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Outside the international Cryptozoology Museum, an eight-foot replica Bigfoot stands guard. Glancing around the two rooms, visitors see plaster casts of Bigfoot and Yeti footprints, hair samples and a life-size model of a coelacanth. Most of the 2,300 specimens of the weird and wonderful that can be found here come from the personal collection of Loren Coleman, the museum's owner and the world's leading cryptozoologist.
Loren first became fascinated by the study of cryptids or 'hidden animals' as a twelve-year-old after seeing a documentary on Yetis, but his teacher told him that it was all just nonsense. Unconvinced, he set about finding all there was to know about legendary beasts such as yetis, lake monsters, giant snakes and chupacabras. His interest led to a lifelong passion for monster-hunting and cryptozoology. To date, he has written over 30 books and has spent countless hours travelling and camping out all over the American continent and abroad, interviewing witnesses and examining possible evidence of cryptids' existence such as footprints, hair samples, scratches, audio tapes of screeches, videos and photos.
Not surprisingly, Loren is often the first person TV producers turn to when they want an expert on the unexplained. He holds a BA in Zoology and Anthropology, an MA in Social Work and has done post-graduate work in Sociology and Anthropology. His opinion is valued because even though he firmly believes cryptids exist, he still demands hard evidence. "Until I have a hair sample or footprint or twisted branch, I'm really kind of sceptical," he says. "80% of all accounts are ordinary animals - a few fakes, a few hoaxes. But it's that 20% of unknowns that keeps me going." A particular interest of Coleman's is one of the most famous cryptids of all, Bigfoot or Sasquatch, which is said to inhabit forests mainly in the North-western United States. He believes that there is lots of convincing evidence of its existence, including the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin footage of a Bigfoot walking into the forest. Despite many people claiming they were 'the person in the suit', Loren points out that the creature walks the way an ape does, with little mobility in the hips and neck.
So why hasn't anyone found a real Bigfoot yet? Well, Loren points out that, until 150 years ago, it was believed by most in the western world that mountain gorillas didn't exist and before that the giant panda was virtually unknown. Tales of sightings were taken with a pinch of salt; they were thought to be legends told by native tribes. Respected scientists had to change their opinions, though, when these creatures were found high up in the mountains and deep in the forests. Similarly, the coelacanth is a huge 1.5-metre-long fish that was thought to have become extinct about 65 million years ago until it was rediscovered in 1938. But no one had mentioned this to islanders in the Indian Ocean, who had been happily eating it for ages! So if a fish from prehistoric times is still swimming around, why can't Bigfoot and other strange creatures be hidden away in a forest somewhere? Loren argues that cryptids are not monsters at all, just species of animal that are few in number, live far from human settlements and are highly secretive.
Cryptozoology is definitely Loren's life, but has he ever seen a cryptid himself? He admits that one dark night on the way home, he glimpsed a large panther-like creature, but he's reluctant to call it a cryptid. "Western science decides if animals exist or don't exist," he says. Loren isn't trying to prove anything to the world, he just wants to find out the truth.

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