to researcher Robert Holden, a second outbreak of reported ape sightings appeared in 1912.

The Yowie also appeared in Australian folklore and literature, including Donald Friend's Hillendiana, a collection of writings about the goldfields near Hill End, New South Wales, where it was described as species of bunyip. Holden also cites the appearance of the Yowie's presence in a number of Australian tall stories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Modern reports of the Yowie continue, often associated with cryptozoology investigations. One such case involved "Top End Yowie investigator" Andrew McGinn, the death and mutilation of a pet dog near Darwin could have been the result of an attack by the mythological Yowie.

In the late 1990s, several reports of Yowie sightings emerged in the area around Acacia Hills:

-1997: Mango farmer Katrina Tucker claimed she had been having been just metres away from a hairy humanoid creature 

on her property.Photographs of the large footprint were collected at the time.

Accounts of Yowie sightings in New South Wales include:

-1977: The Sydney Morning Herald reported that residents on Oxley Island, near Taree, recently heard unexplained screaming noises at night. Cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy planned to search for the mythological Yowie.

-1994: Tim the Yowie Man claimed to have seen a Yowie in the Brindabella Ranges.

1996: A couple from Newcastle, while driving on a holiday, claim to have seen a shaggy, upright creature between Braidwood and the coast, describing it as at least 2.1 metres tall, with disproportionately long arms and no neck.

-2000: a Canberra bushwalker, Steve Piper, filmed an unknown bipedal beast in the Brindabella Mountains. This footage is known as the 'Piper Film'.

-2011: a witness reported to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service seeing a Yowie in the Blue Mountains at Springwood. The witness had filmed the creature, and taken photographs of its footprints.

-2012: an American television crew claimed to have recorded audio of a Yowie in a remote region on the NSW–Queensland border.

-2013: a Lismore resident and music videographer claimed to have seen a Yowie just north of Bexhill.

In the mid-1970s, the Queanbeyan Festival Board and 2CA offered a AU$200,000 reward for the capture and presentation of a Yowie. The reward remains unclaimed.

The Springbrook region in south-east Queensland has had more Yowie reports than anywhere else in Australia:

-1977: Former Queensland Senator Bill O'Chee reported to the Gold Coast Bulletin that he had seen a Yowie while on a school trip in Springbrook. O'Chee compared the creature to Chewbacca from Star Wars. He told reporters that the creature he saw had been over three metres tall.

-2001: The Mulgowie Yowie was last reported as having been seen.

-2014: Two Yowie researchers claimed to have filmed a Yowie in South Queensland using an infrared tree camera. They also collected fur samples and found large footprints. Later that year, a Gympie man told media he had encountered Yowies on several occasions, including conversing with, and teaching some English to, a very large male Yowie in the bush north-east of Gympie, and several people in Port Douglas claimed to have seen Yowies, near Mowbray and at the Rocky Point range.

-2010: A Canberra man said he saw a " juvenile covered in hair, with long arms trying to steal his car" in his garage. A friend later told him it could be an aboriginal person.

Since the mid-1970s, paranormal enthusiast and self-described cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy attempted to popularize the Yowie legend. He claimed to have collected over 3,000 reports of Yowie encounters and theorized that they represented a relict population of extinct apes or early Homo species.

Rex Gilroy believed that the Yowie is related to the North American Bigfoot. Along with his partner Heather Gilroy, he spent fifty years amassing his Yowie collection. Rex Gilroy died in April 2023.

Tim the Yowie Man is a published author who claims to have seen a Yowie in the Brindabella Ranges in 1994. Since then, Tim the Yowie Man has investigated Yowie sightings and other paranormal phenomena.

He also writes a regular column in Australian newspapers The Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald. In 2004, Tim the Yowie Man won a legal case against Cadbury, a popular British confectionery company. Cadbury had claimed that his moniker was too similar to their range of Yowie confectionery

In Closing…

Canadian Bigfoot Photo

Sasquatch, a large, hairy, humanlike creature believed to exist in the northwestern United States and western Canada. It seems to represent the North American counterpart of the Himalayan region’s mythical monster, the Abominable Snowman, or Yeti. The name “Sasquatch” derives from the Salish word se’sxac, which means “wild men.” The creature is also commonly called Bigfoot.

The British explorer David Thompson is sometimes credited with the first discovery (1811) of a set of Sasquatch footprints, and hundreds of prints have been adduced since then. The Sasquatch subject made the news mightily in 1924 after five gold prospectors reported a violent encounter with “gorilla men” in a gorge (now called Ape Canyon) on Mount St. Helens, Washington. After the prospectors wounded one of the creatures during the day, the “mountain devils” returned that night, pelting the prospectors’ cabin with boulders and repeatedly ramming the structure. When the attack ended at daylight, the prospectors fled. 

Subsequent sightings. photographs, films (notably by Roger Patterson at Bluff Creek, California, in 1967) have also contributed to the belief that humans are sharing the planet with an unknown hominid species.

Sasquatch is always described as a primate ranging from 6 to 15 feet (2 to 4.5 meters) tall that stands erect on two feet. It often gives off a foul smell and sometimes emits a high-pitched cry. Footprints have measured up to 24 inches (60 cm) in length and 8 inches (20 cm) in width. 

A Russian scientist, Boris Porshnev, suggested that Sasquatch and his Siberian counterpart, the Almas, could be a remnant of Neanderthals or an as yet unknown relative.

Sasquatch is a popular character in media and entertainment. In addition to a number of nonfiction and fictional horror films, it has inspired such comedies as Harry and the Hendersons (1987) and Sasquatch Sunset (2024). The beast is also a frequent topic of books—many of which are written by those who have had encounters, found evidence or have theories to.share. Commercial advertising has made good use of Bigfoot in print and media ads.

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