25 Years Ago Today
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on October 21st, 2006
From the Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer.
25 years ago today, 1981: Is "Bigfoot" stalking the swamps and woods of the Fort Custer Recreation Area? A hairy, 9-foot-tall creature has been seen again near the Kalamazoo River in the state recreation area. It’s been seen in several spots at different times. Bigfoot observers now include the supervisor of the recreation area, a Michigan State Police trooper, an elderly angler and an author.
And here’s another article about Bigfoot and other strange creatures from that neck o’ the woods.
From the Petoskey (MI) News-Review.
Tales of bigfoot go back to Indian times, when legends told of a man of the woods. Bigfoot – or sasquatch – is over 8 feet tall, covered in dark black, gray or reddish fur, walks on two feet and is similar in appearance to the great apes. They are known to let out horrible screams in the night or loud, deep human-like growls.
People all over the state have reported sighting this mysterious creature, and there is at least one man who is hunting them.
Simon Otto, of Petoskey, retells stories told to him years ago by local Indian elders of a monster being seen in Lake Michigan off of Petoskey around the turn of the century.
The monster, called the underwater sea panther, had been spotted in Lake Michigan, off of Cross Village, off of Harbor Springs and off of Northport and in Torch Lake.
Even Otto’s grandfather reportedly saw it near the water when he was a lumberman near Manistee. Otto’s grandfather called it the big snake that lived in the woods.
The animal was called the sea panther by local Indians because its head looks like a cat’s, with the body of a large lizard and spikes down its back.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Never heard of the Sea Panther. Now BF in MI. A lot of good places to hide out and the food would be plenty. A BF dream home so to speak.
I live on the other side of the state. I believe bigfoot has been here along time.
I used to live in Western Michigan years ago. WOW what beautiful country. Rolling, low hills and heavy forests. Lots of water. If there aren’t Bigfoot there, there should be!
I live in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I saved an article from our local paper about a bigfoot sighting on October 17, 1977. Typical bigfoot crossing the road. The paper made it seem like the driver must have been drinking to see something like that.
I was born in Michigan and lived there for almost 40 years before moving to Arkansas. I remember in the 1970s reading many news articles about sightings in Washtenaw, Livingston, and Genessee Counties. But the papers would make the eyewitness(es) look like they were crazy, so many encounters went unreported after that. There was an article about a sighting at Camp Grayling (National Guard) that happened one night on the artillery range. Many saw the creature walk right across a field where soldiers were “playing war”.
I had my first “encounter” just south of Houghton Lake in 1982, when my wife, my step daughter and I were all awakened in our tent by the loudest, scariest screaming I have heard and listening to this large creature trying to make up its mind whether to cross into the swamp from the woods (which we were right between), and being able to sort of feel his heavy footsteps under our bodies as we lay in pretty heavy fear. Anyway, yes, there are many excellent places for Bigfoot to eat, roam and hide in Michigan. I have always thought that an area called the “Deadstream Swamp” (west of Houghton Lake, towards Cadillac) could be home to several creatures, much like the forests of California, Washington, and Oregon.
The underwater sea panther was a common motif of the moundbuilder culture of the south and midwest. In their representations (there’s a good book of these in a catalogue published for an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago last year) it’s pretty clear the underwater panther was not a bigfoot-like hominid, but possibly some other sort of cryptid.
I’m still a strong Bigfoot believer (mainly due to the Patterson film), but I’ve read my share of skeptical articles and books. The book by Paul Wylie (I think that’s his name) I felt did a good job poking large holes in the idea that a huge creature could live undiscovered in the Michigan area. Granted it’s got lots of trees and the like, but his analysis of the food requirements vs. availability for maintaining an on-going population of these creatures was hard to disagree with. I think many believers have the notion that simply because there’s a lot of tree cover Bigfoot’s a ‘natural’ to be living there. But dozens of them? I’ll stick with believing California, Oregon, Washington are possible, but Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan?
quote “The animal was called the sea panther by local Indians because its head looks like a cat’s, with the body of a large lizard and spikes down its back.”
Kind of sounds like the descriptions of the Chupacabra doesn’t it?