Nerd for Hire

There are some types of creatures that seem to pop up all over world mythology and folklore. I've written about a few of them before, like dragons and little folk. One of the most intriguing categories of pervasive monsters for me as a cryptid nerd is the hairy apeman archetype, exemplified in current pop culture most often as the enigmatic Bigfoot.

Even moreso than other well-known cryptids like Nessie or Mothman, Bigfoot exists in the liminal space between folklore and reality. The sheer number of reported encounters with Sasquatch/Yeti type creatures over the years is its own fascinating phenomenon, even for those who don't personally believe the creature could exist. It's also the cryptid that people are most likely to believe in. A 2022 poll from Civic Science showed that 13% of U.S. adults believe Sasquatch is a real, living creature, which is lower than the percentage who believe aliens have visited Earth (31%) but higher than those who believe in Nessie (9%). A poll from the Association of Religion Data Archives has slightly higher figures, with 13% responding that Bigfoot probably exists, and an additional 3% responding that it absolutely exists.

And these statistics are just within the United States. There are iterations of this creature archetype that go by various names in pretty much every corner of the world. In some places, it's seen as a purely fictional folklore monster, while in others it's accepted broadly as a real creature that lives in the more wild parts of the landscape.

I find it fascinating to compare different versions of the same cryptid archetype, especially if you run with the thought experiment that this is a real genus of primates that has split into several species and subspecies in different isolated environments. In that spirit, here are some of the many hairy hominids found around the world. I certainly don't assume that this is a comprehensive list, but it's a good starter set of Bigfoot-like creatures.

Bigfoot in the Americas

The terms Bigfoot and Sasquatch are essentially interchangeable by this point across the United States. Both refer to a bipedal humanoid covered in brown or black hair. They're typically larger and taller than the average human, reported in the range of 6-10 feet tall, and are often reported to have a foul, wet-dog-like odor, sometimes with glowing red, orange, or yellow eyes.

This over-arching archetype of the hairy hominid is widespread across The United States and Canada. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization has logged sightings in every state except Hawaii (Washington, California, Florida, Ohio, and Illinois have the most reports), as well as 9 of the 10 Canadian provices (all except Prince Edward Island).

Different regions also have their own versions of the archetype:

Albatwitch - also the Apple Snitch or Apple Devil, this is one of the little bigfoot (smallfoot?) variants. These little guys are about 4 feet tall, covered in dark brown or black fur. They're lanky rather than bulky, with long arms and slender torsos. Sometimes reported with glowing orange or red eyes.

• Reported in southeast Pennsylvania, especially the Chickies Rock area along the Susquehanna River
• Likes to sit in trees
• Especially fond of apples, and in early reports from the 1800s they were said to have stolen apples from picnic baskets and throw the cores at people

Bardin Booger - Descriptions of this one vary, but it's always tall, sometimes as tall as 10 feet, and covered in hair. In some reports it looks very human-like while others make it very ape-like, and it has even been reported to wear clothes.

• First reported in 1947 outside of Bardin, Florida
• Sometimes makes a mumbling noise
• Gives off a rotten smell

Big Muddy Monster - also the Murphysboro Mud Monster. Around 7-8 feet tall with light-colored or white hair that's consistently reported as covered in mud and having the usual foul stench associated with Bigfeet. It's also reported with glowing red eyes, though in this case it's been suggested its eyes are actually pink and this is an albino bigfoot.

• First reported in 1973 in Murphysboro, Illinois
• Makes an ear-piercing noise that a witness described as “an eagle shrieking into a microphone”

Dewey Lake Monster - Also the Sister Lakes Sasquatch. One of the taller variants (10 feet tall) but slender rather than broad, reported to weigh around 500 pounds. Also features glowing eyes and pronounced fangs.

• First reported in 1964 around Dewey Lake and Sister Lakes in Michigan
• Lives in the swampland of the lakeshore
• Aggressive, reported to attack several people in teh summer of 1964

Fouke Monster - also called the Boggy Creek Monster or the Swamp Stalker. Reports range from 7-10 feet tall with a broad chest, glowing red eyes the size of silver dollars, and covered in long dark hair.

• First reported in Fouke (a small town in southwest Arkansas) in 1971
• Aggressive, initial encounter was an attack on a human
• Runs quickly and swings its arms like a monkey
• Smells like a mix between a skunk and a wet dog

Grassman - also the Ohio Grassman, Kenmore Grassman, Orange Eyes. Described as massive (up to 1,000 pounds) with long arms, a pointed head, no neck, and monstrously wide shoulders. They also have deep-set glowing red or orange eyes and are covered in black or very dark brown fur, making them one of the more horror movie ready Bigfoot variants.

• Reported in the woods of Ohio (most famous sighting was in Minerva, Ohio in 1978)
• More aggressive than most Bigfoot-like creatures, are known to attack people and kill dogs
• Smells of rot and the odor lingers for days in the areas where it's spotted
• Makes noises including growls, barks, and a cry that sounds like a baby
• More communal than other variants, spotted in groups of up to 5 including mothers with babies

Honey Island Swamp Monster - also the Cajun Sasquatch or La Bete Noire. This one has gray hair, with yellow or red eyes. Its footprints also typically have four toes, which is unusual for a primate.

• Reported in the Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana
• First report dates to 1963
• Local lore says they're actually a community of chimpanzees that escaped from a train carrying a circus

Kushtaka - Also called the Water Devil or Land Otter Man, this monkey-like cryptid has long, coarse hair and claw-like fingers, with traits of both monkeys and humans (and, of course, they stink). It also features in the folklore of the Tlingit, where they're portrayed as shape-shifters that can take the form of a human or an otter.

• First reported around 1900 in Thomas Bay, southeast Alaska
• In folklore, they can be either helpful and benevolent or tricksters who lure travelers to their deaths
• As comfortable in water as on land, which is different from most squatches

Mapinguari - Called the Brazilian Bigfoot, accounts from folklore depict this creature with a single eye and two mouths: one on its face, and one in the middle of its stomach. It's otherwise similar to other bigfeet, covered in brown fur and with a very bad smell.

• Said to live in the forests of Para Amazonas, and Acre
• Violent, often eating humans by shoving them head-first into their stomach mouths
• Sometimes said to have donkey hooves instead of feet, or feet that point backwards
• Has been suggested it's actually a surviving giant ground sloth

Momo - also called the Missouri Monster or Momo the Monster. Momo is especially furry even for a Bigfoot, with hair even covering its eyes and an oversized, pumpkin-shaped head

• First reported near Louisiana, Missouri in 1971, has since been spotted up and down the Mississippi River
• Very aggressive, known to eat dogs and cats
• Puts off a terrible odor

Mogollon Monster - also the Arizona Bigfoot. Its fur is reddish brown or black, though it lacks fur on much of its face, with a human-like beard. The eyes are deep-set and red and it's inhumanly strong.

• Reported along the Mongollon Rim in eastern and central Arizona
• Earliest documented sighting was in 1903
• Odor is reported more colorfully than most, described as “dead fish, a skunk with bad body odor, decaying peat moss, and the musk of a snapping turtle”
• Nocturnal and violent
• Makes sounds including screaming and whistling

Nantinaq - Also called Alaska's killer bigfoot. Very large (over 8 feet) and covered in dark fur with sharp claws.

• Reported in Alaska, most famously around the village of Portlock, where the creature was said to have caused the abandonment of the town in 1950
• Earliest sightings date back to expedition logs from the 1700s
• Attributed with supernatural abilities, including causing illnesses and catastrophes

Sheepsquatch – Hairy hominid that looks like a cross between a sheep and a bear, but standing upright on two legs. Other features include shaggy white fur, sharp teeth, the horns of a ram or goat, and glowing red eyes.

• Reported mostly in the TNT Area of West Virginia, with occasional reports in Kentucky and Virginia
• First sightings were in the 1990s
• Was initially reported to run from people but its behavior has become more aggressive over time

Sisimite - or Sisimito, it's also called the Mexican bigfoot, though it's also reported in other Central American countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala. It has black or brown fur and is taller than a human. Its most distinctive feature is that its feet face backwards and it has no knees. It also has just four fingers on each hand with no thumbs.

• Said to live high in the mountains
• Reported to eat humans, also to kidnap women to mate with

Skunk Ape - Large bipedal creature covered in black fur with glowing red eyes

• Reported in southern Florida, especially around Everglades National Park
• Name comes from its terrible odor
• First reported in the 1960s, with a surge of sightings around Dade County in 1974

Stone Giant - also Stone Coat, Genoskwa, or Ot ne yar heh. Hair-covered giant with rock-hard skin spoken of in Iroquois legends. They're 9-11 feet tall and can weigh over 1,000 pounds

• Aggressive and territorial, with the habit of twisting the heads off their victims
• Reported to eat humans they capture
• Armpits exude an odor that's a mix between a skunk and a dead animal

Ucu - also the Ucumar or Ukumar-zupai, it's a smaller creature, about the size of a large dog though walking upright. It's sometimes described as a bear-like humanoid, with small eyes and large arms.

• Reported in the Andes Mountains, especially Chile and Argentina
• Earliest documented sighting was in 1958 outside of Santiago
• Enjoys eating payo (a cabbage like plant)
• Makes a sound described as uhu uhu

White Bigfoot - also the Pennsylvania White Bigfoot, this is a hairy hominid that's (you guessed it) completely white. It has been hypothesized that this is an elderly bigfoot, and other suggest it could be related to the Sheepsquatch. Sometimes have red eyes.

• Concentrated in Pennsylvania, often in wooded areas
• Move very fast but are typically not aggressive

Woodbooger – or Wood Booger, a name earned from its purported habit of carrying off young children boogeyman style. Its appearance is like an upright ape, often depicted with fangs and a broad, muscled chest.

• Reported in Southwest Virginia near the towns of Norton and Saltville
• Earliest potential sighting was reported in a newspaper article in November 1892

Yeti and his Friends: Europe and (Most of) Asia

The legend of the Yeti is known about as widely as Bigfoot, and it's the same basic model: a large creature that walks on two legs and is covered in fur, although in this case said fur is usually white, or occasionally brown or gray. Tibetan lore establishes three varieties of Yeti:

• Nyalmo – black-furred and fierce, standing up to 15 feet tall
• Chuti – about 8-10 feet tall
• Rang Shim Bombo – 3-5 feet tall, with reddish-brown fur

There are also several other variants of the creature across the Eurasian continent, including:

Almas - plural Almasty, also called Bnahua, Almaslar, or Ochokochi. Looks more human than the typical bigfoot, with brown or reddish fur over its whole body but no hair on its face. It has a prominent brow and jaw but a flat nose. They're also said to craft tools and wear clothes, pushing them even more into that prehistoric human type of camp.

• First recorded in the 1400s in Mongolia, with reports and artifacts found around the Caucasus Mountains and Pamir Mountains
• In the 1880s a Russian nobleman named Edgi Genaba was said to have a captive Alma, named Zana, who worked for him and bore several hybrid children
• Live in family groups in underground dens

Barmanou - This creature appears in several cultures' folklores across the north of Pakistan, and the exact appearance can vary between tellings. Usually they have a blend of human and ape-like characteristics, and sometimes they wear animal skins, though rarely as full garments.

• Reported in mountainous regions of Afghanistan in Pakistan
• Said to abduct women as mates

Basajaun – the name of this hairy hominid from Basque folklore translates to “lord of the forest” in Euskera. In folklore he's a kind of culture hero, responsible for teaching humans blacksmithing and agriculture. As a cryptid, it's a strong and agile creature about the height of a man with shaggy fur.

• Lives in northern Spain (Andalucia)
• Reported as recently as 1993 in the Catalan Pyrenees Mountain Range
• Makes noises “resembling those of an enraged cat”

Chuchuna - also Mulen, Tjutjuna, or Siberian Snowman. Described in the folklore of the Tungus and Yakut people as Neanderthal-like but with extra white fur on its forearms. In other accounts it's a 6-7 foot tall creature covered in dark hair. Unlike most Bigfoot types, they're reported as sometimes wearing clothes, which has led to speculation it's a remnant population of a different hominid.

• Lives in Siberia, typically reported in rural, remote areas
• Documentation of sightings started in 1928
• Known for making raids on barns and farms at night in southeast Siberia
• Said to consume human flesh

Greyman - also Am Fear Liath Mor or the Big Gray Man of Ben MacDhui, this creature is extremely tall with short hair covering its entire body.

• Reported on Ben MacDhui, the highest peak of Scotland's Cairngorms
• Notable report was from climber John Norman Collie in the 1890s who heard someone climbing behind him
• Sometimes seen as a supernatural being, said to cause uneasy feelings in people climbing the mountain

Hibagon – This ape-like creature is about 5 feet tall, covered mostly in black fur but with white hands and feet. It has a face shaped like an inverted triangle, a snub nose, and large, deep-set eyes

• Reported around Mount Hiba in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
• Lives in forested, mountainous areas
• Seems to be peaceful, and has fled rather than fighting in encounters with armed humans
• Smells like decaying flesh

Mande Burung - a large ape-like creature that has been called the Indian Yeti. Size estimates are around 7-9 feet tall and it has incredible strength, though it's a gentle giant, primarily an herbivore. Its hair is blackish brown and it emits the usual foul odor.

• Reported in the Garo Hills in Meghalaya
• Shy and harmless
• Encounters unique to this creature mention being abducted and forced to breastfeed from a female creature. The most recent report of this type was from 1999, and the abductee reported the milk was “sour with a mixture of bitterness.”

Yeren – also Man-Monkey, Man-Bear, or Wildman of Shennongjia. They stand over 6 feet tall and have tawny or reddish-black fur covering their whole body, with a face that has both ape-like and human traits. Their most distincitve trait are their long arms, which hang down nearly to their knees.

• Accounts go back about 3,000 years in western China
• Sightings in 1977 prompted a government-funded investigation
• Lives in caves in remote, mountains regions, particularly the Shennongjia District in Hubei Province

Apemen in Southeast Asia and Oceania

I'm lumping these together because there is often a lot of influence and overlap in the folklore of various cultures from this region. One intriguing detail is that many of the cryptids found in island nations tend to be shorter on average than those reported elsewhere in the world. Here are a smattering of the squatches found here:

Amomongo - This one's a bit shorter, about 5-6 feet, covered in white fur with long, sharp claws. It features in Philippine folklore, especially of the Negros Occidental province.

• Reported as recently as 2008 when it was said to have attacked two residents of La Castellana
• Lives in caves near the foot of Mount Kanlaon

Batutut - Small creature (4-5 feet tall) covered in dark fur all over with long hair on its head.

• Reported in the Kalimantan region of Borneo
• Prints were found in 1969 that looked human-like but with the big toe on the other side of the foot
• Flees when it encounters human, usually along the ground instead of through the trees
• Most active at dawn and dusk
• Likes to eat snails which it's been seen breaking open with stones

Gin-Sung - also called Dzu-Tehy in Tibet, or Kung-Lu in China. Giant creature covered in shaggy black or gray hair. Its head is flat with a pronounced brow, and though its hands and feet are human-like it has very long arms.

• Reported in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan
• Folklore dates back to 2,000 BC, has been spotted sporadically throughout the 20th century
• Often seen crossing from valley to valley over the mountains
• Are said to be omnivorous but harmless to humans
• Make nests out of leaves and branches

Hantu Jarang - also called Gigi, these are tall beings, about 9-10 feet tall, with dark brown hair over their entire body. It's part of the folklore of the Orang Asli people, who say there are only three individuals (a mating couple and their child), not an entire species.

• Reported in the Endau-Rompin Park along Malaysia's east coast, especially the Sungai Kencin area
• Reclusive and harmless
• Lives in forest caves

Kapre - also called the Agta or Tree Demon, this 7-9 foot hairy hominid is known for more human traits than most. This includes a taste for smoking cigars and a habit for wearing loincloths. They also have features similar to other Squatches, like red eyes, dark fur, and a strong body odor.

• Reported in the area of Malitbog in the Philippines
• Live in mangroves, santol trees, and swampy places
• Are often friendly to humans but can become violent if people cut down their trees
• Some legends say they wear a belt that makes them invisible to people

Kayadi - known to the Siawi and Amto people, this creature is man-sized and strong enough to throw a person. Their fur isn't as long or shaggy as other iterations.

• First reported in 2002 by American cryptozoologist Todd Jurasek
• Are reports of humans being kidnapped by Kayadi
• Can climb trees very quickly

Mawas - this word is also an Indonesian word for orangutan, though it's alternatively used to refer to a cryptid. It's 5-6 feet tall with black or brown hair and seems to enjoy eating fruit.

• Reported in southern Malaysia, most recently in Negeri Sembilan province
• Give off a “strong animal scent”

Moehau - hailing from Maori folklore, this is New Zealand's version of Bigfoot. It's distinctive features include yellow or gray hair and large tusks.

• Reported in the early 1900s by a farmer in the Corramandel Peninsula
• Is apparently an herbivore, has been spotted stealing from farmers' vegetable patches
• Said to carry off women and children

Nguoi Rung - translating to Forest Man, this Vietnamese cryptid is about 6 feet tall with gray, brown, or black hair everywhere except its face, hands, and the soles of its feet.

• Two were reportedly captured in Dak Lak Province in 1971
• Omnivorous, often spotted foraging for food
• Cryptozoologist Loren Colemen has posited they're surviving members of Homo erectus

Orang Pendek - Another of the little guys, this one is about 2-5 feet tall. They're strong for their size, though, able to uproot trees. They're covered entirely in short, dark fur with especially long hair on their heads, and have a human-like face, though their legs are shorter than a typical person's.

• Reported on Sumatra, especially in the Kerinci Regency
• Documented by Dutch colonists as early as 1923
• Live on the ground in remote, mountainous forests

Yowie - also Yahoo or Hairy Man, this is basically Australia's version of the bigfoot. It's not always large, with reports ranging from 5-12 feet tall, but it's violent and has talon-like claws and large fangs in a red mouth. Its fur is reddish or brown and its eyes are red or yellow. Some speculate it's a marsupial, but that's not consistent across accounts.

• Stories were first documented in the 1820s but date back much further
• Sightings reported as recently as 2021 in the state of Queensland
• Aggressive, reported to tear the heads off of kangaroos
• Name comes from yuwi, meaning “dream spirit”

Hairy Hominids in Africa

Mysterious ape creatures were reported in Africa by early explorers in the 1800s, including a creature somewhat equivalent to a bigfoot known as the koolookamba. That term today is applied to a different type of cryptid, a purported hybrid between a chimpanzee and a gorilla. As far as bigfoot analogs, I found a few in my research:

Agogwe - also Kakundakari or Kilomba, this is a jungle-dweller that's on the smaller side, around 2-5 feet tall. Its features are largely human, though it has longer arms and its body is covered in rusty-colored hair. Its skin color is another unique feature, said to be copper-colored

• Found in east Africa, especially Zimbabwe and Congo
• First reported in 1900 by English historian William Hichens
• Speculated to be a surviving species of australopithecine

Otang – this creature looks like a primitive hominid, and is comparable in height to a human, though covered in reddish or brown hair.

• First reported in the Knysna Forest of South Africa by biologist Gareth Patterson but have been known to local people for much longer
• Speculated to be a remnant population of a relic homonid

Waterbobbejaan - the name translates literally to “water baboon” and is applied to creatures with a range of descriptions. Some are small, others 7 feet tall, and fur color ranges from red to black. It's typically described with long arms, supporting theories it's a large baboon. It's also called fudu and the South African Bigfoot.

• Has been spotted in a range of places and terrains across South Africa, including a notable sighting in 1965 in Northwest Province
• Aggressive, has been accused of killing humans and livestock

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#Cryptids #Folklore #Mythology