Giant Sloth Sighting in Four Corners

First off, we can dismiss the short faced bear conjecture almost out of hand.  Bears are not just carnivores, they are voracious carnivores coming up on hibernation.  That means that they hunt 24/7 until they get a significant kill or gorge themselves on a fishery.  There is no way that this behavior can be hidden and it certainly is not.  The second difficulty is that this creature has a long bushy tail and longer legs.  It is not a bear.

It does however conform extremely well to the Giant Sloth making this my second sighting for the South West.  It is also an excellent sighting in which several clear differences are observed.  We now know what this creature does look like and publication will bring out many more witnesses and alert woods men to be on the alert.

Recall this creature is an ambush hunter that likes large trees and buries chunks of the carcass to build a maggot cache.  It is likely responsible for the disappearance of individual hunters in the wild.

The four corners region does happen to be an excellent potential refuge for a remnant population  the Pleistocene menagerie and the search is certainly worthy.  That an apex carnivore such as the giant Sloth is about bodes well for additional surprises.

Most pictures of a Giant Sloth are awful.  This one may get the head right as it does have the look of an insectivore.  Otherwise, it is quadruped and that suggests retractable claws.  The long tail is also notably bushy.   All legs are also noticeably than that of a bear which implies it may even be faster.

I need an artist to work with on this one and we can sell the T shirt here.

Crypto Four Corners: Searching For Unknown Beasts

http://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2013/09/crypto-four-corners-searching-for.html

The Crypto Four Corners team, which includes JC Johnson, Ron Regehr, David Weatherly, Leonard Dan and Tom Sirchia, were investigating an undisclosed location in a mountain range located in the Navajo Nation.

JC Johnson mentions a sighting he had in 2003, not far from the Four Corners Monument, that he described as a very large bear (900-1000 lbs). This specimen had a long neck, short ears, short face and a long bushy tail. The legs on the animal were longer than those bears native to the region. Could this be a remnant of the Pleistocene era? Arctodus simus or Short-Faced Bear first appeared during the middle Pleistocene in North America, about 800,000 years ago, supposedly ranging from Alaska to Mississippi...becoming extinct about 11,600 years ago. Its fossils were first found in the Potter Creek Cave, Shasta County, California. Arctodus pristinus is another species of the genus that roamed from Mexico into the American southwest, then east as far as the Atlantic coast.

A local rancher, who JC interviewed, stated that he and his wife witnessed a bear 'as big as a horse' moving through the valley adjacent to their range.

Petroglyph expert Ron Regher stated that the native people depicted these giant bears in their drawings...telling the story of the existence of these large carnivores. These representations where not just art, but accounts of real-life encounters.

These expeditions into the region were also investigations of other cryptids. JC mentioned that whenever you setup camp in this area, you're the 'main attraction' for the 'Furry Ones.' If you have watched previous Crypto Four Corners videos or read my narratives, then you know that the 'Furry Ones' are a constant accessory...and they let you know that their watching. Occasionally a stone or small branch will be launched into the campsite at night, just as a remainder that you are their guest in their home.

There are segments in the video where the eventual 'campfire stories' ensue. Tom Sirchia talked about a 'black-eye' woman he noticed in a sidewalk cafe in New York City. The description of this woman's demeanor and unknown language made for a very strange account.

David Weatherly details a 'skinwalker' encounter he had while driving a truck along the old 'Devil's Highway' - U.S. Route 666 (now U.S. Route 491) which runs through the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain reservations. The highway passes by two mountains considered sacred by native Americans, Ute Mountain and an extinct volcanic core named Shiprock. David stated that a wolf darted out onto the highway from his left side. As he looked down from the truck's door window, the wolf was pacing the vehicle at about a 50 MPH clip. Has he sped up and the wolf continued to keep pace...then it suddenly went bi-pedal. This continued for a few miles until he came to a curve, slowed the truck and the beast took off into the rocks. David said it was one of the most bizarre things he has ever seen...and I tend to agree.

JC Johnson and his team will extend their expeditions into this area and continue to investigate the weird and extraordinary phenomena of the Four Corners and beyond.