Thursday, March 29, 2012

Skeptic Magazine's "Monster Talk" Analyzes Jacobs Bigfoot Photo

Skeptic Magazine's podcast Monster Talk dissects the Jacob Bigfoot Photo
Skeptic Magazine's podcast Monster TALK has analyzed a "modern classic" in Bigfoot lore; the Jacobs Photo.

Moster talk describes itself as:
MonsterTalk is the science show about monsters—a free audio podcast that critically examines the science behind cryptozoological (and legendary) creatures, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, or werewolves. Hosted by Blake Smith, Ben Radford, and Dr. Karen Stollznow, MonsterTalk interviews the scientists and investigators who shine a spotlight on the things that go bump in the night. For once (and unlike mystery-mongering television shows) a monster-themed program gives skepticism more than just a couple minutes of lip service!

To be fair you can read BFRO's analysis of the Jacobs photo here. On Monster TALK, in a podcast titled What the Bigfoot Market Will Bear, Blake Smith suggests the weird summersault pose that takes place after this above frame is due to a nursing bear cub (see below)

Nursing Bear Cub? Or Gymnastic Bigfoot? (click to enlarge)

You can read the episode notes below. We recommend listing to the MP3 podcast too. They also discuss the allometrics (limb proportions) argument, the copyright threats Blake Smith had to hurdle to do his analysis, and the plain honesty that this is a a very weird looking creature.

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN MP3 PODCAST (this will open a new tab so you can come back to these notes) 


Blake Smith’s Analysis of the Photos
At 20:02:16 photo of mother bear and one cub taken. The BFRO website labels this photo as “More of the Bear Cubs” but size analysis shows that the bear closest to the tree is the same size as the so-called “Jacobs Creature.” Of some interest, if you compare the size of the bear in the foreground to the cubs taken at 20:04:23 (below) you will see that the animal in the foreground also has to be an adult bear, not a cub! I didn’t notice this until preparing the notes for this episode.

Trail Cam photo (right) taken by Rick Jacobs. Additional Analysis material (left) by Blake Smith. Copyright 2007 Rick Jacobs. Click image to enlarge.
At 20:02:55 the adult bear and two cubs are photographed. According to the BFRO this next photo shows “The ‘Mama Bear’ image, showing “the bear cubs huddling around the mineral lick with a larger bear—likely the mother of the cubs.” They point out that in this color photo, the adult bear does not look mangy. That may be a result of the differences in the night-vision shots vs. the color/flash shots. The adult bear appears to be facing down the hill, away from the salt-lick and cubs. I’ve inset a photo of a similarly posed healthy bear to give an estimate of the pose.


Trail Cam photo (right) taken by Rick Jacobs. Additional Analysis material (left) by Blake Smith. Copyright 2007 Rick Jacobs. Click image to enlarge.
At 20:04:23 this is the next photo we’ve been provided in the series. Why didn’t the adult bear and cubs trigger any more photos in the intervening minute and a half? Observe that the salt-lick is still upright in this photo. The photo shows two cubs at play. Note how much smaller the cub closer to the tree is compared to the adult bear in 20:02:16. The so-called Jacobs Creature is the same size as the creature the BFRO is calling the Mama Bear. (Update: Note the cub in the foreground—it is tiny compared to what the BFRO have been calling “more of the cubs” but which now appears to show two adult-sized bears in the 20:02:16 photo.)


Trail Cam photo (right) taken by Rick Jacobs. Additional Analysis material (left) by Blake Smith. Copyright 2007 Rick Jacobs. Click image to enlarge.

At 20:32:05 nearly a half an hour has gone by and the salt-lick has been tipped over. Are there no photos existing between these two time-stamps from a camera that takes photos every 30 seconds when motion is sensed? 20:32:05 is the first photo of the two “Jacobs Creature” photos. Several bear biologists agree that while this is a strange looking creature, it is likely an adult bear with mange. This makes the bear look thin due to loss of its thick coat, plus potentially emaciated due to side-effects of the mite infestation. It is likely the same adult bear from 20:02:16—but the other photos which show her do not allow the level of detail needed to observe emaciation; too much of her is hidden in the dark.

Trail Cam photo (right) taken by Rick Jacobs. Additional Analysis material (left) by Blake Smith. Copyright 2007 Rick Jacobs. Click image to enlarge.

At 20:32:41 we have the second photo of the “Jacobs Creature.” In the image below I’ve outlined what I think the photo really shows: an adult bear with a cub attempting to nurse underneath it. Note that if this pose is correct, it corresponds to the adult bear in size and orientation from the 20:02:16 photo almost exactly.

Trail Cam photo (right) taken by Rick Jacobs. Additional Analysis material (left) by Blake Smith. Copyright 2007 Rick Jacobs. Click image to enlarge.
These episode notes are also available at What The Bigfoot Market Bear

TV Show Grimm Bets on Bigfoot-esque Creature During May Sweeps

Kenneth Mitchel will play a Bigfoot-esque
creature in a May episode of Grimm
Just in time for May sweeps; Bigfoot! Sweeps are time periods when television stations/networks typically schedule programming designed to attract a larger than usual audience. Who better to boost ratings than Bigfoot? Especially in Portland, Oregon? Enter Grimm.

The TV series Grimm, located right here in our neighborhood, Portland, Oregon, is a new drama series inspired by the classic Grimm's Fairy Tales. Portland homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) discovers he is descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as "Grimms," charged with keeping balance between humanity and the mythological creatures of the world.

Announced on TVline.com are plans to have a Bigfoot-esque or a Sasquatch-esque creature. The official name is a Wilderman. Why not just Bigfoot or Sasquatch? If it makes you feel any better they have Werewolf-esque creatures too. No? Me niether.

Here is the official announcement of the bigfoot-esque news.

Jericho's Kenneth Mitchell Hoofs It to Grimm as Big Foot-Esque Beast!
BY VLADA GELMAN
Grimm has found its Big Foot!
Jericho alum Kenneth Mitchell will guest star in an upcoming episode of the recently-renewed NBC drama as a sasquatch-esque creature, TVLine has learned exclusively.
Mitchell will play a Wildermann, a beast that resembles the infamous urban legend. In the real world, his alter ego, Larry, struggles with self control issues, which causes him to be stuck between his human self and his creature self. Not helping matters is the pain from the device inserted into his neck that leads to his mental breakdown.
Mitchell’s episode — No. 21, to be exact — is slated to air during May sweeps.

Everybody knows Werewolves are mis-identified Bigfoot anyway. After Darwin (1859), werewolf sightings go down and Bigfoot sightings go up. That doesn't prevent modern day mis-identifications, see the video below.

In Tents #4: Bigfoot Man -- powered by Cracked.com







The Bigfoot Report's Extinct? Podcast: Episode 2

The five guys of Episode 2 of Extinct?'s Podcast
In case you missed the live show last night, below is the embedded episode of Episode 2 of the Extinct? podcast. This is a very promising podcast with an interesting cast of character. Kudos to Ro Sahebi of The Bigfoot Report for putting this show together

You can also catch it at It's available now on  Blip :
http://blip.tv/thebigfootreport

and on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/extinct/id513660586#


In the episode I reference a few things. Here are the links below. 


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Ro Sahebi The Bigfoot Report
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