Monsters Across America: A State-By-State Guide

If you think Big Bird is just a character on Sesame Street, think again. It's also a monstrous, flying beast that's been terrorizing residents of Texas' Rio Grand Valley, apparently. That's according to a "cryptozoological map of the United States," which proves that it's not all about Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster (who is in Scotland and can't get you). Take the legendary Chupacabra in the Southwest, or the Beast of Busco, a giant snapping turtle in Indiana. Yeah, you read that right. A giant killer turtle.  There's also the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp in South Carolina, and Mothman in West Virginia. Artist Mark Adams of Philadelphia told the Daily Mail  that he drew each creature by hand. "The map is a bit of a declaration of optimism and wonderment as to what might be possible on planet Earth," Adams said in the interview. Adams added that he was particularly drawn to the "carnivores and predatory cats," as opposed to the birds and sea monsters. We have to admit that some of map's so-called monsters don't sound that scary. Case in point: Cassie, the sea serpent who's apparently been swimming around the Casco Bay in Maine. Or, Pukwudgie, the "small, bipedal humanoid" from Massachusetts. He kind of looks like an Ewok.  See more of the map (and order one for your home and car, just in case you need to identify a monster) at Hog Island Press in Philadelphia.