Batsquatch

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BatsquatchWereWooFsSasquatch encounters are a dime a dozen really. Everyone has heard of the sasquatch, and if you venture too far off the trail, it is likely you will encounter one of the hairy humanoids as well. But have you ever heard of the batsquatch? Yes, you heard right, the batsquatch. Considered to be a hybrid between the sasquatch and some kind of pterodactyl or bat, the batsquatch is rumored to have soared out from the depths of the earth during the eruption of Mt. St. Helen in 1980. It is said to have blue-gray fur, a wolfish face, and a great pair of bat wings protruding from its back. It seems to resemble a gargoyle in body shape, though it has also been mistaken for the mothman on a few occasions, as it seems to possess the ability to interfere with the electrical workings in cars and other devices.

Many people saw it and snapped pictures of it as it flew around the dust clouds that erupted from the mountain. None of these pictures have been turned in for scrutiny, so it has been largely debated that nobody saw anything at all. After the initial sighting of the thing reports began to trickle in about it, but several of these alleged “sightings” have already been labeled as a hoax. Disentangling the true mysterious sightings from the false ones is difficult, but many believe that the first true recorded sighting happened in 1994. A high school senior by the name of Brian Canfield was on his way home to the isolated settlement of Camp One, which is located in the foothills of Mount Rainier. He reported that his engine just cut out in his truck, leaving him stranded in the middle of a dark road with forest to his left and open field to his right. He sat there for a second, just staring out onto the road, which his headlights still illuminated, when something descended from up above. It had birdlike talons on its feet, blue-tinted fur, tufted ears, and glowing yellow eyes. It landed about thirty feet in front of him, and Brian stated that it was at least nine feet tall. The creature looked at him with piercing eyes. The teenager described the feeling as being “out of place”, but said that he did not at any point feel very threatened by the creature. As quickly as it appeared, the animal left, spreading its wings and rising into the air, the force of its wing-beats rocking Brian’s truck.

A more fantastical sighting occurred in 1998, although the story did not come forward until many years later. The detail of the event has led many to believe it is fake, but the fellow did have several years to ponder what he saw before finally typing up an account.

The man withheld his name, and his tale begins with him regaining consciousness on a rocky outcropping, where he had landed after taking something of a fall. He could not describe the events that led him there, only that he knew where he was and he knew he was in a bad position, with a concussion and several bleeding gashes. As he worked his way into consciousness, he heard a roar erupt from the road, which cut through the mountainside below him. He looked down in time to see a truck bearing many large trees slam into a huge creature, which he at first mistook for a bear, and then slid down the side. The witness described the truck’s sliding off the road as “as though it were being pulled from the back, rather than sliding”. The witness panicked, realizing he needed to call for help, and quickly worked out a way to get back the way he had come. He climbed back up to the trail and began to set off, but quickly grew weary and sat down for a bit of a break. He was in bad shape.

The sky above him darkened, and when he looked up, he saw a massive creature, even bigger than the thing in the road, passing overhead. It landed near where he had been stranded, clutching in its claws something he recognized as the first creature, the one that had been hit by the truck. He described the two creatures as being purple, exceptionally purple, and the larger of the two was fifteen feet tall with no tail and huge bat-like wings, the span of which extended nearly fifty feet.

Of course, this sighting seems a little off because the story was described very vividly, meaning that the author had a lot of imagination to spare for fabricating something like this. Another factor that seems to cater to the nonbelievers is that he names no specific places, other than it was around Mt. Shasta, and no specific people. The disappearance of a truck driver like that would not go unnoticed.

However, another sighting near Mt. Shasta might make his story a little more believable. In 2009 a pair of hikers were walking up the mountainside when all of the sudden a huge, muscular creature soared out of one of the mountain’s crevices. It did not stop to observe them, but they gawked as it glided past and disappeared around the side of the mountain. He described its face as being vaguely bat-like, but in reality slightly more akin to that of a fox, with a longer snout and larger eyes than those of a bat.

The creature’s behavior is certainly bat-like, seeing as it is often found flying out of tight spaces. The sighting in 2009 is only one of many similar tales told by hikers near Mt. Shasta and Mt. Rainier. Because the first sightings were around the time of Mt. St. Helens erupting, many believe its origins to be from somewhere deep, deep underground, and the earth shifting during the eruption set the Batsquatch loose, maybe even multiple Batsquatches. Others believe a similar story, only that instead of simply being an underground, hibernating cryptid, the Batsquatch is of supernatural origin and the shifting earth opened a gateway to hell itself, releasing this demon among us mortals.

Demon or undiscovered species, it cannot be denied that the creature does have above-average intelligence. It maintains the rather shy vestige of a lot of mysterious creatures, yet at the same time seems to have a more vengeful attitude when confronted with the loss of one of its kind or when it itself is threatened. Pulling a truck off the highway is not the act of a dumb beast. Such a feat takes cunning, strength, and a will to protect one’s own. It could be argued that it is still simply an animal trying to protect its young, but there is still very little known about the beasts to make any claims regarding its intelligence. One can only make judgments based on what few accounts there are of the Batsquatch, and that’s assuming that all accounts are true.

Calling it the Batsquatch links it to the sasquatch, but in truth it would seem that both creatures are entirely different beings. The only ape-like qualities the Batsquatch possesses are a lack of a tail and a muscular upper body, with arms that may somewhat resemble those of an ape. It is not, however, accompanied by that classic sasquatch stench, nor does it seem concerned with warning people off its “land”. Whether they are related beings is still up for discussion. Either way, a flying sasquatch is definitely something amusing to picture.

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