Batsquatch - [Cryptid]

Batsquatch - [Cryptid | Critter.] - [Mt Rainier, Washington, Evening of April 16th 1994] aka Man-Bat, Bat-Beasts, etc.

• About this Cryptid: Yet another 'highly strange' -- "Sasquatch" variant, allegedly sighted in the area near Mt Rainier (& supposedly Mt St. Helens.) Tacoma, Washington area. -- Don't be mistaken, Batsquatch is only tangentially related to Sasquatch: despite often being described as a 'Sasquatch with wings' or simply as 'a very large bat.' The similarities end at the name. The earliest description of the creature we'll be focusing on today was in 1994 by 18 year old Brian Canfield, who described 'a 9 ft tall creature with bird-like feet, claws, yellowish eyes, tufted ears, sharp straight teeth, broad shoulders, a 50ft wingspan and blue-tinted fur.' - The creature is also quite often compared to or said to be the "West Coast Mothman" and has been said to be seen as a 'bad omen' following the eruption of Mt St.Helens (years earlier in 1980) - However, the creatures association with St Helens seems to stem from a bit of a prank and a heap of misinformation which spread online & via word of mouth, however, this only added to the creatures mythology & lore...

• Encounter, Early articles: The earliest and only 'real' news articles surrounding the 'Batsquatch encounter' are to be found in 1994, particularly in the Tacoma News Tribune, April 24th 1994 reported by C.R.Roberts. – Supposedly, Canfield had Encountered the beast whilst driving home one evening 'a week last Sunday' near Lake Kapowsin on the 16th. - you can read the full transcription below and also find the full clippings below in HD here: [Part 1] - [Part 2.] – the full article goes as follows:

 

"Mount Rainier-area youth has close encounter in the foothills -

The engine died and the dashboard lights fell dark. Although he hadn't applied his brakes, the pickup truck he was driving stopped suddenly, abruptly, square in the middle of the road. there between the edge of the forest and a scrubby clearcut field, His headlights cut a hole through the night, He sat wondering what was wrong. Then he saw the feet descending, Bird feet. Claw feet. Then the legs, the torso the chest. And the wings folded attached to the back of broad shoulders. Then the head. That face. The creature nine feet tall. Thirty feet away. Blue-tinted fur. yellowish eyes, tufted ears and sharp straight teeth, With a dust-raising thud it landed. Brian Canfield, 18, held tight to the steering wheel He was alone and on his way home from Buckley to the isolated settlement of Camp One located in the Mount Rainier foothills above Lake Kapowsin. - at 9:30 a week ago Saturday night. He doesn't drink. He doesn't take drugs. He’s a high school senior known locally as an average, normal kid. “It was standing there staring at me, like it was resting, like it didn't know what to think Canfield says “I was scared It raised the hair on me I didn’t feel threatened I just felt out of place." 

We’re sitting in a camper outside the Canfield home a few days after the encounter I'd heard Brian's story from a neighbour and I'd asked for an interview. He is no fan of heavy metal music and he's never played Dungeons and Dragons. He’s never seen a UFO. He remains baffled by what he saw. “Its eyes were yellow and shaped like a piece of pie, with pupils like a half-moon; The mouth was pretty big. White teeth. No fangs. The face was like a wolf," he says. Can he smell anything? Hear anything? I ask him to close his eyes and remember. He can hear the wind. He smells gasoline. - He’d been having trouble with his carburetor. “It’s looking right at me like in a deep stare, like right through me. It’s standing perfectly still” It stood for - how long? - a few minutes Several minutes. Then its fingers twitched and its wings began to unfold. Those wings were as wide as the road. 
"It turned its head and looked back at me and started flapping its wings," Canfield says Then slowly it rose and so great was the turbulence the truck began to rock and sway. 
Slowly the creature flew off in the direction of Mount Rainier.
“A few minutes later the truck just started," Canfield says “I took off as fast as I could." 
He drove home “I just flew in the house I woke my mom and dad up, I told my dad to grab the gun and a camera and come with me. While he was getting dressed I told them what happened I almost couldn’t breathe.” 
“I could tell something was wrong the way he ran in” says his mother Sandra “He said, 'Really I gotta talk to you. We just gotta talk.’ 

He was shaking. "His mouth was dry, he was pale, his hair was still standing on end," Sandra says. She handed him a tablet and he began to draw what he'd seen. A few miniutes later they visited a neighbour. – a man who knows the woods – and they soon drove back to that spot on the road. Within the silence and the night, they found no trace of the creature. The neighbor says, "I know he saw something but I dont know what it was."

Canfeild told his story at school early last week some friends believe him and some have begun to tease him. one friend helped him with the sketch and others have come up with a name for the creature.

Batsquatch. 

I'm really not into this stuff, Canfield says, "It boggles my mind really hard core. I really cant explain it. its weird, definitely weird. I don't like it. usually stuff like this happens to someone else." 

This past week I've spoken both with the neighbours and Canfield's family. I believe his story. I believe he saw something that night a week ago. I have no idea what he saw. I've spoken with experts on legends and creatures and none know of a being such as this.

But I believe Brian Canfield. And I believe that we daily face so any real things fearful – Drugs, Gangs, AIDS, Violence, Divorce, Poverty, Rwanda, Bosnia, Tuberculosis, North Korea and so on down the list – it's almost pleasant to consider a monster no one can explain. 

its pleasant for the rest of us, perhaps. But not for Brian Canfield. "it did happen, I'm willing to put my life on it," he says. "I just have this picture in front of my head, the picture of it standing there. I cant get rid of it. its just there. I kinda wish it didnt happen." 

 

[Close up] - For prosperity's sake & for the creatures 30th anniversary, I decided to base my sticker directly on the earliest 'batsquatch' illustration/witness sketch by "Dave Kiele." - The shiloette strongly reminds me of a 90's Super Hero or perhaps one of Disney's Gargoyles at first glance. (The TV-series aired a while later, in October of 1994!!) I wanted to capture the essence of the original sketch with gusto!!

[Batsquatch.com's 'Pterodactyl-like creature.' - earliest archived on April 8 2004.]

On that note, Aside from bigfoot, When you search this cryptid online you'll often see many comparing it to other 'ominous harbingers' such as 'Mothman', the 'Ahool' ,' as well as ‘Chupacabra’ & even “the 'Jersey Devil', many sites & YouTube videos claim that 'Batsquatch' is seen as a 'bad omen' supposedly following the eruption of Mt St.Helens in 1980, (which notably happened almost 14 years prior to the creatures initial sighting.) - but what many don't tell you this very silly part of the lore, seems to originate from The 'Batsquatch official' website. -- The websites header [pictured above] which reeks of 90's flair, seems to have been created entirely as a joke; it boasts a few fake news articles & a story about 'batsquatch' but instead its 'a purple pterodactyl that haunts Mt Rainier.' – if it IS a different cryptid, then it shouldn't have been conflated. – a popular bit of embellished misinformation surrounding this critter that seems to stem from this website: is that there was a second 'earlier 1994 encounter' & 'Lost Photographs' or even video of the beast. – The site claims that a mountaineer & paranormal expert named 'Butch Whittaker' had taken several photos during a mountain climb, supposedly he never published them & actively refused to do so; today some people & sites websites on the topic still claim they're 'lost media.' - However; the website continues on and along with the phony article, provides an example of one of the photographs... So, if you've been actively looking for them, i regret to say, below is the closest you'll find....

"Yelmidians take cover under shadow of suspicious creature. - Mountain News"

Fear continues to dominate the men, woman, and children of this town as a dark shadow looms overhead. Suspicions persevere and rumours spread as far too many sightings of “a winged bat-like creature” go unexplained. It started as childish rumors after the May 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens and has spread to community horror as the truth continues to emerge. While preparing for a climb in early 1994, local mountaineer and liquor store owner Butch Whittaker managed to take several pictures of the beast during a rare midday flight (see left). Butch Whittaker, expert in paranormal activity and unexplained phenomena, considers himself lucky to experience this encounter but adds, "I'm not surprised. These things happen to me all the time." Although government officials deny the existence of any photographic evidence, our staff experts closely scrutinized all photos and found no reason to hold this position.

To date four goats, five chickens, two cows, and our prized pig are unaccounted for. No humans are reported missing but this is no measure of the never-ending toll placed on this community’s pride and mental well-being. All Pioneer Day festivities were canceled last week and with the recent loss of Priscilla Pig, scheduled dancing this Saturday presumably will fall prey to this monstrous being as well. Neither Police Chief Durhamm nor our Mayor will estimate potential long term effects of continued attacks but both were obviously saddened by the loss of Priscilla.

Editor’s note. If you have seen this creature, report to the nearest Unexplained Flying Kinetically Retaliatory Animal office immediately "

[the one and only photo to be found online, supposedly taken by 'Butch Whittaker.'  – The we"prominant Washington periodical, Mountain news" seemingly does not exist.]

 ...it seems that the creatures entire association with the Mt. St Helens eruption stemmed from this. However to Batsquatchs credit, and what I find to be leagues more interesting is that there is an actual article from the year the creature was sighted (which for some reason i don't ever see get mentioned at all.) - October 16th of 1994 another paper mentions the encounter as a footnote, listing Batsquatch, Sasquatch, UFO'S & ALIENS, and a list of a few other Mt Rainier famous Cryptids (& legends) and comparing them with a recent alleged 'Angel Sightings' in the mountains, these angels where supposedly warning people about volcanic activity. - Amusingly, the paper also correctly "predicts" similar urban legends & oncoming hysteria's surrounding Y2K. if nothing else, this seems to be evidence, at least, that both the 'Eruptions' and 'Batsquatch' where at least on peoples minds at the time! - 

[The Fresno Bee - October 16th of 1994.]

...That aside... Overtime the 'Batsquatch' websites tongue-in-cheek-misinfo was further spread & copy-pasted onto the cryptidz wiki and other fringe sources which seem to have written about the creature without doing much more than surface level research. The wiki combines the two 'Batsquatch-sightings' & existing narratives into one legend without attributing sources. - in their credit, The Batsquatch website seems to have caused some confusion in later bestiarys that touch on the batsquatch as well. - The Batsquatch is described as 'Purple tinted, Winged Ape. ("like something out of Oz") or as a 'Purple Pterodactyls with blood-red wings.' [in "Wizards Bestiary" [2007] and "Monster Spotters Guide" [2008] ...

Beyond the tongue-in-cheek website and allegedly 'lost photos', there seems to be a ton of what I'd describe as "further fan-fiction" or "tangent-creature sightings" - as beyond the first sighting surrounding Batsquatch, most other sightings have only ever been published anonymously to the cryptidz wiki. - Or are an otherwise a tangentially related sighting: Huge bat like creatures, and other batsquatches with various descriptions have been spotted across the states and beyond, after all! - These cryptids should probably not be conflated with "Batsquatch" but they are regardless. I suppose its become a bit of a blanket term. -

The book, "Hidden animals: a Field guide to Batsquatch, Chupacabra and other illusive creatures" [2009] - did a decent enough job at debunking most of the sightings from the early 2000's, and for further reading on the subject, i'd also reccomend American monsters [Linda S Godfried 2014] which includes a great collection of other man-bats & avian cryptids encountered around the states. - for the sake of my sanity, I shall not list them all here... (I'd recommend either book if you can get your hands on them.)

So, just to summarize; ultimately, it seems that Batsquatch is a cryptid related to Sasquatch by name only - (Most likely only surviving in the public's mind thanks to the name and association with such a popular Cryptid.) - it seems that it had only one alleged sighting in April of 1994. – [By an 18 year old, who on that note, might've embellished facts or might not even exist; certainly worth note is that the original article is also doubtfully true, searching "Batsquatch" on newpapers.com reveals a number of Angry Letters to the editor [1][2] which point out faults in the story, and blast C.R.Roberts for reporting on a fringe Cryptozoological case & not actually checking with experts. - His response to one such letter comes a couple months later in June: can be found here. - where in Robert seems to ignore most of his critics, and he pretty much implies the readers are taking what he said too seriously or that he's exempt from critique because he was 'joking.' – [Mind you the original story was being reported in an /actual newspaper/ and not in a parody or joke section, people where rightfully mad!] - Beyond that, the rest of the lore found on the Batsquatch site, down to the creatures association with Mt St Helens is seemingly at most only tangentially related - Yet it all seems to have become part of the cryptids 'lore' via the broken telephone that is the internet and word of mouth, its all come to be part of the creatures local mythology. just how folklore works.

--However as my dear readers know well, I do not like to dismiss cryptids as a whole, nor scream 'HOAX!!' (even when that does seem to be the case.) - There is a reason why this cryptid has stuck around in my mind for so long. - What i feel can be said for certain: There IS in-fact a deep-rooted fear around Volcanic Activity and Eruptions in both the Western United States and Canada. These supposed creatures & legends surround that concern or fear and help us find an explanation for the inexplicable (or the unthinkable) help us cope with either what we do not fully understand or otherwise don't want to. - In the case of "Batsquatch" as a whole: Natural disasters are a force that /absolutely nobody/ wants to reckon with, and impending tragedies will always be an ever present worry, blaming 'monsters, angels or demons' as an 'out' is consistent throughout humanities history. - [Growing up in relatively close by in (Vancouver BC.) through the 90's & my whole life; I've been told to expect or be ready for "The Big Quake" at any moment! (with constant earthquake drills in school.) which resulted in a making me subconsciously terrified of the number of glass buildings being built downtown. - My parents also told me stories that after the St Helens eruption that in Vancouver we had volcanic ash raining from the sky 'for nearly a week after the eruption' the ash coating everyone's cars! ] - I'd suppose that these sort of monsters are a way of coping with those worries or as C.R put it: "it's pleasant to consider a monster no one can explain."

--I'll leave it up to you if the 'Batsquatch' legend is a 'real cryptid', 'a creature of folklore', mythology or not. Reguardless of its legitimacy, in any case it certainly was an interesting/fun cryptid to do a deep dive on. --Nah-nah-nah-nah-nananana-Batsquatch!!!! Happy belated 30th!

• Pop Culture: Since the 2000's: the 'Batsquatch' has been on TV [monster across america. 2021] Has had dozens of dedicated YouTube video essays. Batsquatch even has a Rogue IPA beer named after him, and even appeared in the (now disbanded) Metazoo card game.

[Sticker Art & Research by @Samkalensky, part of my Cryptid's collection of stickers & deep dives. check my shop & support for many more!]