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Creature of the Mountains

Sixty years ago, an explorer went looking for the yeti. Would he find this mysterious creature?

By Meg Richardson
From the October/November 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Learn about a mysterious creature, the yeti.

Lexile® measure: 480L
Vocabulary: frigid, mysterious, signs, proved, proof, scrutinized
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Edmund Hillary in the mountains

The wind howled. The air was as cold as ice. It was frigid. A man named Edmund Hillary climbed up a snowy mountain.

He was looking for a mysterious creature called the yeti. He wanted to know if the yeti was real.

He and his team had been searching for months. They carried heavy cameras and telescopes. They were tired and freezing.

Suddenly, he saw something in the snow. Footprints! They were huge. They had claws. Could they be from the yeti?

He kept looking for more signs of the yeti. Signs are like clues.

Soon people brought him another sign. It was a clump of shaggy fur. Was this from the yeti? Had he proved that this creature was real?

The wind blew. The air was as cold as ice. A man named Edmund Hillary climbed up a snowy mountain.

He was looking for a mysterious creature. It was called the yeti. He wanted to know if it was real.

He and his team had been looking for months. They carried heavy cameras. They brought telescopes. They were tired. They were freezing.

Suddenly, Hillary saw something in the snow. Footprints! They were huge. They had claws. Could they be from the yeti?

He kept looking for more signs of the yeti. Signs are like clues.

Soon people brought him another sign. It was a clump of fur. Was this from the yeti? Had he proved that this creature was real?

The frigid wind howled. Edmund Hillary climbed up a snowy mountain.

He was looking for a mysterious creature called the yeti. He wanted to know if the yeti was real.

He and his team had been searching for months carrying heavy cameras and telescopes. They were exhausted and freezing.

Suddenly, he saw something in the snow—footprints! They were huge and had claws. Could they be from the yeti?

He kept looking for more signs of the yeti.

Soon people brought him another sign—a clump of shaggy fur. Was this from the yeti? Had he proved that this creature was real?


Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Edmund Hillary holding a drawing of the yeti

Yeti Stories

Yeti Stories

Yeti Stories

People have told stories about the yeti for thousands of years. In the stories, the yeti looks like a giant ape. It walks on two feet. Some people say the yeti has white fur. Others say its fur is brown.

Its home is the Himalayan mountains. Those are the tallest mountains in the world.

In 1925, a man said he saw a creature in the mountains. It walked on two legs. It left  strange footprints. But he was not sure if it was the yeti.

In 1948, another person said he saw a yeti footprint. But no one else saw it.

In 1951, a man took photos of footprints in the snow. He thought they were from the yeti. Other people thought they were from other animals. No one knew for sure.

In 1960, Edmund Hillary wanted to find out if the yeti was real. He wanted to find proof! Proof is information that shows if something is real or not. Did he finally find it?

People have told stories about the yeti for many years. They said the yeti looks like a giant ape. It walks on two feet. Some people say the yeti has white fur. Some people  say its fur is brown.

Its home is the Himalayan mountains. Those are the tallest mountains in the world.

In 1925, a man said he saw a creature in the mountains. It walked on two legs. It left strange footprints. But he was not sure if it was the yeti.

In 1948, another person saw a yeti footprint. But no one else saw it.

In 1951, a man took photos of footprints in the snow. He thought they were from the yeti. Other people thought they were from other animals. No one knew for sure.

In 1960, Edmund Hillary wanted to find out if the yeti was real. He wanted to find proof! Proof is information that shows if something is real or not. Did he finally find it?

People have told stories about the yeti for thousands of years. In the stories, the yeti looks like a giant ape and walks on two feet. Some people say the yeti has white fur, while others say its fur is brown.

Its home is in the tallest mountains in the world, the Himalayan mountains.

In 1925, a man said he saw a creature walking on two legs in the mountains. It left strange footprints but he was not sure if it was the yeti.

In 1948, another person said he saw a yeti footprint, but no one else saw it.

In 1951, a man took photos of footprints in the snow. He thought they were from the yeti, however other people thought they were from other animals. No one knew for sure.

In 1960, Edmund Hillary wanted to find out if the yeti was real. He wanted to find proof! Did he finally find it?


 © Jon Mitchell/Lightroom Photos/Atlas Photo Archive/TopFoto

The Himalayan mountains

Searching for the Yeti

Searching for the Yeti

Searching for the Yeti

Jim McMahon/Mapman ® 

People say the yeti lives in the Himalayan mountains.

Let’s go back to that snowy mountain. Edmund Hillary had found large footprints in the snow. He had also seen fur. He needed to know: Were these proof of the yeti?

His team scrutinized the footprints. They looked closely. They realized that the snow around the prints had melted. That made the prints look bigger.

The footprints were probably from a wolf or a snow leopard. They were not from a yeti.

His team also looked closely at the fur they had been given.  It was from another animal that lives in the mountains. The animal is called a serow. It’s like a goat. The fur was not from a yeti either.

Hillary and his team kept looking.

But they did not find any more signs.

They never found the yeti. They could not prove it was real.

Edmund Hillary had found large footprints in the snow. He had also seen fur. He needed to know for sure. Did these prove there was a yeti?

His team looked at the footprints. They looked at them closely. The snow around the prints had melted. That made the prints look bigger.

The footprints were probably from a wolf. Or they could have been from a snow leopard. They were not from a yeti.

His team also looked closely at the fur.

It was from another animal that lives in the mountains. The animal is called a serow. It’s like a goat. The fur was not from a yeti either.

They kept looking.

But they did not find any more signs.

They never found the yeti.

Let’s go back to that snowy mountain where Edmund Hillary had found large footprints in the snow. He had also seen fur. He needed to know: Were these proof of the yeti?

His team scrutinized the footprints. They realized that the snow around the prints had melted making the prints look bigger.

The footprints were probably from a wolf or a snow leopard—not a yeti.

His team also looked closely at the fur they had been given.

It was from an animal called a serow that lives in the mountains. It’s like a goat. The fur was not from a yeti either.

Hillary and his team kept looking.

But they did not find any more signs.

They never found the yeti and therefore, could not prove it was real.


Still a Mystery

Still a Mystery

Still a Mystery

Now it is 60 years after Hillary looked for the yeti. People are still looking for it! Some people say they have seen it. But no one has been able to prove it is real.

People still love stories about the yeti. You can find books, movies, comics, and even video games about the yeti!

Have you seen Monsters, Inc.? Or Abominable? Or Smallfoot? All these movies have the yeti in them.

In some stories, the yeti is scary and dangerous. In other stories, the yeti is cute and friendly.

As for now, no one has found proof that the yeti is real. Maybe someday someone will prove that the yeti exists. Will it be you?

Now it is 60 years after Hillary looked for the yeti. People are still looking for it! People say they have seen it. But they can’t prove it!

People still love stories about the yeti. You can find books and comics about the yeti! There are even video games.

Have you seen Monsters, Inc. or Abominable? These movies have the yeti in them.

In some stories a yeti is scary and dangerous. Other times, the yeti is cute and friendly.

No one has found proof that the yeti is real. Maybe someday someone will prove it. Will it be you?

Sixty years after Hillary looked for the yeti people are still looking for it! Some people say they have seen it, but no one has been able to prove it is real.

People still love stories about the yeti. You can find books, movies, comics, and even video games about the yeti!

Have you seen Monsters, Inc.? Or Abominable? Or Smallfoot? All these movies have the yeti in them.

In some stories, the yeti is scary and dangerous while in other stories, the yeti is cute and friendly.

As for now, no one has found proof that the yeti is real. Maybe someday someone will prove that the yeti exists—will it be you?


Chroma Collection/Alamy Stock Photo

A man took this photo in 1951. Was it a yeti footprint?

More Mountain Creatures

Many animals live in the Himalayan mountains. They leave signs that could look like proof of the yeti.

Thomas Marent/Minden Pictures (Snow Leopard); blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo (Paw Print)

Snow Leopards

Their paw prints could look like yeti footprints.

Snow Leopards

Their paw prints could look like yeti footprints.

Snow Leopards

Their paw prints could look like yeti footprints.


Shutterstock.com

Wolves

Their paw prints could also look like yeti footprints.

Wolves

Their paw prints could also look like yeti footprints.

Wolves

Their paw prints could also look like yeti footprints.


Shutterstock.com

Serows

Their fur could look like yeti fur.

Serows

Their fur could look like yeti fur.

Serows

Their fur could look like yeti fur.


Shutterstock.com

Bears

They could look like a yeti.

Bears

They could look like a yeti.

Bears

They could look like a yeti.


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Answer Key (1)
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More About the Article

Social Studies Focus

Explorers

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Implementation

Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the creatures theme:

  1. “Squirt!,” p.2 
  2. “Creatures!,” p. 4
  3. “Creature of the Mountains,” p. 6
  4. “Whoosh! Bats and Flying Squirrels,” p. 18
  5. “Betty Met a Yeti,” p. 32

From the Storyworks 2 archive: 

Book Pairing: 

  • The Unicorn and Yeti series. These fun stories about two friends are perfect for second-graders

Before-Reading Resources

  • Read the Background Builder, “Creatures!,” on p. 4
    (15 minutes)
  • Text Preview Bookmarks
    (5 minutes) Kids can cut out the nonfiction bookmark and use it to preview the text.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow
    (5 minutes) Help students become familiar with vocabulary words they will see in the article.

Suggested Reading Focus

Comprehension, nonfiction text features (30 minutes)

  • Use the Pause and Think questions for a comprehension check.
  • Stop at the subheads. Ask students, ”What do you  think this section will be about?“

After-Reading Video Read-Aloud (5 minutes)

Comprehension, nonfiction text features (30 minutes)

  • Watch the Video Read-Aloud: Students can hear the
    article read aloud and see the imagery come to life.

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes for each activity)

  • Quiz: Comprehension check (We also offer a lower-level quiz.)
  • Word Work: Vocabulary
  • Nonfiction Text Feature Hunt
  • Is the Yeti Real?: Opinion writing activity
  • Two Different Texts: Use to compare and contrast the Big Read with the Background Builder.
  • Creature Chart: Use to compare and contrast the themed texts in the issue.

Text-to-Speech