Folk monsters tread close to reality
By Sid Mydland Photo credit: unsplash
With Halloween rapidly approaching, it’s a great time to look at the scarier side of nature. Where there are humans, monsters will follow. Throughout human history, myths, folk monsters, and urban legends have accompanied us. Whether they explain a natural phenomenon, warn children, or just scare, many monsters have a not-so-sinister origin. Fear, imagination, darkness, disease, and a lack of understanding contribute to the origins of three “monsters” with not-so-sinister origins.
- The Banshee
Originating in Ireland with reports dating to the 1300s, the banshee is a spirit that lies between the human and fairy realms. Usually described with sickly pale skin, silver hair, and unearthly high-pitched scream, she is an omen of death. The barn owl, a member of the oldest extant family of owls, shares many of these qualities. They are a purely nocturnal hunter, feathered in stark white with a piercing screech. Silent flight gives these predators the advantage of surprising their prey and anyone who may cross their path.
Another explanation of the cry is the ritualistic crying of women after a death called keening. Keening as a practice was more common before British imperialism took place in Ireland, but it is reported that the sobbing was very scream-like. This would most likely go in tandem with the appearance and screech of the barn owl.
Before modern technology, when light pollution and motor traffic were scarce, such sightings would have been more common.
- El Chupacabra
Compared to the others on this list, chupacabras are a much more recent myth, first being named in 1995 Puerto Rico. While descriptions of the cryptid vary, it is always seen at night, typically sucking the blood of livestock. Depictions range from upright to quadrupedal, reptilian to canid, and human-sized or larger, to small. In the 1990s the sightings tended to be a large, humanoid, reptile, but as time went on this warped into the dog-like creature many know today.
No reported “Chupacabra” corpses have ever shown up as a novel species. Oftentimes when this animal shows up, what people are actually seeing is coyotes and foxes with advanced stage mange.
Mange is a serious skin disease caused by several species of mites that mainly affects wildlife. Sarcoptis scabiei causes sarcoptic mange, commonly found in canids. Symptoms of this disease involve the loss of fur and thickening of skin, causing a scaly appearance. Over time, fighting off the disease leaves animals sluggish and emaciated, severely limiting their ability to hunt prey. This would then make sense why an afflicted animal would attack livestock as a much easier low-risk, high-reward target.
If you come across a wild animal you believe to be suffering from mange, contact local wildlife rehabbers for further instructions before engaging.
- The Yeti
The yeti is a longstanding legend among mountain peoples throughout Asia. The word itself comes from the Sherpa dialect of Tibetan, meaning ‘cliff-dwelling bear.’ An often bipedal ape-like creature covered in fur with a bare face, wandering high in the Himalayas. In western depictions, yetis are often seen as dangerous, fearsome monsters who kill all who cross their path, though this can be at odds with their origins.
Religion plays a big role in the yeti’s story. One origin has the yetis take place in a creation myth, with them being born of the incarnations of two Buddhist deities. Over time, these creatures became more similar to humans, but some did not change like the rest; these being the yetis, not quite human, not quite animal. Another view describes yetis as holy Buddhist entities who are not themselves supremely divine, but unite with humans in righteous cause. While there are many more depictions and specifics, the final one here is the cryptid view of the yeti, who is similar to the western depiction in their antagonism towards people, but importantly, is still a religious being.
A 2017 study, “Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau-Himilayan region and the identity of the yeti,” takes a phylogenetic look at the origin of the myth. This study, written by Tianying Lan et al., examines 24 samples; DNA analysis found these to be from 4 separate bear lineages, 1 of these being the Himalayan brown bear, a species lacking much research.
This took into account many “yeti” samples, including one likely used in a previous study that suggested the yeti myth stems from an unknown species or hybrid species of brown bear. Lan and the other scientists on the team were able to show this sample to be genetically linked to the modern Himalayan brown bear.
The study shines a light on the likely origins of the yeti mythos, linking the creature to the vulnerable Himalayan black bear and the critically endangered Himalayan brown bear.
Happy Halloween Roadrunners!
