Bigfoot sightings are common in the forested mountains of the Pacific Northwest soon It was already growing dark under the canopy of trees Ruby was tired She lagged behind the others Then she stopped Hurry up Henry called to her Never mind he said to their parents I’ll go back for her you go on ahead 6
Henry found Ruby staring down at a patch of mud near the trail Check this out she said It looks like a footprint She shined her flashlight down on the ground There was a clear outline of what looked like a human footprint It had large toes More footprints led off the trail in the direction of a bog Wow you’re right Henry whispered These are footprints But they’re huge Do you think it’s a bear Suddenly they both heard an eerie noise It sounded like a whistle or a shriek A strange and awful smell filled the air The children froze in Bigfoot’s Cousins Many other varieties of unidentified ape-like creatures have been reported around the world One is the so-called Skunk Ape People frequently claim to have spotted this smelly ape in Florida swamps On the island of Sumatra in Indonesia another legend describes an unknown primate called the orang pendek This mysterious animal is much shorter than a typical Bigfoot The orang pendek reportedly stands between two and a half and five feet 0 8 1 5 m tall 7
fear They looked into the trees in the direction of the sound In the dim light they could make out the shape of a huge body It looked much too large to be a bear The creature took a step forward As the last bits of light shone through the trees Ruby and Henry could see the creature more clearly This was no bear Its head was dome-shaped like a gorilla’s Its body was covered in dark fur Terrified the children did not wait another moment They bolted away as fast as they could A Great Ape Ruby and Henry’s story is only fiction But it represents many similar tales about a humanlike ape This mysterious creature is said to dwell in the rugged mountains dense timber and deserted swamplands of the United States and Canada Native Americans have many names for it The most commonly known is Sasquatch which comes from a Salish Indian word meaning wild man 8
Stories about the beast are found elsewhere all around the globe In the Himalayas the Sherpa people of Nepal and Tibet have legends about a large hairy beast that walks on two legs They call the animal yeti a term meaning rock-bear In Russia and Mongolia the creature is known as Almas In Scotland tales are told about Am Fear Liath Mòr or Gray Man Chinese people tell of the Yeren which means wild man In Australia people call it a Yowie To many who follow the oversize tracks of this legend the mysterious creature is known simply as Bigfoot Cryptozoology Bigfoot is not officially recognized by modern science However some scientists study animals whose existence has not been proven The study of animals that have not yet been discovered is called cryptozoology The animals studied by cryptozoologists are known as cryptids These are animals that may or may not exist Cryptozoologists who study Bigfoot look for evidence such as hair and footprints 9
