I realize it's hard to get past that name--"sheepsquatch"--but bear with me. That's part of American folklore. You see something you've never seen before and you give it a name.

I ran across the legend of the Sheepsquatch (and my spell-check is gonna drive me crazy because it doesn't know from "Sheepsquatch") while watching "Monsters and Mysteries in America" on Destination America. What a great find on a gloomy Sunday afternoon!

The documentary series examines the great legends that help make this country breathe. Believe 'em or not,  these folks have eyewitness accounts of bizarre creatures and alien encounters and whatever else. Make fun of them if you will, but these aren't actors. (The actors are the ones in those silly re-creations.) These people sincerely believe they saw SOMETHING.

The episode I watched was about aliens in eastern Kentucky; the Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia; the Fouke Monster in Arkansas (and I've had my own experience with that one, in a roundabout way); and the Sheepsquatch--spotted not that far away in Breckenridge County. Oh and, by the way, the narrator kept referring to this part of Kentucky as "Appalachia."

Uh, not so much, right?

The Sheepsquatch is a 9-foot tall half-man/half-sheep creature that wanders the dense woods of Breck County. It's covered in wool, has horns like a ram, and is a vicious killer--but, so far, only of other animals. I've never heard this legend in my lifetime.

Do I believe it? Well, I'll need to see something like that for myself before I commit. And I'd just as soon not, so I guess we're stuck. But again, we're talking about people who are convinced they saw something, and that they saw enough of whatever it was to give the description I just gave you.

I love stuff like this. I took a folklore class in college and these are the kinds of stories we'd discuss. I've never known anyone, personally, who's seen anything like this. But it's a blast, nonetheless.

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