Encounter Atlas

Creature index / Hairy hominids

Bigfoot

Also called Sasquatch, Skookum, Wood ape, Forest giant, Wild man of the woods, Wood booger

A huge, hair-covered, upright ape said to roam North American forests.

Bigfoot is the best-known cryptid in North America: a bipedal primate usually described as 7 to 9 feet tall, heavily built, and covered in dark brown, black or reddish hair. Witnesses describe a cone-shaped head, no visible neck, long arms and a smooth, gliding walk.

The name took off in 1958, when a road crew at Bluff Creek, California found giant footprints around their equipment and the Humboldt Times ran the story. In 1967 Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed a large, dark figure walking along the same creek. The Patterson-Gimlin film is still argued over today.

Reports cluster where there is dense forest, water and few people: the Cascades, northern California, the Ozarks, East Texas, Ohio's Appalachian counties and the Pacific coast of British Columbia.

What witnesses report

  • Footprints 14 to 18 inches long, often with a mid-foot flex
  • Wood knocks and rock clacks at night
  • Whoops, howls and "Samurai chatter" vocalizations
  • Tree breaks and teepee-style stick structures
  • A strong skunk-like or wet-dog smell
  • Eyeshine well above the height of a deer

Famous cases

  1. 1924Ape Canyon attack
    Mount St. Helens, Washington
  2. 1958Bluff Creek footprints
    Humboldt County, California
  3. 1967Patterson-Gimlin film
    Bluff Creek, California
  4. 2000Skookum cast
    Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington

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Related

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