Chronicler of strange creatures to visit Brandon

A Manitoba author who has spent more than four decades documenting reports of mysterious creatures from across the province is bringing his books and his research to Brandon later this month.

John Warms, author of “Strange Creatures Seldom Seen” and the children’s book “The Girl Who Met Sasquatch,” will meet readers and answer questions during a visit to the Brandon Public Library in Shoppers Mall on Aug. 15.

“I believe the event will spark conversations with others who have encountered unexplained animals in Manitoba,” Warms told the Sun. “I would love to interact with people … I would love to have a gathering of interested people, especially eyewitnesses … That’s what happened when I was at the Neepawa library.”

The retired teacher, who now lives in the north Interlake community of Fairford, has spent more than four decades collecting eyewitness accounts of unusual animals that many scientists consider either mythical or extinct.

“I’ve been doing a lot of research over the last 40 years,” Warms said. “That led to the writing of ‘Strange Creatures Seldom Seen,’ which is mostly stories from people in Manitoba, although there are some from other parts of Canada as well.”

Warms said his interest began after he and his wife moved from southern Manitoba to teach in northern Indigenous communities, where local residents introduced him to stories about creatures unlike anything he had previously encountered.

Among the creatures featured in his books are giant bats, giant beavers, giant snakes, Sasquatch-like beings and aquatic animals he believes resemble plesiosaurs — marine reptiles thought by scientists to have become extinct millions of years ago.

Warms said much of his work is based on eyewitness testimony gathered from Indigenous elders and other people who claimed to have encountered the animals.

“The truth was with the Indigenous people who lived in areas where these animals lived,” he said, adding that many community members eagerly shared their own experiences or directed him to others with similar stories.

One chapter focuses on reports of large, flippered creatures in Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin, while another explores accounts of unusually large beavers said to inhabit waterways including the Assiniboine River, he said.

Warms said one woman from Brandon reported seeing what she described as a giant beaver on a bank of the Assiniboine River, and “similar creatures may inhabit waterways near Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Rivers and Rapid City.”

He said these accounts remain unverified and he would welcome scientific investigation.

Despite decades of collecting reports, Warms said he has struggled to gain interest from academic institutions and government agencies.

“There was only one employee in the conservation department that liked to talk to me about what I was finding out,” he said. “Going to the university is a lost cause because they know these creatures either don’t exist or have gone extinct.”

He hopes researchers with backgrounds in biology or zoology will eventually examine some of the locations he has documented.

“I would be happy if somebody would continue the research.”

Warms said his own fieldwork has occasionally taken him into difficult terrain, though he recalls only one time he genuinely feared for his safety — while following what he believed were tracks left by an unusually large snake hidden in tall grass.

His books are not limited to adult readers. “The Girl Who Met Sasquatch” presents one of the eyewitness accounts in a format aimed at younger audiences.

Warms said another children’s book is already in development, based on the story of a woman who claimed she was rescued by a Sasquatch after becoming lost in the wilderness.

He plans to publish a revised edition of “Strange Creatures Seldom Seen,” incorporating the many reports that have been shared with him since the book’s original release.

Warms is also developing a language arts program that he hopes Manitoba schools will adopt.

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

» X: @AbiolaOdutola