Gobblesquatch: Legendary Creature or Holiday Hoax?

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my American readers! We’re all about to gain 10 pounds eating the abundance of goodies that we make today while we remember everything that we’re thankful for.  One of the things on my “Thankful List” is all the wonderful creatures that inhabit this planet with us. Particularly the cryptids!

With that in mind, let me share with you the mysterious tale of one such cryptid, the ever elusive Gobblesquatch!

Gobblequatch01

What is a Gobblesquatch?

I first learned about this giant turkey-beast in a paper by retired Professor Wesley Wimscott. His report was interesting, but I also found a few discrepancies.  He bases the existence of this creature on the folklore of the Native Americans who lived along the Catawba River in the state of Virginia, USA. He states that Catawba means “Feather as Long as a Tree”, when in fact, it actually means, “1. A Native American people formerly inhabiting territory along the Catawba River in North and South Carolina and now located in western South Carolina. 2. A reddish North American grape developed from the fox grape.”

So where does that leave Virginia? Not sure, since that river doesn’t run through it, but let’s continue.

TurkeyWattleThe professor also mentions a couple other clues that he feels points to the existence of Gobblesquatch. Let’s run through those:

  • Supposedly Cherokee Indians wore imitation “giant wattles” around their necks as part of their ceremonial garb.  He said they were made from gourds tied with deer sinew. Interestingly, he said they did this in pre-Colonial times – so does that mean no Westerner witnessed this behavior? And why did they stop?
  • Legend of Powhatan: “Powhatan legend of KahYuhKeh or Giant Dropping of Death, [is] an ancient tribal story about the tribe’s first chief, who set off for the mountains to fast for fifteen days and fifteen nights to hear the gods’ suggestions for ending a drought, but was killed by a falling liquid bomb at dusk when running excitedly home and passing under the branches of a huge tree.” Um hmm.

Professor Wimscott thinks that the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving Day with a turkey came from the Native American tradition of hunting all the turkeys they could find on one day, as a defense against the development of any more Gobblesquatches.

TurkeyNestA note at the end of his article reports that the Professor disappeared somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains while looking for Gobblesquatch. That was in 2010. The note reports, “His last diary entry read, ‘Found a nest. Measured fourteen by twelve and a half feet. Will infiltrate. As an egg.’”

Other Reports

Let’s look at some other reports over the years:

  • In 1672 a young man who lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was hanged for his heresy that he saw a huge turkey with a wingspan “greater than the throne of the Almighty.” No further details as to where this occurred, or any paperwork to back it up.
  • Thomas Jefferson was supposedly sent home from school in 1750 because he kept using the word Gobbledygook. It was pointed out that Gobbledygook “was a local Virginia word referring to those who doubted the existence of a giant gobbler in the Blue Ridge Mountains.” OooK!
  • Foreman Sid Sawer reported that “[his men heard] frightening falsetto rumblings that set the men a-feared at night, constant thunder as of giant beating wings, and unclearable mounds of white-stained excrement beneath the branches of the most desirable trees.” That was in 1861, and the Virginia Lumber Company scrapped their plans to clear-cut Mount Mitchell after that.
  • Now wait a minute! This next one is just ridiculous! Supposedly the Wright brothers, after having spent three months in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, developed their first plane in 1903. The prototype supposedly had a huge wingspan with gourds draped over the fuselage. They named it The Warbler. Apparently it never took off.

Where Is It Now?

Some have wondered why we haven’t seen this beast in recent years. The prevailing theory is that some terrible event caused the Gobblesquatch to head to the Northwest territories with their rainforests and dense cover where it may have “aligned” itself with another notable cryptid, Bigfoot.

Photographic Evidence

Here are some photos of Gobblesquatch evidence. See what you think:

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Well, I’m not convinced.

You may be wondering, is there a gift shop? Oh yes, there is! Click through this link to see it:

http://www.cafepress.com/gobblesquatch/8215197

If you’d like to learn more, visit the website (Update 11.24.2020 – sad to report that the Gobblesquatch.com no longer exists.):

www.gobblesquatch.com

Thankful Owl 1Most Thankful

Gobblesquatch aside, I’m very thankful for you, my readers, who share all these crazy stories, real or not, with me every week. Wishing you all a Wonderful Day and many Blessings for you and yours!

Til the next time!

28/30

 

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