Giant Insects, Scorpions, Sharks, why not Giant Hominids?

JD Adams of Salem-News.com writes an article titled, "The Enigma of the Giants" Although, Gigantopitecus is mentioned, Adams goes beyond the familiar Giganto-theory and speaks about Giant Humans. Below is a great introduction to the article followed by a link to the whole thing.

Every form of life has had its giant stage in evolution. During the Carboniferous period, the Meganeura, resembling a dragonfly, grew to have a wingspan of 30 inches. The Pulmonoscorpius, an early scorpion, were one meter in length. A giant crocodile, the Sarcosuchus, lived during the Cretaceous period, and were 40 ft. in length and weighed over 8 tons. The Titanoboa, the largest snake that ever lived, reigned during the Paleocene epoch, and was up to 50 ft. long and 2,500 lbs in weight.

The Megalodon, an ancient shark of the Cenozioc era, was one the largest predators in vertebrate history. Lacking a complete skeleton, estimates of its size range from 67 to 82 ft. in length, and a body mass of approximately 100 tons. Then we have the Pleistocene Megafauna which included larger versions of most modern species, like the saber-tooth cat known as Smilodon populator, which weighed 1000 lbs. and had 12 in. canine teeth. These huge specimens were the result of favorable conditions such as plentiful habitat and prey, and a different mixture of atmospheric gases, at one time being 35%, oxygen, versus the 22% of today. The interaction of developing species, including ecological niches which were yet to be filled, also played a part.

So, why not giant humans? The Meganthropus, or Giant Java Man, was an inhabitant of Southeast Asia, slightly smaller than the Gigantopithecus of China, but still huge at an estimated 8 ft. in height. It's stature has been inferred from jaw and skull reconstruction. The Meganthropus skull has a double sagittal crest (running front to back along the top) which distinguishes it from the Homo erectus that some believe it is descended from. The crest is an indication of powerful jaw muscles. The actual size and lineage of Meganthropus is the subject of much debate, and it is considered a possible predecessor to Bigfoot by Cryptozoologists.

If ever there was a species worthy of the giant label, it is Gigantopithecus. Fossil remains suggest a height of 10 to 13 ft. Whether the species was a hominid or more ape-like is a point of serious contention, but it appears that mainstream anthropologists are simply fearful of disrupting the house of cards that is accepted dogma in human evolution and geologic history. The Gigantopithecus molars which have been discovered are distinctly hominid in appearance, and the brain case is actually larger than modern man.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Salem-News: The Enigma of the Giants
There Were Giants in Those Days
Cryptomundo's Post about True Giants

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Previous article by JD Adams we reviewed The Mysteries of the Pleistocene; Bigfoot, Clovis and Missing Major Fauna
The Jolly Green Giant is a Bigfoot

Thom Powell's New Book: Shady Neighbors Cover Art and Excerpt

Click on the picture to see full size

We are so proud and excited to present to you the cover art for author, Thom Powell's new book, "Shady Neighbors."

We even have an excerpt that takes place about halfway through the book. We chose this excerpt because it pairs well with the cover art, with a reference to the muddy baseball. Plus, its a great teaser for what is in store from the mind of  author, Thom Powell. Many themes from his blog and unique perspective are woven into this great narrative.

Without further ado, here is the excerpt from  author, Thom Powell's Shady Neighbors:

Sam looked at his watch. It was 4:30 a.m. He thought about calling Nick right then and there. He thought he should wait. Sam didn't even want to go back to bed and try to sleep. He didn't think he could. He got his robe from the hook on the wall in the bathroom and put it on.

"Are you thinking what I’m thinking," Sam asked.

"I think so," Nick replied. "We need to fix that grave right away. Like, today. I'm not going to sleep until we put it back like we found it."

"How soon can you get over here? I can be ready to go in an hour."

By 8:30 the two men were motoring up the road toward Squaw Meadow, bouncing on the bench seat of Nick's pick up; staring silently at the road ahead.

Nick broke the long silence. "I hate to ask what happened to you last night?"

"Nothing major," Sam replied with his usual sarcasm. "They basically made it clear that they would smash my house and my kids if I didn't put the grave back, post haste."

"They?" Nick asked.

"Three of 'em. They were waiting for me on the lawn when I ran out of the house. One of them kept saying, 'Put my grave back.' It was the scariest, most vivid dream I think I've ever had. To top it off, after my wife woke me up, 'I got up the courage to go outside. There on the front porch was this mud covered baseball. It seemed like a calling card. The dog could have left it there, I suppose, but after that nightmare, I'm not taking any chances. I don't ever want to have another night like that. How about you?"

"I kept waking up to the sound of rocks hitting my roof. Then sticks were hitting the side of the house. Every time I would go to sleep I would see this angry face saying, 'Fix my grave, fix my grave.' Then, I'd wake up and hear rocks on the roof. I'd fall asleep and hear the voice and see the angry face again. Then I'd wake up. More rocks. This went on all night. I didn't sleep more than a half hour all night. By four a.m. I knew I wasn't going to get a wink of sleep until we got up there and fixed the grave."

"Think they might be waiting for us when we get up there?" Sam wondered.

"I hadn't even thought of that," Nick confessed. He thought for a moment. "I suppose that after the night I spent, I'm willing to take that chance. I don't think I'm going to get any sleep until we fix that grave. I don't think my roof can take another night of that," Nick said a faint smile. Then he added, "I suppose if they're ready to kill us when we get there, then we won't be able to fix the grave."

With a smile, Sam said, "I suppose." Then he added, "Maybe they'll just wait until we fix it before they finish us off."

Nick managed to crack a slight smile. Then Sam asked pointedly, "By the way, do ya still think they're just some damn apes?"

We will keep you up to date when and where this book will be available for purchase. Sure we are partial, but we promise you you will turn page after page until you have read all 366 of them. It is informative, educational and over all entertaining; complete with an extremely satisfying ending.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Cryptomundo Reviews Thom's First Book, The Locals
Cliff Barackman Talks about Thom's New Book
Thom writes about his new book at ThomSquatch.com

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Thom Powell Week: Seven Tentative Conclusions
Thom Powell Week: The Contemporary Researcher
Thom Powell Week: Oregonian Guest Columnist

Ghost Hunting Theories: Patterson-Gimlin Revisited

The now-famous Patterson/Gimlin Film (PGF) is etched into the psyche of american pop-culture. It probably universally recognizable. In Bigfooting circles it is somewhat a sacred cow. Opinions we have heard in private would never be shared publicly; from those who support or dispute the film.

Fortunately, for us, we are not in the business of proving Bigfoot, or proving the value or authenticity of Bigfoot evidence. Not often anyway. Mostly we want to learn as much as we can by sharing all things Sasquatch and hopefully like cosmologist do with the universe, we can build a better "model" of Bigfoot until we discover the big guy.

So we need to hear from all voices, yesterday we posted opinions from a palaeozoologist, today I am proud to say we are sharing the opinions of a Ghost Hunter and pshycic. If you have never visited Ghost Hunting Theories you are missing out. Even how she tackles PGF, is a delight:

This film is definitely polarizing.

One thing I talk about extensively in my upcoming book “Was That a Ghost?” is taking the context into account when looking at your encounter; taking into consideration your belief system and your explanatory style when evaluating an encounter. I am going to try to do the same here with the film.

Belief: I do believe in Bigfoot, not sure if I believe in the film (partially objective)

Context: I will review the context in which the film was taken (below).

Explanatory style: In comparing the pros and cons, I will try not to interject any belief system and keep myself objective (below).

The truth is, we must judge on just this case and not anything else. You might believe in ghosts, but each hunting case has to be handled very objectively. You know you believe in ghosts, but that does not have to mean that everything that happens is ghostly. Same here. I believe in BF and that will remain whether or not this film proves to me to be authentic.

This film, in other words, will not be the only thing that makes or breaks my belief.

I thought I should step away from a strange gut feeling that it's authentic when my head says it can't be. I figured I'd break down what bugs me about the film and what intrigues me about it and play “good guy/bad guy” with it. Read the rest of Patterson-Gimlin Revisited. It is thorough and refreshing.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Patterson-Gimlin Revisited
Bigfoot: My Furry-Butted Relative

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2010 Countdown, 10 days of Appreciation: Day 06 Whales and Ghosts

Encounters with Gigantic Orangutans

We have been negligent in our postings about primatology and feel bad. We decided to bring you the story of the Gigantic Orangutans of Borneo.

At Tetrapod Zoology (hardcore fans, like us, call it Tet Zoo for short), Darren Naish is profiled as "a science writer, technical editor and palaeozoologist (affiliated with the University of Portsmouth, UK) who mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs."

He writes great articles that sometimes border into the realm of Cryptozoology while maintaining the rigor of science. Without further ado, please read the excerpt below and follow the link to Encounters with Gigantic Orangutans.

Over the past couple of months I've been reading John MacKinnon's In Search of the Red Ape (Collins, 1974) - one of the first books anyone reads whenever they want to learn about orangutans. The book is stuffed full of anecdotes and other natural history tales about Borneo and Sumatra, and it seems that MacKinnon (who, these days, is best known for his association with the discovery of the Saola Pseudoryx nghetinensis in Vietnam (MacKinnon 2000, Van Dung et al. 1993, 1994)) encountered just about every creature you could hope to encounter in the tropical jungles of the region... yes, even the enigmatic orang-pendek (or its tracks, at least).

Anyway, one particular section of the book really stands out for me: the bit where MacKinnon catches sight of a gigantic, terrestrially walking male orangutan...

I was nearly home when I saw a terrifying spectacle. For a moment I thought it was a trick of my vision. A huge, black orang-utan was walking along the path towards me. I had never seen such a large animal even in a zoo. He must have weighed every bit of three hundred pounds. Hoping that he had not noticed me, I dived behind a large tree. I was in no state to defend myself, or run from him should he come for me, and I could recall clearly the natives' terrible stories about old, ground-living orangs. I held my breath as the monster passed within a few feet of me and let him get about forty yards ahead before I followed in pursuit. He was enormous, as black as a gorilla but with his back almost bare of hair; Ivan the Terrible was the only name I could think of. (MacKinnon 1974, p. 54)

We guarantee you will love reading the rest at Tetrapod Zoology

EXTERNAL LINKS
SRC:Tetrapod Zoology
Tet Zoo: Chimpanzees make and use spears
Tet Zoo:Bipedal Orangs
"What to Make of Yowies?" by Darren Naish at Science Blogs

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Bigfoot's Walking Cousins
Lair of the Beasts: Seeking the Indian Bigfoot

Moneymaker and Barackman in Animal Planet Bigfoot Series

This is the first article about the Animal Planet event in North Carolina that seems to be written from the researchers perspective. Matt Moneymaker and Cliff Barackman are quoted regarding the methodology and evidence found.

"We're going to do an evidence search in a grid," he said. "We doubt you're going to run across Bigfoot out there, but we are going to be looking for some evidence. There's been a lot of sightings in the Uwharrie National Forest. --Matt Moneymaker"

"A lot of people would see this as the front part and back part of the foot, but I think we're looking at a quadripedal animal here," Barackman said. "I think this is probably a deer. --Cliff Barackman"

The Full Article is Below:

Volunteers scour forest for Bigfoot
Some search for fun, others for some evidence

By Marina Richardson -
ALBEMARLE, N.C. -- Around 300 people gathered last weekend at the Eldorado Outpost in Montgomery County on what many might call a fool's errand - a search for Bigfoot.
The expedition into the Uwharrie National Forest to hunt for the elusive creature was led by longtime Bigfoot researcher Michael Greene, Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization leader Matt Moneymaker and a team from the cable and satellite TV channel Animal Planet.

"This is about the crowd I expected," Greene said. "We're going to assemble out there and spread out as a group."

Wally Hersom of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization holds a Bigfoot cast made from a footprint in Walla Walla, Wash. The group led a search in North Carolina last weekend.

While most members of the crowd had shown up to volunteer for the search, a number of individuals were caught up in the search by accident.

Brandon Tysinger and Joey Boslet from Calabash and Scott McKinney from the Myrtle Beach area were camping in the Uwharries and heard unexplained sounds outside their tent Friday night. They thought it was strange, but did not connect it with Bigfoot until they found out about the search on Saturday, they said.

"We pulled up at the gas station, and all of a sudden, we're looking for Bigfoot," Tysinger said. "We want to know what in the world it was in the woods last night, so we thought we'd go, too."

"We just kind of showed up," McKinney said.

Others in the crowd showed up for entertainment or to confirm their belief or disbelief in the legendary creature.

"I'm here for the fun of it," said Brittney Huneycutt of Albemarle. "This is a once in a lifetime thing."

"I'm very skeptical," Adam Loflin, of Norwood, said. "I'm leaning toward the fact that he's not out there."

Before the search began, Moneymaker addressed the group gathered at the outpost.

"We're going to do an evidence search in a grid," he said. "We doubt you're going to run across Bigfoot out there, but we are going to be looking for some evidence. There's been a lot of sightings in the Uwharrie National Forest."

The researchers, film crew and volunteers left the outpost at around 3:15 p.m. and walked approximately a quarter of a mile down the road to a field at the edge of the forest, where Moneymaker gave further instructions. He encouraged the volunteers to look for signs of Bigfoot, such as footprints, hair samples, broken tree branches and stick structures.

James Ackerman, of the Badin area, discovered tracks by a shallow creek that looked almost human.

"I was just jumping over the creek, and as soon as I jumped, I saw a footprint, and I yelled, 'Footprint,'" Ackerman said.

Animal Planet researcher Cliff Barackman was called in to look at the footprint.

"A lot of people would see this as the front part and back part of the foot, but I think we're looking at a quadripedal animal here," Barackman said. "I think this is probably a deer."

When Moneymaker arrived on the scene, he disagreed and said that it was possible that the prints were made by something else.

A little further down the stream, a deer carcass was found. The researchers gathered around the carcass discovered gnaw marks on the bones.

According to Barackman and Moneymaker, deer is Bigfoot's main source of food.

"That's exactly what a deer kill looks like," Moneymaker said of the carcass.

"A Sasquatch [Bigfoot] will grab the front leg and break it. The break has a particular look to it, and that's exactly what I saw there."

In the end, Bigfoot didn't make an appearance, but the show goes on. In this case, the six-part Animal Planet series is planned to air in the fall.


Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/02/20/1992795/volunteers-scour-forest-for-bigfoot.html#ixzz1ETu2f7E0

EXTERNAL LINKS
Sun News Original Article
Matt Moneymakers BFRO.NET
Cliff Barackman's North American Bigfoot

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Montgomery Herald: Searching for Bigfoot
Massive NC Bigfoot Search Gains Momentum
Local Community Talks Bigfoot With 'Animal Planet'
Animal Planet is Filming in North Carolina

Bigfoot in Gasquet: Peacocks, Honeydew and Hair

Honeydew melons and peacocks are on the menu for Bigfoot in a town called
Gasquet, California. Hair samples have been analyzed and determined to be of primate origin. Read the whole article below.

‘The smoking gun’

Written by Anthony Skeens
The Triplicate February 18, 2011 07:09 pm
Gasquet hair samples still being analyzed

Kirk Stewart displays a cast he made of a large footprint found on his French Hill Road property. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson
Take a 3-mile excursion up a winding mountain road near Gasquet, go down a driveway lined with heavy brush, and there’s a meadow.
In that meadow roam horses, cows, cats, and occasionally, the landowner believes, Bigfoot.

Kirk Stewart, the owner of a residence on French Hill Road, is still waiting on detailed analysis of hair samples he collected after a night three years ago when he thinks Bigfoot broke through a wire fence, plucked about seven of his peacocks and then made off with them.

The next morning, Stewart said he found a trampled fence and a piece of his peacock pen peeled off. He also noticed feathers on the ground and on a tree limb about 7 feet high.

“I was thinking it was a bear, up until I had seen how it opened the pen,” said Stewart.

As he assessed the damage, Stewart said he happened upon a clump of about 16 hairs attached to one of the barbs on his fence. They were about 7 inches long with a fine texture and a slight curl.

“The hairs are the smoking gun,” he said.

Stewart sent them to the North America Bigfoot Search. A preliminary analysis determined them to be from a primate, according to a book by the organization’s director.

A more detailed analysis is expected within six months, it said.

‘One of the hottest places’
NABS claims to use scientific methods to investigate possible incidents involving Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, a purportedly ape-like creature whose existence is discounted by a majority of scientists.

NABS was created about six years ago by a group of private donors who wanted to find answers to their childhood curiosities about whether Bigfoot exists, said David Paulides, director of the organization based in Los Gatos, Calif.

It has collected dozens of hair samples from around the country to genetically analyze them. Along with Stewart’s samples, NABS has received hair samples from Hoopa, northern Humboldt County near Bluff Creek, and Oregon.

“(Del Norte) has to be one of the hottest places in the world” for Bigfoot reports, said Paulides in a telephone interview with The Triplicate.

He’s especially interested in Stewart’s property, where the resident said several other things have happened that seem Bigfoot-related.

“I’ve been at his property several times,” said Paulides. “ What’s going on there is very strange.”


Stewart examines the spot on his fence where he found the hair samples. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson
Stewart said he made a cast of a giant footprint he found on his property on a different occasion than the 2008 peacock disappearance.
It’s about 7 inches wide and about 17 inches long.

In 2007, Stewart was throwing a birthday party for his son, when he heard a loud yell coming from near his melon patch.

When Stewart later went to the patch, he said he found a line of about 50 melons that had been pried open, he said.

There were circular holes in the melons with fingernail indentations, he said, adding there was also a big indentation in one of the large tires that housed the melons.

Perhaps Bigfoot used it as a resting place while gorging on melons, Stewart speculated.

“If I ever had him over for dinner, I’d cook peacocks and cut honeydew melons,” joked Stewart as he walked around his property recently.

“I believe it’s what they call a Bigfoot,” he said. “It’s not some long-haired hippie running around.”

Stewart said he has yet to sign a contract with NABS releasing his rights to the hair samples.

He said he makes his living farming his property. He also has a lawsuit pending against Del Norte County seeking the cash value of marijuana plants confiscated from his land even though he had a valid medical marijuana caregiver license.

The drug-related charges against Stewart were dismissed, but he’s currently on probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

‘In reality there’s thousands (of Bigfoots)’
Before it started collecting hair samples, NABS set out to gather anecdotal evidence from people who claimed to have encountered Bigfoot.

Through commonalities in the evidence gathered, Paulides said he was able to profile behavioral attributes of the creature.

“We named food sources,” said Paulides. “Bigfoot eats mushrooms. That’s a food source people didn’t really think about. Also, there’s a series of green shrubs and ferns and water plants.”

NABS has also hypothesized Bigfoot is not going to be far from water.

After gathering anecdotal information, NABS had a forensic artist draw sketches of Bigfoot that people who claimed to have seen it described.

The facial features of Bigfoot are more humanlike than previously suggested and its hair color runs the color spectrum similar to human hair, said Paulides.

“We flew right into the face of old-time researchers,” he said.

Paulides included anecdotal evidence and the forensic sketches in his book, “Tribal Bigfoot.”

Stewart was featured in the book, as were several other people from Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

While the book released in 2009 was being written, NABS was in the beginning stages of hair sample analysis.

A letter about a preliminary laboratory analysis of Stewart’s sample was published in the book.

The letter states that an expert examined the hair and found it to be from an animal of primate origin.

Since then, dozens more hair samples have been submitted for evaluation, and NABS hopes to have results soon, Paulides said.

The research has taken longer than expected due to the complexity of genetically tracing the hairs, Paulides said.

“That’s probably one of the reasons no one has tried to jump through the hurdles that we’re jumping through,” said Paulides. “It’s much more complicated than anyone thought.”

Paulides anticipates having the analysis completed within the next six months.

The work will be published in a report written by a group of scientists who will scrutinize the findings, Paulides said.

“I think if you have any scientific acumen to you and you’re an educated person then it’s hard to ignore science,” said Paulides. “In reality there’s thousands of (Bigfoots). They’re much more common than anyone realizes.”

“The forrest floor is so efficient at disposing of things,” said Paulides, adding that he’s spent thousands of hours in the woods, but has never seen a fully intact skeleton of a mountain lion.

“If we can prove theres a primate out there that’s bipedal and it has been ignored by science for eternity and we can now show it exists,” said Paulides, “I don’t care what kind of evolutionary belief system you have, I believe that will alter the course of science.”

EXTERNAL LINKS
Gasquet hair samples still being analyzed

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Ken Gerhard Self Proclaimed Monster Hunter Makes News

Ken Gerhard and his hat are making some news in Texas. You can watch the video from local news KVUE below. If you have never of Ken Gerhard, we lifted his bio off of the Coast to Coast AM website:

Ken Gerhard is a professional monster hunter. He investigates reports of Bigfoot, the Chupacabras, gigantic winged creatures and other mysterious beasts. Ken's idea of a good time is stalking through the woods at night with his shotgun, dressed in leather. As a cryptozoologist and paranormal researcher, he has been featured on the History Channel's series Monster Quest and also on A&E's Legend Hunters. His book, Big Bird! Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters, chronicles decades of encounters with a monstrous flying animal, reported throughout south Texas. Gerhard has traveled around the world to many mysterious places - from Loch Ness, to Stonehenge, to the Amazon jungle and Machu Pichu, to the Galapagos Islands, Australia, Thailand and Tunisia.

by SHELTON GREEN / KVUE News
Posted on February 18, 2011 at 9:56 PM
Updated today at 10:26 PM

What do Chupacabras, Big Foot, the Yeti, and the Loch Ness Monster all have in common? All are folkloric creatures whose existences have been the subject of much debate for centuries and even today.
One San Antonio man says where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Ken Gerhard, a cryptozoologist (a person who studies hidden animals), held a lecture Friday night in North Austin to a group of about 25 people who wanted to hear more about the unexplained.

“I think that people like to imagine that there is still a bit of mystery in our world, that maybe we aren't omnipotent at this point and that maybe we don't know or understand everything about our surroundings and there's certainly quite a psychological and sociological attachment to monsters,” said Gerhard.

The San Antonio resident wrote a book called “Monsters in Texas” and appeared on several cable shows including “Monster Quest” and “The Real Wolfman”.

“I've never had a sighting. I've experienced some things that I can't quite explain and of course I've interviewed many, many witnesses people from all walks of life who seem like very credible people who've had these extraordinary experiences that they can't explain,” added Gerhard.

The event was sponsored by Anomaly Archives.

EXTERNAL LINKS
KVUE.com Original Story
Ken's Facbook Page
Kens Book; BIG BIRD! - MODERN SIGHTINGS OF FLYING MONSTERS

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Montgomery Herald: Searching for Bigfoot

A lot of rehash of what we have already read regarding the Animal Planet North Carolina Expedition.

There are a few choice quotes, the article introduces the four primary researchers of the TV show as actors.

At the Tuesday night meeting four actors were introduced. These guys are affiliated with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. Matthew Moneymaker is the head of the group. Others included an educator, a logger and a scientist who was also the skeptic of the group and often asked specific questions related to the experience. After each story this group of four quizzed the individuals about their experience, drawing out more details.

Then finishes up with some, hopefully fruitful, evidence found.

The searchers, found a deer carcass, animal hair on a fence and a Bigfoot print in the ground.

The article is worth the read as it does give more depth to the whole event

Searching for Bigfoot
By Tammy Dunn
Montgomery County folks have been shaking their heads in disbelief the past week as believers and curiosity seekers have come together to hear about and hunt for Bigfoot. Television crews from Animal Planet were here to film a segment for the new series, “Looking for Bigfoot.” Previously the crews had been filming in Alaska and were headed to Georgia and Florida next for filming of the six part series.

About 200 people filled Troy Fire Department last Tuesday night as film crews came to tape individuals who had had a Bigfoot encounter. Approximately 6-7 people told their individual stories including Daniel Dunn. Dunn told of his winter morning encounter saying he had gone prospecting for gold off Tower Road and carried his gun in case he saw any deer. Dunn eventually shot a spike, but did not immediately go after the deer, since he still planned to look for gold. When he returned to where the deer was, it was gone. Dunn said he had watched the deer for an hour and it had not moved so he was sure it was dead. Dunn begin to search and found a trail where it was obvious something had been druagged. Following the trail Dunn soon saw something standing over the deer. Moving in for a better look, Dunn said he was shocked to see the creature hovering over the deer, stand up. Describing the creature as extremely tall, with huge footprints, Dunn said the creature appeared to be covering the deer with leaves before he dropped to all fours and ran off.

West Montgomery High School football coach John Pate, a Bigfoot Field Researcher, opened the meeting telling how hesitant he was to let people know what he did as a hobby for fear they would think he was crazy. Pate explained he had been doing this for many years and “the more I do it the more I love it.”

Mike Greene of Salisbury got the group going while waiting on the Animal Planet people, who were very late. Greene told of capturing his thermal imagery of Bigfoot in the Uwharries two years ago. Greene said he had left a Zagnut candy bar on a stump and during the night Bigfoot came and took the candy bar, allowing the camera to catch the image. A recreation of the image is posted on his Website Bushloper.net. Greene also shared some observations about Bigfoot including that they are usually sighted crossing the road and that the juveniles are more active, not as cautious as the adults. Greene also said the creatures were very smart and knew where to draw the line when interacting with people. Greene assured the people they would not be made fun of and their stories would be treated with respect.

At the Tuesday night meeting four actors were introduced. These guys are affiliated with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization. Matthew Moneymaker is the head of the group. Others included an educator, a logger and a scientist who was also the skeptic of the group and often asked specific questions related to the experience. After each story this group of four quizzed the individuals about their experience, drawing out more details.

A lady named Amanda shared her tale of four wheeling in the Uwharries one night with some other people when they stopped at the top on the mountain. Thinking they had jumped a deer, they sat and waited, listening to the noises. Amanda described seeing a creature that was furry and walking on all fours. Saying that it scared her she said she turned into her husband’s back and screamed for him to get out of there. Amanda said she looked back one more time as they were fleeing and saw the creature again. Amanda said it was not a bear and that she was terrified. The incident happened almost 12 years ago and there was a full moon that night. Amanda said they did make a report to the ranger, but all he did was ask them how much they had been drinking that night.

Others told of having rocks thrown at them while hiking and even at their campsites. A man from Gibsonville brought photos of paw prints he had photographed near his house. The investigators said it was probably Bigfoot judging by the size of the print and the spacing between prints meant he was probably running.

Others had tales of unexplained happenings. Cliff Atkins told of when he was a young boy living off Beaman Road, walking home one night around 11 p.m. Atkins said there were no other houses around then and he had walked that way many times before. That particular night though he heard something behind him, and when he stopped, whatever was behind him stopped. Atkins said this happened several times while he was on his way home and though he was not too scared (he was carrying a gun) he has carried that strange feeling with him all his life.

On Saturday approximately 200 people gathered at the Eldorado Outpost for a search in the Uwharrie National Forest. Walking through an open field a long line of searchers spread out as if they were doing a drive. A helicopter flew overhead, filming the scene. Camera crews on the ground filmed the searchers and whistles and bullhorns alerted the searchers when to stop. The searchers, found a deer carcass, animal hair on a fence and a Bigfoot print in the ground.

Back at the Outpost people gathered to laugh about the hoopla surrounding the Bigfoot and enterprising young entrepreneurs sold shirts and Girl Scout cookies, taking advantage of the large crowds.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Montgomery Herald Article

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Massive NC Bigfoot Search Gains Momentum
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Animal Planet is Filming in North Carolina
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Official "Letters from the Big Man" Trailer

Christopher Munch has released an official trailer for his Sasquatch movie, "Letters from the Big Man." It does the film true justice.

In the trailer you can really get a sense of what movie critic, James Greenberg of the Hollywood reporter means when he says:

"Sarah is unpredictable, prickly and given to frenetic exercising as if she were trying to exorcise her own demons. So when she chooses to deepen her communication with these magical creatures, it's not surprising since she is magical herself.

The exquisite natural light captured by cinematographer Rob Sweeney and a sweeping score by the chamber group Ensemble Galilei helps make the magic seem plausible. But it's Rabe who you really can't take your eyes off of."

Read the rest of the review below:

This is clearly not a creature feature made for everyone, but for a fortunate few, it will feel like a cleansing in nature.

PARK CITY -- The myth of the Sasquatch has intrigued filmmakers for years, but the creature has always been depicted as a kind of a wooly monster. Not surprisingly, iconoclastic director Christopher Munch has taken a different tack in Letters From the Big Man. His Sasquatch is a more evolved creature with mystical communication skills. Such an interpretation might seem airy-fairy were it not rendered with such earnestness and filmmaking skill. This is clearly not a film made for everyone, but for a fortunate few, it will feel like a cleansing in nature.

As his leading lady, Munch had the inspiration to cast the sprite-like Lily Rabe. As Sarah Smith, a Forest Service worker on the rebound from a broken relationship, she is in almost every scene and commands the film with her presence. Retreating to the wilderness of Southern Oregon to lick her wounds and survey post-fire damage, Sarah starts to have the feeling she's being followed. Although she doesn't see it at first, Munch isn't going for suspense here and promptly reveals a dignified hairy creature with soulful eyes (played by Isaac C. Singleton).

The big man, who seems to reside between a human and super-human realm, starts to infiltrate Sarah's dreams. She draws what she sees in her mind's eye and leaves scraps of food for her new friend. She hears the Sasquatch's voice as a call to nature. Gradually, she has several close encounters before he reveals himself. The matter-of-fact way Munch tells the story, without gimmicks or special effects, makes it all seem quite innocent.

However, this sweet dance between woman and big man is set against the backdrop of a Forest Service controversy that sometimes threatens to take over the simplicity of the film with a too-complicated plot. Out hiking in a remote area one day, she meets Sean (Jason Butler Harner), a wilderness advocate, with whom she has a budding romance. He has long been battling the Forest Service over the best way to deal with fire damage, and when he gets wind of the Sasquatch, he believes the government will hunt the creature down and turn him into a science experiment. It seems like an idea borrowed from E.T. and is ultimately beside the point. The focus is really about Sarah and the big man.

Sarah is unpredictable, prickly and given to frenetic exercising as if she were trying to exorcise her own demons. So when she chooses to deepen her communication with these magical creatures, it's not surprising since she is magical herself.

The exquisite natural light captured by cinematographer Rob Sweeney and a sweeping score by the chamber group Ensemble Galilei helps make the magic seem plausible. But it's Rabe who you really can't take your eyes off of.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival, Spotlight
Production company: Antarctic Pictures
Cast: Lily Rabe, Jason Butler Harner, Isaac C. Singleton, Jr., Jim Cody Williams, Fiona Dourif, Don McManus, Karen Black
Director-screenwriter-producer: Christopher Munch
Executive producer: Linda Brown
Director of photography: Rob Sweeney
Production designer: Ricardo Herrera
Music: Ensemble Galilei, Steven Gates
Costume designer: Kristen Anacker
Editor: Curtiss Clayton
No rating, 104 minutes

EXTERNAL LINKS
Letters From the Big Man Youtube Video
Hollywood Reporter

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Award Winning Director, Christopher Munch, Premiers "Letters from the Big Man" at Sundance

Hundreds in North Carolina (still) hunt for Bigfoot

Yes the headline says hundreds. The message we are getting from our fans is they (the participants in the NC Expedition) are going to do a better job scaring Bigfoot away then actually getting any traction on discovering the big guy/gal.

For those of you that feel this way, the article below, written by David Freeze for the Salisbury Post, may confirm your fears.

By David Freeze

For the Salisbury Post

Michael Greene of Salisbury has attracted a lot of attention in his hunt for Bigfoot.

More than 300 people joined Greene and about 10 staff members of the Animal Planet cable-TV channel at the Eldorado Outpost on N.C. 109 near Troy and began a search for signs of the mysterious, perhaps mythical, creature on Saturday.

Green was glad to see the crowd.

“Five years ago, I joined the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO). I was just tired of doing this myself, a little discouraged, and had no one to talk to and share my hobby,” Greene said.

Greene’s interest in Bigfoot began when was working toward a master’s in behavioral psychology. He wrote a thesis on group hysteria, and one of the subjects he studied was Bigfoot.

He came to believe that Bigfoot was possibly a real entity, so the reading and investigation began.

Greene, a lifelong public servant who worked in several government agencies, convinced the Animal Planet crew to stop in the Troy area on their way to filming a series on Bigfoot sightings. The film crew will continue on to Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington state.

A six-show series is planned to air on Animal Planet this fall.

Greene, now 69 and retired, moved with his wife to Salisbury two years ago. They wanted to be near family and to investigate Bigfoot sightings in the area. North Carolina is a hotbed for sightings, according to BFRO investigators who attended Saturday.

John Pate, Tommy Poland and Olaf Seamen all told of the excitement of the hunt. Seamen drove six hours to join the search in the Uwharries, and he usually spends 10 weekends a year on the hunt.

“The more you look at something, the more the book opens up,” Pate said.

While some see the hunt as pure entertainment, the BFRO researchers say the subject is no longer the stuff of fantasy. BFRO now boasts scientists and university researchers.

David Pardue says he has pictures of his own sighting of a family of four Bigfoots. He claims to also possess evidence of territory marking by the creature. Pardue says that Bigfoot often twists a small tree, first one way and then another, laying it down to signify its territory. He says that Bigfoot can change his eyes to red, and makes an audible sound known to the investigators.

Since Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, is nocturnal, most of the serious hunting is done at night.

“I have had very little sleep for a week. The Animal Planet crew stayed out all week till nearly 5 a.m.,” Greene said.

Greene usually doesn’t allow anyone to accompany him on the hunt, and he said that after recuperating for a week or so he’ll return to solitary searches.

On Saturday, Bigfoot enthusiasts began to arrive about midday. Most came by car or truck, but there were horses and four-wheelers, too. Even a helicopter, arranged by the Animal Planet crew, flew over the activities.

Matt Moneymaker, head of the BFRO, organized a grid search that started in a large hay field and moved into the woods. Television cameras and microphones surrounded the searchers as they looked for elusive clues.

Moneymaker instructed searchers to spread out and stay at arm’s length from each other as they formed a long line headed into the woods. He used a bullhorn to instruct everyone to look for hair on trees or barbed wire, nests of stick structures, trails cleared of twigs and limbs, and “tall boy trails.” Tall boy trails have been cleared of tree limbs and branches up to 8 feet high.

Hair samples were found, and the Animal Planet crew saved them for analysis.

Greene said the crowd was about what he expected on Saturday. He only had time for a short interview while guiding the TV crew and searchers.

“Let’s hope somebody gets lucky today,” Greene said just before the search for evidence of Bigfoot began.

While the show is in production, Greene and his fellow Bigfoot believers will stay on the hunt.

Popular baits to attract giant bi-peds are apples, peanut butter and candy bars.

The most popular of the candy bars is the hard to find Zagnut. The Eldorado Outpost of course had them displayed at the register and the cashier said, “We keep Bigfoot bait year round.”

More on Michael Greene and his quest can be found at www.bushloper.net.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Salisbury Post:Hundreds hunt for Bigfoot

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Our North Carolina coverage page

A Little Levity, North Carolina Bigfoot Remix

As promised we thought we would share a little remix based on the blond Bigfoot reported in North Carolina last year.



Need a reminder of the blonde Bigfoot? Check out the "YOU MAY ALSO LIKE" below.

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Leonard Braley gives Bigfoot Interview to Animal Planet

Leonard Braley The man who shared his footprint photos with us last week has given us some more exclusives regarding his interactions with animal planet. These updates come in the form of local news clips. One from WXII12.com and the other from News 14 Carolina.

Unfortunately we could not embedd the video, you can either click on the pictures below of wait until you get to the links at the bottom of the page.

TROY, N.C. – More than a hundred people and a national TV crew came together Tuesday night in the Montgomery County community of Troy to talk Bigfoot.

A team from the cable channel Animal Planet is shooting footage this week nearby in the Uwharrie National Forest. That's where Salisbury man Michael Greene shot footage in April 2009 which he believes is Bigfoot.

The footage caught the eye of Animal Planet, which is shooting an episode of new show about Bigfoot sightings. The show's crew will be in the woods in coming days to hopefully get another look.

"It's about time so many Bigfoot shows they all lead you that something's going to happen and then nothing does. Well in this one, something does happen," Greene said.

Those working with the show told News 14 Carolina they expect the episode shot in and around Montgomery County will air in the fall.

TROY, N.C. -- The quest to find the mythical Bigfoot continued in Montgomery County on Tuesday night.
Producers, actors and the crew from Animal Planet met with members of the community at the Troy Fire Department from 6 to 9 p.m. to share their Bigfoot encounters.
There have been several alleged sightings in the Uwharrie National Forest.
Michael Greene has been hunting Bigfoot for 20 years and helped organize a search party with film crews from the cable channel.
Greene said he has video of a mysterious apelike creature and said he even knows Bigfoot's favorite treat.
On Saturday, searchers will head into the forest to try to flush the big guy out.

EXTERNAL LINKS
WXII12.com:Local Community Talks Bigfoot With 'Animal Planet'
News 14: National TV crew visits Montgomery Co. in search of Bigfoot

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Our entire NorthCarolina/Animal Planet Coverage on one page

Massive NC Bigfoot Search Gains Momentum

Charlotte, NC Fox Affiliate has a video segment with Leonard Braley, showing the same photos we shared with you yesterday. Below is an article that accompanies the video as well as a plug to sale sasquatch gear on someones website.

TROY,NC- About an hour east of Charlotte, Troy, NC has a population of just over 3000, residents say everyone knows their neighbor. That was until super bowl Sunday when someone spotted a hairy beast.

"Sasquatch, Bigfoot, in Florida they call it the skunk ape, in the Appalachians and in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky it's known as the Wollybooger," says John Pate.

Whatever you call it, residents say they have proof it exists with pictures of 17 inch footprints.

"When I came out the stretch between the prints is 10 to 12 feet, you know that's a pretty big stretch," said Leonard Braley. Strides that are too big to be a human says the B.F.R.O. or the Bigfoot Field Research Organization.

"Every state, except Hawaii, has had some type of Sasquatch/ Bigfoot sighting," said John Pate who is an investigator with the B.F.R.O. and is certain between 3 and 6 thousand big foot creatures exist in North America. "They are very very intelligent they have great eyesight they have great hearing and they know how to survive," said Pate. He says they often communicate by knocking on wood.

Bigfoot also reportedly eats plants and meat and throws rocks at campers.
One hundred fifty people showed up at a planning meeting Tuesday night where Pate and others organized a grid search. That search will happen on Saturday.
If you are interested in purchasing bigfoot search gear such as shirts, hoodies and hats send a message to Chad Thompson.

EXTERNAL LINKS
Fox Charlotte Segment

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Local Community Talks Bigfoot With 'Animal Planet'
Animal Planet is Filming in North Carolina
Animal Planet Conducts Bigfoot Town Hall Style Meeting in NC

Local Community Talks Bigfoot With 'Animal Planet'

WXII-TV has released a short article covering the town hall meeting held at the Troy fire station as a preparation for this Saturdays expedition.

The article is so short, its hardly worth reprinting. Besides, with a byline like, "Mythical Creature Allegedly Sighted In Uwharrie National Forest," you can guarantee there would not be enough journalistic knowledge or interest at WXII-TV to do any reporting of substance.

They even use the word mythical twice. Unproven? Yes. Mythical? Only partially true. There is a "mythical" Bigfoot in oral traditions and legends. The reason the local community and John Greene are gathered together is to discuss an undiscovered cryptid that, in their mind, is far from mythical. Most have had first-hand encounters with something mysterious but not mythical.

We wanted to share some photos from a fan that participated at the Town Hall.





EXTERNAL LINKS
Local Community Talks Bigfoot With 'Animal Planet'
Is Bigfoot A Tar Heel? NC Man Sets Out To Find Out

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Sasqwatch Watch a Valentine's Gift for Bigfooters

Chocolate, check! Flowers, check! Card, Check. Saswatch Watch...? Uh oh, you forgot to get the Sasqwatch Watch for your valentine! Dont worry its not too late. You can still order them by Thursday (February 10, 2011) and you will receive the watch by the 14th!



The creator of the watch, Yolie Moreno, has contacted us to help promote her watch. We can tell you first hand she is a sweet person and has a great story. On her blog, she shares the epic journey of concept to production of the Sasqwatch Watch.

This journey has taken me 22 years and the concept is still viable. It's a product that's fun and clever. I've had a blast and learned more than I ever imagined. 2 years ago I knew absolutely nothing about actually getting something manufactured. Now my quirky idea is a reality and I love it. I'm having a lot of fun with it and know those who "get it" will agree.

I did the process backwards. I made the product first and never worried about selling it. That's where I'm at now. So go visit my website: www.sasqwatchwatch.com and buy one! And tell all your friends.

Keeping the Bigfoot legend and the great American entrepreneurial spirit alive!

peace.
: ) Yolie

Even if you don't have a Valentine in mind you can get one for yourself, choose from any of four available colors for only $19.99.



EXTERNAL LINKS
Sasqwatch Watch Website
Sasqwatch Watch Blog
The Sasqwatch Watch Story
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Animal Planet is Filming in North Carolina

Steve Lyttle of the Charlotte Observer reports on one of the six episode series Animal Planet is working on. Currently, they are in North Carolina, but plan on visiting other Bigfoot hot spots like Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington.

From what we have gathered, a town hall-style meeting will be one of the consistent staples of the show. This will allow the producers of the show to gain local knowledge before the expedition takes place.

Bigfoot Search Begins Nearby
Animal Planet follows Salisbury man tracking creature in area forest.
Charlotte, NC (charlotteobserver.com) — A national cable television channel is sending a film crew to a national forest 75 miles from Charlotte to join a Salisbury man in his search for Bigfoot.

The Animal Planet plans to document Michael Greene's search for the creature, which Greene says he captured on videotape nearly two years ago.

And Greene plans to lead an expedition of volunteers into the forest Saturday in hopes of finding Bigfoot.

Tahli Kouperstein, director of communications for the Animal Planet, said the crew will join Greene at the Uwharrie National Forest in Montgomery County as part of the network's six-episode series on Bigfoot sightings around the United States.

"They are using modern technology to finally find the legendary and elusive creature," Kouperstein said.

She said crews are visiting "areas of the country where videos or photos have shown convincing evidence of Bigfoot sightings."

Greene, who moved to Salisbury from New Jersey last year, says he has been chasing Bigfoot for several years, trying to find the legendary creature - generally described as half-ape, half-human - in forests from Canada to the southern United States. He said he had a breakthrough about 11:30 p.m. April 28, 2009, somewhere in the Uwharrie National Forest.

Greene says he took three minutes of video, using thermal-imaging equipment, showing a large creature walking through the forest. He says he baited the creature, using a Zagnut candy bar.

Greene has a website that displays several videos, but it is unclear if any are the footage that he claims shows Bigfoot.

He said he was attracted to the area after spotting a Bigfoot in the forest in 2008, but he said he didn't get video of the creature.

Greene - who has a varied background including a master's degree in psychology, a private pilot's license and a former career as an EMT - said he realizes there are many Bigfoot skeptics.

"Until I saw it myself, I did not believe it," he said. "It was like a fairy tale."

Greene says others in the area near the forest, which at 78.7 square miles is the smallest of the four national forests in North Carolina, have seen Bigfoot. At 3 p.m. Saturday, he said a group of those interested in the case - possibly accompanied by the Animal Planet film crew - will head into the woods.

"That should be pretty interesting," Greene said.

Chris Cagle, of the Eldorado Outpost, where Saturday's expedition will gather, told the Montgomery Herald he is skeptical about the creature's existence.

"If there was a Bigfoot in the forest, he would already be mounted on some guy's wall," he told the newspaper.

Kouperstein said an airing date for the show has not been set. Crews also are planning visits to Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Washington.

Read more >>

EXTERNAL LINKS
Charlotte Observer: Bigfoot search begins nearby
Charlotte Observer: How to Join The Search
Mike Greene's Bushloper.net

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More Sasquatch Ecological Niche Modeling

An Ecologist from North Carolina, Melissa, breaks down one of our favorite Research Papers. This paper, from the Journal of Biogeography, presents ENMs for Sasquatch. They base their ENMs on putative sightings, auditory detections, and footprint measurements primarily obtained from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO).

The best thing about this post is she briefly explains, in layman terms, what software was used and how it was used. She also does a great job explaining expected results and conclusions.

North Carolina, Feburary 6, 2011 (Science Storiented) In the science of Sasquatch it's all about distribution. Where is he (or she) and how can I get a photo? The photo I'll leave up to you, and hope you are good at keeping your camera steady to avoid those embarrassingly blurry pictures. The where is he part can be figured out by utilizing user-friendly software, publicly available biodiversity databases, and ecological niche modeling (ENM).

A scientist named Grinnell proposed the ecological niche concept in 1917, so it isn't new. Overall, it's pretty simple. Each species needs a specific set of conditions to survive. The range where these conditions occur is where a species can maintain a population. Since 1917 the concept has been expanded, most notably by Elton in 1927 and MacArthur in 1972, to include a species as part of an ecological community. With this type of model it is possible to characterize the ecological needs of a species, predict and anticipate it's distribution, predict changes in it's distribution with changing land and climate, investigate patterns of speciation and niche divergence, and build scenarios for unknown conditions and behavior. "The basic premise of the ENM approach is to predict the occurrence of species on a landscape from georeferenced site locality data and sets of spatially explicit environmental data layers that are assumed to correlate with the species’ range." That's how the paper I'm presenting today describes it. What does it mean? Input known, locally collected data and make reasonable predictions of species occurrences given the current modelling technology. That known, locally collected data is becoming more and more available and accessible via museum databases and online data portals.

Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, is currently (pseudo-)classified as a member of a large primate lineage descended from the extinct Asian species (Gigantopithicus blacki), but there is some phylogenetic analysis indicating a possible membership in the ungulate clade. Regular reports have Sasquatch inhabiting the forested lands of western North America, although a type specimen is unavailable. This paper, from the Journal of Biogeography, presents ENMs for Sasquatch. They base their ENMs on putative sightings, auditory detections, and footprint measurements primarily obtained from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO). Events were assigned geographic coordinates on USGS quad maps and atlases and the ENMs constructed using the maximum entropy niche modelling approach using the software MAXENT. Then environmental layers were constructed for 19 BIOCLIM variables in the WORLDCLIM dataset. The final set of environmental variables included annual mean temperature, mean diurnal range, isothermality, temperature annual range, mean temperature of wettest quarter, mean temperature of driest quarter, precipitation seasonality, precipitation of driest quarter, and precipitation of coldest quarter.

The ENM showed that Sasquatch should be broadly distributed in western North America, with a range comprising such mountain ranges as the Sierra Navadas, the Blue Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains, and the Cascades. The bioclimatic variable that was the best predictor was precipitation in the coldest quarter. And so, it is likely that the distribution will be altered due to global climate change.

Running with that result, the scientists examined the potential ramifications of climate change on remnant Sasquatch populations to predict how the frequency of sightings might change in the future. To do this they projected ENMs generated from the WORLDCLIM data into bioclimatic layers simulated for a doubling of atmospheric CO2. The model predicts that Sasquatch will abandon lower altitudes and lose habitat in coastal regions. But the species will potentially gain habitat in the northern part of the range as well as in several other montane areas. This means that, in the future, you should expect to sight Bigfoot in northern latitudes and at higher elevations.

Another suggestion: Look for American black bears (Ursus americanus) and you may sight Sasquatch. Now, I'm not advocating lurking around bear dens or walking right up on a black bear, but the predicted distribution of Sasquatch is similar to the range of the American black bear. So much so, that it is thought that some Bigfoot sightings were, in fact, misidentified black bears.

Up for a hike in California? Bring your camera.
Here's the paper:
J. D. Lozier, Aniello, P., and Hickerson, M.J. (2009) Predicting the distribution of Sasquatch in western North America: anything goes with ecological niche modelling. Journal of Biogeography: 36(9), 1623-1627. (DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02152.x)

EXTERNAL LINKS
Science Storiented
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The Voice of Russia: Tea party with the Yeti?

At the Russian news source, The Voice of Russia, Alexei Chernichenko reports a new enthusiasm for the Yeti. Capitalizing on Yeti Day November 11, locals continue to capitalize the enthusiasm for the the cryptid by offering to host a tea party and a custom-made furnished chill-out room. Read the rest below, including an endorsement from Igor Burtsev.

Tea party with the Yeti?
Alexei Chernichenk

KUZBASS, Feb 6, 2011 (The Voice of Russia) -- Enthusiasts in the Russian Siberian region of Kuzbass continue to search the region’s remote areas for the Yeti in a drive that was earlier endorsed by Kuzbass Governor Aman Tuleyev. He jokingly announced the payment of one million rubles to a person who he said will be able to bring the ape-like cryptid to the governor’s residence so that the three could have a tea together. The announcement came in the wake of the establishment of the Yeti Day in Kuzbass.

For their part, local business people were quick to capitalize on the Yeti boom by opening a fancy restaurant in the Gornaya Shoriya mountains, thought to be Yeti’s habitat. The restaurant includes the Abominable Snowman’s personal chill-out room, where the owners said he will “really enjoy himself.”

The Yeti boom kicked off in Kuzbass in 2010 after unverified information about the Yeti allegedly being spotted by local hunters in taiga near the Gornaya Shoriya Mountains. The news immediately hit the headlines, with readers especially amazed with the photograph of the Yeti’s alleged footprint.

Experts remained downbeat about the news, which was understandably hailed by PR agencies and tour operators. A number of monuments to the Yeti has been installed across Kuzbass since then, and Russia’s special presidential envoy to Siberia traveled to a cave where the Yeti was ostentatiously tracked down. No traces of the Yeti were discovered at the time.

Even so, many in Kuzbass still hope against hope that Aman Tuleyev will be lucky to finally see the Yeti coming to his place for a tea party. Echoing them is Igor Burtsev, a Moscow-based Yeti expert, who argues that that the information about Yeti is first of all music to businessmen’s ears.

"As I see it, Kuzbass business people are almost sure to benefit from this," Burtsev says, referring to the Yeti ballyhoo in the United States, where businessmen do not think twice before capitalizing on the matter. "Dozens of corresponding cafes, restaurants and museums annually open their doors there," Burtsev goes on to say, also citing a host of scientific conferences and open-air concerts to this effect. "Jokes aside, I do believe that the Yeti really exists, and keeping in touch with him remains my top priority," Burtsev says.

He piled praise on Aman Tuleyev’s announcement of a possible tea party with the Yeti, which Burtsev said is a right way to try to lure the cryptid into meeting human beings.

In the meantime, mass production of souvenir birch bark bugles has started in Kuzbass. Tour operators insist that these bugles’ sounds allegedly attract the Yeti….

EXTERNAL LINKS
The Voice of Russia

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Bigfoot Search Is On In Wilkes County

Wilkes County, NC -- There is a plan to find Bigfoot in Wilkes County.

Rick Lunsford of Cricket, North Carolina said he first set eyes on the creature 32 years ago.

"I seen it's eyes first. Then I seen it's oval shaped head. Then I seen the hair hanging off of him about 4 or 5 inches. I seen his left arm bowed out beside of him. I could see every finger and thumb," said Lunsford. "I never did see it no more and I never did go back looking for it."

Lunsford decided now was the time to continue the search. He is organizing a hunt in the same woods that he claims he first saw Bigfoot. He hopes others will help him find his proof.

"I really don't want to kill it because it had a chance to take me out but it didn't. it didn't bother me."

Lunsford's hunt is planned for March 5th. The hunters are meeting in the Miller's Creek Food Lion Parking lot at noon on Highway 16. Lunsford said they will caravan to the search site from there.

There are two videos attached to this story.

Wilkes County Man Searching For Bigfoot - Rick Lunsford is on the search for Bigfoot 32 years after he claims he first saw him.


Why Are They Searching For Bigfoot - 6pWhat is up with the fascination of hunting for Bigfoot