Apelike Creatures

Reports describe the creature as being six to eight feet tall and having long hair. His footprints have been as long as sixteen inches. Reports describe the creature as standing and walking upright with his arms stretching to his knees. People who have seen the Abominable Snowman claim that his face resembles those of an ape and human. People describe the Abominable Snowman’s hair to be dark and long. (“Abominable Snowman,” Encyclopedia Americana 43; Cohen, “Abominable Snowman” 13).

Unlike Bigfoot, the Abominable Snowman has not been sighted very much. People usually just see his footprints and not the actual being. In 1960, Sir Edmund Hillary hunted for the Abominable Snowman with his team; World Book Encyclopedia sponsored the search. After Hillary’s search, he concluded that the Abominable Snowman only existed as a legend and the large footprints could be human or other animal footprints melted by the sun (Nickell 8). Despite calling the Abominable Snowman a legend, they did find hair in a high mountain pass. In April of 1995, Professor Yuan Zhengxin conducted a search for the Abominable Snowman. The professor and his team looked in the Hubei mountain areas. Professor Zhengxin felt very strongly that they could catch a snowman within the first three years, but most of his team left by the first three months with nothing to show for their efforts (“Apelike Monsters”).

Categorized with Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, the Skunk Ape may exist. The Skunk Ape became known to the residents of Florida “since the early days of that state’s history” (“Apelike Monsters”). The Skunk Ape probably got his name because he supposedly has a bad smell associated with him. The smell of the Skunk Ape resembles “a strong mixture of rotten eggs, manure and an elephant’s cage” (Lamy 16).

The Skunk Ape has been described by law enforcement to be “about 10 feet tall and weighed around 1,000 pounds” (“Apelike Monsters”). People that have tried searching for the Skunk Ape claim he lives in the Everglade swamp. The Skunk Ape supposedly soaks up the smell of the dead animals in the swamp, resulting in the horrid smell that accompanies the creature (“Apelike Monsters”).

Sightings of the Skunk Ape stopped for a while. In 2001 the police department received a letter from an anonymous person. The letter enclosed pictures of a creature, which the sender stated, was loose around and near the Myakka State Park region. She feared the creature may harm her family. When cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman, and animal welfare specialist, David Barkasy, analyzed the pictures they concluded that the pictures appeared to be good evidence of the existence of the creature (“Apelike Monsters”).

The existence of these creatures cannot easily be accepted because so little evidence exists. The existing evidence lacks detail and does not help much in verifying or denying the existence of these creatures. People still search for evidence that scientist cannot deny and maybe one day the world will know if creatures such as these really exist or not.

Works Cited

“Abominable Snowman.” The Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia University Press, 2000. 180. General One File. Web. 18 Feb. 2009.

“Abominable Snowman.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2004 ed. Print.

“Apelike Monsters.” Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. Eds. Brad Steiger and Sherry Hanson Steiger. Vol 3. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Library. Web. 18 Feb. 2009.

“Bigfoot.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 1991 ed. Print.

“Bigfoot.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2004 ed. Print.

Cohen, Daniel. “Abominable Snowman.” World Book. 2002 ed. Print.

Cohen, Daniel. “Bigfoot.” World Book. 2002 ed. Print.

Eason, Cassandra. Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols. Westport, CT: Eason, 2008. Print.

Lamy, Matt. 100 Strangest Unexplained Mysteries. London, England: Capella , 2003. Print.

Loxton, Daniel. “Big foot, Bigger Hoax. (News).” Skeptic (Altadena, CA) 10.1 (Spring 2003): 18. General One File. Web. 20 Feb. 2009.

Loxton, Daniel. “The First Tracks!” Skeptic (Altadena, CA) 10.2 (Summer 2003): 97. General One File. Web. 20 Feb. 2009.

Nickell, Joe. “Sir Edmund Hillary, Explorer, Skeptic (1919-2008). (News and Comment).” Skeptical Inquirer 32.2 (May-June 2008): 8. General One File. 20 Feb. 2009.

Radford, Benjamin. “Georgia Bigfoot Hoax Draws Global Attention (News and Comment).” Skeptical Inquirer 32.6 (Nov.-Dec. 2008): 5. General One File. Web. 20 Feb. 2009.

“Sasquatch.” The American Heritage Dictionary. 1991 ed. Print.

Shackley, Myra. Still Living. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1983. Print.

Simpson, Philip L. “Bigfoot.” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Eds. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol 1. Detriot: St. James Press, 2000. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2009.