Monsters and Myths

The creature known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch — or Se’sxac among the Coast Salish — is now covering a whole new territory; the Internet.

A Texas man, a self-styled Bigfoot researcher, has posted a video he claims to have taken near Tofino in July 2006.

Claims of the creature on Vancouver Island go back many years, and a Comox Valley man who has researched Bigfoot, John Bindernagel, claims to have found footprints in Strathcona Park near Mount Washington.

Bindernagel, a biologist, wrote North America’s Great Ape: The Sasquatch.

He is concerned that the ability to post videos by anyone claiming it to be a Sasquatch will damage efforts to do genuine scientific research into the phenomenon.

“For me the Internet is a mixed bag, it’s easier to report a sighting, but it’s not vetted very well.”

In 2005 Bindernagel told the Daily News that since 1850 there have been about 100 sightings on the Island. In the same time there have been about 400 sightings in B.C., a number he thinks is low due to fear of being mocked.

Though evidence has yet to surface proving Bindernagel’s claim the Sasquatch is real, he thinks that a scientific approach could prove its existence.

He is now working on a second book about the phenomenon to argue why scientists should give it serious consideration.

He said fuzzy films on the Internet do not help him making that argument.

“The evidence doesn’t get scrutinized objectively,” said Bindernagel. “We can’t bring the evidence to our colleagues because it’s perceived as tabloid.”

One Nanaimo man familiar with most native animals on the Island is Ron Heusen, a senior conservation officer.

He’s never seen anything but bear, elk, deer and similar wildlife.

“The Ministry of Environment through the provincial Wildlife Act does not regulate Bigfoot - it’s not in the Wildlife Act,” Heusen joked.

Though Heusen’s never had a call about such a creature, he said it would be easy to mistake a bear or other animal for a Sasquatch.

“It would be easy to make an honest mistake.”

Source: canada.com

Tom Burnette is a man with a mission. He found his life’s calling unlooked for almost 20 years ago in the woods near Old Fort. That’s when he encountered Bigfoot.

Many people over the years have seen what they believed to be sightings or physical evidence of Bigfoot. But Burnette is different in one respect. The creature he saw came back. And, as it turned out, there was more than one. Indeed, he now believes, there’s a whole colony of them.

Where, exactly? He’s a bit guarded about exact locations, but said he sees the creatures “way up Curtis Creek, near the Parkway.”

What brings them back, again and again, to the woods Burnette haunts?

He has several guesses. For one, he believes a large community of them have lived in the area for a ling time. And because their home territory coincides with the woods he haunts, they have become familiar with him.

In other words, he has made peace with them. Although he says he has not come face to face with the reclusive creatures, he has found what he believed to be gifts left for him; mushrooms, meat, and other items harvested from the woods.

“They know I’m not out to hurt them, that I’ll protect them,” he said. “They’re used to me now.” That familiarity has led to several opportunities to observe them, at a distance, for more than just a few seconds, he said.

So how is it that more people haven’t seen them? Simply, he answered, because people tend to think of Bigfoot as a dumb beast, no smarter than a bear. In fact, the Bigfoot culture is well developed and they are highly intelligent creatures.

“They’re more aware of you than you are of them,” he said. “These are very alert creatures.”

After years of observation, Burnette believes the Bigfoot domesticates the wild animals of the forest the same way humans domesticated dogs, and for the same reasons.

“They use bear to hunt,” he explained. “They hunt in groups.”

Earlier this spring, Burnette got what he believes is confirmation of this theory, when he came very close to a hunting party accidentally.

“I felt sure something was watching me,” he said of one day’s excursion into the woods. “I turned around and felt eyes on me.” He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, he explained, but long years of romping the woods has taught him the limitations of the human eye in the dense foliage.

He raised his cell phone and took pictures of the woods in front of him. It was only after he had detail shots printed at maximum enlargement that he saw the evidence he had in hand.

One eerie picture shows what appears distinctly to be a humanoid face, with flat, wide mouth and heavy brows. The face’s left are the shapes of what could be faces of bears or other beasts.

Burnette was chilled to think he had come so close to a hunting party, but said that, by this time, if the Bigfoot had wanted to hurt him they could have done so. The fact he has remained unharmed is evidence, he said, that the Bigfoot mainly hunts small game.

This latest close encounter is not the first. Several years ago, he continued, he found what he believed to be an infant Bigfoot left on his property. Why would a mother Bigfoot abandon her baby?

Burnette suspects that the baby may have been in danger from a male. He said in the primate kingdom, a male will sometimes kill an infant in order to get the female to go into heat. Holding the infant, he made what he now regards as a great mistake.

“I took it back into the woods,” he said, “and left it, hoping she would come back for it.” Sadly this did not happen. Days later, he found the skull of the young creature; whether it had been eaten by dogs or killed by an adult Bigfoot, he didn’t dare speculate.

He explained that he realized this was the evidence the world had been waiting for. He photographed the skull, then sent it to Texas laboratory for DNA analysis. Today, he is upset about the lab’s progress, and speculated he might have to go to court to get the thing back into his possession.

Meanwhile though, two pictures he shot of the skull are featured in the book he published a while back about his observations. Entitled “Natures Secret Agents,” the book is a diary account of his experiences and observations over the years. Many sightings are detailed, along with the occasional exchange of gifts and, sometimes, terrifying harassment by less friendly members of the Bigfoot community.

Burnette has learned to keep his distance. He tries to get the best photographs he can, but does not ever wish to put them on the defensive. The size, strength and cunning of the creatures means no human would stand a chance. He feels safe so long as he maintains a healthy respect for the Bigfoots’ privacy and space.

He said that several years ago an Indian chief told him the Bigfoot is the guardian of the forest and all the animals in it. After several years observation, he is inclined to agree.

“They don’t want anything to do with us,” he said, because they know the violent ways of Man. “I want to share what I have learned so that we can understand them, not fear them, and respect them and their home.”

Source: morganton.com

The search for the Yeti or Bigfoot of Shoria Mountain in Russia is set to continue as the snows melt and the weather warms in Siberia. The expedition will commence in June 2009 and will be headed by Valery Kimiev and Professor Nikolai Skalon, the head of the department of Zoology at the Kemerovo State University. Local’s are still alleging they have seen the bigfoot type creature in the area surrounding the Azass Caves on many occasions. One local will be joining the expedition, Hunter Michael Kiskarov who claims to have seen a Yeti more than once.

The local head of government  Vladimir Tashtagol has received 14 written reports by residents of remote villages around the area of the Azass caves and the nearby Mrassu river claiming to have seen these creatures in recent years. The Cryptids are described as being two meters tall, with reddish black hair that resembles that of a brown bear.

The Azass cave is several kilometres deep and it is believed the Yeti or Yeti’s dwell deep in its interior. Some believe that the creature is a lone neanderthal survivor or the sightings have been of one of a number the species, part of a small colony that represents the world’s last Neanderthals.

Source: allnewsweb

The “Association of Maritime Research” is calling for witnesses to come forward pertaining to sightings of a mysterious creature in the English Channel off the coast of Dover. A reward is being offered for information leading to proof of the creature’s existence.

“On 20th April 2009 Thierry and Sophie were enjoying a walk at the Boulogne Harbour. They are both passionate about boats and sea-life and intended filming the variety of boats sailing out of the harbour. As Thierry was filming, his eye glued to the lens, he suddenly became aware of a large shape which appeared on the horizon. Intrigued, he zoomed the camera in to focus more clearly and saw a huge, dark, rapidly moving object, which disappeared within a matter of seconds. Something of an amateur expert about the sea and marine life, he knew this was not simply the outline of a whale or any similar creature and was convinced that he had sighted some phenomenon as yet unseen by man. He decided to contact the AMR who are pursuing further investigations.

Now they need your help. The AMR are appealing for witnesses to come forward and help them find the Channel Creature, or similar sea monsters. Anyone who gives evidence leading directly to proof of the creature’s existence will receive a reward. “

Source: channelcreature.com

The legend of the ‘Honey Island Swamp Monster’ born in the swamp lands of Louisiana has been debated for years. Since the legend began with the first sighting in 1974  reported by Harlan Ford and Ray Mills until present day many crypto zoologist and bigfoot believers have investigated and reported on the legend. There have been alot of varying opinions as to if this was an elaborate hoax or an authentic sighting of a bigfoot like creature. Some think that the original reports and sightings by Mr Ford may have been accurate , although through out the years others created hoax footprints and sightings trying to expand on the legend.

M.K. Davis did some research into the legend and found some interesting facts and items which lean to the honey island swap monster being a hoax. These findings are thought by some to simply prove that there were some people over the years who tried to profit or expand on the legend by means of a hoax , but does not prove that the orginal sightings and reports by Mr Ford  and indeed fabricated.

A Louisiana Hoax

M. K. Davis’s presentation…dealt with the “Honey Island Swamp Monster,” a Bigfoot-like denizen of Louisiana reported by an air traffic controller in the late 1970s and featured in the television series In Search Of… featuring Leonard Nimoy. Davis had an unbelievable stroke of luck. He found a man who had recovered one of the shoes used to perpetrate the hoax-for a hoax the story seems to have been. Davis showed footage of the shoe with a three-toed claw attached to the bottom, which was presumably used to fake the tracks. The other shoe is unaccounted for, but the Honey Island Swamp Monster seems to have been exposed once and for all. Bearing in mind [Loren] Coleman’s earlier remarks, there may have been sightings of some anomalous creature in the beginning, but the only available evidence points to fraud.

Whether the legend was a hoax from the beginning or not we may never know. But like many other cryptozoological creatures the legend of the “Honey Island Swamp Monster” lives on.

The Search Never Ends - Monsters and Myths

More evidence of the abominable snowman (more politely known as a Yeti or Bigfoot) has been uncovered in Russia’s Kemerovo Region in southwestern Siberia, the Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.

Vladimir Makut, a local administrator in the Tashtagol district of Kemerovo Region, noted in an interview with the newspaper that sightings of unusual large creatures in the area date far back into Soviet times, when the area contained several prison colonies. The creatures inspired such dread that the prisoners sometimes refused to go out to work. The local native people, the Shors, also have numerous legends about wild “dark people.” Specialists note, however, that, historically, more yeti activity has been recorded in neighboring regions. The Soviet Academy of Sciences even set up a commission to investigate those reports in 1958. It concluded that Altai, which Tashtagol borders on, is a breeding ground for the creature. There the yetis have been sighted in pairs and yeti children have been seen.

Dozens of sightings near Azas Cave have been recorded, all during the winter months. The area is accessible only with local guides and the right equipment, but it is visited by campers and personnel from the coal mining industry. The latest series of reports began last November. Igor Burtsev, director of the International Center for Hominology, noted that the situation is unusual in that reports have come from locals. Local inhabitants rarely report such sightings, even when they are aware of the presence of the mysterious creatures. There were no actually encounters with the yetis, but numerous tracks were found. They were described as similar to bear tracks, but with distinct toes.

Makut organized an expedition to the cave and, after finding tracks himself, called in Burtsev and several regional officials. They also confirmed the presence of footprints in the cave, but declined to enter the cave farther than 30 yards, noting the dangerous conditions. The yetis themselves eluded the explorers.

Komsomolskaya Pravda noted that there have been other recent developments in hominology. Last month, a film crew from Russia’s Channel One television discovered enormous hominid footprints in Abkhazia and interviewed a local resident who stated that she was the granddaughter of a domesticated yeti. According to the woman, Raisa Sabekia, her grandmother, named Zana, was captured by hunters and given as a gift to her grandfather, who was a local nobleman. He eventually taught her to speak. Abkhazia is another region known for the presence of yeti. An Academy of Sciences expedition searched for the creature in that region in Soviet times as well.

Source: mosnews

Beneath the cold, isolated waters of north western Canada a fifty foot swimming monster is said to lurk. The stories from North West Canada’s Lake Okanagan date back to the earliest First Nation peoples, who lived in fear of this terrifying creature of the lake that became known as ‘Ogopogo’.

According to accounts of this ominous creature, it has a large snake like body, large eyes and can move at high speeds. Sightings of this lake creature are so common that it has been seen more times than Scotland’s Loch Ness Monster, making Ogopogo the world’s most documented lake creature.

With new, recent photographic evidence and an array of high technology, MonsterQuest will launch one of the first major expeditions to this lake. A helicopter outfitted with a thermal camera will scan the lake for signs of the creature while a dive team stands ready to jump into the hazardous waters, ready to capture the necessary evidence.

“On tonight’s MonsterQuest, the results of the baby Ogopogo body find will be revealed.”

FAIRFIELD — It’s big, it’s hairy, and it’s been sighted in Jefferson County. Just don’t call it bigfoot.

“I’m not saying that is what it is by any means. I just had somebody call this office and report that is what they’d seen,” said Shawn Morrissey, operations and natural resource manager for Jefferson County Conservation.

Morrissey has received two reports of a large biped roaming the Skunk River valley on the eastern side of the county in as many years.

The first report came during the summer of 2007, and the second during the fall of last year.

The most recent caller claimed to have waited several months to contact officials after seeing what he described as a large hairy beast walking on two legs.

“It was pretty wishy-washy,” Morrissey said. “It’s my own personal feeling they saw something that tricked their eyes and was a very explainable animal.”

Morrissey said a more probable explanation would be the person saw a horse or a hunter wearing a Ghillie Suit, a type of a camouflage that can look like it’s covered in hair.

“I’m not going to say they didn’t (see something). But I think the more likely thing is they saw something in a flash or at a strange angle,” Morrissey said.

The sightings have not been investigated by county officials. Morrissey said he did not know the names of those who made the reports.

It’s unlikely a large fur-covered biped could play hide and seek in Iowa wilderness and remain undocumented. The state simply doesn’t have enough large stretches of timber where such a creature could live, Morrissey said.

“This is a very populated state really. There aren’t any big chunks of wilderness,” he said.

And during the winter when trees are stripped of their leaves, the ground is wide open to any plane passing overhead.

“Most actual animals have some kind of physical evidence,” Morrissey added.

However, common sense hasn’t stopped Sasquatch from popping up all over the state.

The Bigfoot Field Research Organization Web site, www.bfro.net, lists 40 bigfoot sightings in Iowa dating back to 1970, three of which come from Jefferson County, and one from Lee County.

thehawkeye.com/Story/bigfoot-030209

Kemerovo (Russia), Feb 19: A group of people led by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Kemerovo and a regional official set out Thursday in search of a bigfoot sighted by hunters in Tashtagol area in Russia, a regional spokesman said.

Earlier this week, the Kemerovo regional administration released a report that local hunters had spotted “some hairy humanoid creatures with a height of 1.5-2 metres near the Azass Cave on Mount Shoriya. The report was illustrated with a photograph from inside the cave showing the track of an unidentified creature.

“From the nearest village of Ust-Kabyrz, the bishop, regional head and a group of others will reach the Azass Cave by the only transportation possible: snowmobiles,” the spokesman told RIA Novosti.

According to the head of the department of anthropology at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology in Moscow, anthropologists have never seen or studied the body of a bigfoot or yeti, although there are numerous reports of their sightings throughout the world.

He also noted that yetis for some reason are always spotted singularly, which is “biological nonsense”, as a large population must exist in order to create generation after generation. According to the anthropologist, Earth has been studied so thoroughly that if a population of yeti existed it would have been confirmed.

The Kemerovo regional spokesman said a scientific expedition is being organized for the summer to investigate the sighting. The financial details of the expedition are being worked out and there are already many enthusiasts, businessmen and hunters ready to help.

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