skinwalker_report

<h1>A detailed report on Skinwalkers</h1>

<p>This report is a survey of 47 so-called "skinwalker" stories collected from 4chan's /k/ and /x/, as well as various archives of /k/ and /x/. The purpose of this report is to develop a clear understanding of the nature of the creature(s) presented, and a valid method for hunting and killing them.</p>

<h2>On the term "skinwalker"</h2>

<p>Originally, the term skinwalker refers to a variety navajo medicine man who uses "medicine" for evil rather than for healing like a normal traditional medicine man. Typically, they perform some evil rite to the navajo trickster deity Coyote (often involving kinslaying) that grants them the power to take the form of any animal they can get the pelt of. Additionally, the navajo witchdoctor is capable of doing other things, such as making the use of magical poisons, etc.</p>

<p>Almost none of the stories about "skinwalkers" that have appeared on imageboards concern the navajo legend, and absolutely none of the ones in the collection I surveyed concern the navajo legend at all. Normally, <em>the creature reported on the imageboards tends to have the appearance of some sort of cryptid, or possibly a supernatural/demonic being</em>.</p>

<p>Additionally, "4chan skinwalkers" do not resemble the traditional conception of other often implied creatures either, such as the wendigo. It is thus my opinion (and a common one at that) that the creatures in the stories <em>do not reflect native legends</em>. This is doubly reinforced as most of the stories concerning these creatures take place outside of the traditional range of the navajo, with some even occuring outside of the US entirely.</p>

<h2>On the "mythos" or "memetic" creature</h2>

<p>In addition to the Amerindian Skinwalker, there is another variety of "skinwalker" that is often discussed, yet equally unsupported by the literature: the "imageboard mythos" or "meme" skinwalker. The conception of this non-creature comes about because of common discussion surrounding the literature, but ends up resembling nothing that specifically appears in the stories.</p>

<p>Often, the "meme skinwalker" is described as being a large, thin, "gollum" like creature that stalks the woods, fears "white ash" and can mimic humans in both voice and appearance. Although the literature reports mimics, large creatures, "gollum like" creatures, and creatures that stalk the woods, <em>no single account reports a creature with all of these features or even most of them</em>. As a matter of fact, most stories that report a "creature", fail to report mimics, and often, those stories wherein mimicry is present, there is no sighting of the creature itself.</p>

<h2>On white ash and it's efficacy</h2>

<p>White ash (either the wood itself or the ashes of that same tree) is one of the first go-to substances mentioned in most threads concerning the killing of skinwalkers. Let it be known that <em>the use of white ash is a misconception based on confusing these creatures with navajo skinwalkers</em>.</p>

<p>In the navajo legends, the skinwalker could be <em>warded off</em> (note: not killed) by encircling your camp with white ash wood and then burning it. Since the creatures described in the imageboard stories are almost certainly <em>not</em> navajo skinwalkers, it is a foolish assumption to make that white ash has any efficacy against these creatures.</p>

<p>Putting the nail in the coffin on this whole issue: 3 of the 47 stories I surveyed featured a creature being killed. 2 of these were by conventional firearms, one via drug overdose. Additionally, out of the 6 stories in which the creature decided to leave the scene, 4 of those stories ended with a protagonist who warded the skinwalker away with conventional firearms. Not a single story in the entire surveyed collection contains the use of white ash.</p>

<h2>A survey of the creatures seen</h2>

<p>Suprisingly, the largest individual category of encounters <em>involve no sighted creature at all</em>. 21 of the 47 stories report no direct sighting of the creature. Often, in these stories, the creature is known by either:</p>

<li>"the smell", which all readers of these stories should know about</li>

<li>vocalisations (screeches, roars or speech mimicry)</li>

<li>Assumed shape shifting/total human mimicry</li>

<p>The second largest "category" would be creature sightings which describe a somewhat large human or ape-like creature, often between 6-8 feet in height, with longer-than-human digits, brown to grey-black coloration, and a distinct lack of tapetum lucidum. 19 of the 47 describe such creatures. Often, these stories feature:</p>

<li>the smell</li>

<li>a distinct <em>lack</em> of transformation or speech mimicry</li>

<li>screech or roar like vocalisations</li>

<li>general campsite harassment</li>

<p>Of particular note, these stories tend to very closely resemble bigfoot encounters, and I'd wager strongly that these two phenomena aren't unrelated.</p>

<p>The remaineder of sighted creatures fall into what I call the "outlier group" and describe wildly variable morphologies:</p>

<td>Appears in:</td><td>Description:</td><td>Notes:</td>

<td>3/47</td><td>Strange/Lovecraftian</td><td>This is the "outlier of outliers" so to speak: none of these three creatures really bear any similarities other than being "excessively strange". 2 of them were mimics, one of them appeared to simply be interested in eating corpses.</td>

<td>2/47</td><td>Large animal with goat-like horns</td><td>One reported to be a giant (5' at shoulder) quadrupedal feline, the other reported as partial biped. Neither exhibited mimicry.</td>

<td>1/47</td><td>Posessing deer-like antlers</td><td>Described as being a biped that stalked, harassed and attempted to abduct members of a national guard field exercise.</td>

<td>1/47</td><td>Described a large quadruped with characteristics of many animals</td><td>Noted as being able to speak english.</td>

<p>Given the unreliable nature of the outliers, I'd be willing to hazard that there are two "valid" categories of skinwalker encounters: unknown mimics, and ape-like encounters. Of the unknown encounters, one would have to treat each story on a case-by-case basis in order to determine the nature of the creatures.</p>

<h2>On drugs and alcohol</h2>

<p>Only 10/47 stories contain references to drugs or alcohol being used, and no statistically significant commonalities other than drug or alcohol use are similar between them. It is my opinion that drugs and alcohol are a largely irrelevant factor in the stories.</p>

<h2>On location and habitat</h2>

<p>Charting the location of the stories can be of benefit to understanding what sort of biome the creature(s) may prefer, however, note that encounters will likely skew towards areas with a higher population, as it is indeed humans who make the reports!</p>

<li>Northern US/"Old" Midwest (states like Ohio, etc): 7/47</li>

<li>Atlantic Coast: 1</li>

<li>Southern Biome: 10/47</li>

<li>West: 7/47</li>

<li>Mountain/Midwest: 4/47</li>

<li>Pacific Northwest: 1/47</li>

<li>Extra-National: 2/47</li>

<p>In total, this should give us 32 reported locations. Of note, over 56% of the accounts occured in the Eastern US, most of which has a broadly similar climate.</p>

<h2>Survey of how the situation is typically resolved</h2>

<p>Of all 47 stories, 27 of them resolve with the author either escaping or generally leaving the scene without actually warding off or otherwise deterring, attacking or killing the creature.</p>

<p>6 of the 47 end with the creature leaving the scene after being attacked, but not being confirmed dead or down. Breaking these down into the method used in each:</p>

<li>1 case of a shooting using 9 rounds of .45 ACP. Unknown loading. Unknown range (assumed ~50m)</li>

<li>1 case of a shooting using 2 rounds of 8mm Mauser. Unknown loading. Unknown range (assumed ~250-500m)</li>

<li>1 case of a bow shooting, using 1 arrow (target tip) shot from a 45# bow. Range was approx. the height of a tree.</li>

<li>1 case of a shooting using 10 rounds of 7.62x39mm and an unknown number of 7.62x54mmR. Unknown loading, unknown range.</li>

<li>2 cases where no active defense was employed, but the creature left the scene rather than the author.</li>

<p>The most interesting accounts seem to be those where the creature is confirmed dead. Bear in mind that many of these are in highly fantastic stories and many, if not all of them, may be false or inaccurate:</p>

<li>[highly dubious] 1 case of a shooting with 4 "shotgun" rounds. Unknown loading and caliber. Point blank range.</li>

<li>[somewhat dubious] 1 case of heroin overdose. Unknown doseage.</li>

<li>[somewhat dubious] 1 case of a shooting involving an unknown number of 00 buck 12g rounds, 1 round of .357 magnum, and 10 rounds of chinese steel core 7.62x39mm. Creature was unaffected by everything but the 7.62x39, which killed it. Range was point-blank.</li>

<p>The remainder of cases have what I've termed "unknown resolution". These are stories where neither the author nor the skinwalker have left the area, nor is it implied that the creature has been killed. Only 6 of the 47 end in this manner.</p>

<h2>Purported "odd" abilities and behaviours</h2>

<p>This section will not be a survey, but rather a cautionary listing of <em>potential</em> abilities of the skinwalker. This section is expressly for preparing the potential skinwalker hunter for what may be in store for him. As such, I will list any and all things I have found which may be tactically relevant or present hazard, even if the claim is dubious. Citation for these claims can be found amongst my collection of stories, although again: this is not a survey!</p>

<h3>Animal behaviour</h3>

<p>Often, animals go silent in an area when a skinwalker is near. Related to this, dogs will often exhibit fear or skittishness. I would assume horses would as well, although this is not documented. Please note that a lack of birdsong at night is <em>not</em> unusual, as birds typically don't become active until around 4-6 AM. Occasionally, insect silence is noted as well.</p>

<h3>The Smell</h3>

<p>Although considered "canon" for the meme skinwalker, the characteristic smell is reported in only 16 of the 47 stories. The most commonly <em>parroted</em> description of the smell is "coppery", but many descriptions exist, including:</p>

<li>rotten milk</li>

<li>hot/burning metal</li>

<li>decay</li>

<li>stale vomit</li>

<li>feces</li>

<li>cooking blood</li>

<li>"burnt asshole"</li>

<li>burnt hair</li>

<li>sickly sweet</li>

<h3>Animal mutilation</h3>

<p>It is often reported that skinwalkers mutilate wildlife such as deer and leave the corpses in conspicuous locations in order to "warn" or threaten humans. I do not recall seeing this in mimic stories, but it is present in any number of ape, non-mimic "unseen creature", and outlier stories.</p>

<p>Of note, unlike supposed UFO mutilations, skinwalkers tear their prey like a typical animal.</p>

<h3>Navigational hazards</h3>

<p>In stories where they're present, compasses tend to become non-functional when a skinwalker is nearby. Additionally, in the one case I read where a dedicated outdoor GPS was involved, the device displayed gross inaccuracy and even outright malfunction over the course of the story.</p>

<p>Given that GPS may malfunction, it's not unheard of that radio communications (including cell phones) could become non-functional as well.</p>

<h3>Misremembered events/Possible illusions</h3>

<p>In some cases, the skinwalker appearently has the ability to make people misremember events, or possibly see illusions. This would include people "dissappearing" after getting out of sight for a few seconds, getting turned around or lost in the field for no reason, etc. In one particular case, a man was walking towards his tent, only to take a step and be completely turned around walking towards his companion's tent instead.</p>

<h3>Camp destruction</h3>

<p>Several stories report camp and equipment destruction. Often, there is no theft involved.</p>

<h2>Considerations for hunting the creature</h2>

<p>This part is blind speculation and largely opinion.</p>

<h3>Caliber selection</h3>

<p>This is tricky, as there are many contradictory elements present in the stories which make this topic dicey. On the one hand, the reported creatures (at 6-8 feet tall) are similar in build to bears or maybe gorillas. This would lead me to suggest rounds suitable for bear, but there are contradictions to this:</p>

<li>8mm mauser to the head did not kill</li>

<li>.357, a popular bear cartridge, did not kill or even effect one</li>

<li>7.62x39 steelcore, which is generally thought of as being undergunned for bear, dispatched one in 10 rounds</li>

<p>The unique fact that a <em>steelcore</em> round had the most effect on one of these creatures (where other assumed FMJs of 7.62 caliber did not) is telling in a disturbing way: this indicates to me that the creature is in some way "armoured" or otherwise "hard". Perhaps it has tougher than expected bones, or maybe like the so-called "genoskwa" creature, it rolls around in mud and rocks all day so as to make for a denser fur coat.</p>

<p>In anycase, because of this potential characteristic of being "armoured", I'd suggest something that's known for high penetration, as well as being a relatively high-caliber round.</p>