White Thang

still from video by the Alabama Bigfoot Society (timestamp ~18:37)

Origins:

It seems every state has its own edition of Bigfoot, and the White Thang is Alabama's (well, one of them, anyway).

It's said that the creature has been seen in varying degrees since the 1930s or 40s, mostly in Jefferson, Morgan, and Etowah Counties. Some sources even say that it made headlines, though I've yet to find any newspaper articles.

In most sightings, it's described as a large creature covered in matted white hair. While having never been recorded as harming anyone, it is said to reek of spoilt fish and make an awful scream. Earlier sightings state the creature was on all fours. From "Legends and Lore from Birmingham and Central Alabama" (), written by Beverly Crider:

The creature is known for its ability to move quickly and produce an eerie screech that sounds like a woman's scream. Some have described the scream as sounding like that of a panther. [...] [Feneda Martin Smith said] "Old man Geoerge Norris...seen it over there in Enon graveyard, and he said it looked like a lion...you know, bushy, betwixt a dog and a lion. It was white and slick with long hair. It had a slick tail, down on the end of the tail a big ol' bush of hair. He lent up against a tree and fell asleep. When he woke up the sun was still rising and the white thang was laying right beside him, and it was looking up at him. He said it didn't offer to hurt him or nothing.

Newer sightings give the creature a more Bigfoot-esque appearance, being bipedal and 7-8 foot tall, and it's generally included in that cryptid family.

There's not much else to say about it, but personally, I prefer the large creature version, per earlier sightings. Given the screaming and the posture, I imagine it was originally an errant cougar sighting that planted the seed for this creature.