# Could Bigfoot be real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 31, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680 "2014-05-31T02:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/61 "2014-06-02T05:20:20Z")
> [@Farin](#): > > Honestly, though, I think this [xkcd comic](http://xkcd.com/1235/)says it best: Everyone has a damn good camera and video recorder on them at all times. With all of the “away from other people” hiking and stuff that goes on in the PNW, we’d have fairly good treasure trove of information built on that sort of thing by now. I still don’t like this argument, but it sure as heck applies a lot more to Bigfoot than to some other things. To take the subject line literally, I don’t know of any biological law that precludes the existence of a Bigfoot-like creature, but then again, I don’t know of any general agreement on what biological traits and features define a Bigfoot either. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/62 "2014-06-02T05:42:43Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I think Steve Austin will take care of the menace… > > Either one, the Bionic Man or the one from the WWF… > > 😛 That is part of the offered protection–the Sasquatchamacallit sends him a signal, and he comes and kicks ass. There’s more of the many great powers it offers, though I haven’t made them up yet… I mean discerned them yet. but trust me, that thing is AWESOME. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/63 "2014-06-02T05:56:32Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I still don’t like this argument, but it sure as heck applies a lot more to Bigfoot than to some other things. > > To take the subject line literally, I don’t know of any biological law that precludes the existence of a Bigfoot-like creature, but then again, I don’t know of any general agreement on what biological traits and features define a Bigfoot either. Well he damn well better have big feet, to start, or I want my money back. The most important thing of course is whether he is intelligent. If so, and perhaps extremely shy, he could know to hide, and not let his evidence be easily found, meaning we have to look injust the right spot to find evidence, cause he burie his scat or removes it, watches for hair caught on limbs, and never goes far from home to begin with. The only real evidence is in his lair or maybe graveyard. If he’s smart the lair is not the graveyard. Bigfoot lives in a cave the only entrance to which that is large enough is underwater in an icy lake not many people swim in. And maybe he can dive really deep and can hold his breath fifteen or twenty minutes no problem. There’s small cracks and stuff into his cave fro air, but none big enough for him or us to get through. He ventures outside to gather makah ozettes, once a year or so puts on sunglasses and pretends he is in ZZ Top to go to town and get a few basics…No-one notices because you don’t think that big smelly guy in the grocery store could be Bigfoot, you just wish ZZ Top fans bathed more and do your best to not notice him. He occasionally kills a hiker to get their Pink Floyd CDs and has a big patch of marijuana the feds haven’t found yet and knows the best patches of psilocybes. That’s why he’s so shy–he’s paranoid as fuck. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/64 "2014-06-02T14:50:34Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Fruit makes up a big part of the diet of all primates. All large Primates that we know of live in environments that are extremely rich in fruit, & they share those environments with monkeys & other closely related species. > > Now there are native monkeys in South America, but none in North America. There isn’t enough native fruit to sustain a population here. > If small monkeys can get enough grub to hack it here, how could a 1000 pound mudsucker like Bigfoot hack it? By supplementing his diet with Cub Scouts. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/65 "2014-06-02T14:55:48Z")
And a Brownie for dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/66 "2014-06-02T15:46:10Z")
> [@David42](#): > > Let me make one thing clear: As D.A. I am NOT claiming Bigfoot is a ghost that lives on a UFO. However, if you do want to start a religion, you can P.M. me for where to send the donation.😃 > > Disclaimer: this is a joke and I do not want donations. I do want to refer you to a nice good therapist, however. Send all donations to me instead. That is not a joke. > [@Revtim](#): > > And a Brownie for dessert. Did I ever tell you about the time I got kicked out of the Boy Scouts for eating a Brownie? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/67 "2014-06-02T19:18:10Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Reliable witnesses who have nothing to gain by making up stories. > > I honestly dont know. The scientist in me is like you and says “Where is the proof?”. They don’t have to consciously be making up stories. Like MrKnowItAll said: > [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > My rule of thumb is “What are the odds that someone saw something real over the odds that they either misunderstood what they saw, dreamed the encounter, or hallucinated it due to drugs, alcohol, or fatigue?” Almost always, that ratio is very low. People see weird things all the time. Some people will think “Huh, that was weird, I wonder what I saw.” Others might go “it was Bigfoot!” The proof isn’t on the people to prove that Bigfoot doesn’t exist. You basically can’t prove the non-existence of something. [You can’t prove that there’s not a teapot that orbits the sun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot). It’s on the people who say that Bigfoot exists to prove his existence. So far, they’ve offered no proof. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/68 "2014-06-03T13:28:16Z")
If you think the Pacific Northwest is solid forest, you’d be wrong … half the land is arid desert and the rest is a patchwork of clearcuts and second growth timber. Everyplace a deer can go, hunters follow. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/69 "2014-06-03T16:30:43Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > If you think the Pacific Northwest is solid forest, you’d be wrong … half the land is arid desert and the rest is a patchwork of clearcuts and second growth timber. Everyplace a deer can go, hunters follow. But they risk [a smack with a wet salmon!](http://zapatopi.net/bsa/militia/) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/70 "2014-06-03T18:10:38Z")
> [@David42](#): > > He ventures outside to gather makah ozettes, once a year or so puts on sunglasses and pretends he is in ZZ Top to go to town and get a few basics…No-one notices because you don’t think that big smelly guy in the grocery store could be Bigfoot, you just wish ZZ Top fans bathed more and do your best to not notice him. He occasionally kills a hiker to get their Pink Floyd CDs and has a big patch of marijuana the feds haven’t found yet and knows the best patches of psilocybes. That’s why he’s so shy–he’s paranoid as fuck. The Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) got a break when DB Cooper landed in their backyard. That large influx of cash really changed the BF lifestyle. They don’t have to work so hard for food. Now they’re all shiftless and lazy. They stay in and get stoned and listen to Pink Floyd all day. No wonder there aren’t any sightings any more! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/71 "2014-06-03T19:35:32Z")
BTW, he **does** exist, but [the name is Pigfoot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjfCuc3F7TM). ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/72 "2014-06-03T21:53:54Z")
Bigfoot, no. It would have had to cross over to the Americas earlier than humans, at least during the previous interglacial. Uncharacteristically for a primate, it would have failed to make anyhting of itself with its own set of continents. I.e. its remained in an unrealistically narrow ecological and geographical niche for too long. The Yeti…well, that [seems to have been identified](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131021-yeti-abominable-snowman-bigfoot-polar-bear-cryptozoology/). Not a hominid sorry. A bear. At best an ice age species that survived in a himalayan refugee after the end of the Ice Age. ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/73 "2014-06-04T02:25:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) got a break when DB Cooper landed in their backyard. That large influx of cash really changed the BF lifestyle. They don’t have to work so hard for food. Now they’re all shiftless and lazy. They stay in and get stoned and listen to Pink Floyd all day. No wonder there aren’t any sightings any more! You have the right idea. I know a guy just like that. Hasn’t come out of the house for three years that anybody knows of. he doesn’t even know he’s high though, he thinks it normal–he’s just gathering some easy food, ya know. Fries em right up–potatoes with mushrooms and herbs. As a side dish to roast Hiker, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/74 "2014-06-04T02:55:08Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Fruit makes up a big part of the diet of all primates. All large Primates that we know of live in environments that are extremely rich in fruit, & they share those environments with monkeys & other closely related species. > > Now there are native monkeys in South America, but none in North America. There isn’t enough native fruit to sustain a population here. > If small monkeys can get enough grub to hack it here, how could a 1000 pound mudsucker like Bigfoot hack it? > > Of all primates, only the Baboon and the Human thrive in areas without significant fruit resources. There are limited wild fruit resources in Europe and North America, compared with Sub-Sahaharan Africa, or Southeast Asia. So, we’re not a promising site for primates. > > Most of North America has an annual hunting season for wild game, in the Autumn. Men, familiar with the outdoors and skilled in tracking & stalking wild game, go out by the thousands, every year, armed with shotgun, rifle, carbine. crossbow, or longbow. We’ve been doing this throughout the Colonial period, the Pre-Civil War Era, the Golden Age of the American West (would the Mountain Men and trappers have failed to catch one? I don’t think so.), through two World Wars, & into the current Postmodern Era. Nobody has ever bagged one yet! If they had, they could have been rich & famous overnight. I’ve lived in the Wisconsin countryside, & in the mountains of East Tennessee. I’ve known the outdoorsmen who live there, thrive, & love the back country. Believe me: if Bigfoot existed, they’d have shot one by now. > > [Unless the Bigfeets form a Militia.](http://zapatopi.net/bsa/militia/) I don’t believe this at all, unless you can convince me by linking to some studies. There are _plenty_ of fruits available in Europe, temperate Asia and North America. Think about blueberries and raspberries in North America, apples in Central Asia, and so forth. It’s true the fruit is only available seasonally, but then, fruit is only available seasonally in a lot of tropical environments (dry forests, savannahs, etc.) and primates are certainly abundant in those. And of course temperate environments have plenty of nuts and seeds which are available year-round. It’s also not the case that ‘primates eat fruit’, there are some primates which subsist mostly off leaves, and chimpanzees even supplement their diet with hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/75 "2014-06-04T02:58:14Z")
These primates certainly live in temperate environments: > **[Japanese macaque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_macaque)** > > Macaca fuscata fuscata > Macaca fuscata yakui > The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, they are referred to as "snow monkeys" because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year – no other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate. Individuals have brownish grey fur, pinkish-red faces, and short tails. Two subspecies are known. > In Japan, the... ---
**Author:** ![David42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David42)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/76 "2014-06-04T03:06:28Z")
I think we’ve settled the food issue. Anybody else got another reason Big foot couldn’t be in the Pacific Northwest? I think we’re all conceded that there is no eivdence there is, so asking if there are reasons he couldn’t be is the best it gets. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/77 "2014-06-04T04:07:04Z")
We never find bones because [porcupines eat Bigfoot bones.](http://ourbigfoot.com/do-porcupines-eat-bigfoot-bones.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/78 "2014-06-04T07:15:59Z")
_I think Bigfoot is blurry, that’s the problem. It’s not the photographer’s fault. Bigfoot is blurry, and that’s extra scary to me. There’s a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run, he’s fuzzy, get out of here._ - Mitch Hedberg ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/79 "2014-06-04T09:37:26Z")
> [@David42](#): > > I think we’ve settled the food issue. > > Anybody else got another reason Big foot couldn’t be in the Pacific Northwest? > > I think we’re all conceded that there is no eivdence there is, so asking if there are reasons he couldn’t be is the best it gets. From what I can tell, the best Bigfoot sightings occurred in the 1970’s before the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption which I feel, if they were there, killed them off. So nowadays any Bigfeet left live in Canada or Alaska. Incidentally in one episode of “Monster Hunters” the one on Bigfoot discusses how these regions seldom get visitors anymore because they can be hundreds of miles from major ciites and only the most diehard hikers would trek there. In this way you might have some isolated areas of forest which nobody has set foot in for years. People sometimes own houses or cabins but those are only busy during certain times of the year. Whereas in earlier times their were alot more hunters and trappers living there. This is where Les Stroud had his encounters. On why you dont find dead ones, on another board a poster discussed his encounter back around 1975 when he was hunting and he had one dead to rights in the scope of his deer rifle. Problem is looking at it, and it looking at him, it looked so humanlike (it was a female holding a young one) he felt killing it would be akin to murder. So it might be that people who really know about them, are protecting them. It isnt unusual for locals to keep some secrets like the best fishing or hunting areas so I think this is plausible. Yeah, I know. Not scientific. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680/80 "2014-06-04T12:36:26Z")
Or in any way plausible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-bigfoot-be-real/689680.md?page=5)