Dale Drinnon dug up the first item and I dug up
the Pennsylvania
references. This all fits nicely with a
totally independent eye witness report a couple of years ago made in Central Park of all places that I posted simply because
it was too convincing. Now I have defined
a local phenomenon that conforms with the creatures described in Washington
Irving’s tale of Rip Van Winkle to boot.
Pretty good for a day’s work.
What we appear to be describing
is a small hominid operating in woodland and certainly partial to apples. Recall that wild apples were pretty difficult
to eat but stored well enough to act as winter food. The pioneers used them to produce hooch. Thus every farm had a small orchard and this
was the only fruit actually grown to any volume.
This creature is surely one of humanity’s
cousins and is likely similar to the creatures identified in Flores Island Hudson River Valley
What is too easily forgotten is
that we are blinded by our own stunning success as Homo Agriculturist to
understand that natural populations are low. Thus Bigfoot likely has a huge population base
approaching 50,000 individuals. Still
scant in our terms but ample for a population of hunters wanting an ample range
in which to forage and protect its troop.
This creature can be no different.
They are also clever enough to
teach their young the fine art of avoiding human contact. This is totally reasonable behavior for
creatures that are also likely nocturnal in habit.
Eye witness reports are also far
rarer which can hardly be surprising in view of size and that any tracks will
look human like at best. The compelling
case for the Sasquatch has been its unique size which makes any other explanation
of a natural source such as human hoaxer or bear so difficult. A smaller creature fails to stand out unless
the witness gets very lucky.
At least we now know what we are
looking for and that it has red hair.
That adds the Albatwitch to a list including the Sasquatch and also the Giant
Sloth as a group of forest exploiters who are nocturnal and are also adept at
avoiding human contact. I must say
though that the Sasquatch has noticeably become rather relaxed about it all.
Apple-snitchers or
Albatwitch
FRIDAY, 28
SEPTEMBER 2012
From the Facebook Page:
MegumoowÄ•soos are described as a bipedal humanoid about four-feet-tall and covered in reddish-brown hair is called an “albatwitch” (or apple-snitch) in
Dale Drinnon Comments:
This looks once again as if it might be the small-reddish-haired native
ape said to live in the Eastern United States, often compared to an orangutan
and said to be the same as the Skunk Apes of Florida Western
Europe and is not directly connected to them in reports, at best
it shows a connection in the Folklore between the two areas. I am simply
running the material including the photograph as it came to me, I do not claim
responsibilty for taking it or authorizing it as authentic. The originating
site must take that responsibility.
Philadelphia
Although slightly further afield from Philly, one of the
most sinister of monster legends which has fascinated us for years concerns
Lancaster County, a place which, over the years, has been known for its reports
of ferocious werewolves and also Bigfoot. In the past at Phillyist we've
discussed these eerie legends with brief mention of one of the strangest
spectres known to haunt the county: The Albatwitches.
These spookily-named apparitions have been the belief and
cultural dread of the Susquehannock Indians for many years, existing as local
bogeymen but also with relations to hairy hominids such as Bigfoot. The
Albatwitch however, is a slightly smaller form, around four to five feet in
height, also sighted in York
County
The Indians paid homage to these elusive monsters by
carving images of these fiends on their battle shields, to create fear and
trepidation. Despite being reasonably small in stature and having such a
fearsome reputation, the Albatwitch is said to mainly feast on apples and is
often considered a cunning creature which steals, usually from those who are
relaxing with a woodland picnic, only to find their apples missing. The beast
lurks in the shade of trees and snatches the apples, and that's where its eerie
name originates, deriving from "apple snitch." It seems that the
critters have ape-like characteristics and have even been known to playfully
throw the remains of the apples back at the people they stole them from.
The legend of the Albatwitch, which comes mainly from the
area known as Chickie Rock, sounds like a vague yet unsettling spook tale. It
is said that the monsters make their presence known by peculiar whip-crack
noises which emanate from the dark woods, and although sightings still
allegedly persist of these creatures it is believed they were driven to
extinction during the early 1900s either due to lack of woodland or fading
superstition, but the reality is, such mysterious forms resemble that faceless
entity we all fear, that unnerving aspect of the unknown.
Surely it won't be long before a movie called The Albatwitch Project emerges, detailing the misty fantasy
of this long forgotten woodland prowler.
The Albatwitches-Columbia, Pennsylvania
http://www.bfro.net/legends/iroquoian.htm
Local legends in the area of Columbia ,
Pennsylvania Susquehanna River about a mile or
two north of town. Albatwitches were also reported from wooded areas all along
the river's shore.
The creatures are named for a habit which they possess. Their bizarre
common name is short for "apple-snitch", as they are reputed to have
a taste for apples. Legends speak of how the albatwitches would oftentimes
steal apples from picnickers, occasionally even throwing them at the startled
people. Legends also record that the creatures often sat in trees, coming down
only to find food.
Legend also says that the albatwitches either became extinct or were
driven nearly into extinction in the later years of the nineteenth century.
Chickies Rock, where the creatures supposedly lived, does have a tradition of
strange sights and sounds - in the 1950s and 1970s, a manlike figure was seen
several times, and local legends also speak of sounds like the crack of a whip
heard in the woods at night. One can only wonder if these could be connected
with the albatwitch.
Whether these stories are connected or not, several sightings of
Bigfoot-types have been recorded from this area. A vague report concerning the
sighting of a hairy humanoid came from Lancaster Lancaster is a scant 10 miles east of Columbia North Annville York County
Also, some sources say that the Susquehannocks, like many Indian tribes,
had a belief in an apelike monster, and sometimes depicted it on their
war-shields. The Susquehannocks were a local tribe - coincidentally, major
evidences of their civilization (ruins of a village and burial grounds) were
found at the base of Chickies Rock.
1 comment:
my grown son saw something at chiques bigger than a dog run up a tree we never heard about the albatwitch before this 8-2014
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