Linda Godfrey's Wolfmen are Bears

In my last posting I pointed out that, despite her best efforts, Linda Godfrey’s book Real Wolfmen absolutely convinced me that people were seeing bears despite Linda’s hypothesis that gray wolves (Canis lupus) had learned to walk upright like a circus poodle to frighten away humans. 

Traditional werewolf depiction, public domain

 

Lets look at two of the best documented sightings to see if they match wolves or bears…

The Schackelman Sighting

The first modern ‘dogman’ report was by Mark and Joe Schackelman in 1936. Seen near a Native American burial mound at the St. Coletta school for Exceptional Children in Wisconsin the creature was man-sized, covered in fur, on its knees, and digging with its front paws. It reared on its hind legs
when noticed and had long claws, smelled bad, and made a sound like “ga-dar-rah”. Mark approved of a sketch drawn by his son Joe - that shows an obvious bear, stubby tail, flat paws and all.

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Godfrey does her best to turn this bear sighting into something supernatural by spouting all sorts of superstitions about Native American burial grounds, exorcisms, and even trying to claim that the animals call was actually the Biblical word “Gadara”, which is supposibly associated with demons. She apparently realizes how ridiculous this is and admits it may have been a ‘canines menacing growl’ but it is obviously a bear call. Just listen to some to see how similar they are to the ‘dogmans’noise.

Dogs cannot kneel though bears can as this photo proves... 

Stock photo of polar-bear-kneeling (c) Rolf Hicker Photography on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

The Martin Sighting

Another famous case that contains a witness drawing is that of Shelly and Eric Martin. They saw five ‘dogman’ in their front yard in Palmyra Maine in 2011. The animals were seen at night, had green eye shine, and moved both on all fours and on two legs. They were seven feet tall with stubby tails, pointed ears, brown fur, and prominent dog-like muzzles. Despite claiming that they walked on their toes “like a dog or deer” the Martin’s drawing clearly shows a plantigrade animal. The flat feet, short tail, coloring, and wide width of the muzzle (empathized in both drawings) clearly say they saw bears.

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Why Insist their not bears?

So the best reports we have the large size (7 feet tall or more), plantegrade feet, long clawed fore paws, coloration (grizzled grown), and stubby tails of bears. They even sound like bears. So why do so many people insist that what they are seeing is not a bear? I think it is because most sightings are made by city folk unfamiliar with wild animals. They see bears in pictures and on TV that are healthy and well fed, usually well into the fall season when they are their fattest and their coat long and full to withstand the winter cold. Most people have never seen a skinny or mangy bear.

Grizzly Bear clipart, public domain

Here is a healthy but thin bear. Note the human-like way it holds its paws, the prominent ears that look so different from the round ears most people expect, and the shape of the muzzle and shoulders.

Brown Bear, blonde cub dancing, Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, AK Image copyright 2006: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and here are some bears with mange. Note how much they resemble a hyena or big dog with a sloping spine, long-thin limbs, and very protuberant ears that look pointed without a covering of fur to blunt them. The snout is also much more prominent than normal without its covering of hair. 

 

@BlactimusPrime / Via Twitter: @BlactimusPrime, reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

(c) Pennsylvania Game Commission , reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

(c) John Binkele https://trektrax.blogspot.com/2011/10/np28-katmai.html , reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

Non-Bear Reports

Now some sightings in the book are not bears – but they are not man-wolves either. My favorite are the ‘Doberman Lynx’ of California. Several sightings on Mount Wilson are of a cat-like animal the size of a doberman dog with tufted pointed ears, a stubby tail, short speckled gray-brown ‘hyena’ fur, and a frill of fur on its cheek and neck. The animal is first sighted standing upright before dropping to all fours to run off. One witness asked a park ranger what it was and was told it was “a type of lynx”.

Doberman Lynx from Godfrey's Book, reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis only

Godfrey makes a big deal about the Ranger not saying what kind of lynx it is but as only one species is found in the southern United States is had to have been a bobcat Lynx rufus, and the reports are indeed a good description of that species which can be solid black or have hyena-like spots.
And by the way, despite what some cryptozoologist claim, cats can walk on their hind legs – and here are some videos to prove it…



So much for dogman reports. They are bears; not bigfoot in costume, wolves walking upright, coyotes bouncing around, werewolves, or cryptids. They are just mangy bears or bobcats seen by people unfamiliar with these animals.