It’s no secret among those who make it their business to know a thing or two about Sasquatch, that you will likely smell the beast long before you see it.
Historically, eyewitness accounts have included one curious commonality — Sasquatch smell really, really bad.
As we search for answers to the question of why the beast has chosen to appear here, it occurs to me that smell might be playing an easily overlooked factor.
To bees, scent is a language of it’s own, molecular orders and commands from the hive, carried on the wind.
Even humans often fail to grasp the role that pheromones play in our behaviour. Like an unseen hand, the power of scent can compel us to seek mates, or drive teenagers through the doors of an Abercrombie and Fitch.
Being situated directly downwind of a pulp and paper mill, Drydenites have a complex relationship with smell. Having been told by visitors and passers-by that our hometown smells bad for over a century, locals have developed a bit of a blind spot, or coping mechanism to deal with the shame.
In the 1960s, a cartoon skunk became the city’s mascot, accompanied with the tag-line “The Smell Of Prosperity”. As our prosperity waned, the smells continued and it was as though we decided, as a community, that ignoring it was the best approach.
But has anyone ever stopped to wonder what kind of molecular messages we may be sending out to the ape-like cryptids who inhabit the northwest region?
The complex aromas of the industrial pulp making process may very well mimic the enticing aroma of a female Sasquatch in estrus, or perhaps a mountain of dead rabbits.
Did our Sasquatch follow that plume of pulp mill exhaust to our doorsteps in search of a mate, or perhaps a fish cannery?
Something to think about.
-Lewis Cumberbatch
