The Tennessee Wildman and the Jersey Devil represent two distinct failure modes of the American wilderness to contain unusual things. One is large, grounded in river-valley tradition, and has managed nearly complete obscurity despite its size. The other has been frightening postal workers in southern New Jersey for the better part of three centuries.
Both are classified Winged. Neither has provided documentation. This assessment proceeds on the assumption that absence of proof is not, in this field, proof of absence — a position that continues to be disputed by colleagues whose objections are noted and set aside.
The Tennessee Wildman, however, performs credibly across several categories that this correspondent considers more meaningful: witness reliability, olfactory consistency, and the quiet plausibility of a large hominid moving through river-valley terrain without asking to be noticed. It has not cultivated a mythology. It has simply continued to be reported, briefly and reluctantly, by people who know what a bear is. This correspondent notes that distinction without being able to award it the points.
