Posted: 27 Mar 2013 05:16 PM PDT
This is a smattering of additional reports out of the Appalachians. There are few enough such reports, but we are slowly building up a very interesting picture. Our working hypothesis is that we are dealing with the Giant Sloth.
There are noteworthy observations and variations across the universe of sightings that lead to a couple of conjectures.
1 The male and female are quite different. The male is robust, wears two pointed horns. Depending on season its fur is thick and wool like. A snout and non bear like configuration of the skull. The female is surprisingly thin and the skull is not nearly as robust. [I am presuming the "Horns" reported are actually its ears-DD]
2 The long claws are used as digging tools and disturbed soil is common.
3 The fur is wool like and is seen in its various states which leads to confusion. It may well account for the robust appearance.
Again, I think that the total extant eyeball reports are less than two dozen. That is enough to puts folks on notice and to encourage more reports coming forward.
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2013
From Monsters and Mysteries in America: The dark hallows and dense forests of Appalachia harbor strange mysteries. Local residents will recount their encounters with the terrifying Sheepsquatch. The border between southwest Virginia and West Virginia is an area shrouded in mystery and folklore, but few mysteries are more unusual and intriguing than that of the Appalachian white beast known to the locals as Sheepsquatch. Dakota Cheeks and his best friend Ricky Joyce become prey to the legendary white beast during a weekend hunting trip.
In July 2011 I received an unusual email that, quite frankly, I thought was a prank...that's until I started to check into the claim. From what I can gather there is a bit of local folklore with this story. Last Summer I was contacted by the producers of Monsters and Mysteries in America for information on this beast and others I had written about. Here is the previous post:
Mr. Strickler - I hope you can give me an idea of what I saw a few weeks ago while hiking with a friend in Fairy Stone State Park in Virginia. We had been on one of the trails for about an hour when we stopped for a brief rest and drink. This was my first visit to this park and I was pleased that the area we were in was secluded.
After a few minutes of rest we continued to walk along the trail when my friend suddenly stopped and pointed towards the right at large group of rocks. Something was moving around but it was about 50 yards away so we didn't get a very good look. We could see that it was light in color and was quite bulky. We stood frozen wanting to know what this creature was though I was getting more frightened by the second. As we started to walk the creature moved onto a rock where we got a good look at it. It looked like a medium sized bear but the fur was very light in color, almost a yellowish gray. The head was very strange also. There was a snout like that of a bear but the dark round eyes were set lower on the head. It was looking in our direction and we had no intention on sticking around to see what it was going to do.
We got back to the car and immediately left for home. I have read online that this area has a strange history, thus the name 'Fairy Stone'. The creature is unlike any I have seen or heard about before. I had made an inquiry to a local historian who laughed at me and said I saw a 'Sheep Squatch'. What is that? Thanks for you help - Teena
Monstropedia has a brief history about a cryptid referred to as a 'Sheepsquach', which is also known as the 'white thing'. It is supposedly a white woolly-haired cryptid that has been reported throughout the southwestern region of Virginia. Fairy Stone StatePark is located in the southwestern region of Virginia.
This creature is described as "being the size of a bear, with completely white wool-like fur. Its front limbs end in paw-like hands, similar to a raccoon’s but larger. The beast head is long and pointed, like a dog with long saber-like teeth and a single-pint horns like a young goat. SheepSquatch sports a long and hairless tail, similar to an opossum’s and is reputed to smell like sulfur."
This creature is described as "being the size of a bear, with completely white wool-like fur. Its front limbs end in paw-like hands, similar to a raccoon’s but larger. The beast head is long and pointed, like a dog with long saber-like teeth and a single-pint horns like a young goat. SheepSquatch sports a long and hairless tail, similar to an opossum’s and is reputed to smell like sulfur."
There have been a few reported sightings over the years. The counties with the most sightings of Sheepsquatch are from Boone, Kanawha, Putnam, and Mason. A large surge in sightings took place in Boone County during the mid-1990s.
In 1994, a former Navy seaman witnessed the beast break through the forest. The white thing drank for a few minutes, then crossed the creek and continued on across toward the road. The navy seaman observed the animal for a while, and then it moved on into the surrounding brush.
Also in that same year, two children observed the beast while playing in the yard in Boone County. They saw what looked like a large white bear, and it stood up on its hind legs, which made it over six feet tall. Startled, the beast ran away through the forest, breaking medium-sized limbs off of trees as it went.
Another encounter a year later involved a car. A couple driving through Boone County noticed a large white beast sitting in the ditch along the road. They stopped their car to get a good look at it. It was described again as a large white animal with woolly fur about the size of a bear. In this instance, it was described as having “four eyes”. Then, it jumped out of the ditch and starts attacking the car. The couple drove off quickly, and when they got home noticed the large scratches on the side where the beast attacked.
Another incident occurred in 1999, this time a couple of campers were in the forest of Boone County at night around a campfire. They heard an animal snorting and scuffling around the camp, but it did not come into the light of the campfire. All of the sudden, the SheepSquatch appeared out of the darkness and charged at the campers. They jumped up and ran back to their house; all the while being pursued by the SheepSquatch. It stopped at the edge of the forest, however, and let out a terrible scream. Then it just turned around and headed back into the woods. The next morning, the campers examined their campsite and the trail home. It was torn up, they said, “like someone had tilled it up for gardening”.
Ok, this may be explained as a natural animal but I am a little mystified.
ReplyDeleteA couple of months ago, late January 2014 on a bright Spring morning, my wife and were driving north on 65 around 11am just south of Ozark, MO.
We saw from a distance what appeared to be a large sheep with a very heavy coat of cream-colored wool down by the edge of the shoulder of the road.
I am familiar with sheep having lived in Europe for many years but we were puzzled about the big sheep looking animal being so close to the road.
We both looked as best we could as I drove by and were surprised to see that the head of the animal was buried in a dead deer tearing into it.
We could not see the head as it was inside the roadkill and we were driving around 60mph.
I looked in my rearview mirror and saw the pickup truck behind me slow down to get a better look.
I still cannot figure it out.