PEMCO Insurance Takes a Sasquatch Poll

Info graphic from a previous Bigfoot poll

"People might wonder, 'Why is an insurance company even bothering with something so silly?'" --PEMCO spokesperson Jon Osterberg.


We don't think it is silly. Earlier this year Angus/Reid did a public opinion pole that suggested Americans More Likely to Believe in Bigfoot than Canadians. We learned the which genders, political pursuasions and countries believed in Bigfoot more. This new poll only asks residents within the NW area.

SOURCE PEMCO Insurance

SEATTLE, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, there's no denying that the Northwest is home to folklore that preserves the possibility of 8-foot bipedal creatures roaming our Western forests. According to the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll, many residents believe that Sasquatch is more than just a myth – one in three people in Washington and the Portland, Ore., area believe it's possible the hairy hominids exist.

Seattle-based PEMCO Insurance surveyed Northwest residents about one of their region's most prolific mysteries and found 33 percent believe it's possible Sasquatch exists, and about one in 10 say they've actually seen one or know someone who has.

Portland-area residents are less convinced, though, than their Washington counterparts. More than half of Portlanders – 55 percent – doubt that the creature exists and 85 percent are certain they've never seen one themselves. Still, more than a quarter of those polled in Portland – 28 percent – embrace the possibility that Sasquatch is out there.

To the north, Washington residents continue to believe. PEMCO first asked them about Sasquatch in 2009, and more than one-third maintain their view that Sasquatch is real, while less than half think otherwise.

"People might wonder, 'Why is an insurance company even bothering with something so silly?' Is PEMCO pondering Sasquatch-protection coverage? No. Does it matter to our business if they exist? No. Is it a fun and whimsical topic for a survey? Absolutely! Especially here in the quirky Northwest where Sasquatch is part of our culture," said PEMCO spokesperson Jon Osterberg.

When it comes to Sasquatch encounters, 14 percent of Washingtonians said they or someone they know has seen one, while just 9 percent of Portlanders count themselves as eyewitnesses.

Interestingly, younger people in Washington are more inclined to say they've seen a living Sasquatch – 22 percent of Sasquatch spotters are under 35 in Washington. In Portland, 12 percent of those under 35 have seen a Sasquatch or know somebody who has.

"As a local company, we like to celebrate Northwest folklore. Customers tell us they love our 'Desperately Seeking Sasquatch' Northwest Profile, and now we know there are a few neighbors out there who relate to him," said Osterberg.

To learn more about the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll and to view a summary of the results, visit www.pemco.com/poll, where the public is invited to participate in an informal version of the poll and see how their own responses compare with those collected by FBK Research of Seattle in April 2012.

About the PEMCO Insurance Northwest Poll

PEMCO Insurance commissioned this independent survey that asked Washington and Oregon drivers several questions about driving habits and attitudes toward current Northwest issues. The sample size, 629 respondents in Washington and 400 respondents in the Portland, Ore., metro area, yields an accuracy of +/- 4.0 percent and +/- 5.0 percent respectively at the 95 percent confidence level. In other words, if this study were conducted 100 times, in 95 instances the data will not vary by more than the associated error range.

About PEMCO Insurance

PEMCO Insurance, established in 1949, is a Seattle-based provider of auto, home, boat and umbrella insurance to Northwest residents. PEMCO Insurance is sold by community agents throughout the region and through PEMCO offices. For more information, visit www.pemco.com.

CONTACTS:

Jon Osterberg 

PEMCO Insurance

206.628.4019

Jon.osterberg@pemco.com

Kristi Clough

Firmani + Associates Inc.

206.443.9357

Kristi@firmani.com

©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

Take the poll your self and see how your answers match up. Take the Bigfoot Poll

Want to read the the extensive pole we brought to you earlier this year? Read Americans More Likely to Believe in Bigfoot than Canadians with all our pretty custom infographics.

Dr. Bryan Sykes Has Not Even Begun Testing Yet

Big Surprise Bigfoot DNA Rumors Inaccurate

Yesterday (12-11-12), Robert Lindsay reported a leak from "someone close to the Melba Ketchum camp." In the report Lindsay wrote, "...Sykes agrees with Dr. Melba Ketchum’s Bigfoot DNA study that there is indeed a new hominid in North America. However, Sykes disagrees with Ketchum regarding the origin of this new hominid."

UPDATE: according to Rhetman Mullis, Sykes has already gone through with the an initial test. The samples he has so far have tested to not be human.

We have it on good authority that Dr. Bryan Sykes has not even begun testing on his Bigfoot DNA study. This is from two independent sources that have heard this firsthand from Dr. Sykes Himself. 

When Dr. Sykes begins testing he will do the initial screening with mtDNA (Mitochondrial DNA) loci. In other words and in plain English, he going to start with the DNA that is inherited by the mothers. This makes sense since he literally wrote the book on Mitochondrial DNA.

In Dr. Bryan Sykes' book, "The 7 Daughters of Eve, " Dr. Sykes uses mtDNA to determine that all modern Europeans can be traced back to seven distinguished groups. It is a book worth reading, since the last third ends with fictional scenarios of how the 7 daughters might have lived.

Over all we wanted to report that Bryan Sykes has not begun testing and when he does, he will start with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which only reveals information from the mother's side.

Michael JR Jose, in a review of Dr. Sykes book makes an interesting note, "[mtDNA] has number of key characteristics which make it an excellent biological clock (which 'ticks' once every ten thousand years). The oldest genetic line goes back 45,000 years and the most recent 10,000.

 

December 12th 2012 at 12:12am or 12 Slices of Pye

We give our 12-12-12 at 12:12 post to another once-in-a-century event: Lloyd Pye

Bigfoot Lunch Club leaves no opportunity, well, unopportuned. First, we make up words like unopportuned. Second, we listen to the clockwork cosmos presented to us through the somewhat arbitrary Gregorian calendar. That's right, we wont celebrate this for another 100 years--this is the official 12-12-12 at 12:12 post!

How best to celebrate the synchronicity of  12-12-12 at 12:12? Lloyd Pye's 12-part YouTube series, "Everything You Know is Wrong: Human Origins." 

This is your opportunity to get the greater perspective of Lloyd Pye's version of Bigfoot. Did Bigfoot emerge naturally through evolution or was Bigfoot a byproduct of genetic engineering by alien forces.

In his own promotional words:

Everything You Know Is Wrong (EYKIW) is the product of years of research into human origins, spanning everything from the oldest known recorded histories of the world to modern genetic discoveries. In it, Lloyd Pye postulates his alternative view of human evolution, now called "Intervention Theory."

This new theory stands separate from Creationism, Evolution, and Intelligent Design, and explains many of the conundrums left unanswered by those other theories. The book contains endlessly fascinating insights into just how much of what we think we know is wrong, from the very beginnings of life, to the highly inaccurate map we all accept as Earth's surface, to the evolutionary impossibility of the Cambrian Explosion, and the likelihood that Miocene Apes walk among us today. This book provides any reader with a profoundly altered world view.

In honor of the all hominoids out there. This 12-part special is brought to you on 12-12-12 day at 12:12am conveniently pieced together as a single playlist.