It was another rainy afternoon on Congress Street in Portland. From behind a large first-floor window, an eight foot tall model of Bigfoot watched the traffic roll by from behind a plastic shrub, trying to make sense of his new home - the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland’s Parkside neighborhood. Since the grand opening, there has been a steady flow of people through the museum. Loren Coleman believes this success is indicative of a growing societal acceptance of Cryptozoology, the study and search for “hidden animals” like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. “In the beginning, interest was small,” he explained, “but then you have things like the ‘X-Files’ using the word Cryptozoology for the first time on TV, and it’s slowly over the years become a subject of interest and a part of our culture.”

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