Mutants & Cryptids & More

What's in a name? By any name, sightings of a huge, hairy creature with oversize feet have been reported around the world for hundreds of years. Some native people in the Pacific Northwest knew Sasquatch as the Big Man of the Mountains.

The word Sasquatch originated from the Salish word, se'sxac, meaning "wild men." Se'sxac was a large, hairy, humanlike creature inhabiting remote regions of western Canada and the USA.

For such a large creature, Se'sxac, or Sasquatch is excellent at keeping itself hidden from human eyes. 

The Comox Valley wildlife biologist, John Bindernagel, spent much of his life in search of Sasquatch in the mountains of Vancouver Island. He was spurred on by the footprints he and his wife found when hiking on Mount Washington. 

Now I find myself watching for signs of Sasquatch when skiing cross-country on the mountain. Like the footprints in deep snow, above, that I spotted recently.

Bindernagel, who died in 2018, became convinced Sasquatch was real and worthy of scientific study. He interviewed many people who reported sightings and he kept records of every incident. He tried to convince fellow scientists to keep an open mind on the subject and conduct a scientific search, but to no avail.