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Cryptid of the Day: Bessie

Description: Bessie is the Lake Erie lake monster, first reported in 1793 by the captain of the Felicity off the coast of Sandusky, Ohio. Its described as serpent like with dark skin, measuring 30-40ft long. Sightings peaked in the 1800s, though modern sightings have also been recorded.

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Different types of Bigfoot/Ape Men around the world

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According to some stories, the Michigan Dogman has a particular sighting schedule. Legends say that this particular canid creature is seen every ten years during years that end in a 7. This rings true for some of the more famous sightings like ones in 1887 and 1937. However, it also takes into account the famous Steve Cook song “The Legend” which was recorded in 1987. But there are still many other sightings that do not share this particular pattern.

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In 1937, Robert Fortney had an encounter with what is believed to be the Michigan Dogman. The 17 year old was fishing along the Muskegon River near Paris, Michigan, after spending the early day small game hunting. Fortney claimed that a pack of five seemingly feral dogs had come out of the trees, moving toward him as though to attack. As the dogs moved closer to him, Fortney fired a shot from his rifle into the air. At the shock of the noise, the dogs turned to run back into the forest; all except one larger black dog with shockingly blue eyes. He fired another shot toward the black dog to scare it off too. 

In a 1987 interview on his encounter, Fortney explained what happened after the last shot: “It reared up on its hind legs and stared at me. It may be that I was just scared, but I swear that dog was smiling at me.”

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What do you make of this footage?

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The Beast of Bray Road was published in 2015. It was written by Linda Godfrey, who is the top expert on the mysterious cryptid. The book goes into detail on the original case and how it broke headlines thanks to Godfrey herself. She wrote about sightings, media and how the case caused people to open up about their own encounters with the creature. But she also talks about wolf humanoids throughout history, including werewolf sightings in Europe.

You can pick up a copy here! 

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Crytpid Size Comparison 

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The Michigan Dogman is a cryptid said to live in Wexford County, Michigan. It has been described as seven feet tall and covered in hair, with a howl that sounds like a human scream.

The Dogman was first sighted by two lumberjacks in 1887, and again throughout the 1900s. It gained some notoriety in 1987 when WTCM-FM DJ Steve Cook recorded a song about it as an April Fool’s Day joke.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

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The Pricolici is a hybrid of vampire and werewolf in Romanian folklore. Unquiet souls who rise from the grave to attack living people, they will sometimes resemble the person they were in life, but always possess wolf-like characteristics.

Some believe a Pricolici will be born when a particularly hateful or violent man dies. Others say that they rise from werewolves who have died. Belief in Pricolici exists to this day, with some rural Romanian villages reporting wolf attacks that are blamed on the undead creatures.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

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Four sightings so far in 2019 mark a great start to Nessie season.

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The Vegetable Lamb of Tartay is a legend from Central Asia; it was believed that this lamb grew from this plant. The lamb was attached to the plant by something that acted as an umbilical cord. The lamb would graze on the foliage around the plant itself and when it could no longer eat food, both the plant and lamb would die. 

A book from 1887 titled The Vegetable Lamb of Tartay, written by naturalist Henry Lee, explained that the lamb was a real creature but the beliefs on it varried. Some people believed that the lamb was the fruit of the plant, it hatched from things like seeds. Some believed that the lamb was attached from the plant via the umbilical cord-like section of the plant, and if separated from it, the lamb would die. According to this theory, the lamb was held above the ground and when it needed to feed, the plant would bed down so the lamb could reach food. It was believed that the lamb could be eaten and that its blood tasted sweet like honey.

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In July of 1972, one small town in Missouri was terrified by a monster the press dubbed Momo.

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Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology is the search for animals whose existence has not been proven. Considered a pseudoscience, the focus includes searching for physical evidence of cryptids and relicts, as well as animals dramatically outside their normal habitats. The word itself was coined by Bernard Heuvelmans, a Belgian-French zoologist. A cryptid is a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but lacks physical proof and scientific recognition, such as the yeti or any of the numerous lake monsters dotting the world. A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomena, such as living dinosaurs. 

While relict has many uses throughout other sciences, cryptid was a term coined by John E. Wall in a letter he wrote to the International Society of Cryptozoology in 1983. Originally the term referred to the Cryptinae, a subfamily of the ichneumon wasp family, but cryptologists have applied it to animals like the coelacanth (once believed to be extinct) and the okapi (believed to be fictional) which are recognized by the scientific community. The term is also applied to creature like unicorns and dragons, though most cryptozoologists avoid calling them this. 

Like all branches of science, there are further classifications within the types that are studied. George M. Eberhart classified ten types of mystery animals under the cryptozoological umbrella as distribution anomalies (animals outside their normal range); undescribed, unusual, or outsized variations of normal species; survivals of a recently extinct species; survivals of species known only from the fossil record into modern times; lingerlings, or survivals of species known only from the fossil record much later into historical times than currently thought; animals not known from the fossil record but related to known species; animals not known from the fossil record nor related to any known species; mythical animals with a zoological basis; seemingly paranormal or supernatural entities with some animal like characteristics; and known hoaxes or probable misidentifications. Eberhart also argued for six exclusions from classifications. The six excluding classes are insignificance, lack of controversy, erratics (like the New York Sewer Gator stories), bizarre humans, angels or demons, and aliens. 

Cryptozoology has several examples of animals that are now accepted at large by the scientific community, including okapis, mountain gorillas, giant squids, and Hoan Kiem Turtles. Though criticized for its reliance on anecdotal information, cryptozoology has come a long way since the days of old. 

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22 my personal favorite, the Michigan Dogman! It was recently seen in 2006 in Troy Michigan (which isn’t too far away from me!)

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Shadow Cats: The Black Panthers of North America was written by Michael Mayes and published in January of 2018. It starts with examining the history of sightings. Mayes takes his time to dissect eye witness accounts and try to determine the creature they had witnessed. The book boasts photos and illustrations of Alien Big Cats. It talks about all kinds of possible explanations such as feral cats, cougard, and jaguarundi. 

You can get a copy of Shadow Cats here!

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Lil comic about the Michigan Dogman and the Loveland Frogman chilling near a river. (From my new sketchbook!!!)

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Is this a mangy fox, engineered hoax, or photographic evidence of a surviving thylacine?