Isnashi
Alternatively Mapinguari and Mapinguary.
Another mysterious primate, this time from Brazil.
Brazil's Bigfoot, described as a tall black-furred hominid, has been allegedly seen in the jungles along the 'Rio Araguaia', a large river in Brazil's state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
Sasquatch-like creatures have been reported in many areas of Brazil for over two hundred years, but it seems that this central area of this immense and diversified country is the 'hotspot' for them.
In March and April of 1937 one of these creatures supposedly went on a three week rampage at Barra das Garças, a small farming town 300 miles southeast of the city of Cuiabá, capital of the central state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A large number of heads of cattle were slaughtered by somebody or something with super-human strength, enough to torn out their huge tongues. Reports included unconfirmed sightings, humanoid-like tracks as long as 18 inches, and horrible roaring from the woods. All together, over one hundred heads of yellow cattle of old Spanish origin were killed, all the way to Ponta Branca, located 150 miles south of Barra das Garças. This Mapinguary rampage made the major newspapers in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Other reports from South America describe the Isnashi as a large foul smelling nocturnal animal, covered in red hair and with a frightful screaming cry. This other version of the legendary creature is supposedly a strict vegetarian, with feet that are turned backwards and claws capable of ripping apart the palm trees it feeds on. Other local names for this type include 'capé-lobo' (wolf's cape), 'mão de pilão' (pestle hand), and 'pé de garrafa' (bottle foot).
According to old Indian, 'seringueiro' (rubber tree worker) and 'caboclo' (local mixed race people) legends, the Isnashi was a man whose hubris led him to seek immortality and who is now relegated to wandering the forest forever as a stinking, shaggy, one-eyed beast. Fifteen feet tall and with hair so thick it makes it invulnerable to bullets, swords, knifes, arrows and spears, the creature loves tobacco and twists off the upper skulls of its human victims so as to suck up their gray matter. But its most freaky feature is its 'extra mouth' in the middle of its belly! When it feels threatened, it lets out a truly vile stench — something like commingled garlic, excrement, and rotting meat — from this second mouth, which, the Indians say, is strong enough to suffocate any attacker. Because of this despicable odor, the creatures are often followed by clouds of flies, and the strongest warriors are forced to flee from the smell of the monster alone; others find themselves dazed and sick for days after an encounter.
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Because of such reports, legends and descriptions, a small number of naturalists believe that these are surviving specimens of the giant ground sloth, Mylodons, generally assumed to have died out around ten thousand years ago. They were red-haired vegetarians that emerged about 30 million years ago and roamed the Americas, the Caribbean, and Antarctica. With large claws that curled under and faced backward when they walked on all fours, these giant marsupials could also stand on their hind feet like people. Some species had dermal ossicles, bony plates that made their skin very tough.
See Agogwe, Abominable Snowman, Almas, Sasquatch, Curupira, Kaki Besar, Maricoxi, Bigfoot, Yeti, Meh-teh, Nguoi Rung, 'X', Windigo, Orang Pendek and Wildman of China, Love Spells -- Use these powerful love spells to help you find and keep your true love, Unbroken Curses, Mystic Gifts and Charms - New Age Gift Shop & Wicca and Pagan Supplies, The Chakra Store, The Tarot Store, Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies, Unique Amulets, Talismans, Good Luck Charms, and Love Tokens, Powerful Witch Doctor Spell Kits, Powerful Spells - Cast by Andreika the Witch, Webmasters Make $$$, AzureGreen - Celebrating All Paths to the Divine, and The Pyramid Collection - Myth, Magick, Fantasy and Romance.
Sources: (1) Anderson, Ivan T., Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life, Adventures Unlimited Press; (2) Wilson, Colin and Damon, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved, Carroll & Graf; (3) Heuvelmans, Bernard, On the Track of Unknown Animals, Columbia University Press; (4) Wilson, Damon, The Unexplained, Scarlet Books; (5) Clark, Jerome, Unexplained!, Visible Ink Press.
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