You can’t have Halloween without a creepy monster now can you?

I mean, Transylvania has Count Dracula, and Romania and Eastern Europe have the Werewolf. Then, there is Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as countless other spooky creatures running amok on the earth on all Hallows Eve.

Well kiddies…Arizona has her own creatures that roam the desert scaring unsuspecting citizens.

I know right? Who would have thought Arizona had monsters?

We actually have two monsters. The first creature of the desert is:

The Mogollon Monster

Photo via Pixabay

If The Mogollon Monster looks a lot like Big Foot, that’s because it is. Yes, Arizona has it’s own Big Foot. Sightings of the Sasquatch have been primarily around the Mogollon rim country, stretching from Prescott to Williams, Arizona.

The big guy was first discovered by a visitor to Arizona in 1903. A man named I.W. Stevens claimed he came upon the wild creature while it was drinking the blood of two cougars it had beaten to death. This grisly sighting happened in the Grand Canyon near the north rim.

Upon seeing Stevens, the hairy beast grabbed a club and waved it menacingly at him. Then, it let out a scream that gave Stevens nightmares for the rest of his life. Of course, he let out a scream of his own before proceeding to run for his life.

A more realistic run-in happened in the mid-1940’s near Payson, Arizona, when cryptozoologist Don Davis was a mere 13 years old. He was on a Boy Scout camping trip near Tonto Creek, when he was woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of something rummaging through his group’s camping supplies.

Half asleep, Davis called out to the noise maker to be quiet. Then, suddenly it was standing over Davis still in his sleeping bag. He described the creature as being a monster-like man with massive arms, chest, and shoulders and covered in hair. It also had an incredible odor.

Sound Familiar?

The Mogollon monster, as recently as 2017, scared some poor hapless hiker enjoying the pristine views of the Grand Canyon and the cooler fall temperatures.

The monster seems to be just as equally leery of us, and there have been no reports of it physically hurting anyone. Although, it is difficult to believe that the rocky mountains of Arizona could provide any type of habitat for the monster.

Yet, there have been numerous sightings and reports of the smelly hairy beast, so who knows?

You might want to be careful, though, when hiking and camping, just in case you actually do meet the Mogollon Monster.

The 2nd creature known to be in Arizona is:

The Chupacabra

(Source: KGUN, January 2012)

The Chupacabra started it’s interesting story in Texas. Ranchers were finding the dead carcasses of their cattle mutilated and drained of blood.

Sounds like they could be Dracula’s pets.

Chupacabra stories started in the 1995 when a woman in Puerto Rico reported seeing a hairless 5-foot tall creature bite into the neck of a goat and suck its blood.

The Lone star state has been the ground zero for Chupacabra sightings. So much so, that the story evolved from being a myth to an actual fact. The critter exists.

The problem now is centered on “what it is.” It has been speculated that it could be either a coyote or wolf with a serious case of mange but that doesn’t explain the creature’s preference for blood.

It has also been speculated that it could be a hybrid of two species, such as a dog/wolf or dog/coyote. Again, that doesn’t explain the devastating damage these creatures inflict on the live stock.

These things mutilate their victims and leave their mangled bodies littered across the landscape. The blood drained from the lifeless bodies. This is not normal behavior for a dog or coyote.

Now, this “whatever it is” has migrated from Texas to Arizona. Why can’t creatures from hell stay in their own back yards? Like, do we need to have more snow birds?

Sure…come to Arizona and suck the blood of our live stock now.

A Tucson meteorologist had his first view of the elusive critter in 2012. His description fit the majority of earlier descriptions. It is the size of a coyote and is hairless.

Once again, scientists are saying these creatures are coyotes suffering from mange. I don’t know. This picture doesn’t look like any coyote I’ve seen.

The desert has an aura of mystery and she does have a unique personality of her own. Arizona is home to some of the most spectacular naturally made sites, which provides some of the best hiking spots in the world.

It is also home to inhospitable temperatures and weather conditions, harsh environments, and not so friendly critters.

Can the desert also be home to mythological critters such as Bigfoot and El Chupacabra?

I will let you be the judge of that.

Tune in next week, same channel, at same time for my final scary fest article. Stay safe hiking near Mogollon Rim and try to be home before nightfall!