Worldwide it has many names, but we know it best as Bigfoot.
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| Patterson still from theeway.com |
According to legend, this creature is anywhere from 7 to 9 feet tall with long, often matted, shaggy hair. It's coloring ranges from white, through blond and red to brown. Older creatures have even been reported with gray fur. They have characteristic primate features, with long arms a broad forehead and deep-set eyes that often reflect red in the night. Its most notable feature is the size of the feet and length of its stride.
The Bigfoot can move quite easily and quietly through wooded areas. It is an expert at hiding and is very stealthy, rarely showing itself to humankind. When it does reveal itself, many reports show that it is around women and children - most likely because they don't seem to pose as much of a threat as men.
Despite the many reports of this legendary creature in nearly every state of our country, many do not believe that it exists. Many cynics, as well as members of the scientific community, will not recognize its existence until there is physical proof brought to the foreground. People want to see remains, a body or a live monster before the myth becomes reality.
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| Footprint casts from mythortruth.com |
I have my own fascination with this master of hide and seek. I have never had an encounter of my own, nor have I seen any evidence with my own eyes. This is, however, one of the most wide-spread legends out there. Many stories of cryptids that are circulating overlap with reported incidents with a Sasquatch. My own belief is that quite a few of the monsters reported out there are indeed cryptids, but misidentified sightings of a Bigfoot.
Fear can do strange things to the human mind. A creature that a person is not accustomed to seeing this creature - most of humankind fits into this parameter - can easily take the form of that person's worst fears. While remaining a perfectly "normal" 8' tall ape man, a terrified mind may give it horns, wings or a weapon, turning it into something even worse - the stuff of our darkest nightmares.
Now, I am not discounting the stories out there, but the imagination is a wondrous thing. We can take what we "see" and give it a back story, an origin and a brand new monster crawls out of the proverbial closet. Some of these stories may indeed be actual. At risk of being the skeptic myself, we will not know until we have the proof.
I am a member of several of those social media groups. Like I said, I don't have any evidence. I've never seen any proof with my own eyes. I just like to be nosey. I want to see what others are looking for. I want to see what they see in the pictures and videos they post. I'd like to think I can weed out the hoaxes from the proof.
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| Comparison slice of coyote on left and possible Bigfoot carrying young Bigfoot on right from bigfootevidence.blogspot.com |
Mysteries is interesting in that it covers stories across the states about different creatures. I can't say that it has any factual information to it. It merely covers the stories that have been gathered by "eye witnesses". It is sort of like the Unsolved Mysteries for monsters and things that go bump in the night. The re-enactments and creatures portrayed leave something to be desired. Some of the information, however can be linked to existing legends through history.
Bounty, in my eyes, is just another reality show, but with an interesting twist. From the beginning, the contestants seem to be doomed. They are taken to areas where the creature has been reported to have been seen and tasked with finding scientific proof (and photographic evidence) that Bigfoot exists. The judges are reputed scientists (and Dean Cain) that evaluate the evidence to see what these outdoors men, hunters and survivalists can find. Most times, they could only uncover the regular animals that exist, but they had hopes of finding something else out there.
Mountain Monsters remains one of the most interesting and entertaining cryptid hunting shows that I watch. What more could you want than a group of good ole boys from West Virgina tracking through the Appalachians to catch the likes of the Snallygaster, the Wampus Beast and the Yahoo. I can't say they are the most scientific of fellows. Most people probably can't take them seriously, especially judging by the tweets on their "Uncaged" episodes. But if any if the evidence they are showing is true, they have something going for them. These guys do seem to have the knowledge to do this correctly. Although I don't agree with many of their strategies, there's no one I would trust more in the lonely mountains than a group of hunters and trackers that spend most of their lives in the brush. Also, if any of the evidence uncovered from their witnesses is accurate, there may be something living deep in the countryside other than moonshiners and ginsengers.
Mountain Monsters witness video of the Ohio Grassman from Youtube. Is it real?
My favorite above all is Finding Bigfoot. These four are gung-ho about finding a Bigfoot. They go out, have town hall meetings, gather evidence and stories and head into the wilderness to try to make contact. Matt Moneymaker, the leader of the the foursome, also founded the BFRO or Bigfoot Field Research Organization in 1995. I would personally love to become part of this organization and be a part of history when Bigfoot is proven to exist. My only issue with the show is that it is rumored that they cannot reveal any physical evidence on Animal Planet until it is proven to be true. Until that happens, many see the program as being the same old same old, week after week. This is understandable, as they would not want to broadcast the information without the proper proof.
As for what I think: well, something is out there. Cryptozoology is a rough science. It requires one to chase stories and legends, hoping to find an actual witness and possible proof to be able to track down an elusive creature that no one else is willing to believe in until it is shoved under their nose.
We've got the stories out there. They've been handed down through generations upon generations from ancestors in time gone by. Our earliest recognition of Bigfoot's existence is on Painted Rock located on the Tule River Reservation. Local Native Americans say the story of these cave paintings has been handed down since approximately 500 A.D. The painting shows, among other known animals, a Bigfoot family - male, female and a youngster.
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| This picture shows the Bigfoot family represented at the Painted Rock. Photo from bigfootproject.org |
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| This picture is a representation of the above cave painting. Photo from bfro.net |
Should we go even further back in time, we might come across Sasquatch's predecessor, Gigantopithecus. Though there were three species of Gigantopithecus, I wish to focus on one in particular - Gigantopithecus blacki. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of evidence of G. blacki. That which we do have is in the form of fossilized teeth and pieces of jaw. Scientists can only make approximations of what this creature looked like.
What we do know is that Gigantopithecus blacki was a super-sized primate. This ape stood approximately 9 - 10 feet tall. Its large hairy form stood upright like its human contemporaries, making it a possibility for our missing link. Its arms spanned nearly 12 feet. They inhabited our planet for nearly one million years and are believed to have gone extinct about 100,000 years ago. That means they spent time living side-by-side with the first Homo sapiens for several tens of thousands of years. Before that, they were contemporaries of H. sapiens predecessors, Homo erectus, the upright man.
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| Photo of model Gigantopithecus blacki from uiowa.edu |
The fossil remains we do have of Gigantopithecus blacki show that it lived in South China and Vietnam. Some believe that these great primates may have migrated across the land bridge between modern day Russia and Alaska. This would explain the population diversity through every continent. It would also explain the larger population of reported Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, as opposed to the smaller populations toward the East Coast as they spread out across the land.
Speaking of migration, it is believed that Bigfoot migrates with the season. Typically, he follows the food, moving north for the summer months and heading back south for the winter. Though we are not completely clear on his diet, research shows that Bigfoot is omnivorous. When he can, he will prey on deer, elk and caribou. In good weather, he may also supplement his diet with nuts and berries. When near water, frogs may join the diet. Reports nationwide have shown this elusive creature feasting on all of these.
Some observations have shown that Sasquatches may stop moving for a period of time and settle into a territory. It is not known why, though could be for several reasons. A solitary Bigfoot may have found a temperate zone with sufficient resources and claim that area as its own. Another possibility may be that a mated pair is forming a family group. The young seem to be similar to our own children and, while not completely helpless, may not be able to survive long migrations without too much assistance.
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| Upside-down trees from sasquatchinvestigations.org |
Observers also believe that these creatures mark out their territory with structures. In Alaska, though also found in other areas, there are a group of famous trees that have been uprooted and planted trunk first back into the ground. In most other areas, people have found structures of sorts made from meticulously placed branches and trees.
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| Tree structure from sasquatchinvestigations.org |
One needs to be careful when entering one of these territories. I believe that Sasquatches have individual personalities as different as those of humans and any other animal, at that. You don't know what the creature will be like. It could be having a good day and might be curious as to what is invading its home. On the other hand, it might be one mean old SOB and be very protective of its home. And watch out if you make it too close to its nest. You wouldn't want to meet the business end of his fists or have a rock thrown at your head.
While there aren't many documented cases of a Bigfoot attacking people, there is evidence. If footage of any of the AIMS team's encounters on Mountain Monsters is to be believed, the Ohio Grassman and the Yowie of West Virginia are not to be trifled with. Both are very protective and territorial creatures and have a mean throwing arm.
If you don't want to believe the good ole boys of the mountains, then look to our 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt. As an avid hunter and frontiersman, he didn't take much guff from anyone. While he could tell a good story, he also wasn't one to tell a tall tale. There are unconfirmed stories that Roosevelt met a Bigfoot out in the wild. Some say he was attacked, others that he only saw the beast. But there is a story in his book, The Wilderness Hunter, about a man who encountered the monster.
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| Photo of Theodore Roosevelt from ericdockett.hubpages.com |
The book refers to this as a goblin tale, as the term Bigfoot didn't start being used until the 1950s. This man, Bauman, was a fellow hunter, tracker and frontiersman. He and his partner were hunting on a mountain. After setting up camp, they went searching for a good location for their traps. Upon coming back, the camp was destroyed. Naturally, they though it was a bear that did the job. When they found the tracks, they discovered that the "bear" walked away on two feet. That night, they were awakened by noises in the woods made by a large creature. When they fired at it, the beast ran away. The next day, they checked their traps only to return to a destroyed camp again. That night, they had a similar experience - a large creature making a ruckus in the woods, but it wouldn't come close to the fire. The third day found them deciding that enough was enough. Bauman went alone to collect the traps. When he returned to camp, he found it not only destroyed, but his partner had been killed by a large creature that apparently threw him bodily around. Bauman left everything behind and fled the mountain.
It's a pretty scary story. I would definitely not like getting on the wrong side of a Sasquatch. That won't stop me from wanting to discover if any of these stories are true.
What is really out there? Is the Goatman responsible for the attacks in Prince George's County, MD or was it really the Bigfoot that was seen around the same time? Are the Batsquatch and Sheepsquatch actual hybrid monstrosities or has a Sasquatch taken to using "tools" to make itself more menacing? Do skinwalkers haunt the American West or has Old Yellow Top taken to stealing sheep from the ranch?
One day, we'll know the truth.
Notes taken from http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.com, http://www.bfro.net, http://www.animalplanet.com, http://en.wikipedia.org, http://ericdockett.hubpages.com
Notes taken from http://bigfootevidence.blogspot.com, http://www.bfro.net, http://www.animalplanet.com, http://en.wikipedia.org, http://ericdockett.hubpages.com
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