May Day! May Day! (the good kind)

by Michelle Y. Souliere 

Happy spring everyone!  It's easy to be distracted when you're doing historic research.  A researcher will spend hours, weeks, months, even years, looking at history over a span of decades and centuries, focusing on specific locales within the state, or the trail left by families and businesses which cut a wide swathe through Maine history.

 

    It is important to pull one’s head out of the sinkhole (or rabbit hole) that it’s been stuck in, and remind oneself that the Maine of today is being created around you, as is the rest of the world.  And Maine, being seasonal in its heart of hearts, has regular cues to signal us that time is shifting and cycling around us constantly.

 

    May Day has vivid hints that I remember being introduced to at a young age.  If you ask my father, he will tell you about my early efforts to pronounce “forsythia,” as their yellow firework flowers were notably the first to burst against the dull spring bracken, each a tiny ray of sunshine in sequence.

 

    By the time I was in grade school, I was in the thick of reading Louisa May Alcott’s books, including Jack and Jill (1880), which painted a very pretty picture of the practice of hanging May baskets, or going a-Maying, as seen through the lens of Alcott’s Victorian-era viewpoint in Concord, Massachusetts. 

 

    A kinder version of Ding Dong Ditch, the practice involved crafting paper baskets full of wildflowers, and if meant very personally (although anonymous by nature), the basket would also include a snippet of homemade poetry meant for the recipient.

illus from Chicken Little Jane by H.S. Barbour [1920]

On a May evening at dusk, “just after lamp-light,” emboldened local sprites would hang their baskets from the doorknobs at their neighbors’ homes, knock or ring the bell, and then scamper off in the hopes of evading identification. [Lewiston Evening Journal, 5/3/1875]

 

    This tradition was well-known in Maine too, and on May 8^th, 1880, around the time of Alcott’s book publication, the Lewiston Evening Journal announced in its “Maine News and Gossip” column that May-basket-on-the-brain was the “latest contagion” to infect Androscoggin County.

 

    The celebration of May was certainly not new.  Tracking back a few decades to May Eve 1950, we find the editor of the Bangor Daily Whig & Courier, John S. Sayward, applauding local interest in the May Day celebration.  He knew some folks scoffed at the practice of May baskets because of its superstition-related origins, but countered, “these kindly and innocent superstitions may be regarded as dilutants of essential and beautiful truths which might not else be perceived or generally diffused, or sufficiently remembered or suitably regarded.” 

 

    Sayward saw the practice as a vital way to refresh the community’s sense of humanity and heart, in the wake of the First Industrial Revolution: “in the anxious and earnest and often heartless strivings for power and pelf* in our world, the lamp of the affections is in danger of extinguishment and all the social sympathies of the heart of being dried up.”

*: pelf -- (a)Stolen goods, booty, spoil; forfeited property; also, the goods of a conquered people; (b) property, goods, riches, an object of value.  In use between 1200s to about 1500, decreasing in usage thereafter, from old French root pelfre. [source: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED32776 ]

 

    The superstitious aspects referred to included folk customs for fortune-telling, as well as earlier traditions like the May Pole, the crowning of the May Queen, and Beltane, the Gaelic celebration of summer’s beginning each year.  All of these practices were dismissed as having pagan and unenlightened roots, but Sayward urged neighbors to take another look, and see instead the ties to community.

 

    This is not to say that May Day in Maine is always rosy.  Imagine the odds of that!  In 1867, the Ellsworth American correspondent from Gouldsboro noted the tendency of so-called “smiling May” to play coquette, and switch to a frown as she “dashed cold water on the scheme and probably all her nice little flowers remained in their beds, for fear of taking cold should they venture out.”  Those of us who live here year-round allow her these moods, because the eventual rewards are worth it.  Besides, it’s always good to prepare for the worst, yet hope for the best.  Spring is coming!

from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “The May Queen” illus by Eleanor Vere Boyle [1861]

And if we glance back to Sayward’s advice, maybe we should remember that spring warmth can be just as easily supplied by our hearts.   

 

    In 1871, readers of the Lewiston Evening Journal learned of a large group of young men who loaded up a half-bushel May basket, cowing its petite competitors, “filling it with Shakespeare’s works, and other things useful, and left it on the steps of one of their chums, Fred Storah, who has been sick for more than a year.  After giving the door-bell a number of whirls, they lay concealed to see the result.  The door opened, the basket was carried in, and through an opening in the curtains a smiling face was seen, its owner, no doubt, thinking that he still had some friends who are thoughtful of him.”

 

    With May Day also comes the crowing of the May Queen.  While today local practice may have few adherents outside of religious contexts (Catholic, for one), anyone who has dreamed their moments away to the lyrics of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” understands how marvelous it is that any mere mortal can be enchanted by this “spring clean” for the May Queen.  It’s time to reassess, renew, rethink, replant, and revive, for all of us.  We have made it through the winter!

illus: Randolph Caldecott’s “Garlands of the May Queen” [1884]

Another May Day tradition, the Maypole, has sprouted on New England shores since the days of the pilgrims’ arrival, and continues even today.  Beltane on the Beach is a celebration that has been held the first Sunday each May since 1982.  Although it is but one of many in Maine, it is one of the longest-lived. 

 

    Members of the Maine Pagan community and happy joiners would flock to the site on Popham Beach each year, creating a legendarily wonderful way to celebrate the end of cabin fever and embrace the better weather to come.  I remember first hearing about it at a Maine Pagans panel discussion at USM here in Portland.  However, the terrible coastal storms of January 2024 took a toll on Popham Beach, and the celebration has been moved south to Cape Elizabeth.  As of 2027 this gathering is still being held at Crescent Beach.

illus: The May-Pole Dance illus by Adelia Belle Beard [1887]

For more information about Beltane on the Beach, please visit:

https://beltaneonthebeach.org/

 

Happy May everyone!

Labyrinth wanderings in Portland

On the nicest day of the year yet, I finally had a real opportunity to go visit the labyrinth at UNE here in Portland for the first time in mid-April.  No rush, no fuss, just early spring sunshine and a couple of good friends... and a woodchuck committee of one to herald our arrival!

I have seen hand-drawn labyrinths before, small on paper and large in sand, but there is something unique about the presence of a labyrinth built in stone, laid in to the earth before you.  It feels like a stone labyrinth manifests "labyrinth" in its truest form.

Walking a labyrinth is a unique experience too - fully grounding and at the same time intentionally disorienting.  When you stand before it, the center looks so close and within immediate reach from the entry point, but as soon as you set your feet on the path, you are required to suspend your portion of humanity's built-in impatience to complete something, and instead give yourself up wholly to the process itself.

It is a lesson that we as humans must relearn over and over again.  

We are always in a rush, always looking forward, looking for the next prize.  Perhaps a labyrinth is, as part of its intrinsic purpose, designed to thwart and disrupt that constant forward-looking momentum, and draw our attention inward, with the result of gifting us a wider view outward at the end.

We visiting three, one at a time, took a stone from the small pile near the entry and walked it to the center, leaving it there and pausing before turning around and repeating our path back outwards in reverse.

The participatory stones are a recent addition, part of a performance described in small booklets left in a holder near the maze.  [Activating the Labyrinth: A Performance for Two People in Three Parts by Elana Adler and Patricia Brace, performed on site Sept 6th, 2025]

It was good to see that the labyrinth continues to be of use to the community.  In fact, even if the event programs hadn't been present, we would have known the circuit was frequently used because of the way the ground was trodden in along the pathways between the stone rows, the unmistakable mark of the passage of many careful human feet over time.

This labyrinth, now approaching its 15th year, has certainly been in place long enough to give it a settled feel.  For those who have not encountered it in person, it lies in a piny glade behind the University of New England's Payson Gallery, on their Portland campus at 716 Stevens Avenue.  The site backs onto the edge of Evergreen Cemetery, which can be seen clearly through the wood fence running behind the campus.

Crafted of local fieldstones by Ethan Stebbins, a Maine based master stone carver and wood crafter, the labyrinth follows a 5-circuit medieval pattern.  Stebbins' current sculpture/sculptural furniture work is also gorgeous, and unites his stonework into wood furniture, with breathtaking results:  

ethanstebbins.com or on IG: @stebbinsdesign

Stebbins completed the site work over the course of a couple of months during the autumn of 2011.  

The field stones were hand-picked from a gravel pit, in the nearby town of Gray.  He worked from the giant crater there, where "they had a pile of like-sized stone, but I spent a lot of time picking through it." 

"It's granite, glacial till, and they were selected for the right size and shape (flat tops, enough depth to bury in the ground and be stable).  I mapped it all out to scale on graph paper before starting."

The labyrinth trenched and ready for its stones, 2011 [Perennial Stone]

Stebbins told me in an email that he trenched the whole thing out by hand, "Just me and a shovel and pick!"  He worked alone, and each stone piece was set by hand, with a careful eye that is evident in the still-beautiful patterns found in the stone rows today, fifteen years later.

He laughs about the amount of labor now, and how "I never allotted myself enough time or got paid enough back then!  [...] I was younger and dumber.  But it was a fun creative challenge at the time and I was always looking for the more interesting artistic jobs."  Regardless, the results are gorgeous still.

Stebbins may have done the hard digging and lugging himself, but the project did have collaborators: "I worked with Anne Zill, who was the gallery director at the time, also Joe Wolfberg who taught at UNE was very involved."  I will be reaching out to these two to find out their views of the labyrinth, so please do look for more updates here in the future.

The labyrinth in mid-April 2026. [M.Y. Souliere]

-------- 

Next up will most likely be another Portland labyrinth -- the one on the front lawn of St. Luke's church on State Street, just a short stroll from the Green Hand Bookshop! (thanks again, Rudi!!)
 

Local low-riding woodchuck processional escort.

Labyrinth Path update!

 Hi all -- it was refreshing to reboot posts on this blog last month.  I am continuing on, even if some posts are updates/notes rather than full-blown articles.  It will be good to restore some continuity here.

 With that in mind... an update!

 Since the first labyrinth post, I have heard of at least one other local labyrinth here in the Portland area:

-- on the front lawn of St. Luke's church on State Street, just a short stroll from the Green Hand Bookshop! (thanks Rudi!!)

I've also begun chatting with Ethan Stebbins, who installed the stone labyrinth behind UNE's Payson Gallery, and hope to visit that site soon and report back.  His current work is gorgeous, and unites his stonework into wood furniture, with breathtaking results:  

ethanstebbins.com or on IG: @stebbinsdesign

As the cold settles into the ground, and brittle sounds snap back as we step on ice and snow on our way home through the darkening winter world, I hope you all have cozy corners to curl up in and good friends to spend time with.  Here's to shining our light into all the corners of our overlapping worlds as we step forward each day.

 

Wabi Sabi Console by Ethan Stebbins (2025; black walnut, granite)

Labyrinths in Maine - a starting point

After taking a half-day workshop about labyrinths this spring, these intriguing designs have been flitting about the corners of my mind.  I’d heard of various labyrinths in Maine, including at least one in Portland.  This of course led me to wonder how many there are, what they are like, and whether Maine’s history of relationships with labyrinths extends further back, before the modern resurgence.   

And then it occurred to me that others of you might like to know the answers to these questions, or you might just be curious about labyrinths in general, so… here you go!  The first fresh Strange Maine blog article in a while, and hopefully the start of a series.  Hope you enjoy!  

How many labyrinths does Maine have? The Labyrinth Locator (labyrinthlocator.org), an excellent resource, lists a total of fifty-one labyrinths in Maine. 

As with everything else in Maine, they run the gamut in their types, purposes, and accessibility. 

Thirty-one are listed as public labyrinths. Thirteen are listed as private labyrinths. 

In between these lie seven labyrinths available by appointment. 

Their locations are divided almost equally between public places and private property.  

Many are on the grounds of schools or churches. 

Most are outdoors, but six live indoors, out of reach of the weather.   

One labyrinth is temporary, and five are portable (yes, there are portable labyrinths!). 

Two labyrinths on the registry are located in Portland, where I live.  The first, at Trinity Episcopal Church, is near Woodfords Corner at 580 Forest Avenue.  One of the “portable” labyrinths, this one is modeled after the labyrinth in the Chartres cathedral and painted on canvas, and carefully spread and lit for occasional Labyrinth Walks, when the church opens the doors to its Lincoln Hall for a couple of hours, allowing people to walk and meditate in a way that is uniquely personal and universal at the same time.  NOTE: The last Labyrinth Walk posted to their Facebook page was on March 2nd, 2025, and according to the parish, they are on hiatus except for special occasions like the Christmas season, and Lent.  Their website is trinitychurchportland.org 

The second, not far away, resides on the grounds of the University of New England, at 716 Stevens Avenue, backing onto the edge of Evergreen Cemetery behind the UNE Art Gallery.  Crafted of local fieldstones by Ethan Stebbins, a Maine based master stone carver and wood crafter, it is a 5-circuit medieval pattern.  

One is almost required to assume there are other Maine labyrinths not listed here officially, living their mazy lives off the grid or unknown to most of the public.  It goes with the territory here. 

Does Maine have a long history of labyrinths?  At first glance, there is little to see.  In the 1800s and 1900s, it was a common word appearing in the prose of local newspapers, though most often linked with conversational styles, politics, ancient foreign ruins, or mythology.  It is not until around the year 2000 when articles start appearing about Mainers building their own labyrinths.  However, I will continue to seek the entrance to this puzzle, and let you know if I find more!  If past experiences are anything to go by, eventually something interesting will turn up.  

If you are interested in labyrinths, you may find some kindred spirits at the Labyrinth Society (labyrinthsociety.org), among the most visible participants of the global labyrinth culture. 

 

 

On a personal note: 

 I started writing and researching this article in the hopes I could return to a regular practice of adding brief stories to my blog.  I quickly realized that the labyrinths of Maine (as with so many other Maine things!) are likely a larger journey, so I am going to use this post as a starting point, close to home, and work my way out from there.  This way I can give attention to segments of Maine’s labyrinths, adding posts as I am able to visit them, or speak with folks involved with them – without finding myself immediately bogged down in yet another massive project that takes over a decade to complete [insert wild hilarity here]. 

The last 5 years have been rough, both personally for myself and my family, and financially for my business, the Green Hand Bookshop.  This has often limited my free time and energy, as major real-world priorities took over, and the also-important but fun stuff, like my Maine historic research, was required more often than not to be set aside.  In an attempt to mitigate this creative drought, I did squeeze in many efforts for a friend, things which aligned with my own Maine interests but fed their pursuits.  It turned out this was a misjudgment on my part, rooted in the vulnerable path of some of my darkest Covid-era days, and undermined my own resources extensively -- and after five years they cut and ran, rewards grasped tightly in hand. 

Through turmoil, tedium and grief, I have continued working on a number of larger in-depth research projects, so do not fear – things Strange Maine are still afoot, if in the shadows and underground.  It’s one of the things that has kept me going through it all.   

I look forward to the time soon when my obligations lift enough that I will fly free of those shadows and return to threading my roots deep within the forests and coastline of Maine.  See you there, if not before!

True crime: A Maine treasure long missing

 I don't talk a whole lot about my own history and life on this blog, but this story draws on it in a number of ways.  I left home when I was 16 years old.  I went to high school, worked a job, and had an apartment of my own (having lied about my age on the lease).  Relationships with my parents were frayed, to say the least.  At one point my dad decided to try to find a way to spend time with me, and also share a useful and enjoyable experience with me, and enrolled us together in a cooking course through Portland Adult Education.  He had taken a course with the teacher before, and thought she was great.  Her name was Tot Harriman.

Photo by David A. Rogers in the Portland Press Herald 4/30/95 issue

Tot, born in Vietnam and now long-married to a U.S. veteran, wanted to share her cooking skills and her enjoyment of food with her other American neighbors here in the Portland area.  And my dad was right -- she was terrific.  Her personality was indomitable, sparkling, and very like a fireball at peak moments.  She was a great teacher, pragmatic, nonjudgmental, and straightforward.  We all learned a lot of useful and memorable techniques, mostly for stir-fry cooking, but towards the end of class she threw in some other more challenging menu items that gave us an idea of what else could be possible.

I still use her simple technique for cooking perfect rice today, and her teaching informed my stir-fry techniques that I use on a regular basis as well.  The course was back in the late 1980s, and Tot's instructions echo in my head whenever I do any of these things.  I see her strong hands at work cutting, her finger measuring the depth of water over rice in the pot, and showing us the best way to use different ingredients at each point in the cooking process, and how to serve a plate so it looks appealing. 

It was with great sorrow and shock that I saw an article in the newspaper back in 2001 reporting that Tot was missing.  She had vanished during a househunting roadtrip in Texas, where she moved after raising her children in Maine.  To think of that tiny powerhouse of a woman, perpetually giving to everyone around her, being subject to whatever tragedy had happened so many miles away, broke my heart.  Every so often I would check up on the case, but despite her family continuing to post online seeking leads, all that remained was a big question mark.

In the last couple of years (her first episode dropped in Dec 2020), Kristen Seavey has been working hard on her true crime podcast, Murder She Told, which focuses on mostly Maine and New England cases.  Her journalism is clear, compassionate, and seeks the truth, especially in cases where families are left still asking questions.  I thought maybe if I suggested Tot's case to her, she might someday do an episode about this woman who left such a mark on my life.

To my endless gratitude, that really did happen this autumn.  You can listen to the two part coverage of Tot's case here, and see lots of photos from her amazing life, too:

Part 1 - https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/tot-harriman

Part 2 - https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/tot-harriman-2

I had always known Tot had lived an astonishing life.  Anyone who made it alive out of the Vietnam War to come to America had; I knew this in part because I went to elementary school with some kids who had made it out too.  My father had also hinted that her life story was remarkable, but beyond a few brief mentions, Tot's history was never the focus of her class talks.  Here is where Kristen steps in.  

Through Kristen's research and through interviews with Chien Si, Tot's son, she illuminates Tot's life, first in Vietnam, and then through her risky escape to the United States, her adopted home.  Tot lives again in these moments as we listen, and we hear how much she did, how many people's lives she touched, and how her family loved her.  How her disappearance has left a hole in their lives.

As you listen to these episodes, Tot will live again, and be remembered.  And maybe, someday, if the right person comes forward, her family will finally find out what happened to her.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Tot Harriman, please contact the League City PD (TX) at (281)332-2566.

Thank you Tot, for teaching me.  And thank you Kristen!!!

Flying Saucers! Well, not that kind...

Hi everyone!  While things have been quiet here on the blog, I've been busy fitting in research around my foolish work schedule (too much overtime, bleah).  But in my delvings, I found a couple of things the other day that caught my eye.  I thought you all might like to see them too.  😄 

I'll transcribe the article in case the images don't load.  This one is from a winter 1958 article in the Bangor Daily News.

Warning Issued to Coasters By Old Town Chief

Old Town Police Chief Robert Lee reported today that one motorist who spotted a "flying saucer" while driving along Brunswick Street today was terrified but the chief reports it was no joke.

The "flying saucer" was a small child riding atop a saucer sled coasting from a steep bank across the busy street.  Luckily, he was not struck.

Lee issued a warning against such dangerous practices asking parents to tell their children not to use any grades for sliding that might end up in a street or intersection.

And in another winter issue of Bangor Daily News I found this photo, from two years later in 1960, which aptly illustrates the irresistible joy of sailing through the air on FLYING SAUCERS!!!

Caption reads:   

FOR REAL "FLYING" SAUCERS -- The man on the business end of a shovel might not display the enthusiasm for the season's snowfall that these two youngsters do.  But Mark Pooler and Susan Purinton of Bangor, both 11, beam with joy about the whole situation as they sail out into the air on their flying saucers over a bank of the wonderful white stuff.  (NEWS photo by Maher)

I hope everyone is having a great winter, and enjoying all the white stuff out there.  Before you know it, spring will be here! 

Bigfoot in Maine: Q&A

 

Hi everyone! We had a great talk last night hosted by the Maine Historical Society on Zoom. I'll be posting a link to the recording as soon as it's available for those who missed it.

I will probably be receiving questions from attendees over the next few days, and I thought other folks might be interested in hearing the answers too, so I'll be posting them here as well as emailing responses directly.

 

Here's the first one:

 

Q: Have any remains have ever been found, or a skeleton, of one one of these 'creatures.' Any fossil evidence by chance?

 

A:  In answer to your question, to my knowledge no one in Maine has unearthed a known Bigfoot skeleton here. 

 

You may be interested to know that in the 1886 book An Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine on page 10 mention is made of the discovery of a giant skeleton some years before. We talked about that early on in the discussion. You can see that account on Google Books using this link -- just scroll ahead to page 10 and start reading from the top of that page.

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=UUUsGkMSq24C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Discovery of remains is a compelling question for those of us inquiring into the existence of an unknown species in Maine. Does it mean that they bury or otherwise dispose of their dead in places where they won't be found? Or is it simply one more large animal that the efficient natural process of devouring and decomposition takes care of in the normal course of things?

 

Big questions! 

For fans of Maine deer!

 This comes from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife today!  Check it out, sounds like two fun ways to get involved! 

1.  Join us for an informative virtual presentation by Maine's White-tailed Deer Biologist Nathan Bieber as he discusses the history of deer management, the status of Maine's deer herd, and the current strategies used to manage deer in Maine.

Streaming live on YouTube Tuesday, July 27 at 6pm. The presentation will be recorded and available at the same link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr_-ksS5xxw

 

2.  Enjoy watching deer?

Become a citizen scientist for the Maine Deer Spy project! Volunteers are needed across the state and everyone can participate.

 

Participating is easy! When you see deer between August 1 and September 30,  all you need to do is make simple observations:

• Location
• Date and time
• The number of does (adult female deer with no antlers), bucks (deer with antlers), and/or fawns (young deer).

You can submit data online or by postal mail. Data recording instructions and examples of how to correctly record data are available online at mefishwildlife.com/deerspy

EVENT: Virtual talk June 24 at the Thompson Free Library

 

WHAT: A virtual author talk about the book "Bigfoot in Maine"

WHERE:  Via Zoom https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/84699881006

Event info is also posted on their Facebook page:  https://fb.me/e/LYOeioe2

Hosted by the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft, ME.

WHEN: Thursday, June 24 at 7:00pm

FMI:  Contact the library at 207-564-3350 or via email at thompsonfreelibrary@gmail.com

Come join us!  Jon Knepp is going to interview me and I will discuss the book (and more!) with him.  We'll wrap up with some audience Q&A at the end.

A little podcast interview about Bigfoot in Maine

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to put this link out there -- I did an interview with an author podcast which my publisher puts out, and it was really fun.  Hope you enjoy listening!

https://authorconversations.podbean.com/e/bigfoot-in-maine/

Don't worry, if you haven't read the book yet, there aren't any spoilers, we were really careful about that.  Just some interesting conversation, and a good Q & A session!

If you'd like to buy a signed copy of the book from me, you can do it through my website here:

https://greenhandbookshop.com/products/preorder-bigfoot-in-maine-by-michelle-souliere-signed

Hope you're all having a great week!

Tomorrow (FRI)! Black Bear coffee chat

 Do you live near black bears in Maine?  Probably.  Wouldn't you like to know more about them?  I know I do!

Join MDIFW's Black Bear + Canada Lynx Biologist, Jen Vashon, for coffee tomorrow morning (Friday)! Jen will be discussing Maine's robust bear population and how to avoid conflicts with bears.

 Click here to watch, or set a reminder to participate in this live video chat on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBx7Pj_D79w

WHAT: Coffee chat with Maine Dept of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Biologist Jen Vashon about Black Bears and how to avoid conflict with our big neighbors

WHERE:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBx7Pj_D79w

WHEN: 9:30am on Friday, Mar 26, 2021

COST:  Free!

What a year! Bigfoot in Maine update etc

 Hi everyone--

This update note is long overdue, as are so many other things in this completely bonkers year.  The good news is, although I'm still fighting to keep my shop (The Green Hand Bookshop) afloat in the midst of all this, my upcoming book, Bigfoot in Maine, has meanwhile been quietly moving ahead.  It is making its way through the maze of editors and formatting designers at the publisher, and if all goes well we'll be looking at a release date in the first half of 2021.

All the illustrations are done, photos are tweaked, chapters written, and everything indexed.  Phew!!!  There was a lot of back and forth about how long it could be, and in the end I had to cut almost half of what I had written, but I fought to keep in the bulk of the most important part, in my view -- the oral history of eyewitness accounts. 

Some of the parts I had to pull out will show up here or in print as articles, so that they still see the light of day.

I am still talking with folks about their encounters, and with those out in the field investigating current activity, even though Covid has restricted my own travels for the foreseeable future (again, trying to keep the shop going has been intense, and we're not out of the woods yet).

Just for fun, I also recorded a short adaptation of the Maine story "Hobgoblins of the Wild North Woods" by Winthrop Packard, published in the Boston Evening Transcript, back on Dec 31, 1902. While it is ostensibly fictitious, it contains many elements of Bigfoot sightings reported even today.

You can listen to it here for free -- enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/mys-648503636/a-hair-raising-bigfoot-yarn

I hope you have all stayed safe and well in these trying times, and I wish everyone better days ahead.

Bigfoot in Maine update, summer musings!

Hi everyone! The warm weather is finally here (mostly), and even the sporadic rainy days are good days to get out into a part of Maine you haven't seen yet.

I'm plugging away on the book, and excited to report that I'm working on the last major chapter (Durham Gorilla!), then all I have to do is add a few bits and pieces in to catch up with some last minute interviews and site visits elsewhere... and then the illustrations!

It's pretty exciting to finally be closing in on what is at this point a decade-long project. It's also exciting that it has been well worth it. I've met a lot of amazing people, and gotten to poke around in corners of Maine I might never have seen otherwise.

It has also become obvious that finally packing the manuscript off to the publisher when I've finished and done a final edit is NOT going to be the end of the work. This project has started what looks to be a lifetime's worth of recording Maine's Bigfoot-related oral history and scattered accounts. I have a feeling that I'll continue exploring this Strange Maine topic for many years to come, even after the book is done.

Skowhegan region driveabout on a rainy day!

Most recently I've been up in the Skowhegan region, where a series of late-1970s sightings occurred. It was a rainy day, but we covered a lot of ground, albeit in a truck because it was pouring rain and there were many meandering miles to traverse, many of them on dirt roads. Many thanks to those of you out there (you know who you are) that helped make this happen.

One of the most important things I've learned throughout this whole process is to be patient, and to be careful. If what I'm hearing from people is as real as it seems to be, we have neighbors that need our respect and possibly someday our protection. It's an intriguing thought to chew on.

I've also learned how important it is to be able to talk openly about the unexplained, because many people encounter it in their lives, always unexpectedly, and if we can't listen to others respectfully about their experiences, we can be sure that if we ever find ourselves in the same situation, ridicule will await us as well.

So please stop and think before you disparage or slap someone down just because they're trying to sincerely share something with you that they can't explain, but need to talk about. Small steps towards making this a better world for all of us. It doesn't take much, guys!

Maine Wildlife in the Snow - Part 2

I'd better post this before all the snow is gone here in southern Maine (oh, I know there will be some more, but tomorrow is the first day of spring, and I'm perennially optimistic). Back in February I had a chance to go out tromping with a friend, and it being the day after a snowstorm, we found a smorgasbord of animal tracks.

Even in winter some streams keep flowing.

In the post before this one, we looked at coyote and skunk prints. You can read about it here: Maine Wildlife in the Snow - Part 1

This time we'll look at some other tracks and traces left in the snow from that same trip.

The first set wound up being a bit of a joke on us. At first we came across what at a distance looked like the flurry a grouse might leave in the snow.

But on closer inspection, it was pretty clear that it was the sign of a very busy rabbit or hare (not sure whether it was cottontail or snowshoe, but more likely cottontail). Note the telltale droppings, like little punctuation marks!

Next we saw plenty of little mice tracks, with tail marks evident, this one heading toward the safety of a tree:

Last but not least, we found evidence of porcupine nibbling on some of the soft young pines in the area:

Pretty soon all that will be left are pockets of snow in the shadowy areas, and some ice here and there. Come May the leaves will be budding, and eventually leafing out. Not long now! Happy spring, everyone.

Maine Wildlife in the Snow

It might not be "strange," but it is rather magical to be able to see the tracks of animals in the Maine winter snow. Back in February I had a chance to go out tromping with a friend, and it being the day after a snowstorm made for a bumper crop of tracks.

A network of tiny critters making their way from seed to seed.

Here are just a few:

Above is a coyote track (there were a lot of these), in which you can see the telltale two-claw dots at the front of the foot (look at the red arrow directing you to the 6:00 point of the photo).

To the right, you can see the full trackway, where the coyote carefully pads along the raised, packed runner left by snowmobilers in the fresh snow, very daintily stepping within the same spots as it moves along. You can see our bootprints along the edge of the coyote's runway to get an idea of scale.

The last track set for this post (I'll come back with more later) was a real puzzler at first. You can see them below. The lateral footpads set behind long toeprints, with prominent claws showing on many of the tracks, indicated a number of species possibilities, but the size, only a few inches long, could only match one thing, if I am not mistaken -- a skunk! So I'm glad we only saw his tracks and not himself.

1. Trackway          2.  Lateral footpad visible          3.  Clawmarks visible

Ermines everywhere!

It sounds like this winter has had a bumper crop of little ermines (short tailed and long tailed weasels in their lovely white winter coats) running amuck in Maine's woods and neighborhoods. Our first post about this phenomenon was back in 2006, and there has been a running commentary on the subject ever since. You can read that earlier post here: Mystery White Critter

We have heard reports from a bunch of places over the years: Poland, Troy, Brewer, Crawford, Casco, Harmony, York, and Naples for starters.

Today I have a treat for you -- one of the folks, Dave Taylor, who had an ermine as an unexpected houseguest earlier this year, had this to say: "We just recently caught a pure white weasel in our home with a live trap. Released him back into the woods on about 50 acres. Have several good photos and videos. Cute little guy." He was kind enough to send along some photos. I never realized exactly how petite they are!

Here is a glimpse of the little fellow in Dave's kitchen, so you can get an idea of his size:

And here he is, safely stowed in his trap, ready to be released back into the wild, just as devilishly cute as ever!

If you want to learn a little more about ermines, here are a couple of good resources -- an article on the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust site: https://hhltmaine.org/nature-notes/nature-notes-weasels/
and another on the Natural Resources Council of Maine site: https://www.nrcm.org/nrcm-creature-feature/ermine/

REPORT: International Cryptozoology Conference 2018, Day 2

Hi everyone! This post will run down the second day of the weekend's worth of speakers, and my photos will give you a glimpse of the folks involved, if you weren't able to be there. Click on any of the photos below to see a larger version of it.

If you missed the post about the first day's speakers, you can find that here:
http://strangemaine.blogspot.com/2018/09/report-international-cryptozoology.html

The 3rd Annual International Cryptozoology Conference was held on Sept. 1 & 2, 2018, here in Portland, Maine. Like the others before it, it was a great experience -- a chance to hear from experts on a variety of topics, and an opportunity to meet other people as interested in and as excited by the field of cryptozoology as I am.

Loren Coleman, founder of the International Cryptozoology Museum, and his crew put together a terrific lineup of speakers. I wanted to hear every presentation, which works out great since the conference runs as a single-track schedule, allowing attendees to go to all of the talks without missing any of them.

Day 2 started with a very welcome announcement from Loren Coleman that there would be another conference in 2019.
[NOTE: There is a GoFundMe in progress to raise funds to assist with that now, with access to VIP tickets etc, at https://www.gofundme.com/cryptozoology-conference-2019]

This exciting news was followed by Colin Schneider, giving his talk "Bloodsucking Beasties & Shadowy Stalkers: A Study in Cryptid Predators."

Colin is one of the youngest cryptozoologist working in the field today. He is the representative for the Centre for Fortean Zoology in his home state of Ohio. You can find his blog here: http://paranorm101.blogspot.com/

Colin walked us through a smorgasbord of intriguing historic accounts of cryptozoological predators. Culprits included the inevitable Chupacabra, and lesser known ones such as the Vampire Beast of Bladenboro NC, the Abominable Chicken Man of El Reno OK, The Monument City Monster of Indiana, the Phantom Gobbler of Canton Township MI, and a number of other cases as well.

Various theories for each were explored, and Colin alerted the audience of hoaxy oddballs such as photos of bloody handprints and appropriated photos from unrelated incidents, just a few of the problems facing researchers using online sources to find information about these bygone cases and others. Always fact-check your sources, in other words!

Most often, these cryptid predators exhibit patterns related to either feline or canine predators. During the audience Q&A session following, fellow speaker Dawn Prince-Hughes asked if it was known whether habitat loss would trigger surplus killing (a common side-effect of these mystery creatures). A good question to puzzle over.

Next on the docket was Andy McGrath, traveling far to give us his take on the Beasts of Britain!

Although the UK is a closed system, so to speak, as it is predominantly a large island, that does not seem to restrict its variety of cryptozoological cases. For most of the talk, Andy focused on the water monster sightings, including multiple recent (August 2018) Loch Ness photos that have had UK cryptozoology fans very excited, earning 2018 the nickname "Year of the Dragon."

One thing was clear -- for those who think all the UK lake monster photos are from the 60s and 70s (or earlier), they are missing out on all the current ones! For examples you can look up Bownessie, the Dragon of the North, the River Aeron Monster, and the Plymouth Crocodile, among others.

From lake monsters Andy moved on to hairy ape men, again exhibiting a wide array of timeframes for historic traces and new evidence, from designs in heraldry and the Wodewose roof boss in Selby Abbey, N. Yorkshire, all the way up to the Box Hill Ape (2012) and Sussex Ape Man (2015). It should come as no surprise that UK Bigfoot cases are very controversial, and Andy pointed out that what some Bigfoot hunters may take as treesigns in the countryside could well be signals left by the existing gypsy communities traveling through out-of-the-way areas.

Another point of discussion was the spate of Dogmen sightings, which Andy postulated may just be a way of re-branding the werewolf tradition to make it seem less embarrassing, more modern and believable. All in all, a lot was packed in to his talk! You can find him online at http://beastsofbritain.blogspot.com/ or on Facebook.

Next up was Aleksandar Petakov, who gave a terrific account of his latest work, filming the documentary Champ, about the legendary monster of Lake Champlain, as presented by Small Town Monsters. Katy Elizabeth, founder of Champ Search, stepped in and added her own viewpoint about investigating this particular lake monster.

He spoke about the principles that motivate his filmwork, and how important it is to go to the site of the events being documented, and the vitalness of allowing eyewitnesses to speak for themselves. He is a firm believer that you should not try to influence their telling of their account; it should not be scripted. You will find his website at petakovmedia.com, and Small Town Monsters at https://www.smalltownmonsters.com/

Next was my talk about Bigfoot in Maine. I almost skipped myself here, because I didn't have any notes about the talk, being in the process of giving it at the time. Ha!

This talk was the first time I had attempted to summarize everything I've learned from talking to eyewitnesses about their encounters with inexplicable hairy hominids in the state of Maine, from York County all the way up to Aroostook County. I talked about the environment and biology of large mammals in Maine -- what makes anyone think they might be here, and how they could survive. In short, the potential is clear for anyone who has studied Maine's known large mammal species, such as the black bear.

I followed this with examples of incidents from my files, to give the audience a feel for what these Mainers have encountered in the wild and in their back yards. Lastly, I summed up what we know from these accounts -- appearance, eating habits, where encounters have occurred, behavior, etc. All of this will be in my book, which I'm finishing up in 2018. I hope to have it in the publisher's hands by the beginning of 2019. Stay tuned! If you want to stay up to date with my Strange Maine work, you can also follow my site on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strangemainebook

Last but certainly not least, the final speaker of the conference was Dr. Jeff Meldrum, a name well-known to anyone with a serious interest in the field of primate cryptozoology. Dr. Meldrum spoke about the Patterson-Gimlin footage, and why he believes it remains the most compelling photographic evidence to date, attesting to the physicality of a biological entity, and providing a baseline from which to establish a scientific context.

He spoke about the shifts that have occurred in views of evolution and anthropology, and how the old paradigm of the field caused preconceptions, which in turn conditioned the collection of evidence for decades. Newer paradigms are slowly coming into place, causing the reexamination of available information. The taxonomy in the field is rapidly changing and readjusting to discoveries initiated by these reevaluations.

Dr. Meldrum also demonstrated his theories of possible hominid foot anatomy, as footprint casts and footprint fossils are among the few forms of evidence being brought forward for examination. Another anatomical aspect he discussed was the deep jaws and flat face (also visible in the Patterson-Gimlin footage), which he postulated to hold massive molars, smaller incisors and cuspids. As he explained, their teeth are their primary tools/utensils. Such a large jaw, with its accompanying massive musculature and the cheekbones housing it, would necessarily obscure the visibility of neck vertebrae, creating the famous "no neck" look ascribed to mystery hominids.

All in all it was a fascinating talk, which gave the audience much to think upon.

The weekend was terrific! I met a lot of interesting folks, both fellow speakers and conference attendees, and also caught up with many friends I hadn't seen in ages.

After all was said and done, I still had time to go over and check out the latest additions of the International Cryptozoology Museum, just across from the conference location. I also got to catch up with my old friend and neighbor, the Crookston Bigfoot.

I hope this has given those of you unable to attend the conference a glimpse at what went on. Maybe we'll see you there next year!