STRANGE Mythical Creatures!

The world’s strangest fabled creatures! From an epic bird with a supposedly 80-foot wingspan to the monster blamed for draining the vitality of over 150 farm animals. #8 Yeti The mysterious legend of the Yeti has been a staple of the Himalayan region for centuries, however it wasn’t until the 19th century that it gained prominence as a folkloric beast in the Western world. Anthropologists have said that tales surrounding the Yeti can be traced back to pre-Buddhist beliefs in the area as the native Lepcha people would worship a “Glacier Being” as a hunting deity, while followers of the Tibetan Bon religion thought blood from the creature could be used in mystical rituals. These tribal and religious depictions framed the Yeti as being an ape-esque behemoth that carried a large stone as its weapon of choice. Word of this frigid, hairy monstrosity spread broadly in the 1800s as accounts were published of a trekker and his guides spotting what appeared to be a shaggy, bipedal creature fleeing their presence in northern Nepal. This was backed somewhat by massive, ape-like footprints being recorded in the 1899 work “Among the Himalayas” by Laurence Waddell. But sightings of the Abominable Snowman, as the creature was soon called, really started to flood in with the turn of the 20th century, as more western climbers, explorers and anthropologists braved the snowy mountain range. As researchers have attempted to track down this mythical monster, the popular consensus has been that travelers most likely witnessed a known animal such as the Tibetan blue bear or the langur monkey. #7 Jersey Devil In the Pine Barrens of New England, there is said to a flying, bipedal abomination that fleets through the woods with phenomenal swiftness and a blood-curdling screech. Called the Jersey Devil for its proximity to Southern New Jersey, this creature has been a popular recurring legend since it was first reported in 1735. The age-old tale of its origin explains that the monstrosity was born a human child, the 13th of its siblings, to a woman known as Mother Leeds. Upon discovering she was pregnant for the 13th time, Leeds was said to have cursed the unborn child, stating that it would be the devil. Once the newborn entered the world, it transformed into a creature with hooves, bat wings, a forked tail and the head of a goat before battering all in attendance and flying out of the home through the chimney. Since word of this legend spread, there have been many supposed encounters from unassuming bystanders, including a sighting by Joseph Bonaparte, the elder brother to Napoleon, in 1820. Strange events in the Pine Barrens, such as the mysterious slaying of livestock, unexplained footprints and wild animal attacks have all been blamed on the Jersey Devil in the last 2 to 3 centuries. But the origin of this legend is thought by historians to have spawned from the amalgamated gossip surrounding the Leeds family in the 18th century, who had a wyvern on its crest...an ancient myth that fits the Jersey Devil’s description.