According to legend, many different creatures roam the Pacific Northwest. Some of those creatures include the tree octopus, avian polar bears, Sasquatch, the St. Helens dragon, beavers, and Willatuk the Sea Serpent!
Sasquatch, also commonly known as Bigfoot, is a very tall, hairy (or mostly hairy), muscular, bipedal, ape-like beast that roams forests and other wilderness. Bigfeet often leave footprints in the areas they dwell in, but are rarely ever seen by human eyes. Despite their enormous size compared to humans, they are very good at hiding. Their footprints are claimed to be as big as 24 inches long. They are roughly 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) tall. Their hair is usually black, dark brown, or dark reddish in color. The Yeti or the Abominable Snowman is the distant cousin of Sasquatch that lives in colder, snowier areas of the world, such as the Alps.
Weight: 400-1000 pounds (180-450 kilograms)
What they eat: Mainly vegetation and fruits, but also whatever they can find
Fun fact: Sasquatch cannot sneeze and is immune to pepper spray!
The Pacific Northwest tree octopus is an amphibious species of octopus that lives in and around trees of the temperate rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula. Tree octopuses are very intelligent and inquisitive creatures. They can change their skin to red or to white from its normal mottled brown to indicate different emotions to one another. They have eight arms, using them to swing from one branch to the next or to cling to the branches they are perched upon. You can find even more information about them here at The Pacific Northwest Octopus website.
Weight: 10-30 pounds (4-14 kilograms)
What they eat: Plants, insects, candy corn, shrimp, flowers, lizards, and frogs
Fun fact: Their form of locomotion of grabbing branches to pull themselves along is called tentaculation!
A beaver is a large, elusive rodent with orange buck teeth and a big flat tail. Beavers can gnaw through wood
with their strong teeth. They live mainly in ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes, streams, and other wetland areas. They modify
their environment and create new habitats by making dams out of sticks, logs, branches, and mud. They are mainly nocturnal
and are very social creatures.
(Editors Note: This is one cryptid I am not sure that I fully believe in. Living in the "Beaver State" of Oregon near a town
called Beaverton for 18 full years, I have never seen one single beaver...)
Weight: 35-65 pounds (16-30 kilograms)
What they eat: Leaves, woody stems, and aquatic plants
Fun fact: They can swim up to 6 miles per hour (10 kilometers per hour)!
The St. Helens Dragon lives in a hollow space within Mount St. Helens in Washington. It is the only one of its kind, born and isolated underneath the mountain. The dragon has green scales, two small wings on its back, and moves on all fours. Now, it is about the height of the fictional Godzilla. As the dragon grows, it heats up and eats the surrounding rock. This eating and the dragon's breathing cause lava and ash to erupt out of Mount St. Helens. After, the dragon usually hibernates for twenty-five years before waking up to eat again.
Weight: 91,250 U.S. tons or 182,500,000 pounds (82,781 metric tons or 82,780,608 kilograms)
What it eats: Lava rock
Fun fact: Despite its wings, the St. Helens Dragon cannot fly but will eventually grow to
reach the size of the mountain it lives in!
Willatuk the Sea Serpent is Seattle's own Loch Ness monster. It is a dinosaur-like sea creature that lives in the Puget Sound, Lake Union, and Lake Washington around the city of Seattle. It has a long neck and large flippers it uses to navigate the deep, fast waters of the Puget Sound. Like Nessie, modern man wants to study it and hunt it down, but it prefers to stay unseen and safely mysterious.
Weight: Irrelevant due to buoyancy in water
What it eats: Salmon, trout, eels, and other fish and aquatic life in the sound
Fun fact: Willatuk saved the lives of people of the Wonkatilla tribe during the great earthquake and blizzard of 1736!
Squirrats live in Seattle on city college campuses with many trees and shrubbery. They are similar to werewolves in how they transform into another being. During the day, these creatures live out their lives as squirrels. However, during the night, they become rats. They are mainly seen on college campuses, scurrying around busy and tired feet.
Weight: 7-14 ounces (300-400 grams)
What they eat: Nuts, berries, fruits, seeds, cheese, and students' food scraps
Fun fact: Much like their half-siblings, squirrels, they do not hibernate during the winter!