Book Review: Bigfoot in Maine

 Bigfoot in Maine

Michelle Souliere. Introduction by Loren Coleman. (2021: History Press, 190pp.)

Mainer Michelle Souliere has talked to everyone from witnesses to government biologists to assemble this enjoyable excursion into the woods of my birth state.  

Loren Coleman of the Portland-based International Cryptozoology Museum provides some background on the state and its oddities.  Souliere starts with something most regional authors skip over: a list of reasons why the state would be livable habitat for a big primate. She covers the habits and appearances of black bears, the most likely source of mistaken reports, then offers her insights about how and where Bigfoot is most often encountered and the commonalities in witnesses’ descriptions.

Then on to the accounts. Maine has “wildman” traditions going back to the 1780s. (She admits she hasn’t had time yet to build up relationships with Native American tribes to learn what they think. That creates a gap in the relevant history, but she opted not to offer her own interpretations of their accounts and traditions, which is rather refreshing.) The author presents 19 accounts in depth. Some of the events, like the Durham Gorilla from the early 1970s, are relatively famous. An interesting bit from that one is that Michelle finds there were two exotic wildlife menageries in the area, but no evidence either had lost an ape.  Other reports appear here for the first time: the claim of a woman named Suzy to numerous childhood encounters with a creature that became accustomed to her is one such. Bigfoot stories often include some odd elements (besides the Bigfoot, of course), and one man tells of seeing a giant, dead, hairy foot sticking out between two pulled-over cars that were part of a larger official-looking convoy.

Souliere adds some notes about Bigfoot-hunters and hoaxers in the state. In offering her tentative conclusion, she keeps it simple: “Mainers are encountering something in the woods that does not match known large mammals.”

Readers know I doubt there are Bigfoots in Maine or anywhere else, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Souliere's matter-of-fact approach.  If you’re a Bigfoot researcher, a Mainer, a folklorist, or anyone else with an interest, you’ll dig into this well-written book.

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