Say Hello to My Not So Little Friends:
Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, and Yowie

I’ve always been fascinated by this creature, and that goes back to my childhood when I watched the fun family movie titled, Harry and the Hendersons. While I’m not going to go into a review of the film, I watched it again a few years ago, and it is still a wonderful movie; check it out if you’ve never seen it! From childhood wonderment to young adulthood driving late at night listening to a paranormal radio talk show, my interest grew. I also became confused because to me, Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, Yowie, and the Abominable Snowman all seemed to be different creatures. After a little digging, they’re not all that different aside from the color of their fur, and where they live—if they exist.

The usual suspect for a Bigfoot sighting is a tall bipedal ape-like creature with brown or reddish brown hair. The description of the Yeti is the same other than its fur color is white and gray, or sometimes brown and gray. Considering the Yeti lives in colder and snowier climates, its white or gray fur color can help it stay unseen for the most part; similar to the brown furred Bigfoot in the forests of Oregon—it remains fairly invisible while surrounded by trees and leaves, and can go about its business without much risk of human interruption.

These fantastic beasts have been eluding the confirmation of their existence for centuries leaving behind morsels that may or may not have been actually left by them. This piece will focus on the origin stories of each of them, along with sightings, hoaxes, festivals, and the likelihood of us ever finding rock hard evidence that they exist.

Sasquatch and Bigfoot

The name ‘Bigfoot’ is used to describe any hairy unknown hominid that has been seen walking around the globe. The more respectable or accepted term, however, is Sasquatch which derives from the word ‘Sesquac,’ which means—wild man. Now, I’ve been called wild man once or twice in my life, but we must have skipped a generation or something because while I’m quite beardy, I’m not very tall. Back to the name Sasquatch, it originates from British Columbia—one of the hottest places for Bigfoot sightings on the planet. The name Bigfoot originated in California in 1958 when a man brought a cast of a large footprint he found near his bulldozer to the local newspaper. It was a cast of a big foot, so they cleverly put the two words together and made history.

The Northwestern forests of North America and areas of Canada have often been the hotbed for sightings of the Bigfoot. The forests in those areas are so vast that it’s not out of the possibility that a creature of this magnitude could exist, and elude confirmed discovery for so long. Our technology, however, has advanced so much in the last decade or two that it shouldn’t be too difficult to get rock hard evidence of Bigfoot’s existence; unless it’s able to move in and out of its dimension or multiverse, but that sounds a little too Made-For-TV for me. Don’t misunderstand here, I believe other multiverses and dimensions exist, I just don’t think Bigfoot is coming from any of them. When you take into consideration most of the planet’s dry land has been mapped out and discovered, it’s hard to sell Bigfoot as being out there somewhere. Mapped out and discovered doesn’t mean fully explored, so there’s definitely a chance of Sasquatch being out there.

Yeti

The Yeti, not unlike Bigfoot, but very different from the travel mugs sold at retail shops around the world, is another elusive and tall hairy fellow. Just like Bigfoot or Sasquatch, the Yeti is known by two names: Yeti and the Abominable Snowman. For this piece, to minimize confusion, I’ll be calling him Yeti. The Yeti derives from Himalayan folklore, and is said to inhabit countries in that region like Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. While the appearance is mostly the same as its warm temperature counterpart, the Yeti is covered in white or light gray fur, and sometimes brown. They stand six to nine feet tall, and enjoy long walks on the mountain ranges. During research, most will say the Yeti and Bigfoot aren’t the same. It’s true from a certain point of view—meaning they’re in different climates, and different parts of the world, but they can evolve and adapt to their surroundings. They’ll eat similar foods, they’ll be similar in size and appearance, but I imagine Bigfoot would like an extra pair of fur pants and a scarf if he was to travel into the homeland of the Yeti. There’s an altitude argument that if true, could mean they’re more different than I believe. “According to legends, Alexander the Great once demanded to see a Yeti, but the locals told him the creature could not survive at that low of an altitude.” If he was interested in the Yeti back in 326 BC, perhaps the Bigfoot and Yeti originally came from there and branched out over the centuries into other parts of the world.

Just like most of the legendary beasts, the Yeti is no different. We don’t have any rock hard proof of their existence, but we do have some evidence linking them to bears, which is disappointing, but a good thing at the same time. “Analysing Yeti samples and showing that the majority are from bears provides a connection between the myths of a rare wildman and a real creature which can occasionally be scary,” says Ross Barnett, an evolutionary biologist and expert on ancient DNA at Durham University in the U.K. The work also allowed the team to create a new family tree of vulnerable subspecies of Asian bears, which may prove useful in efforts to protect the animals.” This is an example of debunking the Yeti, but giving hope to a vulnerable species of bears. A loss for Yeti research, but a big win, otherwise. This doesn’t mean the Yeti doesn’t exist or didn’t exist at some point. It means the search goes on!

Yowie

Top 5 States for Bigfoot Sightings

Living in North America, I wanted to see which states were in the top five for Bigfoot sightings, and to my excitement, according to multiple sources, Ohio is ranked number four! If this magnificent beast truly exists, my chances of seeing or meeting one are pretty high. Would you split a pizza with Bigfoot? I imagine you’d need to put anchovies on Bigfoot’s half of the pizza; none for me, thanks.

The top five states including Ohio, which I’ve already spoiled, are: 1. Washington 2. California 3. Florida 4. Ohio 5. Illinois. I was surprised to see Oregon ranking number six, but it isn’t far behind, and while some states rank higher than others, sightings numbers are in the hundreds in many states.

“The eastern half of Ohio is teeming with Bigfoot sightings. Locals have reported numerous sightings of what they call “the grassman”—a large ape-like creature that has been spotted in the hills and forests of Ohio’s Appalachian Plateau. The state is also home to the famous “Ohio Howl,” a hair-raising recording of a deep voice screaming and howling into the night, believed to be the call of a sasquatch. Even more intriguing, years after the first recording, the howls were heard again.”

The Most Famous Bigfoot Sighting in North America

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of videos and photos of Bigfoot all over the internet. The one that always comes to mind is the 1967 Patterson-Gilmin film. When I started writing this piece, this was one of the first things I thought about. I’ve seen this video so many times, and whether it’s ever truly debunked or confirmed as credible, it will always be talked about as part of the North American Bigfoot phenomena. The video shows a female (later named, Patty) Bigfoot walking through a clearing in Willow Creek, California. Bob Gimlin and Roger Patterson gathered their horses that day and headed on a trail where Roger had seen some large footprints. Not long into their trek, their horses started freaking out because across the crick from them was Bigfoot. It calmly turned and walked away. Roger tried to get after it with his camera and after he stumbled, the Bigfoot turned to look at them, which is the part in the video when it turns its head. They reportedly tried to go look for her after they calmed their horses, but unfortunately, Patty was gone. The film is fascinating, and it’s been analyzed without anything conclusive either way. I stumbled across this analysis and I feel like it is doing a good job of saying there was definitely something out there that day. I want to believe, do you believe?

Bigfoot Capital of the World

Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Yowie are sought after, and celebrated all over the globe. After my research, I feel that most people just seek confirmation of their existence. The bad news is the truth one way or the other has not been found yet, and the search is centuries old. That doesn’t mean you can’t go to any Bigfoot festivals. They might even take place in your home town or state. Hocking Hills, Ohio is one place that has been known to host Bigfoot festivals, but why not travel to the Bigfoot Capital of the world?

Look no further than Willow Creek, California. No surprise that Humboldt County adopted the title: Bigfoot Capital of the World; especially with a Bigfoot on the front of their museum. If you live in any of the top five states, or in one of the countries that has sightings of their friendly (Hopefully), hairy bipedal, I’m certain there is some form of celebration or Bigfoot/Yeti related gift shops.

So, where do you stand on these large fantastical beasts? Do you think they exist, or existed at some point in our history?