Cryptid Sightings on iNat?

Has anyone observed a cryptid on iNaturalist (i.e. Bigfoot)? Or even a strange animal that can’t be identified? I’ve been looking for one of these on iNat for the longest time! Thanks for any help!

2 Likes

A recent one
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60587544

4 Likes

I’ve seen people attempt to upload photos of bigfoot, but they are always the same images taken from the internet that show up on reverse image search (so copyright infringement and not evidence of an organism).

And I’m surprised lotteryd didn’t mention it, but lots of weird oddities hang out in the unknowns because no one knows what to do with them.

Modified link here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?per_page=100&iconic_taxa=unknown&order=asc&without_taxon_id=67333%2C131236%2C151817

and relevant forum post here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/amount-of-unknown-records-is-decreasing/8594

4 Likes

I saw someone upload some taxidermist’s man-made chimeras (a bird/cat thing) once.
I’ll see if I can find the link.

2 Likes

Found 'em:

  1. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7024298
    (“This specimen was right beside the Catcrow”)

  2. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7024271
    (presumably the “Catcrow” refrenced in the other observation)

4 Likes

This could be a larval form of a fresh-water cryptid:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/21895755

Perhaps one of these?
https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Freshwater_Monkey

Or, possibly:
### 8 – Cadborosaurus

Photo credit: blogs.scientificamerican.com

Photo credit: blogs.scientificamerican.com
*The Loch Ness Monster has an American cousin.**The Cadborosaurus, thought to live in the waters off the Pacific Northwest, has been sighted as far south as San Francisco.*By compiling data from multiple sightings, cryptozoologists have determined that the creature is from 5-15 meters long.

And, yet…I’m not sure I can rule out any of these:
https://problematicafiles.blogspot.com/2015/06/water-cryptids-i-lake-river-swamp.html

2 Likes

There’s some neat ones in this project here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/weirdwildwonders

5 Likes

Throwback to this observation here as well: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/4919474

Anyways, my favorite cryptid is the ivory-billed woodpecker

3 Likes

I nominate this as some form of cryptid effluvia:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47186771

any ideas of what might have predated upon these Arthropoda? Then, expelled them in such an unexpected manner?

People are not as clever as they think they are.

And if the person really is a bigfoot believer, and not just pulling a spoof, then it seems a desperate move. As in, you couldn’t come up with your own evidence, so you “borrowed” some.

I really like RationalWiki’s article on “Absence of Evidence is Evidence of Absence” – contrary to the claims of cryptid believers. https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Absence_of_evidence

1 Like

Shope Papilloma Virus is in iNaturalist, so we could have jackalope observations at some point.

4 Likes

That foot does not seem that big.

Perfect moment to plug https://www.cryptonaturalist.com/

4 Likes

I’m sure we’ve all taken photos of UFOs (Unidentified Faunal Objects), especially if we use camera traps. Some of them are pretty weird looking, depending on the camera trap’s shutter speed as the animal zips past. They’re fun to try to ID, but I haven’t posted any on iNat.

3 Likes

The whole cryptozoology thing is fascinating to me. I guess there are people who want or need there to be something in nature that eludes science, whether it’s Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness Monster or whatever. In much of the US, black panthers seem to be a popular cryptospecies despite there being no evidence for any melanistic big cat occurring anywhere in the region. In my corner of the US (the Southwest), any creature that can’t be readily identified by the observer is a Chupacabra even when the most parsimonious explanation is that they saw a coyote with mange (not an uncommon thing). It can be amusing except when you’re trying to provide a science-based explanation of what someone saw and they refuse to believe it.

4 Likes

We’ve actually chosen two cryptids for observation of the day, a sasquatch and a presumed jackalope.

Neither made research grade, however.

14 Likes

I was going through all the Casual observations of Chaga and I found a Pet Rock.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/31582022

2 Likes

I tried the podcast, and was VERY impressed! An Extremely talented person with much natural insight, spiritual wisdom, and poetic artistry prepares these programs. Plus, they are short enough so as to avoid falling into the TLDNR bucket (not that you read them) :wink:
Thank you for the tip. :clap:t3:

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.