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Also known as Sasquatch, Bigfoot is the humanoid creature 7–8 ft tall which haunts parts of the forested and mountainous regions of North America. He is known from both Native American legend as well as the folklore of settlers and hunters. Covered with long black or brown hair, with huge hands and feet, he walks at the angled incline of a skier. Intensely shy and very strong, able to snap great trees in two, Bigfoot has received over 3,000 sightings since 1967 when three men filmed a few minutes’ footage of a supposed female Bigfoot. Her arms were about 30 ins long, much longer in proportion to the body than in a human, falling to well below her hips.

The Coeur d’Alene tribes around Spokane speak of Bigfoot as Tree Men with black faces and skin like bear’s fur. They emitted a strong odour not unlike burning horn and stood higher than a tepee. They stole fish out of traps and could transform themselves into trees when required. This is not unlike the report made in the 1930s in New Hampshire, where Bigfoot were referred to as Wood Devils, humanoid, grey-haired beings in the deep woodland who can run fast but camouflage themselves by hiding against a tree if anyone approaches.

An Appalachian settler’s story tells how a man was lost in the wilderness and crawled exhausted into a cave. He was awakened by a hairy woman eating chestnuts which she offered to the lost man. She brought him a deer, ripping through the hide with her nails and offered him some raw slices. He then made a fire to cook it, but the Bigfoot did not understand what fire was and she stepped into it. Throughout the winter, the man stayed with her and she conceived a child by him. Towards the end of his time in the wilderness, he saw a large number of Bigfoots coming towards the cave. Terrified, the man began to run away. When the female Bigfoot saw he was going, she took their child and tore it open with her nails.

(See also Boq, Seatco, Tsiatko, Yeahoh, Yeti.)