The Vermont Monster Map,"

Bigfoot, a three-hundred-pound blood sucker and a human-faced calf meet up at a bar. Which Vermont monsters didn't get the invite? "The Vermont Monster Map," made public this month, is a helpful point of reference. The illustration, created by artist Robert Brunelle Jr. and inspired by the research of author Joseph Citro, explores a rumored monster for every county in Vermont. Examples include the catamount, officially declared extinct in 2018, in Addison County; vampires in Bennington County; and lake monsters in Grand Isle County. More obscure are creatures like Groton's Godzilla, a side hill croncher and the human-faced calf. Descriptions, some imbued with humor, accompany all 14 legends. Take the pigman in Washington County, for example. "Said to be a one-of-a-kind human-pig hybrid, our searches have failed to discover Pigman anywhere in our near Northfield," the map states. "But we have stopped ordering BLTs during fieldtrips." The stories, rather than the facts, are what matter to Citro. Robert Brunelle Jr. illustrated "The Vermont Monster Map," which features vampires, Bigfoot and more. The map is based off of Joseph Citro's research. Robert Brunelle Jr. illustrated "The Vermont Monster Map," which features vampires, Bigfoot and more. The map is based off of Joseph Citro's research. COURTESY OF ROBERT BRUNELLE JR. Vermont monsters: What are the backstories? "Calf With Human Head" A 1913 newspaper clipping from the St. Johnsbury Caledonian talks about an animal with the body of a calf and the face of a human — "the only thing of its kind ever known to scientists" — to be exhibited at the Caledonia County Fair. "The calf is Holstein and has a black and white body, but the head and face are in human form, except the ears," the Caledonian stated. "The calf weighed about 30 pounds and had no hair, except a slight beard on the face." Bats can have human faces, too The Burlington Free Press in May 1993 called into question the "human-faced bat" reportedly captured in the Green Mountain National Forest. "A large photograph on the front cover of this week's [Weekly] World News does indeed show a small bat with a man's face, pointy, Dr. Spock-like ears and muscular arms," the Free Press reported. This is Bat Boy, the unofficial mascot of the Weekly World News. Half bat and half human, Bat Boy was found in a cave in 1992. This is Bat Boy, the unofficial mascot of the Weekly World News. Half bat and half human, Bat Boy was found in a cave in … Show more IMAGE COURTESY WEEKLY WORLD NEWS Bigfoot ... is real. At least that's what Dr. Warren Cook of Castleton State College said in the Rutland Daily Herald. In the article, published September 1983, Cook said he had interviewed several Vermont hunters who all reported seeing "a Bigfoot run across the back road along which they were driving 13 years ago." Vampires "Vampires have been reported in Manchester, Putney, Cavendish, and Woodstock," the Monster Map states. "It's the un-reported ones we have to worry about." Indeed, a legend from 1834 put Woodstock center stage as an example of Vermont's vampire panic, when a son in the Corwin family got sick. "His skin paled," according to a description on Woodstock's town website. "His appetite disappeared. And by day, he barely stirred from his bedchamber. Six months after he was buried in Cushing Cemetery, his younger brother was struck with the same affliction." In 2010 Frank Siecinski captured this image of what could be a Bigfoot on his trail camera in Hubbarton, VT. In 2010 Frank Siecinski captured this image of what could be a Bigfoot on his trail camera in Hubbarton, VT. SAWYER LOFTUS/FREE PRESS Convinced this was a sign of vampirism, townspeople dug up the coffin of the dead Corwin son under the assumption that he wanted his younger brother's life. The townspeople insisted on examining his heart. "When an autopsy showed Corwin's heart contained fresh blood, it was removed, taken to the village green, and burned." "Vermont's most dangerous animal" "Yep, the old Side Hill Croncher is alive and well, and living in Stockbridge." A piece published in the Rutland Daily Herald from April 1983 delved into the story behind this creature, whose story had not been told for nearly two decades, according to the article. The map placed the croncher in Lamoille County, though the anecdote in the Herald described the sighting in Windsor County. The animal, according to the description published in the Herald, "is half boar and half deer, has four legs, short tusks, dark dirty brown hair, weighs at least 100 pounds, has hoofs with prominent dew claws, and most important has shorter legs on its right side than on its left." Champ? - or a log snagged on Burlington's breakwater? Photographed April 28, 2019. Champ? - or a log snagged on Burlington's breakwater? Photographed April 28, 2019. JOEL BANNER BAIRD/FREE PRESS A conversation with Joseph Citro: 'I collect stories' The following questions and answers are from an email exchange with Citro. Burlington Free Press: What got you started in your research of Vermont mythology, folklore and more? Joseph Citro: It has been a lifelong affliction. I don’t want to sound too Freudian, but I probably have to blame it on my father. He knew all the local lore and like to pass it along to me. What are you looking for when you research monsters? JC: I am looking for stories more than facts. By that I mean I do not think of myself as an investigator or cryptozoologist or anything like that. I am more of an editor. I collect stories and try to preserve them. Vermont is full of wonderful stories and somebody has to collect and preserve the weird ones. Do you believe in the monsters themselves, or is it more about the legends behind them? Are there some you believe in more than others? JC: Belief is not important. The stories are real and those are what interest me. All the monsters in the stories I have collected could be placed on a continuum that ranges from absolute fact to whimsy and fantasy. For example, the Catamount is absolute fact. I have seen one and so have many other people. Whereas the Sidehil Croncher is clearly a delightful bit of folk humor. This is a stuffed catamount seen at the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier in March 1990. The federal government is prepared to take this wild cat, also known as the eastern cougar, off the endangered species list because the animal has likely been extinct for at least 70 years. A stuffed catamount is displayed at the Vermont Historical Society in Montpelier in March 1990. Do you have a favorite monster from the map? (If so, what do you like about that one in particular?) JC: Hard to pick a favorite. I like the Pigman a lot. It is a wonderful story, spooky and colorful. As far as I know I was the first to write about it. Since the chapter I did in Green Mountains, Dark Tales the story has spread far and wide. Even has made it to television! I have been called “The Father of Pigman” but I resist that designation for obvious reasons…