Folklore of The United States - Legendary and Folkloric Creatures

Legendary and Folkloric Creatures

• Bigfoot, also known as "Sasquatch," is the name given to an ape-like creature that cryptozoologists believe inhabits forests in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid. Generally, scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot due to the lack of physical evidence and the large number of creatures that would be necessary to maintain a breeding population. Most claims of "Bigfoot sightings" are a combination of misidentification, hoax, and folklore.

• Champ is the name given to a reputed lake monster living in Lake Champlain, a natural freshwater lake in North America. The lake crosses the U.S./Canada border; located partially in the Canadian province of Quebec and partially in the U.S. states of Vermont and New York. There is no scientific evidence for Champ's existence, though there have been over 300 reported sightings.

• The Jersey Devil is a legendary creature said to inhabit the Pine Barrens of Southern New Jersey in the United States. The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many different variations. The most common description is that of a kangaroo-like creature with the face of a horse, the head of a dog, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked tail. It has been reported to move quickly as to avoid human contact, and often is described as emitting a "blood-curdling scream."

• The White Lady is a type of female ghost reportedly seen in rural areas and associated with some local legend of tragedy. White Lady legends are found around the world, not just in America. Common to many of them is the theme of losing or being betrayed by a husband or fiancé. They are often associated with an individual family line or said to be a harbinger of death, similar to a banshee.

• Jackalope The jackalope is a mythical animal of North American folklore (a so-called "fearsome critter") described as a jackrabbit with antelope horns or deer antlers and sometimes a pheasant's tail (and often hind legs). The word "jackalope" is a portmanteau of "jackrabbit" and "antalope", an archaic spelling of "antelope". It is also known as Lepus temperamentalus.

• Mothman Mothman is a mythical half moth half man from Point Pleasant, West Virginia described as a large humanoid with moth features on its face and large wigns with fur coverin it's body. Mothman has been blamed for the collapse of the Silver Bridge.

Other folkloric creatures include the Nain Rouge of Detroit, Michigan and Chessie, a legendary sea monster said to live in Chesapeake Bay.