Exploring the Female Versions of Popular Cryptids

You’ve most likely heard about at least one of the popular cryptids of our times: Wendigo, Skin-walker, Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, Mothman, and many more. Many of these powerful, mysterious, and fascinating creatures have different names or characteristics throughout many cultures worldwide.

While most of these beings are traditionally depicted as male, there is also a lesser explored, but equally interesting, realm of female cryptids. In this article, we look at the stories of female versions of popular cryptids, their unique traits, origins, and cultural significance.

The Female Wendigo

The Wendigo or Windigo hails from the Algonquian Native American and First Nations Northern American and Canadian lands. Sightings of the Wendigo tend to be preceded by a foul smell of decay. Its gaunt skeletal apparition (often depicted as male) can have the power to influence your thoughts with its heart of ice, igniting feelings of greed, violence, and even cannibalism.

But what about its female counterpart?

A female Wendigo is typically reported as a spectral figure with hair hanging about one’s shoulders, hollowed eyes and a keening voice. In some cases, sightings of the Female Wendigo were preceded by the apparition of a mysterious female, seemingly lost in dark and scary woods. It seemed to telepathically call out to potential victims, luring them into the woods to supposedly help or save her. Due to its monstrous form which is very skeletal in nature, it’s hard to know if the Wendigo has a clear male or female component to it. Many believe that it can present itself in whatever initial form would lure potential victims into the dark woods, where the Wendigo could then possess or consume them.

Moving to cultural aspects, a female wendigo represents loss, and desperation. According to some tales, she was a mother who was forced to become a cannibal in the midst of a terrible winter, thus becoming the dreaded creature.

The Female Skin-Walker

Another mysterious and scary figure coming from the Native American Southwestern lands of the Navajo Nation is the Skin-Walker. The female Skin-Walker is believed to be a sorceress who gains the ability to shapeshift into animal form as a result of evil and malicious acts. What sets her apart from its male counterpart is her association with emotional intensity—stories often describe her as a figure of vengeance, avenging wrongs committed against her or her loved ones.

Encounters with the female Skin-Walker tend to lead to the disappearance of the one seeing her. It’s hard to know if the victim is consumed or rather recruited. It’s believed that seeing her is a result of inviting her in through misgivings and bad deeds of your own, which is why she’s not to be mentioned, talked, or even thought about.

Culturally, a female Skinwalker is usually represented as a far more complicated creature, showcasing a mix of both light and dark traits. Sometimes, she is a healer who has reached for forbidden practices to protect her people from death, and sometimes she’s a vengeful spirit who demands her due for personal betrayals.

The Female Bigfoot

Bigfoot or Sasquatch, as it’s known in America and Canada, might be one of the more popular cryptids. They are hominid large-scale primates that have strong bodies covered in fur. When in their presence, it’s likely you’ll feel a strong wet-fur-like scent. The creatures described seem to avoid heavily human-populated areas, sticking to woods or more secluded areas. Many creatures similar to Bigfoot have been reported around the world, from the Yeti of the Himalayas, Chuchunya of Russia, Orang Pendek of Sumatra, Yeren of China, to the Yowie of Australia.

Bigfoot sightings documented in the United States often involve fleeting glimpses or brief encounters. But there are plenty of those sightings being described all around the United States, particularly in the more heavily wooded areas. Though many of the sightings described solitary creatures, supposedly male due to their considerable sizes, some sightings feature smaller creatures, believed to be either a young Bigfoot or a female Bigfoot.

Typically, female Bigfoot sightings portray her as slightly smaller than her male counterpart, with obvious signs of femininity, including facial features softer than her male counterpart. Furthermore, there are reports of hunters running into and sometimes even helping female Bigfoots, sometimes carrying baby Bigfoots.

Unlike other female cryptid encounters, meeting a female Bigfoot doesn’t seem to be quite so dangerous. That may be because unlike other female cryptids, female Bigfoot specimens seem to be going about their own lives. They seem to make a point to avoid or actively retreat from the encounter, unless they feel threatened or cornered.

The Female Mothman

The Mothman is a humanoid-looking winged creature with red glowing eyes, typically envisioned as a male. However, the notion of a female Mothman adds an intriguing layer to this enigmatic cryptid.

The most well-known reported sighting of the Mothman was in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, in the United States. There were sightings of the Mothman before the collapse of the Silver Bridge in 1967, in the same Point Pleasant area. In other parts of the world, there were also reported sightings of the Mothman before major catastrophic or tragic events.

Some of these sightings involved a female Mothman, while others described a male form. Some witnesses have further claimed sightings of female Mothman as a winged female figure with luminous eyes, moving with a grace that belies her ominous reputation. Due to the description (wide wings, glowing red eyes, potentially antennas) and the fact that they seemed to herald unfortunate events, some observers made a connection between the Mothman and demonic presences, of which there have been historical reports of both male and female forms (incubus and succubus, for instance).

Some of the male and female Mothman sightings seemed to report a peculiar or eerie type of interaction that mostly seemed accidental. These Moth-creatures seemed to be territorial more than actually seeking out human interaction.

There has been a lot of speculation about their interaction with the unfortunate events that seem to occur in areas they were sighted. It’s hard to tell whether they have some sort of precognition of the events and show up as some sort of warning sign or rather lead to or even cause those events themselves.

Other Female Cryptids:

The legends of the female Wendigo, Bigfoot, Yeti and Mothman are the most famous, but there are far too many other female cryptids worthy of exploration.

• Female Chupacabra: Rare accounts suggest a sleeker, more cunning version of the infamous livestock predator, often associated with maternal aggression.
• Lady Loch Ness: Some tales speak of a feminine Loch Ness Monster, portraying her as a protector of the lake and its ecosystem.
• Female Jersey Devil: The Jersey Devil, often imagined as a male, also has tales of a feminine counterpart. Stories of the female Jersey Devil emphasize her cunning nature.

From Cryptids To The Great Unknown…Flying Objects

There is some speculation about the connection between cryptids and UFO sightings.

Skin-walker sightings were documented in areas such as Ballard, Utah, where there were also UFO sightings documented. Other areas where Bigfoot and the Mothman were seen presented UFO sightings as well.

Some believe that the DNA of these cryptids might have been cultured by whatever beings those UFOs carry, and that they escape or are released as parts of experiments.

Whether there’s more of a connection than mere coincidence, it’s hard to tell. But it certainly raises the question: how much do we actually know about the world around us?

Scary as that question can be, it’s also the exciting basis for continuing to explore the many mysteries of the world.