The Abominable Snowman: Bear, Cat or Creature?

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - The Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, may be the Southern Asian version of Bigfoot. The creature is said to inhabit the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal and Tibet.

The Christian Science Monitor reported in April on an "Oriental Yeti" trapped by hunters in central China. One of the hunters said it appears to be a bear but has no fur. It also was said to sound like a cat.

Loren Coleman, a mystical creature researchers who opened the International Cryptozoology Museum in Maine, told the Monitor it could be a few different types of cats such as an Asian palm or common civet cat or a masked or a Himalayan palm civet.

He said it could have been hairless because of a skin disease called mange, which also has been said to be the culprit in some alleged sightings of the elusive chupacabra.

According to the Occultopedia , there are two types that are said to exist. One is said to be a hybrid of man and ape, standing more than 6 feet tall with dark brown to black-colored fur. The other is said to be smaller than an average man with a reddish-brown coat of fur.

The website Abominablesnowman talks of three types. There is the mih-teh, a giant ape-like creature said to be man-like but not a human being. It has short red hair and a robust face and is said to be the most dangerous, a stocky, carnivorous beast said to be between 5 feet and 6 feet tall but stronger than humans.

The dzu-teh is said to be 7-to-8 feet tall but not as dangerous.

The third kind is the teh-lma, said to be a little more than 3 feet tall. Some have suggested this is a baboon while others have said it is a young version of the other two species.

According to the Occultopedia, the first report of the Yeti by a Westerner was in 1832. B.H. Hodson, the British representative to Nepal, talked about a creature that allegedly attacked his servants. Natives called them "rakshas," meaning demons.

The Museum of UnNatural Mystery website said the first reliable report was made in 1925. N.A. Tombazi, a Greek photographer who was taking part in a British geological expedition in the Himalayas, saw a creature moving across some lower slopes.

He said the creature was like a human being. "It stopped occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes," he said. "It showed up dark against the snow and, as far as I could make out wore no clothes."

He found 15 footprints before losing the trail in the snow. Locals called it the "Kanchenjunga demon."

The website said two British mountaineers, Eric Shipton and Micheal Ward, photographed footprints that they found in 1951. Each one was about 13 inches wide and 18 inches long.

LiveScience reported in 2007 that Josh Gates, host of the Sci-Fi channel series "Destination Truth," claimed to have found three mysterious footprints similar to those attributed to the Yeti.

While Gates said it could be strong evidence supporting the existence of the Yeti, comparing it to other tracks found, LiveScience "bad science columnist" Benjamin Radford suggested that tracks in the snow can be difficult to interpret because of how unstable snow is. It physically changes as the temperature varies and as sun hits it, which means ordinary animal tracks can become larger and misshapen.

Referring to a track found by Gates, Radford said Gates found it in rocky soil near a river, also a difficult site from where to get accurate tracks.