Is Dogman forcing Bigfoot out of its traditional territory (and media slot)?

FORGET Slenderman. The US has a new terror lurking in the shadows and trees. Meet Dogman — the mysterious beast stalking Michigan and Texas.

FORGET Slenderman. The United States has a new terror lurking in the shadows and trees. Meet Dogman — the mysterious beast stalking Michigan and Texas.

No, it isn’t a werewolf. According to folklore, those are shapeshifting humans.

Dogman is different: It’s a beast with the head of a dog on the body of a furry man. And it doesn’t bite.

Dogman is apparently no stranger to Michigan. According to ardent fan of the beast (and author), Linda S. Godfrey, it’s been haunting the district since the 1930s.

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Sightings abound of a pointy-eared, long-nosed and bushy-tailed beast scrounging around roadkill such as deer and cattle. And my, what big teeth it has.

Now Dogman fever is heating up, with two sightings in the past month.

Godfrey’s own particular relationship with the creature she dubbed ‘The Beast of Bray Road’ began in 1991 when she submitted a piece of artwork on Dogman for a local newspaper. It sparked a flurry of reported sightings.

She dismisses claims the creature is tied to the Windigo monster of Native American legends. That beast is supposed to be part ice and 6m tall.

Dogman ... An artist’s impression. Source: Linda S. Godfrey blog

In case you missed it ... The shape among the shadows. Source: YouTube

So what is Dogman?

“I don’t know,” Godfrey concedes. “And there is a high probability that everyone is not always seeing the same thing. There could be a biological, physical animal seen by some while others see phantoms or supernatural entities from a variety of sources. A few may be misidentifications or hoaxes.”

But it is its canine nature that proves it’s not a hoax, Godfrey says: “They walk — most tellingly — digitgrade, or on their toe pads, as all canines do, and that’s something that a human in a fur suit really can’t duplicate.”

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But hoaxes there are. In 2007, a piece of film allegedly shot of the creature in the 1970s was found to be a fake.

However, supposed new footage showing a blurry beast among the leaves and branches of a Michigan grove has only recently been released. Is it Dogman? Or is it a bear?

And, earlier this month, this fuzzy photo was taken in the woods of eastern Texas. Is it Dogman? Or is it a Bigfoot shouldering its next meal?

Unlike the growing urban legend of Slenderman, Dogman appears to be mostly harmless.

“I do not have a single report of any human being injured by a Manwolf beyond one man in Quebec who was scratched deeply on his hip and side,” Godfrey says, “although many people have been thoroughly frightened by its aggressive actions and posture.”