Secrets of Bigfoot breeding in woods of Lake Stevens revealed

LAKE STEVENS — Bigfoot is booming in the woods of Lake Stevens.

What’s up with that?

Two new mossy figures recently appeared in the thicket by Stevens Creek on Lundeen Parkway, a bit north of Norm’s Market.

The original creature — dubbed the Lake Stevens Bigfoot or Moss Man or Sasquatch or Mossquatch — showed up several years ago and has been a celebrity since.

“Another reason our community is so awesome,” a local said of the hulking figure deep in the woods.

The new pair is set closer to the road and reachable for selfies.

The first mossman, later joined by a baby Bigfoot, wasn’t accessible in the murk and had to be admired from afar. The original figure had gotten shabby and the baby masked by tall grass, by the time it was featured earlier this year in a Jan. 23 Daily Herald story, “Sasquatch of Lake Stevens is legendary as hometown hero Chris Pratt.” (The story got 256,677 views on heraldnet.com. Lake Stevens is as proud of its mossmen as it is of Chris Pratt, who grew up there and donated $500,000 to the city’s Boys & Girls Club.)

It was a whodunit to figure out who did it. Some suspected Norm’s Market, which sells Bigfoot Barleywine-style Ale among its 2,000 types of beer. The store owner denied involvement.

Nobody took credit for the two new moss monsters that suddenly appeared in May, standing 6-foot-5, with burly bods, detailed faces and perfect hair.

So the Herald’s Bigfoot beat reporter posted on the “Lake Stevens Community” Facebook group seeking the scoop.

The comment, “Wait! Why do we need to know who did it? Let the mystery be part of the legend,” got 26 Likes.

Clues pointed to a local wood carver as the culprit.

Sure enough, the artist fessed up, but with trepidation.

“I’m not getting in trouble, am I?” he asked.

Hell no, dude. You’re a star.

His name is Steve. Secretive Steve refused to give his last name.

The first Sasquatch wasn’t a random act of art.

“Several years back the little area opened up by the creek and it drew my eye,” said Steve, 56, who lives nearby. “Lake Stevens by Steve by Stevens Creek. Things always happen in threes.”

The motive is wholesome.

“I did it for the kids,” he said. “The school buses are always going by. Shoot, everybody is always on their phones. You have to look up so you can see things.”

He doesn’t use a smartphone or social media himself.

This time around, he stayed closer to the road when he placed the dynamic duo.

“I didn’t feel like getting in there deeper,” he said. “The upkeep is hard.”

Those burly bods are hollow inside and tied to a tree so they don’t wander.

“It is just metal fencing with moss stuck in it,” Steve said. “Like a giant chia pet. I was hoping the moss would continue to grow.”

As for the name Moss Man?

The figures, modeled after Bigfoot, are actually non-binary.

“I didn’t put a gender to nothing,” he said.

For $300, he’ll make you one, though he has never been asked and doesn’t really want to.

“It’s not what I’m normally trying to do,” he said. “It takes a lot of work. I don’t use a clock.”

For a lot less, he’ll carve a head for you to attach to DIY framework that he said is easy.

Carvings are his mainstay.

Steve sells his work by the propane tanks behind the auto repair shop across from Lundeen Park, which is where I met him on Thursday. You can reach him on his landline at 425-377-0744.

“Everything is cheap,” he said. The toothy bear is $125. Smaller pieces start at $40.

He was a plumber before he took up wood carving.

“I just started doing it,” he said. “I picked up the hobby a couple years ago, learning as I go.”

Is there a person, place or thing making you wonder “What’s Up With That?” Contact reporter Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.