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Cryptids of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan


zillarancher

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I'm curious if anyone out there knows of any reported cryptid activity in the U.P. (if anyone out there even knows what that is) past or present.

Obviously, we've had Sasquatch sightings throughout the years, but nothing concrete (or wet concrete) has turned up on any of those; just another rattled and drunken Finn. There have been a handful of lake monster sightings -- some inland and some in Lake Superior.

Also, I'm vaguely aware of the fabled bush monkeys, which some describe as Sasquatch-type beings and others have placed more devil-monkey attributes on.

I've been living in the U.P. for about ten years now, and rarely hear the locals down at the V.F.W. (because where else do you go for pertinant cryptid info) say anything more interesting than a decomposed coyote that they swear is a mislocated Chupacabra. I've read through Michael Newton's Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology hoping to find a few leads, but what I found I had already known, or the leads disappeared decades (or centuries) ago.

So, yeah, again, if anyone has any stories, legends, myths, reports, references, books, guides, etc, etc, I'm all ears. There's gotta be something in these woods.

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The upper peninsula might seem remote.

What's a V.F.W.? Very fine watering hole?

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Most people outside of Michigan or Eastern Wisconsin, less they have family from the area, have no idea that the U.P. isn't a part of Canada.

V.F.W. definitely could be translated to that. It's Veterans of Foreign War, or, around here, a place where it's socially acceptable to drink heavily at three in the afternoon.

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V.F.W. definitely could be translated to that. It's Veterans of Foreign War, or, around here, a place where it's socially acceptable to drink heavily at three in the afternoon.

It's like our Legion branches then. :)

Edit: But we should get back on topic.

Edited by Likely Guy
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I'm Canadian and I know that the UP isn't a part of Canada. I'm sure the US people know this also.

I should have definitely noted Canada in my claim. There are plenty of situations (in varying news sources, even) where the U.P. is completely left off maps. I just saw one the other day that was on Buzzfeed (yeah, I realize that's not exactly reputable) which had done so. Still, no generalization can be entirely accurate. I apologize for that.

Anyway, LikelyGuy is right. Getting on topic is important, so I thought an interesting thing to point out would be our expansive forests, which don't hold a candle to the brunt of Canada, of course.

The U.P. spans 42,420 square km, with Ottawa National Forest covering 4.0186 square km and Hiawatha National Forest covering an additional 3.6213 square km. We've also got 4,300 inland lakes and 19,312 kilometers of streams and rivers. There's no question to the quantity of potentially unexplored, or, at the very least, poorly explored area. Add in our low population densities and always-at-least-four-years-behind-the-times technologies, and I think we've got a fairly good recipe for something to be found.

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Here is a Crytid case in MI with definative photo evidence.

http://skeptoid.com/...l-cryptid-case/

As it says in the article,you have to wonder with the ever increasing use of Trail cams why alleged cryptids such as Bigfoot have never been captured ?

Personally speaking I am not a believer and I often Question my Wife who as a child spent a lot of time in the bush,she has never observed anything out of the ordinary.It is very easy to get spooked whilst walking in the Bush, and your mind can play tricks on you.

Living in as I do in the less populated Northern Ontario you get see all kinds of cool stuff,twice in Autumn I walked out of the door and virtually into a large male Black Bear which was visiting us on a regular basis.

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Here is a Crytid case in MI with definative photo evidence.

http://skeptoid.com/...l-cryptid-case/

Wow! That's a great shot. I have no doubts about the cougar population around here still holding on, reduced as it may be. Thanks for that.

As it says in the article,you have to wonder with the ever increasing use of Trail cams why alleged cryptids such as Bigfoot have never been captured ?

Personally speaking I am not a believer and I often Question my Wife who as a child spent a lot of time in the bush,she has never observed anything out of the ordinary.It is very easy to get spooked whilst walking in the Bush, and your mind can play tricks on you.

Living in as I do in the less populated Northern Ontario you get see all kinds of cool stuff,twice in Autumn I walked out of the door and virtually into a large male Black Bear which was visiting us on a regular basis.

I'm less interested in the mythological cryptids (lake monsters, Bigfoots, etc) and more interested in the other classifcations of cryptids. Examples would be mislocated creatures, unidentified species (which there absolutely has to be), or creatures which are talked about in legends, but exist in reality as variants or, for lack of a better word, mutated forms of species already known.

As for personal anecdotes, just last summer I was trout fishing on a creek fairly deep in the woods, smelled a god-awful garbage stench, looked downstream about a hundred yards from me and saw a black bear, also fishing the creek. He didn't want anything to do with me, so I left him alone and gave him some space. Still, it was definitely a rush.

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Well yeah there's big cat in the UP- there was a to-do about one getting shot and killed up there last month. They get spotted below the bridge and in Wisconsin too. Thought werewolves were popular up there too- they seem to be popular in the area in general, heh. Not sure if dogman goes up into the UP too much or not. Of course, wolves are in the area too.

Can't remember for sure, but I think bigfoot of some variety is supposed to be in the woods to the north of the bridge.

Great lakes got some water cryptids of course. Some big catch fishies that are probably exaggeration too.

I think the UP might have a case or two of overly huge birds, not too sure if I'm recalling that correctly or if it's really northern Wisconsin I'm thinking of.

You might want to try hitting up the listings for endangered/threatened species- Canadian Lynx has been spotted in the UP, so might be worth checking to see what else might be floating around. http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/lists/michigan-cty.html

You might also want to check into the local Native American cryptid legends, if there are any.

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As it says in the article,you have to wonder with the ever increasing use of Trail cams why alleged cryptids such as Bigfoot have never been captured ?

I was just listening to one of the recent episodes of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe and they were talking about the recent announcement that scientists have confirmed the existence of "earthquake lights". They are extremely rare phenomenon that really seem paranormal until one understands the mechanism behind them.

What's interesting is that one of the main drivers of their confirmation was photos and video from trail cams/cell phones/etc.

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  • 1 year later...

Is it the VFW in Manistique? If it is, ask Sue about Jonny Wild. He has pictures caught on his trail camera of a monster Cryptozoologists couldn't ID. From what I've heard, it's called a Yo-Kai now. Don't know if that's proper spelling or not. But if. You talk to Sue, she can get you in touch with Jonny and he's more than happy to share his story with anyone who will listen

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