You know that Sasquatch is
definitely/maybe/probably not out there. But really, that just barely
scratches the surface of mythical, magical, and just plain marvelous animals
alleged to live in the United States. American cryptids run the gamut from
goat-headed demons to birds big enough to block the sun. If you don't want to
embark on yet another Bigfoot hunt, why not check your part of the country on
the list below and see what else is lurking in your neck of
the woods?
Northeast
The Jersey Devil
Pine Barrens, New Jersey: One of the best-known cryptids in the country
after ol' Squatchy, the Jersey Devil has been terrorizing southern Jersey since
1735, if the stories are to be believed. That was the year that a woman known
as Mother Leeds uttered a fateful curse upon becoming pregnant for the 13th
time: “Let this one be a devil!!” After being born, the child
transformed into a massive, two-legged creature with huge bat wings, heavy
horse-like hooves, and the head of a goat. One of the very first sightings was
in 1812 by Joseph Bonaparte — the brother of Napoleon — who followed a set of
hoof prints into the woods and allegedly came face-to-face with the hissing
creature. There have been sightings consistently since then, including a
staggering 1,000 in the year 1909 alone, and the moist recent one coming
in around 2015.
Champ
Burlington, Vermont: The U.S. has more than its fair share of lake
monsters, just like Scotland's Loch Ness Monster. Champ is the name
of the plesiosaur/sea serpent/monster-shaped bundle of sticks that haunts Lake
Champlain in Vermont. He's been a part of the landscape for quite some time:
Even P.T. Barnum once attempted to capture the creature. In most depictions,
Champ is your classic lake monster: long neck, egg-shaped body, four paddles
& a short tail. And that's how he looks in most of the photos and videos,
too. Yes, there's no shortage of Champ pics, as long as you're willing to
squint a bit. But two pieces of documentation deserve extra attention. In 1977,
a woman named Sandra Mansi took the best known photo of the beast, and in 2005,
a pair of New York fishermen took footage of ...something with a long, snake-like neck following behind their
boat.
South
Pope Lick Monster
Pope Lick Creek, Kentucky: Sort of like the Jersey Devil, the Pope Lick
monster is a human-animal hybrid with a distinctly demonic appearance. It
appears in only one place: the trestle bridge over Pope Lick Creek on the
Norfolk Southern Railway. It's a dangerous place to go monster hunting, and not
because of the tall, goat-headed creature that's out to get you. See, the train
tracks are still in use, and in fact, the Pope Lick monster is said to imitate
human voices in order to lure victims in front of oncoming locomotives. Whether
the monster is real or not, it's the only one on this list that is verifiably
responsible for the deaths of monster hunters.
Skunk Ape
Ochopee, Florida: Did you know that Bigfoot has a cousin? In
fact, there are about 50 different flavors of Sasquatch: one for each state.
But the skunk ape stands out among them as the one with the most fanatical
following. Just head on down to the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters in
Ochopee if you don't believe it. As you might guess, this ape has a whole lot
in common with its more northern relative. The big difference? Its rancid odor.
Midwest
Loveland Frog Men
Loveland, Ohio: The first two sightings of these giant, bipedal
frogs happened in March 1972 — and both incidents were witnessed by police officers. Officer Ray Shockey and Officer Mark Matthews
both described a creature that was 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall, with textured,
leathery skin and the face of a lizard or frog. Shockey saw his first on March
3, and Matthews' frog was spotted playing dead in the street on St. Patrick's
Day a couple weeks later. In 2016, some men may have spotted the descendant of those
frogs — right down to the giant eyes reflecting the light of the flash in the
photo they took.
The Beast of Busco
Churubusco, Indiana: We probably shouldn't play favorites, but of all
the creatures on this list, we believe in the Beast of Busco the most. That's
because it's a real animal — just a weird one. In 1898, a farmer named Oscar
Fulk spotted an incredible beast on his property: an alligator snapping turtle
of monstrous proportions. The story died down for about 50 years, but in 1949,
the property's new owner was at the center of renewed interest. Gale Harris said he saw the beast on his land, but when a pair of Churubusco
fishermen on Lake Fulk said they saw it too, it kicked off a massive search.
They actually drained the lake in hopes of finding the turtle, but to no avail.
Still, who can say for sure that the beast didn't just give them the slip?
Mothman
Chicago, Illinois: The original Mothman terrorized West Virginia in the
'60s (and was the subject of a 2002 movie), but if recent stories are to be believed, a new Mothman is on
the loose in the Windy City. In 2017, there were no fewer than 55 sightings of a large winged humanoid swooping over the city streets.
If it really is the same creature, or the same type of creature, then
Chicagoans should watch out. Its first appearance in 1966 was said to have
brought about an infamous 1967 bridge collapse.
West
Thunderbirds
Huachuca Desert, Arizona: Thunderbirds are enormous birds of prey with wingspans
measuring anywhere from 10 to 60 feet (3 to 18 meters), depending on who tells the story. With wings like that, you'd expect to see
reports of them from all over the country. And in fact, that's exactly what
you'll find. The thunderbird plays a major role in many Native American
traditions, sometimes acting as a protector of the upper realms and sometimes
acting as an arbiter of justice for misbehaving humans. But the thunderbirds of
Arizona get a special call-out since they're the ones that were cited in an
1890 newspaper article titled "A Strange Winged Monster Discovered and Killed on the
Huachuca Desert."
Shunka Warak'in
Denton, Montana: Like the Busco Beast, Shunka Warak'in most
closely resembles a massive version of a known animal. Legends of an enormous,
wolf-like creature that haunts the Rockies date back several centuries, and its
name in Ioway means roughly "Thing that carries dogs away in its mouth." It's described as being
similar but not identical to a wolf, and many witnesses describe a hyena-esque
appearance. Shunka Warak'in has one more thing common with the Beast: There
could easily be a grain of truth to its legend. We may even have two specimens
on hand already. One is a taxidermied mount of a creature killed in 1886, and the other is a recently discovered corpse that some scientists have been unwilling
to confirm as a full-bred wolf.
Batsquatch
Mount St. Helens,
Washington: Sometimes, you
don't need a lot of verifiable evidence. Sometimes, you don't need a spooky
story. Sometimes, all you need is a name: Batsquatch. You can probably already
picture it: a giant, ape-like body, a grotesque, bat-like face, and a pair of enormous
membraned wings. Allegedly, it was spotted first right before the 1980 eruption
of Mount St. Helens, but that's not important. What's important is Batsquatch.
Batsquatch!!
(curiosity.com/Reuben Westmaas)
(curiosity.com/Reuben Westmaas)
