The Search For Sasquatch

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Ron Murdock's picture

Sasquatch is a subject matter that gets a reaction from people that runs to either extreme with no middle ground between believers and skeptics. I'm sure there has been times that someone has dressed up in an ape costume then walked along a darkened highway. There are cases of mistaken identity such as witnessing a bear standing on its hind legs.

Skeptics point out the unlikelihood of such a large animal finding enough food to sustain itself. But with the amount of wildlife and herbivorous forms of diet, there is more than enough food sources to keep sasquatches alive and well. A question to ask; "Is there sufficient evidence to treat sasquatch as a bona fide member of North America's family of large mammals?" Reports of credible observers of a huge apelike animal include long distance bus drivers, long haul truck drivers and those living in rural areas.

Sasquatch has been referred to as the big brother who looks out for the Native American. Ralph Gray Wolf, an Athapaskan Native from Alaska, says sasquatch brings "signs or messages that there is a need to change, a need to cleanse. They make appearances at troubled times to help troubled native communities get more in tune with Mother Earth." To the Hopi, sasquatches is just one form that a messenger can take when delivering a message from the Creator. Hopi elders say the increasing sightings of sasquatches are not only a message or warning to individuals and communities but to humankind at large. This warning is from the Creator that our disrespect for His sacred instructions has upset the harmony and balance of existence.

Natives regard sasquatches with great respect. Seen as a special kind of being and having a close relationship with humans, some native elders see sasquatch as standing on the border between animal and human style consciousness. According to native elders, sasquatches know when humans are searching for him and will choose when and whom he will make an appearance to. Each tribal dialect has a word for sasquatch. If the terms Bukwa and Dzunuka are the same as sasquatch then coastal aboriginals have been recording them in their masks, crests and totem poles since the 1700's. Sasquatch is a name from the Salish tribe in the Pacific Northwest.

They have been several sightings of similar sasquatch like beings throughout the world. Pakistan has the Pakistani Gorilla Man or Barmanu. Vietnam and Cambodia has the jungle man, forest man or Ngoui Rung. In Russia, witnesses report seeing what is called the Russian wildman. China and the Middle East apparently have references of wild men going back thousands of years. In 1811, David Thompson sighted what may have been sasquatch footprints. Sightings of various sasquatch type creatures have been reported across North America, the majority being in the heavily forested and sparsely populated mountain regions.

Most of the general public probably still consider sasquatch to be a myth. Large city folk in particular may fear the possibility of another mammal other than man using two feet instead of four to get around plus having some very humanlike characteristics. Once the existence of sasquatch is confirmed, it would make for a fascinating study on its personality, lifestyle and physical traits.

Considering the terrain that sasquatches inhabits, it could remain undetected for years. Many people may think that the existence of sasquatch is absurd but how many realize just how enormous the forest are in western North America and the Atlantic Northeast. There are still vast regions of wilderness in British Columbia, Alaska and the Yukon that are still largely unexplored except for a few miners, prospectors and geologists probing around. It is possible that sasquatches has been sighted more often but not reported because of the ridicule involved.

Footprints thought to be made by sasquatches have been examined for years. But what is needed is get some hairs, feces, blood samples and tissues so scientists can do DNA sequencing which would establish exactly what sasquatch is, whether it be a species of higher primate or great ape. But to have proof beyond doubt a live sasquatch would have to be captured or skeleton found. I would say a live sasquatch would be more beneficial as skeletons are spread around rather quickly by forest scavengers.

To estimate the sasquatch population would remain speculation and the exact number may never be known. Some guesses are as high as 5000, others at 200 or less. Dr. Grover Krantz of the University of Washington thinks the sasquatch population is in the 2000 to 3000 range. Sasquatch researcher Peter Byrne, from Oregon says: "I do not know the answer. Nor truly does anyone else. I will venture on one aspect of the question is that there are far fewer of them than most people think."

Indications show that sasquatches are omnivorous with a diet that includes grains, salmon, rabbits and deer. Like other wildlife, domestic fruit and vegetables among other human food stuffs tempt sasquatch. Near Alpine, California a sasquatch was seen eating apples from a tree in front of house, taking apples higher than what a man could reach. On an Arizona ranch, a mother and her daughter watched a seven foot sasquatch, with an armload of corn, pulling up turnips from their vegetable garden. They continued to watch the sasquatch as it ran through a wheat field then jumped over a fence still carrying the corn and turnips. Sasquatches may have developed a garbage habit. A story from 1966, at Trinity River in northern California had a sasquatch raiding a trashcan. Not long afterwards, the same sasquatch dumped out another trashcan before taking some eggs and raw bacon left out for it. Work camps have had food supplies such a salty pancake flour, canned meat, bacon and candy taken. On the nights that the thefts have occurred a sulphur odor, strange wailings and other strange mysterious sounds were heard. At daylight, two very large tracks attributed to sasquatch were found. The tracks were measured at eighteen and three quarters inches long, nine inches across the ball and five inches across the heel. Occasionally sasquatches have been seen examining tents and campfire areas. This activity may been motivated more by curiosity than hunger.

It is probable that hibernation and migration are not a part of a sasquatches lifestyle. It seems the only time sasquatches migrate is when seasonal conditions make this movement necessary due to harsh weather systems. Sasquatches seem to stay in areas where food is available in sufficient quantities year round. Sasquatches seem to have the ability to adapt to cold climates due to their extreme coverings of hair.

Two stories that have made the rounds in sasquatch circles is the Albert Ostman tale from 1924 and the Patterson/Gimlin film from October 1967.

I have a tough time taking the Ostman story seriously. He was the fellow who was supposed to be kidnapped by a male sasquatch on the third night of having his camp disturbed. Why wait the for the third night not the first or second if at all? For three hours Ostman was carried in his sleeping bag by the male sasquatch to where it live. The sasquatch family, according to Ostman, consisted of a male, female and two young sasquatches - a boy and a girl. Sounds too much like your average nuclear family to me. Deciding it was time to leave and head back to his camp, Ostman produced a can of snuff. Taking a pinch for himself, Ostman offered some to the father sasquatch, who apparently took a violent reaction to it. In the ensuing panic, Ostman made his escape and made the three hour trek back to his campsite without further contact with the sasquatch family. I wonder what would have happened if they did catch up with him for giving out the snuff to the elder male sasquatch.

Still the best evidence for the existence of sasquatch is the Patterson/Gimlin film from Bluff Creek, California. I find the film content believable and I don't believe anyone has been able to match the gait of the sasquatch plus I haven't heard anyone being able to disprove or challenges the films authenticity to any great degree.

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