With summer fast approaching thoughts turn to outdoor activities. The snow and cold are gone and Mother Nature beckons us to “come out and play!”
Some folks like the water: a sandy beach or a maybe just a public pool. Others, like me, prefer something a little more woodsy, like a national forest or state park.
When I was young I absolutely loved camping. It was my favorite way to spend summer vacation. As a Girl Scout I spent many happy days and nights hidden away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Tent, RV, or cabin – it didn’t matter. I just loved to be out in the woods.
I long for those carefree days and wish I could get back out into the woods. My agenda would be much different now. Instead of racking up merit badges I’d be searching for Sasquatch, the Ohio Grassman actually, the resident Sasquatch-type cryptid creature in my great home state.
As a paranormal investigator I’m used to running around in the dark looking for things that may or may not exist, so looking for the Grassman should be a no-brainer, right?
All I need is a pair of hiking boots, a camera, and a dozen donuts. According to James “Bobo” Fay, Bigfoot has a sweet tooth. A giant, deer eating, treat loving sweet tooth.
I’ll happily admit my unhealthy addiction to the Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot. According to the BFRO crew, the great state of Ohio is tres “squatchy.”
My Haunted Housewives partner, Cathi Weber has a camper/trailer that would be perfect for just such an adventure. We’d call ourselves “The Squatch Sisters” and use our women’s intuition and motherly instincts to guide us on our “monster” hunt.
I know a thing or two about ghosts, but I’m certainly not an expert in other areas of the paranormal. Cathi and I have often talked about branching out from our ghost-loving world and exploring topics such as cryptozoology and UFOs – they still fall into the paranormal range.
The world is a wonderful menagerie of incredible mysteries and we are fascinated by them all.
When the Squatch Sisters want to go looking for cryptids we’ll call our resident go-to guy on the Ohio Grassman, Joedy Cook. Cook is as close to an expert as one can be on a creature that science can’t prove exists. He’s authored several books on the subject and has been featured in many television programs, including Monsters and Mysteries in America where he speaks about another creepy Ohio cryptid, the Melon Heads.
Why not? Why couldn’t there be a 9 foot, hairy upright walking beast secretly living in the deep woods of Ohio? And it’s not just Ohio, not just the United States – many cultures believe in a Bigfoot-type creature. There has to be something to it.
The uncertainty is part of the attraction.
This fascination has led to dozens of documentaries, television shows, and countless books. YouTube is loaded with video “evidence” of the elusive creature. Biologists and anthropologists keep records in the form of footprint casts that illustrate the human/ape similarities. How can anyone NOT believe?
One of the most interesting televised accounts of the Ohio Grassman aired on my second favorite cable show Mountain Monsters. The team of “Hillbilly Hunters” captured an incredibly compelling photograph of what looks like a large humanoid creature covered in hair. Or a guy in a ghillie suit.
But are we overlooking something? Are we making light of what could be a very dangerous undertaking? There are those who claim that the Grassman (or any other Bigfoot type) is not a shy, peaceful creature who just wants to be left alone.
Some researchers and witnesses say that a run-in with the massive creature can be very troublesome. Bigfoot would certainly be at the top of the food chain. He’s a formidable predator who can be extremely aggressive and territorial. If you find yourself in Grassman country you’d better be ready to run.
It’s all fun and games until someone loses a limb.
How much of what we hear and see is true? It’s hard to say, especially since I can only speak from my own experiences. I do know that sometimes the media paints an incredibly inaccurate picture of the paranormal.
I imagine it’s the same for all aspects of the very broad blanket of what we consider “the unknown.” Fame-hungry thrill seekers and ambitious producers can “embellish” true accounts to make them more palatable for television.
On the other hand, Bigfoot researchers have the same problems we ghost hunters do when dealing with skeptics and non-believers. We can’t “prove” that ghosts, Bigfoot, aliens, fairies, sea monsters, or unicorns exist to any scientific certainty. We can’t control our investigations so that others can experience what we do. We can’t convince anyone of anything that they don’t want to believe in.
Our best photographs, video clips, audio recordings, or plaster casts won’t change closed minds, although with Bigfoot there is the possibility of collecting DNA through hair or saliva samples. Can’t get spit from a spirit.
The true adventure comes from the exploration, the hunt, the quest into the unknown. Instead of decrepit asbestos-filled abandoned buildings, Bigfooters are trekking outdoors in the fresh clean air.
Granted, the weather doesn’t always cooperate, but you get the idea. A weekend of squatching is, at the very least, a magnificent excuse to commune with nature. That is how I want to spend my summer vacation, or at least part of it. Go forth and find that evidence!
I vow to make this the greatest summer of my adult life. Maybe I’ll get the best ghost photograph ever, maybe I’ll spot a UFO, maybe I’ll catch the Grassman in my backyard. And I won’t stop there, this is only the beginning.
The supernatural is broad topic. There are endless possibilities, a cornucopia of curiosities just waiting to be explored. I won’t spend three months hunkered down at home zoning out in front of a television or computer screen.
And that’s more than I can say about a lot of writers.
Listen to the America’s Most Haunted Radio interview with Mountain Monsters star Trapper Tice