Apelike Creatures

Enormous footprints often portray the markings left by mysterious creatures who roam in dark forests and freezing temperatures of mountain ranges. Legends of these creatures date back to the Middle Ages. Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman, and the Skunk Ape exist as the most popular of such creatures (“Apelike Monsters”).

Bigfoot became known to early tribes and settlers; he was also present in native traditions and journals of early settlers. Bigfoot’s name derives from the large footprints his trail leaves. Over the decades people give Bigfoot names such as Wauk-Wauk, Oh-Mah, and Saskehavis. Nobody had any interest in Bigfoot until the European Settlers started seeing him. Canada knows Bigfoot as Sasquatch. Bigfoot became largely known in the 1950s when he was sighted by a crew in California (Lamy 4; “Apelike Monsters”).

Most reports describe Bigfoot very similarly. These reports describe Bigfoot as being six to eight feet tall and weighing as much as five hundred pounds. Bigfoot’s hair has been described as covering his entire body and being brown, gray, or black (“Bigfoot,” Encyclopedia Americana 735; Cohen, “Bigfoot” 63). Descriptions of Bigfoot describe him as “having an immense, muscled body” (Lamy 4).

Creatures such as Bigfoot have been reported in all states of the country but ordinary Bigfoot sightings have been “confined to northern California, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho” (Simpson 251-252). “In North America, the greatest number of sightings of Bigfoot have come from the Fraser River Valley, the Strait of Georgia, and Vancouver Island” (“Apelike Creatures”). In 1958, a machine operator, Jerry Crew, in California made casts of a footprint he found, which made the myth popular. In 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin horseback ride through an area of north California searching for Bigfoot when one appeared in their path, propelling Roger from his horse. Roger got back up and began to film as Bob kept a gun on the creature. The film shows the creature walking away from the camera. The creature “does not appear to be frightened, but it is obvious that it wishes to avoid contact” (“Apelike Creatures”). Scientists say that the creature stands seven feet tall and left footprints seventeen inches long. Unfortunately, Roger Patterson died in 1972 (Lamy 4; “Apelike Monsters”).

Along with Bigfoot, another creature, commonly named Abominable Snowman or the Yeti, may or may not exist. The Abominable Snowman got his name because he and his footprints have been sighted in the snow areas of the Himalayas. In China, they call the Abominable Snowman, yeren (“Apelike Monsters”). “Reports of such a creature have also come from remote parts of China, Siberia, and other parts of Asia” (Cohen, “Abominable Snowman” 12).