Family Witness Bigfoot in Alaska, Is it the Kushtaka?

The Kushtaka is normally found in the areas of  Kasigluk

The Alaskan news source, "The Delta Discovery" reports a story about a mother and two sons witnessing a Bigfoot. Most Bigfoot sightingings in Alaska are recorded in the southern region. This report in Kasigluk is no different, in fact this is the region where most of the Tlingit Indians have seen Kushtaka. Alaska has multiple names for Bigfoot, besides Kushtaka, The Den'aina Indians of South central have Nant'ina and the Eskimos of southwest Alaska call it "Urayuli" or "Hairy man."

Sketch of Bigfoot witnessed in Alaska.

Read the encounter reported by The Delta Discovery below:

 family out egg hunting last spring near their village of Kasigluk came upon an incredible sight – a large, dark, hairy creature walking upright was heading towards them.
They – two teenaged brothers and their mom - were on the outskirts of the village riding their 4-wheeler when they saw it. It was approximately around 3pm, and the weather was beautiful, although slightly cloudy. School was out for the summer and the date was May
29th, 2012.

Could it have been the elusive Bigfoot?
“We came across it by the lagoon here in Kasigluk,” said one the eyewitnesses. “It was back there southeast of Fox Lake.”

While they were out that day, the three family members saw other people who coming home from egg hunting. So at first they thought the creature was a person.

“After it passed, we looked at each other and thought, ‘we just saw Bigfoot’,” the eyewitness said.

The creature was very tall and dark. Its long arms hung below its knees. It was approximately 75 yards away. The family watched it for about 2 minutes.

“It was walking towards us and then once it saw us it turned and started going to the other side of the hill,” said the witness.

When it disappeared into the bushes, the family headed towards where they last saw it but it was nowhere to be seen.

They didn’t hear about anyone else seeing the mysterious creature.

The following is the firsthand account about the sighting written by the mother of the two boys, one of the eyewitnesses.

“I wanted to go egg hunting, but didn’t want to go alone so I had my two sons follow me since I didn’t want to go alone. My oldest son said he knew of a place where we could go check so off we went towards the lagoon where there is flat land to the east.

“Upon reaching the lagoon my older son got off the four wheeler and ran off to see if anybody was in that area. He ran to the edge of the hill and soon ran back saying that somebody was already there. So we decided to go check somewhere else when that “somebody” started running at an incredible amount of speed. No human person would have gone from down there by that flat land to already towards us up the hill.

“That “somebody” was all black from top to bottom, kind of hunchbacked, like it had no neck and its head was cone-shaped. Its long arms went past its knees and it was incredibly tall.

“At first we all asked each other, “Who is that?” Then after about 10 seconds as it was walking with long strides it would occasionally look towards us. The way it walked was fast and no human could cover that amount of tundra in the same amount of time.

I asked, “WHAT is that?”

“All that time we were awestruck and dumbfounded to what we were witnessing. Then as it was going to disappear from our view finally I said, “I think we just saw Bigfoot!” As it passed in our full view it had covered the whole entire hill in a matter of about a minute. It seemed to be just walking but with big strides.

“We went up to the top of the hill but we didn’t see it anywhere so we went straight home feeling kind of excited.

“That’s my account. It looked exactly like the Patterson footage of Bigfoot if you’ve ever seen it.”

Big Foot or Hairy Man sightings are not unheard of in the Yukon Kuskokwim delta region. Last summer there were reports of a number of sightings in the Johnson River area and other locations.

SRC: The Delta Discovery 

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 24, 1999 | SF Chronicle Reports New Technology for Bigfooting

Freitas uses a huge speaker on his pick-up truck to blast recorded
 Bigfoot calls across the valley / The Chronicle Photo: MICHAEL MACOR

Over the past few years, the hunt for Bigfoot has exploded in a frenzy of high technology. New high-tech detection equipment abounds, dangling from trees all over the United States

On this day, January 24th, in 1999, The San Francisco Chronicle noted a change in the way bigfooters did their research. If today's technology trend is combining all your gadgets into a single hand held device (think iPhone), in the 90's it was all about turning any technology into something you could hold in your hand. Powerful cameras and audio devices were not only shrinking, but also becoming more affordable. Another revolution was on the World Wide Web. With the release of Windows 95 people were migrating from AOL, a "walled-off" online service, to the surfing the decentralized web through a browser.

In a world where an average article is usually 200-500 words, journalist Michael Taylor gives a rare treat of writing an epic 3000-plus words of the who's who of Bigfoot research. It starts out with the new technology of call blasting.

From the cab of his pickup truck, John Freitas takes out a camera, a tape recorder and a pair of binoculars and sets them within easy reach in the pickup's bed. Near the tailgate is a huge outdoor speaker, much like the ones you see suspended from the tiers of baseball stadiums.

Freitas fiddles with the tape deck in the truck's dashboard, and then suddenly the speaker booms forth with an eerie wail.

"Aaarrrrrgggghhhh," the voice screams for several seconds, arcing from low to high then low, a bit like an air raid siren, and then again, in a higher pitch, "Aaaaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Freitas shuts down the tape and listens carefully, waiting for a response. Silence. More silence. We look around, video camera at the ready. Come out, come out, wherever you are.

"The theory," he says, nodding at the speaker, "is that if there's another 'Squatch in this area, this will attract him."

This is the hunt for Bigfoot -- the legendary Sasquatch, as he was known in the old Salish tribal language of British Columbia, where locals say he has been seen frequently. John Freitas may well be typical of the new breed of Bigfoot hunter that seems to be emerging in the never-ending search for the phantom ape of North America. Undaunted by the occasional snicker or rolling of eyes from his friends or co-workers, Freitas, like any good police investigator, is methodical and practical and willing to go looking for something about which precious little evidence even exists.

Over the past few years, the hunt for Bigfoot has exploded in a frenzy of high technology. New high-tech detection equipment abounds, dangling from trees all over the United States -- Starlight nightscopes, motion detectors hooked up to infrared still and video cameras, FM wireless transmitters dangling from fir trees and transmitting to tape decks up to two miles away.

In his bedroom at a cabin Freitas rents deep in the forest are a video cassette recorder, a three-foot-long telephoto lens, nightvision Starlight binoculars and a recycled siren switchbox from a patrol car, used to amplify the screams on his tapes.

And that's just the stuff in the field. At home and in offices across the country, the Internet has spawned a myriad of Web sites that have brought a sense of order and organization to a subject that for years has been disparate, fractured and, given the heated arguments over whether Bigfoot even exists, fractious in the extreme.

And there is still a smattering of oldstyle Bigfoot information: At the Bigfoot museum in Willow Creek, where Al Hodgson is the curator, nearly two dozen plaster casts of footprints seen in the Northern California wilderness are on display in glass cases. The best part of Hodgson's display is the collection of footprint casts donated by the estate of Bob Titmus, one of the most experienced Bigfoot trackers.

On the Six Rivers mountaintop with Freitas, though, all that counts is whether the elusive man-ape will answer these calls. The tapes were recorded in 1994 in a mountainous rural area of eastern Ohio by Matthew Moneymaker, a 33-year-old software engineer from Southern California who is also a longtime Bigfoot tracker. Moneymaker said there have been numerous sightings of Bigfoot-like creatures in that Appalachian area of Ohio, near Pennsylvania.

Moneymaker played the tapes for three scientists, including a zoologist who specializes in wildlife, and "they all said it was something really unusual" and could not identify the sounds. In the world of Bigfoot, that means it bore no resemblance to any identifiable mammal, and it was just what Freitas needed in the form of aural bait.

The article continues on to mention a new website that catalogs and stores Bigfoot sightings, the address is MattMoneymaker.org/BFRO. Known simply today as BRFO.net

Now, however, there is some consistency developing in the search for Bigfoot, particularly on the Internet.

For example, Moneymaker has helped create the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) and its inevitable Web site (www.moneymaker.org/BFRO/), that purports to have one of the largest geographic databases of sightings in the world.

We have only shared less than a third of the article, the rest is definitely worth reading as most journalist don't give this much time and effort to the topic of Bigfoot. The entire article is at the San Francisco Chronicle.

New Concept Art for Bigfoot Commercial

Bigfoot concept art option #5  by artist Constantine Sekeris (click to enlarge)

According to his publisher, "Constantine Sekeris has been drawing from the time he could hold a pencil. As a boy, through high school and into Art Center College of Design, he was influenced from comics to traditional master painters Alfonsa Mucha, Gustav Klimt, Bouguereau, Alma-Tedema, J.C. Lindecker, Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta to poster artist Drew Struzan. After graduating with a Bachelors in Illustration, he found his passion in creature design for films such as Bicentennial Man, Blade 2, League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Fantastic 4, X-Men the Last Stand, The Golden Compass, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy, The Golden Army, Where the Wild Things Are, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Thor, Green Lantern and more to come."

"Constantine pushes himself like every artist to grow and learn his craft to the best of his ability and share his imagination with the world."

Bigfoot concept art option #6  by artist Constantine Sekeris (click to enlarge)

You can see more of Conatantine's work at his blog constantinesekerisdesign.blogspot.com. Even better, buy his book, "MetamorFX." at Amazon.com.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 23, 2008 | Bigfoot Found on Mars

Snapshot taken by NASA's Mars Rover

"Is this the picture that proves that there is life on Mars? And the existence of Bigfoot?" --The Telegraph

Today, January 23, in 2008 a picture taken by NASA's rover on Mars began to circulate as "Bigfoot on Mars" despite being four years old at the time.

The news hit the UK first with the The Telegraph reporting, "The photograph, taken in 2004 by the Mars explorer Spirit, appears to show a human shaped object that looks startingly like previous photographs purporting to have captured Bigfoot."

On this side of the Atlantic Ocean, a local ABC affiliate printed this in their Water Cooler section, "Recently, a space enthusiast enlarged a single frame from one of those images, and found a figure that some say resembles some sort of 'Bigfoot' creature."

For the rest of the day the photo went viral and finally made it to Anderson Cooper of CNN. Although Anderson Cooper found it laughable, he did interview a serious documentary director. Watch the video below.

Is Bigfoot on CNN? by neverknwo

Perhaps our favorite explanation for Bigfoot on Mars is our post we did a few months ago about a comic titled, "Bigfoot: Sword of the Earthman" The best tagline from the comic, "Bigfoot – Sword of the Earthman is not the story of how Bigfoot became a myth on Earth. It’s the story of how he became a legend of the stars."

A page from the comic, "Bigfoot – Sword of the Earthman"

You must buy this piece of Bigfoot pop-culture history! You can get your copy here, and get updates of future issues at BigfootComic.com.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 22, 1996 | Grover Krantz Advocates Killing Bigfoot

Grover Sanders Krantz was a professor of physical anthropology at Washington State University

"Someday down the line, 50 years from now, somebody by the rare chance might just stumble across the skeleton of a Sasquatch..." Grover Krantz

Today, January 22, 1996, the late Grover Krantz picks a side on the kill/no kill Bigfoot debate. Krantz's idea that in order to preserve the Bigfoot species, we need a specimen to understand it first. This is one of the most polarizing debates in Bigfooting. Some have argued that Grover's stance is a little more nuanced than any newspaper article can convey. There are also those that argue Krantz's view would be different today due to the advances in DNA. Either way, the debate continues to stir high emotions among the community. Read the article below that touches on arguments for both sides.

The Salt Lake Tribune

January 22, 1996

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Dr. Grover Krantz, anthropology professor at Washington State University, has touched off something of a controversy in Bigfoot circles by openly advocating the view that a specimen should be hunted down and killed. "Someday down the line, 50 years from now, somebody by the rare chance might just stumble across the skeleton of a Sasquatch, and then the government sends out masses of [chimpanzee researcher] Jane Goodall's granddaughters, and establishes definitely, they were there, but they're extinct," Krantz theorized. "Everybody will be standing around wringing their hands saying: `If only we knew they were real, we could have saved them.' Well, they could have been saved if only we would blow one away now. The first one who bags one should get a big, big prize. The second one should be hanged."

One opponent of Krantz's view is Peter Byrne, director of the Bigfoot Research Project at Oregon's Mount Hood. Byrne is a big-game hunter in the classic tradition -- Irish, with a good head of white hair and a penchant for khakis and wool sweaters. He spent a good part of his hunting-and-tracking career in Nepal before developing an interest in the Sasquatch and undertaking the first major organized Bigfoot expedition in Oregon in 1960.

It failed to produce a Sasquatch, but Byrne hasn't quit looking. He now spends much of his searching tracking down witnesses, carefully probing their stories for holes and sending investigators to look for corroborating evidence.

Loren Coleman Clarifies His Remarks in New Haven Article

Loren Coleman, left, speaks with host Joshua Foer at the Institute Library in New Haven.

In our previous post, "Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman Speaks about Melba Ketchum's Bigfoot DNA Study" we quoted the New Haven Register article interviewing Loren Coleman. Since our post we received comments regarding a few of Mr. Coleman's statements, in particular his "No data, no discovery" and "Angel DNA" comments. 

Yesterday (January 20th, 2013) Loren Coleman posted an article on Cryptomundo to clarify his remarks to the New Haven Register. Full disclosure: I am a regular contributor to Cryptomundo and a big fan of Loren Coleman's contributions to the Bigfoot community. Read an excerpt from his clarifications below:

In discussing the recent DNA news, I quoted John Hawks, the Wisconsin anthropologist, in my agreeing with his notion that “no data, no discovery” is the stance to take. My attribution to Hawks was absence from the article.

I said that quotes supposedly from the researcher in Texas, saying ridiculous things like “These are angels from heaven,” were released on Facebook, and that does not help the cause of serious research on Bigfoot. Those remarks were denied later as having been said by the Texas individual. The article does not make it clear I was talking about the leakage and not the exacting quotations.

In the solving of the source of the “Montauk Monster,” at my New Haven talk, I was clear to credit myself and others for pointing to a “raccoon in second-stage decomposition,” as what the thing on the beach was. Besides myself and a New York game official, Darren Naish was behind the solution too.

We wanted to cover the two primary topics that were discussed in our comments area, but Loren Coleman also touches upon other aspects of his New Haven interview, and your welcome to read them here. 

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 21, 1879 | Man-Monkey Attacks Horseman

Multiple Man-monkey attacks were reported in the Ranton England

On the 21st of January, 1879, a man and his horse were attacked by a Man-Monkey. The Man-Monkey of Ranton is one of favorite stories because it goes back almost two centuries. We found this one in a book published in 1883! This particular story has been referenced by Nick Redfern, but it took some sleuthing to find the source. Which brings us to " Shropshire folk-lore: a sheaf of gleanings". This 600 page volume book contains local folklore on Giants, Devils, Bogies. Fairies. Hidden Treasures, Witchcraft, and Ghosts.

You may have noticed there are no chapters on Bigfoot, this particular story is found in the chapter on ghosts. This is because it was commonly accepted that when the dead came back as a ghost they also often took animal form, as stated in the beginning of the ghost chapter, "One mark of this is the constant transformation of the departed into animals." Werewolves were actually categorized as ghosts too. We have been theorizing since 2009 that werewolves are misidentified Bigfoot.

Read this great story below and enjoy the following scene from Van Helsing which is very similar to the man-monkey story--except with vampires.

A very weird story of an encounter with an animal ghost arose of late years within my own knowledge. On the 21st of January, 1879, a labouring man was employed to take a cart of luggage from Eanton in Staffordshire to Woodcote, beyond Newport, in Shropshire, for the use of a party of visitors who were going from one house to the other. He was late in coming back ; his horse was tired, and could only crawl along at a foot's pace, so that it was ten o'clock at night when he arrived at the place where the highroad crosses the Birmingham and Liverpool Canal. Just before he reached the canal bridge, a strange black creature with great white eyes sprang out of the plantation by the road-side and alighted on his horse's hack. He tried to push it off with his whip, but to his horror the whip went through the Thing, and he dropped it to the ground in his fright.

The poor tired horse broke into a canter, and rushed onwards at full speed with the ghost still clinging to its back. How the creature at length vanished the man hardly knew. He told his tale in the village of Woodseaves, a mile further on, and so effectually frightened the hearers that one man actually stayed with his friends there all night, rather than cross the terrible bridge which lay between him and his home. The ghost- seer reached home at length, still in a state of excessive terror (but, as his master assured me, perfectly sober), and it was some days before he was able to leave his bed, so much was he prostrated by his fright. The whip was searched for next day, and found just at the place where he said he had dropped it. Now comes the curious part of the story. The adventure, as was natural, was much talked of in the neighbourhood, and of course with all sorts ot variations. Some days later the man's master (Mr. B— — ' of L d) was surprised by a visit from a policeman, who came to request him to give information of his having been stopped and robbed on the Big Bridge on the night of the 21st January ! Mr. B ', much amused, denied having been robbed, either on the canal bridge or anywhere else, and told the policeman the story just related. ' Oh, was that all, sir?' said the disappointed policeman. ' Oh, I know what that was. That was the Man-Monkey, sir, as does come again at that bridge ever since the man was drowned in the [canal] ! ' 

You can read the entire 672 pages of Shropshire folk-lore: a sheaf of gleanings for free online. 

The clip below has a 19th century man, his horse(s), a bridge and an attack from a scary creature.

LISTEN: Audio of Bigfoot Howls Haunting 3 Indian Tribes

Sylvia and Denise Minthorn have both heard the strange nighttime cries coming from the brushy wetland behind them.

"a young Bigfoot that had got separated from the rest of his clan." Josh Franken, the tribal housing authority's interim director, on theories for the new howls.

There is an area near the Umatilla Indian Reservation where the local Indians will not wander. The sounds are unfamiliar and known at the same time. The Oregonian reports, "Members of the Confederated Umatilla, Walla Walla and Cayuse tribes believe the noises come from Bigfoot, the mythical manlike creature said to roam Pacific Northwest forests."

This is the entrance to forbidden brushy swamp and source of the mysterious noises.

Read an excerpt below describing how the sounds have captured the attention of the locals and even spurred them to make phone calls.

The eerie late-night serenades began in November and emanate from a brushy swamp on the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. The cries range from high-pitched screams to basso profundo roars.

"It's causing an uproar around here," said Sylvia Minthorn, who lives in a tribal housing unit near the swamp, where she used to play as a child.

She's seen grown men's hair stand on end when the shrieks commence.

Colleen Chance, a tribal housing authority employee, keeps a recording of the howls on her iPhone.

"It's kind of spooky," she said. "Some say it's foxes, some say it's a female coyote and some say it's Sasquatch. I don't know what it is."

So far no one's pinpointed the source of the noise on this rugged 178,000-acre reservation that extends into northeastern Oregon's Blue Mountains and is home to about 1,500 people. The swamp in question borders the old reservation community of Mission, in a canyon north of the Wildhorse Resort and Casino.

Phone calls about the wails started coming in last month to the housing authority, and the office has had a half dozen so far. More could come in because the cries are continuing from time to time.

Some tenants of the reservation's 190 rentals and 32 homes admitted being afraid and one man reported that his dogs were too terrified to go outside, said Josh Franken, the housing authority's interim director.

"This guy was rather scared himself," Franken said. A rumor quickly spread that the cries were made by "a young Bigfoot that had got separated from the rest of his clan," he said.

Some have said these could possibly foxes. Silvia Minthorn (pictured at top of post) insists these are not foxes.

"And the first time a person hears a fox calling in the night, kind of echoing around the canyons, it raises the hair on the back of your neck," Sheeler said. "That wetland is a perfect place to have an echoing call sound eerie."

But many who've heard the racket dismiss such notions. "Foxes do sound creepy," said Sylvia Minthorn. "But it's not the same sound, not even close."

Her mother, Denise Minthorn, believes more than one creature is out there in the darkness. She's heard shrieks from two directions at once, as if two animals were communicating.

Click the following link to read the original Oregonian Bigfoot article.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 20 | Mike Rugg Exposes Pogonip Hoax

The Pogonip Bigfoot side-by-side with the Bigfoot Discovery Day streaker, composited in Photoshop. Photoshop composite by Mike Rugg

Today, January 20, 2008, Mike Rugg posted in his newsletter Bigfoot Discovery Project (Vol. 3 No. 9) a series of events that lead him to believe he was dealing with a hoaxer.

Initially he was sent an email from a gentleman named John Henry Camper claiming he had taken photos of a Sasquatch running away from him. Mike Rugg expressed interest and Mr. Camper sent three digital photos. 

Three Images sent to Mike Rugg

Although it was January when Mike Rugg became certain the photos were a hoax, he had initially published the photos several months ealier in the August 2007 issue. Rugg describes his correspondence since the initial publication of the photos.

For a week or two after I wrote that article I had back and forth emails with “Jack.” He promised to come into the museum as soon as possible to discuss the matter in person as he was interested in getting advice on what to do next, claiming a friend to whom he showed the photos told him they “looked phony.” He assured me he had not doctored the photos in any way and that they represented the “creature” he observed on the outskirts of the City of Santa Cruz, just five miles south of our museum on Highway 9.

Because he seemed to be stalling and no meeting took place after several weeks I was moving ever more towards my initial impression that this was a hoax. I showed the photos to visitors to the museum, including a number of our members, and the concensus was to let it go, so I stopped emailing Jack and gave it up as bogus. Then, just before Thanksgiving I heard from him again: Date: November 21, 2007 2:32:21 PM PST Hi Mike I was hoping to be able to stop by the museum this weekend since I have some time off of work. What are your holiday hours? I look forward to meeting with you. Thanks Jack

The man never did show up and Mike Rugg remembered another "Bigfoot" that was seen in the area at the same time. He referred to it as The Bigfoot Discovery Day Streaker. You can see streaker below in a photo taken by Tom Yamerone.

Bigfoot Discovery Day Streker (Photo by Tome Yamerone)

Mike went to Photoshop to do a composition of the streaker and the "Bigfoot" sent by Mr. Camper and the similarity between the two Bigfoot was uncanny. See for your self in the composite Mike Rugg Made below.

Click on the following PDF links for more details:

The issue publishing the first three photos (Volume 3, Number 4)

The issue with Mike Rugg's breakdown of events and his composite (Volume 3, Number 9)

Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman Speaks about Melba Ketchum's Bigfoot DNA Study

Loren Coleman, left, speaks with host Joshua Foer at the Institute Library in New Haven.

“My standard is: no data, no discovery, and why is she saying ridiculous things like ‘These are angels from heaven’?” -- Loren Coleman on Melba Ketchum DNA Study

In an article by Randall Beach for the New Haven Register, Loren Coleman is asked about his approach to cryptozoology. You can read below as he describes himself as a skeptic and then brings up Melba Ketchum's Bigfoot DNA study:

Coleman stated at the outset: “I am a skeptic.” He demands to see plenty of hard evidence before believing any of the many claims of creature sighters.

“I try to interview the witness first,” he told us. “I try to understand the human element. The creature is important to me. But I’m never blown away by a piece of evidence. I always look for the motive.”

For instance, he investigated the claim by a veterinarian in Texas she had discovered a being that was “part human, part primitive.”

“My standard is: no data, no discovery,” Coleman said. “And why is she saying ridiculous things like ‘These are angels from heaven’?”

The article continues to talk about a few other cryptids but the subject comes back to Bigfoot and Mr. Coleman reveals what started his fascination for Cryptozoology; a Japanese movie about the Yeti.

Coleman said that for every 100 cases of new animal claims, about 80 of them are mistaken identity, one is a hoax and the other 19 are unknown.

“But the media goes crazy about the hoaxes,” he noted.

Coleman said Bigfoot hoaxers are “really evil people.”

“Let’s talk about Bigfoot,” Foer said, and Coleman was off and running.

He noted that when he surveys people who come to his International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Me. (the world’s only cryptozoology museum), “nine out of 10 are interested in Bigfoot.”

Coleman thinks he knows the reason: “Of all the cryptids, Bigfoot is the one that looks the most like us.”

Coleman isn’t about to declare Bigfoot is real but he did say, “I think there is something going on out there.”

He said the most “compelling” evidence is the Patterson-Gimlin footage of a hairy figure shot Oct. 20, 1967, in Bluff Creek, Calif. “You can see the mammary glands,” he noted. “And muscle contractions.”

Coleman added: “You see horses reacting to the creature. You have film, you have footprints. We have to be careful about putting all of our eggs in a basket. But if you look at it now, it’s the gold standard of all Bigfoot films.”

Coleman said we needn’t look for Bigfoot in populated regions such as Connecticut. But he noted: “You’ve got the melon heads in Shelton! Groups of unknown creatures in the woods with giant heads. They’re folk art.”

Coleman said, “I’ve been at this 53 years” and yet cryptozoology is still often dismissed as pseudo science. “I’ve long ago given up my defensiveness.”

He got interested in the field when he was a kid. The date was March 20, 1960. He saw a Japanese documentary, “Half Human,” about the Yeti (the Abominable Snowman).

You can read the full article at the New Haven Register 

Irish Bookie: Thousand to One Odds Irish "Beef" will be Contaminated by Bigfoot

Paddy Power is an Irish Booker and is using a a horse meat scandal to promote their bookings.

“Talk about product innovation; not only can you back horses with Paddy Power but now you can also eat them. This is something our punters can really sink their teeth into.” --Paddy Power

According to the BBC, "On Tuesday, it emerged Irish food inspectors had found almost 30% horsemeat in one brand sold by Tesco. Smaller amounts were also found in beefburgers sold by Iceland, Lidl and Aldi and Dunnes. Officials said the contaminated products - on sale in the UK and the Irish Republic - posed no risk to human health and had been removed from shop shelves."

An online booker of horse races leveraged the shock to provide betting on the next meat to contaminate the Irish beef industry. This included odds for cryptids like Bigfoot and Unicorns; 1000 to 1 and 2000 to 1 odds respectively. See the whole list of odds below.

Next species to contaminate Irish “beef” burgers

2/1 Deer

4/1 Dog

6/1 Rabbit

16/1 Squirrel

33/1 Zebra

40/1 Swan

40/1 Greyhound

100/1 Lion

100/1 Penguin

1000/1 Bigfoot

2000/1 Unicorn

It gets stranger, people actually started betting and they had to take down the page. In other words Bigfoot bets are off.

Screenshot of PattyPower.com: Paddy Power takes down their Bigfoot betting page

You can read an excerpt from the article below:

Paddy Power has decided to cash in on the Tesco horsemeat in beef burgers shenanigans by creating a new bet: what will be next to contaminate beef burgers?

The bet starts off with deer at two to one, and goes all the way up to unicorns at 2000 to one.

Animals in between include cat, swan and penguin.

This is a traditional tongue-in-cheek move from Paddy Power, who also ran a bet on the number of children the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant with.

However, PaddyPower is not the only brand to jump on the news: Morrisons today tweeted ‘We know where all the beef in our own frozen burgers comes from as we make them all in our own factories and the beef used is 100% British’.

Paddy Power said: “Talk about product innovation; not only can you back horses with Paddy Power but now you can also eat them. This is something our punters can really sink their teeth into.”

SRC: The Drum

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 19, 1999 | Bob Gimlin Hangs up on Wired Magazine

Bob Gimlin did not even dignify the accusation that the bigfoot in the P/G film was a costume. The arrow points to where skeptics believed a zipper was exposed

"I was there. I saw [Bigfoot]. The film is genuine. Anybody who says different is just trying to make a buck." Bob Gimlin's response to WIRED Magazine before he hung up on them.

This is a "Today in Bigfoot History" update to the zipper story from January 11th. Once Cliff Crook and Chris Murphy claimed to have seen a zipper-like shape on the costume, it created ripples among the community at the time and polarized some bigfooters.

It is ironic Cliff Crook is accusing anybody of an inauthentic picture of Bigfoot.  After all, he was the man behind this picture...

WIRED Magazine did some great journalism, getting reactions from respected P/G film proponents like Ray Crowe and Grover Krantz. They even ask independent imaging experts from Pegasus Imaging and Adobe, who both agreed an anomalous blob can be interpreted as anything.

Ray Crowe summed it up quite nicely comparing the Crook/Murphy analysis to looking for sheep in the shapes of clouds.

You can read the great piece of journalism below.

Sasquatch: Man in a Monkey Suit?

Joseph Rose 01.19.99

YAKIMA, Washington -- The scratchy movie footage shows a big, brown, hairy creature retreating over a stream bed into dense forest. But wait. Is that the glint of a belt buckle on Bigfoot? Or have skeptics gotten carried away with Photoshop?

Loyal Bigfootologists and some computer-imaging experts are giving disapproving grunts to two researchers who claim that a computer analysis of a famous 1967 film shows a man in a monkey suit, not the legendary giant of the Northwest woods.

Bigfoot buffs Cliff Crook of Bothell, Washington, and Chris Murphy of Vancouver, Canada, say enlargements and computer enhancements of the film's frames reveal an object hanging from the fur that resembles metal fasteners used on clothing at the time.

"When the guy in the suit turned to look at the camera, it probably snapped loose and dangled from the fur," said Crook, who has been searching for the elusive creature for 42 years. "It's a hoax. Why would Bigfoot be wearing a belt buckle?"

The claim has howling-mad Bigfoot enthusiasts branding Murphy and Crook as traitors on Internet newsgroups and attempting to discredit their findings as a publicity stunt.

"It's like picking a sheep out of the clouds," said Western Bigfoot Society president Ray Crowe of Portland, Oregon. "They've blown up the images beyond the size of recognition. So, they can pretty much see anything they imagine."

At issue is the footage taken 32 years ago, when Bigfoot trackers Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin of Yakima were investigating reports of sasquatch footprints in Six Rivers National Forest, near the California-Oregon border. They purportedly spotted a female Bigfoot darting across a sandbar, and Patterson let his 16-mm Kodak movie camera roll.

The minute of jerky, grainy film and the plaster-cast footprints Patterson made that October day became the veritable gold standard for trackers and enthusiasts, the evidence by which all things Bigfoot are measured.

Murphy began questioning the film's validity after discovering an aberration in the footage while helping his son with a class project in 1995. Using a computer, he zoomed in tighter and tighter on the frames, finding what appears to be a glimmering ornate latch in the shape of a bottle opener.

Four sequential computer-scanned frames on the film appear to show the object in motion, said Crook, who reviewed Murphy's findings, which were released 12 January. He said the object appears to be cinching a costume.
Murphy said he's convinced "there's something out of place" in the film. "I have now sent my material to an expert in the [photo-enhancing] field," he wrote in an email.

Steve Armstrong of Tampa, Florida-based Pegasus Imaging said he would like a shot at examining the evidence. He believes the film is such that it wouldn't capture an image of something as small as a buckle. And then there's the bit-mapped nature of digital compression and enlarging.

"Zoom in on an image too much, and you get a lot of blocky artifacts," Armstrong said.

The result, said Jennifer Polanski of Adobe Systems, might be "a blob" that looks something like a belt buckle. Even with Adobe's popular Photoshop software, it's hard to see how someone can take a faraway figure like that in the Patterson-Gimlin film and zoom in on a metal fastener, she said.

In Yakima, on the edge of the wooded east slope of the Cascade Mountains, there have long been rumors that the late Roger Patterson paid a Hollywood costume designer to make the suit and a big Yakima Indian to wear it for the film. Just last week, there was talk that the owner of the suit had hired a local attorney and was getting ready to bring it out of the closet for the world to see. Like the other rumors, that one has yet to be proven true.

While Patterson died years ago, Gimlin, 67, still lives in Yakima. He dismisses the rumors and the new computer analysis as "wacko."

"I was there. I saw [Bigfoot]. The film is genuine," Gimlin said in a telephone interview. "Anybody who says different is just trying to make a buck." And he hung up.

Washington State University anthropologist Grover Krantz, one of Bigfoot's stalwart backers in academia, agrees that the Crook-Murphy analysis is amateurish and irrelevant.

"Look at the way it walks," Krantz said, referring to the figure in the Patterson-Gimlin film. "Even if Patterson had hired someone to get in a suit, there's no way he could have trained him to walk in this manner. I know, I've tried to reconstruct the motion."

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 18, 1999 | East Indian Forced to Nurse on Mande Burung

Most mammals produce Milk. Why wouldn't the Mande Burung

Today, January 18th, 1999, East Indian villagers reported a story about the Mande Burung, the Indian version of Bigfoot. While there had been many sightings of the Mande Burung, on this particular day the villagers witnessed something quite extraordinary. On this particular day they witnessed a man captured by a Mande Burung and forced to nurse on it's breast.

This story was printed among others by the Press Trust of India in 2008 describing the continuing exploration of the Mande Burung. You can read the article below:

Shillong, Jul 24, 2008 (PTI) -- Environmental activists and social organizations continue their search to ascertain whether or not the elusive "ape-like" and "phenomenally strong" creature which locals claim has been sighted several times in the densely populated Garo hills of Meghalaya, really exists.

Known as 'Mande Burung' (jungle man) the creature, locals claim, is around 10 feet tall and weighs at least 300 kgs and is somewhat like the Yeti found in Nepal's Himalayan region.

For the past several years now enthusiasts from the Achik Tourism Society say they have been venturing into the hill's deep jungles to find out whether or not the animal really exists and not just another figment of imagination.

However, those who have seen the 'Mande Burung' have many interesting stories to tell. It was reported on January 18, 1999 by villagers that a man passing through a forest was captured by this mammal, which then forced him to feed on its breast. The victim's account said, "The milk was sour with a mixture of bitterness".

On July 2005, a woman recounted that "a big hairy creature" entered her thatched hut while she was asleep with her child. She described the animal that she saw in the light of firewood, as "enormous" and "one who stamped out the fire before disappearing in the darkness." The woman was unharmed, the reports said.

While local forest officials carried out futile investigations into the incidents, Principle Chief Conservator of Forests VK Nautiyal told PTI, "There may be some unexplored zoological species like some type of spiders...But definitely not a humanoid. There is no scientific basis or credible evidence as of now about such a humanoid."

Of course we have the Mande Burung on our a/k/a Interactive Bigfoot World Map, you can read up on the Bigfoot variant below.


View AKA Bigfoot World Map in a larger map

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 17, 1977 | US Marines Ordered to Keep Mum on Bigfoot

In 1977 US marines were ordered not to talk about a Bigfoot-like creature.

 "I haven’t gotten any [Bigfoot] on camera yet," -- Jessica Shively, current wildlife biologist contracted my Quantico Marine Corps Base (2012).

Today, January 17th, in 1977. The Dumfries Virginia Potomac News reported that U.S. Marines were ordered to not to talk about a Bigfoot-like creature. The creature was known as the ASA Monster, leave it to the military to use an acronym to name a cryptid. ASA stands for  Ammunition Storage Area. The ASA happened to be where this hairy bipedal creature was seen the most.

You can read an exerpt from the article below detailing the possible security classification of the monster:

"We called the ASA (Ammunition Storage Area) sergeant of the guard to determine whether there had been any more sightings or sounds in the area but were told that all information regarding the "ASA Monster" is considered 'classified.' When asked why that is so, the guard answered that he was not allow to answer that question either.

He later said that the information is not really 'classified' but everyone at the compound has been ordered not to talk about the monster at all." 

In John Green's Book, "The Apes Among Us," he references the same news article:

The Dumfries Virginia Potomac News on January 17, 1977 published a long article about the sasquatch that contained the statement: "Much had been written about the monster at the ammunition storage area at Quantico Marine Corps Base..." but doesn't say what. There is a reference to one Marine claiming to have seen a brown thing walking on two legs and another reporting something that looked like a cross between an ape and a bear covered with very long hair. Several people had apparently heard loud screaming

We did a little research, curious if therewas still policy of silence regarding Bigfoots at the base. Oddly enough Quantico Marine Corps Base has their very own website and it seems they are more lax about acknowledging Bigfoot visiting the base. In fact, in November 2012, the website reported a story about Jessica Shively, a wildlife biologist contracted by the base through Virginia Tech. Ms. Shively is responsible for setting up camera traps at the base and is aware that she just might catch a Bigfoot.

Shively acknowledged that the cameras have the potential to shed light on another, more longstanding question about Quantico’s wildlife. She said she was aware of the reports of bigfoot sightings on the base going back more than 50 years. "I haven’t gotten any on camera yet," she said.

Click the following link to learn more about the Quantico camera traps.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 16, 2002 | Prints Found Near Skinny Bigfoot Sighting

Photograph of a possible track found by Ray Crowe Near Skinny Bigfoot Sighting

"very, very skinny, 9 foot tall, hairy man" --Linda Boydson's description of what she saw on January 9th and later reported on January 16th.

Today, January 16th, 2002, Wireless Flash Weird News reports a sighting of a "skinny" Bigfoot standing in the middle of the freeway:

Wireless Flash Weird News: January 16, 2002

Bony Bigfoot Almost Street-Meat

MULTNOMAH FALLS, Ore. (Wireless Flash) -

An Idaho family recently had a run-in with a Bigfoot that almost turned into a run-over - as in road kill. Linda Boydson claims she and her son came within inches of running over an unusually-thin Bigfoot while driving near Multnomah Fall, Oregon. Boydson says she was zooming around a corner on the freeway late one night and saw a "very, very skinny, 9 foot tall, hairy man" standing in the slow lane. She barely missed hitting the creature - probably because it was so skinny. However, despite being super-thin, Boydson doesn't think the Sasquatch was bulimic because it looked as muscular as a well-toned athlete. However, Boydson admits her first thought when she saw how bony the Bigfoot looked was "Go eat something, Sasquatch!"

In the January 2002 Track Record, issue #113, Ray Crow of the International Bigfoot Society wrote about the investigation he and Thom Powell did. You can read the report below.

Multnomah County, Oregon
January 9th, 2002

On 1-84, westbound lane, about 3-4 miles west of Multnomah Falls, between, mile markers 26 and 27. Driving 65-70 mph, when the 7-8 foot tall creature was seen by Jason Boydston, and his mother Linda, who was driving, at 9:15 PM.

Creature crossed in front of car toward railing on freeway to the right, as if it was heading toward the Columbia River.

She nearly hit it, missing by two feet. It was dark and overcast when the creature crossed swiftly, swinging its arms.

It had broad shoulders, skinny waist, and was completely covered in dark brown hair, and had a rounded, dome shaped head.

On January 13th myself (Ray Crowe) and wife Theata investigated the area at milepost 28, where there was a place along the freeway to park the car. Underneath an overpass there was access to the Columbia River and I did a brief survey.

Four tracks were found, one filled with silt as if the tide had receded (tides recorded upstream as far as Beacon Rock by Lewis and Clark in 1804), another seven inch impression was photographed three feet away. It was one and a quarter inches deep, and appeared to have killed plant growth.

Another three feet away, a skidded track was noted that also killed plant life.

A fourth possible track, more of a mark, was noted another three feet away. All appeared to be coming from the river and following the bank eastward.

As I walked the riverbank, Theata made a car count, noting there were about 18 vehicles a minute westbound at 3:00 pm along this busy section of the freeway on Sunday afternoon.

At 9:15 pm on a Wednesday weeknight traffic has been somewhat lighter. Even at 3 pm...there were occasional breaks in traffic when I might have crossed the freeway walking rapidly.

UPDATE: In the comments below, Author Thom Powell mentioned there are more details about this story to be found in his popular  book, "The Locals." We wanted to make sure you knew where to get your signed copies of this book at ThomSquatch.com!

Looking to Travel the Columbia River Gorge? Check out Columbia River Gorge lodging and Columbia River Gorge attractions.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 15, 2003 | 3 Day British Bigfoot Expedition

The British Bigfoot posing in front of the Union Jack

"I have seen the beast!" -- Jon Downes after a 3 day expedition searching for the British Bigfoot

Today, January 15th, in 2003, Jon Downes ventured out to  Bolam Lake to investigate an encounter reported by three fishermen earlier in the month. Mr. Downes with five other members of the Twilight Worlds Paranormal Research Group left for the area near the lake and three of the members saw the British Bigfoot.

Nick Redfern recounts the Jon Downes experience as well as the fishermen's encounter that proceeded it in an article for FATE magazine in 2005. You can read the excerpt below:

 "In an article published in the North of England Evening Chronicle of January 6, 2003, it was stated: "A yeti with glowing eyes is living in a North East park, according to a fisherman's tale. A report on a website dedicated to hunters of the Yeti and his Big Foot buddy carries details of three encounters between the half-ape creature and three pals.  

          

        "They tell how they spend hours in Bolam Lake near Belsay, Northumberland, pike fishing late at night. But their tranquility was disturbed on one fishing trip by a catch they did not expect to make. The anonymous writer tells how he was between his friends Neil and Nathan walking on a wooden path back to the car park, just after midnight. "About halfway along the path I turned around to talk to Nathan. He was further back along the path, picking his bag up off the track. Behind him, standing in the middle of the track, was a dark figure. The light was moonlight and shining through the trees.'  

          

        "The others did not see it at first until he pointed it out to them. He said it was "a dark figure, looked about eight feet tall, heavy built, its eyes, or what seemed to be its eyes, glowed in the darkness. We ran, top speed, all the way back to the car.' "  

          

        Interestingly, the newspaper revealed that during the previous March, a similar creature had been seen on a hill close to the remains of an Iron Age settlement near the park's boundary. On January 15, 2003, Jon Downes headed to Bolam to conduct a firsthand investigation of the sightings. Four days later, he telephoned me: "I have seen the beast, " he said quietly and with a degree of fear and trepidation in his voice. It transpired that Jon and five members of a local research group, the Twilight Worlds Paranormal Research Group, were on watch at Bolam Park the previous evening as darkness began to fall. Suddenly "something " appeared that defied all explanation, said Jon. He and three of the group only caught a glimpse of it for the briefest of moments, but the fast-moving creature was around eight feet tall, three feet wide, and dark in color.  

          

        Although lost in the failing light and the trees, Jon was able to determine that the "creature " seemed to be without real form and, incredibly, one-dimensional in appearance.  

You can read the Nick Redfern's full article about other British Bigfoot encounters at Bigfoot Encounters.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 14, 2001 | Bigfoot Compels More Scientists

How we picture Sasquatch being welcomed by academia

Today in 2001, Theo Stein of the Denver Post wrote an article originally titled, "Not All Scientists Doubt Bigfoot Now." it was later retitled when it was archived as, "Legend of Bigfoot put to test,
Mounting evidence gives many reason to believe."

The headline may have changed due to the push back from Science Frontiers magazine. We will get to that a little bit later.

Overall the Denver Post article listed a few Colorado Bigfoot hotspots, but it mostly centered around the premise that respected scientist were gaining interest in studying the Bigfoot phenomena:

An eclectic assortment of scientists and academics is testing the proposition that Bigfoot isn't a myth but an ice age survivor that has managed to persist just outside the vision of Western science. Drawing on each other's disciplines, these researchers are sharing information and applying sophisticated forensic techniques as never before.

As the article continues, it focuses on an Idaho State University professor named Jeff Meldrum.

One of the few academic Bigfoot researchers is physical anthropologist Jeff Meldrum, an Idaho State University professor who has examined hundreds of claimed footprints from Bigfoot, also called Sasquatch in the Northwest. Many he has rejected as hoaxes, others as misidentifications. But more than 100, he said, represent the trace of an unknown animal with a big, flat foot and five toes.

Meldrum's lab in Pocatello is crammed with typical academic paraphernalia. Posters of evolutionary trees festoon the walls, rubber models of ape feet and hands sit in a cabinet. Bulging bookshelves, charts and cabinets sit full of papers relating to his main area of study of how our stiff, stub-toed running foot evolved from the flexible, grasping ape foot of our distant ancestors.

Rather than simply an enlarged human foot, Meldrum said, the Sasquatch foot displays a unique combination of recognizably different anatomic features to solve the problem of two-footed locomotion. The result is a proportionally wider, flatter appendage with long, flexible toes and a spring-loaded, ape-like hinge in place of our stiff arch.

"This animal's little toe is about the same length as my little finger," he said, holding his hand up against the side of one of his casts. "This toe probably has the same grasping ability as my finger, too."

The entire article reads differently depending on the headline, once the headline was softened it seems to be a balance of scientific Bigfoot advocates with a sprinkle of skepticism. Michael Shermer, publisher of the magazine Skeptic is quoted as saying, "If you believe in Bigfoot, you most likely believe in the Loch Ness monster, the lost continent of Atlantis, whatever."

Science Frontiers had a highly critical response to Theo Stein, based on the initial headline, "Not All Scientists Doubt Bigfoot Now." Besides chiding Mr. Stein's approach to listing Colorado hotspots, Science Frontiers also argues that science will never be compelled by the current evidence:

Surely, this is enough to convince everyone of Bigfoot's reality. Not so! To recognize Bigfoot officially scientists must have a living specimen, a corpse, or at least a good skeleton. They do not.

You can read the entire Denver Post article at Bigfoot Encounters. Even better, you can read Science Frontiers response there too.

Today in Bigfoot History | JAN 13 | Hopeful Skeptic Says Both Bigfoot Camps Need Help

Eugenie Scott a skeptic who would like Bigfoot to exist

"I would like [Bigfoot] to be real" -- Dr. Eugenie Scott

Today in 2009 Eugenie Scott spoke at the Ask a Scientist event in San Francisco. The topic that night was Bigfoot. As an anthropologist and a skeptic Eugenie seems to have more patience for bigfooters than she has for creationist. You can read about the event below.

Tuesday, January 13, 7:00 PM
Ask a Scientist: Bigfoot and Other Wild Men of the Forest

Bigfoot, Yeti, and hordes of other cryptoid missing links have been igniting human imagination for ages. Even the most skeptical of us must wonder if it’s possible there really could be large, undiscovered primates on earth, still unknown to us humans. Can we be so sure we’ve found them all? And if some enticing evidence presented itself, how would we test it scientifically? Tonight physical anthropologist Eugenie Scott will help us answer the question of whether or not we might one day be able to welcome some long lost relatives to the family tree. This event is presented in collaboration with the Bay Area Skeptics.

Speaker: Eugenie Scott; Physical Anthropologist and Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education

Although we don't know exactly what happened at the Ask a Scientist event, we can get a pretty good idea watching the video below. 


In the video below Dr. Eugenie Scott represents the Bay Area Skeptics. She quickly identifies two camps of bigfooters. In the first camp, as she describes them, are the paranormal, mystical bigfooters that believe Bigfoot can shape shift, she quickly marginalizes them and says that is an argument for theologists. In the second camp are, as she defines them, cryptozoologist. She is critical of their lack of scientific process and ability to test their explanations.  Dr. Scott does say Scientist like Dr. Jeff Meldrum are heading in the right direction.

The entire hour and half video is well worth watching, it gives us some insights into what our challenges our in seeking Bigfoot. The Table of Contents is below and you will have to click on the "Watch Full Program" in the embedded video to see the whole presentation. 


Eugenie Scott: Bigfoot and Other Wild Men of the Forest from Ask a Scientist on FORA.tv

Video Table of Contents:
01. Introduction: 00 min 56 sec
02. Bay Area Skeptics: 02 min 33 sec
03. Two Types of Wildmen of the Woods: 06 min 15 sec
04. Scientific Investigation of Bigfoot: 04 min 06 sec
05. Cryptozoology: 03 min 43 sec
06. Likelihood of Undiscovered Bigfoot Species: 04 min 18 sec
07. Where Bigfoot Lives: 03 min 04 sec
08. Remnants of Giant Asian Ape?: 04 min 36 sec
09. Bigfoot Prints: 08 min 49 sec
10. Existence of Orangutan: 05 min 02 sec
11. Habitat Encroachment: 00 min 35 sec
12. History of Bigfoot Sightings: 02 min 13 sec
13. Strength of Belief in Bigfoot: 00 min 36 sec
14. Bigfoot Books: 02 min 48 sec
15. Explanations for Sightings: 03 min 54 sec
16. Unreliability of Eyewitness Reports: 04 min 38 sec
17. Yeti Movie: 02 min 27 sec
18. Bluff Creek Sighting Video: 08 min 46 sec
19. Snow Walker Yeti: 06 min 32 sec
20. Camera Traps Fail to Spot Bigfoot: 03 min 34 sec
21. Analysis of Hair Samples: 05 min 21 sec

Finding Bigfoot to use Dogs to Find Bigfoot in East Texas.

Universal K9 training Caesar the dog to find a  Sasquatch

“If Bigfoot really exists, I can guarantee you our dogs will find him,” --Brad Croft, Universal K9

Faith Harper, a Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter, writes about the Finding Bigfoot crew using dogs in East Texas to search for Bigfoot. Providing the dogs is Universal K-9, a national trainer and supplier of drug, protection and weapons dogs. We were able to find videos of two dogs they are training for the task. Looks like these dogs have been training at least since mid-December.

Orbee the gorilla scat sniffing dog

Fans, you'll remember we suggested a safe way to use dogs to find Bigfoot when we introduced you to Orbee, the Gorilla scat-sniffing dog. Orbee is trained to sniff scat and find endangered species in a non-evasive way. They already used Orbee, a border collie, to track down the world's rarest Gorilla! Orbee's resume does not stop there, she has also found wolverines, grizzly bears and endangered kit foxes.  wont be as cute that's for sure! Will Universal K-9 be able to provide a dog as effective as Orbee? Probably not as cute, that's for sure.

Read the Tyler Paper article below followed by the Sasquatch training videos uploaded by K9 Universal.

Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot" seeks Bigfoot in East Texas woods
BY FAITH HARPER
fharper@tylerpaper.com

Bigfoot could be alive and well in East Texas and some enthusiasts are going to try to find him.

A crew from Animal Planet’s hit show, “Finding Bigfoot,” is slated to be in the Tyler area this weekend searching for the creature.

The show’s team and producers will join a group from Universal K-9, a national trainer and supplier of drug, protection and weapons dogs, to search for the creature. 

“If Bigfoot really exists, I can guarantee you our dogs will find him,” Brad Croft of Universal K-9 said, according to a news release. 

One of the places they could be searching is the Mineola Nature Preserve. The preserve is on the Sabine River and has 2,911 acres of city-owned land.

More than a dozen man-made ponds are speckled on the property as well as walking trails and pavilions. 

Mineola Mayor Bo Whitus said hunting is not allowed on the property, with the exception of periodic youth deer hunts. This was attractive to the “Finding Bigfoot” crews, he said.

Whitus said the locals tell stories of bear and cougar sightings in the preserve, but they never have been validated. 

He had never heard the subject of Bigfoot come up until seven or eight months ago when a maintenance worker spotted a strange vehicle far into nature.

The maintenance worker “was at the river and coming back up close to a slough,” Whitus said. “There was an old car sitting there, and it concerned our guy, so he called the police department. They ran the tag, and it was from the Dallas area.”

As officers got close, they noticed fruit on top of the car and found a young man lying in the grass near the area.

“We don’t know how he got his car that far down into the preserve, but he did …” Whitus said. “He heard a radio announcer say there was a sighting in East Texas, and the guy took out a map and mathematically deduced this was the place for him to be.”

The man was not ticketed but was given a talking to and sent on his way, Whitus said.

Since the sighting, a newly constructed bridge near what is called the people’s pavilion was named for the alleged visitor.

“It was a coincidence that we had just finished one of the bridges, (so) one of them is called Bigfoot Bridge,” Whitus said. “We were trying to reinforce the story to try to create a little interest in what is going on in East Texas.” 

The name must have worked because Whitus said the city received a letter from “Finding Bigfoot” before Christmas on its interests of filming a show on the property.

Staff writer Emily Guevara contributed to this report.

SRC: Tyler Morning Telegraph 

Universal K-9's Tira Learning to Find a Squatch!

Universal K-9's Ceasar [sic] Learning to Find A Squatch!