FAQ's
I'm glad you're looking at the Frequently Asked Questions. That shows that you're willing to learn about the subject. We all have a lot of learning to do.
Below are listed some of the questions I am asked the most about the bigfoot phenomenon. The questions are in no particular order, and are answered in simple fashions. If you have seen one of these creatures, or are sure that they exist for another reason, it might behoove you to look these answers over. That way they'll be at the ready for your next encounter with a skeptic.
IQ: If they're real, why don't we find their bones?
A: Great question. It shows you're thinking. I'll answer your question with another question. If bears and cougars are real, why don't we find their bones?
The answer is logical. They hide their bones, and what is left is soon recycled. Let me explain...
Let's say a large animal, like a bear or sasquatch, gets ill, as all animals do at some point in their life. The animals find an out-of-the-way spot where they feel safe from predators or competition in which to hide themselves. This spot probably is chosen with specific variables in mind, such as proximity to water, strategic advantage of the terrain, and overall cover.
One day the animal dies instead of recovering from the illness. That animal literally hid their own bones to avoid discovery.
Within a few days at most, scavengers move in and pick away at the flesh until just the bones remain. The most prevalent animal in North American woods (by biomass) is the deer mouse. Deer mice, along with most other rodents (wood rats, rabbits (which technically aren't rodents, but lagomorphs), porcupines, etc...) eat bones for the calcium. The bones are digested and dispersed by the more common animals in the area.
I read that if a full-grown Asian elephant dies, there is nothing left of it in as little as four months.
One shouldn't expect to find a naturally-dead apex predator of any sort. It has probably been done at some point, but by less than a handful of people.
That being said, I had a conversation with an owl-hooter in Humboldt County, CA. He told me that he found a bear carcass poking out of a hide-hole from under a mass of fallen trees. This still supports my hypothesis regarding what animals do before they die. It was suggested by the late Grover Krantz that this study might be called "pre-taphonomy". I'll go with that for now...
Q: What about that film that somebody admitted to faking on their death-bed?
A: The media proves to be wildly inaccurate.
Plenty of good articles have already been written on the subject. Let's just say that what you heard was a combination of two stories that happened at about the same time.
This Frequently Asked Question has its source in a combination of the Loch Ness Monster and bigfoot.
Part 1 of 2 of this myth has its origins in the following quote from Wikipedia:
"The 'Surgeon's Photograph' (1934)
One of the most iconic images of Nessie is known as the 'Surgeon's Photograph', which many formerly considered to be good evidence of the monster. Its importance lies in the fact that it was the only photographic evidence of a “head and neck” – all the others are humps or disturbances.[22] The image was revealed as a hoax in 1994.[23]
Supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynecologist, it was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934.[24] Wilson's refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to its being called "Surgeon's Photograph."[25] The photo is often cropped to make the monster seem huge, while the original uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre.[26] The ripples on the photo fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analyses of the original uncropped image have fostered further doubt. A year before the hoax was revealed, the makers of Discovery Communications's documentary Loch Ness Discovered did an analysis of the uncropped image and found a white object evident in every version of the photo, implying that it was on the negative. "It seems to be the source of ripples in the water, almost as if the object was towed by something," the narrator said. "But science cannot rule out it was just a blemish on the negative," he continued. Additionally, analysis of the full photograph revealed the object to be quite small, only about 60 to 90 centimeters (two to three ft) long.[27]
In 1979 it was claimed to be a picture of an elephant (see below). Other skeptics in the 1980s argued the photo was that of an otter or a diving bird, but after Christian Spurling's confession most agree it was what Spurling claimed - a toy submarine with a sculpted head attached.[27] The details of how it was done have been given in a book.[28] Essentially, it was a toy submarine with a head and neck made of plastic wood, built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell, a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the newspaper that employed him. Spurling claimed that to get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell committed the hoax, with the help of Chris Spurling (a sculpture specialist), his son Ian Marmaduke, who bought the material for the fake Nessie, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who would call to ask surgeon Robert Kenneth Wilson to offer the pictures to the Daily Mail.[29] The hoax story is disputed by Henry Bauer,[30] who claims this debunking is evidence of bias, and asks why the perpetrators did not reveal their plot earlier to embarrass the newspaper. He also claimed that plastic wood did not exist in 1934, although it was a popular DIY and modelling material in the early 1930s.[31]
Alastair Boyd, one of the researchers who uncovered the hoax, argues the Loch Ness Monster is real, and that the hoaxed Surgeon's Photo is not cause enough to dismiss eyewitness reports and other evidence.[32]"
The second half of the story lies with a known hoaxer named Ray Wallace. I'll now direct you to an essay written by Matt Moneymaker of the BFRO. He has done a thorough and comprehensive overview of the various rumors and hoaxes associated with the PG film.
Click here for more.
More questions (and logical answers) soon!
If you have a question that you'd like answered, feel free to contact me using the "Contact/Volunteer" link to the left.