# Is bigfoot real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 11, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046 "2008-09-11T01:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/41 "2008-09-12T06:12:08Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Bears are hit by cars _all the time!_ Really? I wouldn’t know as I have never lived within 500 or so miles of a bear. > [@](#): > > Where is the Bigfoot roadkill, & will rednecks make a ragout of it? 😃 > > As I have pointed out in earlier Threads, 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. Again, really? Large primates tend to consume mostly fruits? That would seriously shrink the areas of possible habitation. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/42 "2008-09-12T06:54:41Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I heard a radio interview with a guy who took the approach of not answering the question “Does Bigfoot exist?” but “Could Bigfoot exist?” and wrote a book on the subject (don’t remember the title or author though). > > His conclusion was that currently no proof exists to support the existance of such an animal, however the conditions are such that it would be possible for a very small population of such a creature to be alive and undetected. Are you maybe thinking of [Jeff Meldrum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Meldrum)? I met him a few years ago at a Bigfoot research conference (I had a free weekend and was awash in morbid curiosity), and it was obvious that he didn’t think too highly of most of the people who were involved in Bigfoot “research”. > [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s very highly doubtful. There’s little Native American folklore, if any. No cite, but a few years ago there were a couple of Native teens who had committed a variety of crimes, and as an alternative to jail time they and the community agreed that they should be exiled to live on (IIRC) a couple of small islands somewhere in Puget Sound for some period of time. There were a few Native folks who seemed to be genuinely concerned that Sasquatch was a potential hazard that they needed to watch out for. Granted, this was well after the Patterson/Gimlin film etc., so Sasquatch was part of the common base of cultural knowledge, but it seemed odd that those people were actually concerned about it. (I’m not using this to argue that Sasquatch is real, just that there are a nonzero number of Natives who thought so.) It should also be noted that a lot of the people who believe in Bigfoot are among the ranks of True Believers ™, and have zero knowledge of science, logic, and the like. For example, there are people who think that one reason there’s so little physical evidence is because Bigfoot is associated with UFOs and/or other dimensions. And one talk at the aforementioned Bigfoot research conference completely shot down the validity of “dermal ridges” visible in plaster casts of footprints (it’s actually artifacts from the plaster drying improperly). In the Q&A session after the talk, one person promptly stood up and asked for copies of any available casts of footprints so she could examine them, read the ridges like palmistry, and determine what Bigfoot’s personality was like. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/43 "2008-09-12T07:59:41Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > Because thousands of people have seen one… Well, I don’t know about thousands. Some say they have. And people lie. And if they actually had, then a bigfoot would have been tracked down by now. There are plenty of experts who can track elusive animals. “Thousands” of people have seen a bigfoot, but none have ever called in someone capable to track it down, even with a recent sighting and an exact starting point? Pfft. > [@](#): > > …some have video taped him. They’ve taped some distant blurry jerky barely discernable thing that could as easily be a man in a suit. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/44 "2008-09-12T13:24:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > They’ve taped some distant blurry jerky barely discernable thing that could as easily be a man in a suit. Or a unicorn in a suit! ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/45 "2008-09-12T13:28:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Or a unicorn in a suit! So the reason the bigfoot in the video runs off into the bush is that the camera guy isn’t a virgin? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/46 "2008-09-12T15:45:51Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > Some will come on here and say, “yeah, but the Bigfoot isn’t this… and a murder is different because…yada yada”. No. There is no difference, seeing something is seeing something. For this argument to hold up, there would have to be NO incontrovertible physical evidence of ANY murder having been committed EVER. NO eyewitness account of a murder would ever have resulted in the finding of a body or or other identifiable remains. Which is the situation with bigfoot sightings. The fact that there have been thousands of sightings, including many in places where a population of bigfoot could not possibly exist, such as heavily populated regions of the eastern US, actually undermines the credibility of these eyewitness accounts. If sightings were rare, and only came from unpopulated areas, then the fact that no genuine physical evidence has been encountered would be more plausible. If these thousands or eyewitness accounts are real, then bigfoots must be sufficiently common, and live in places sufficiently frequented, that it it is impossible that physical evidence such as bones or other remains would not have been found by now. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/47 "2008-09-12T15:54:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If these thousands or eyewitness accounts are real, then bigfoots must be sufficiently common, and live in places sufficiently frequented, that it it is impossible that physical evidence such as bones or other remains would not have been found by now. Advanced degree in biology (or somesuch) and you don’t know that the big hairy humanoids in the Eastern US are skunk apes? _Totally_ unrelated. That’s like saying that wyverns don’t exist because there are too many dragon sightings. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/48 "2008-09-12T16:36:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Advanced degree in biology (or somesuch) and you don’t know that the big hairy humanoids in the Eastern US are skunk apes? Skunk Apes are only found in the southeast. The big humanoids in the northeast are Jersey Devils. But they are all subspecies of _Hirsutanthropus phantasmus_. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/49 "2008-09-12T16:38:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Skunk Apes are only found in the southeast. The big humanoids in the northeast are Jersey Devils. But they are all subspecies of _Hirsutanthropus phantasmus_. I thought the big humanoids in the Northeast were the Knicks. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/50 "2008-09-12T17:21:12Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > No cite, but a few years ago there were a couple of Native teens who had committed a variety of crimes, and as an alternative to jail time they and the community agreed that they should be exiled to live on (IIRC) a couple of small islands somewhere in Puget Sound for some period of time. There were a few Native folks who seemed to be genuinely concerned that Sasquatch was a potential hazard that they needed to watch out for. Granted, this was well after the Patterson/Gimlin film etc., so Sasquatch was part of the common base of cultural knowledge, but it seemed odd that those people were actually concerned about it. (I’m not using this to argue that Sasquatch is real, just that there are a nonzero number of Natives who thought so.): Yes, there may well be natives who think Bigfoot exists. But there’s no folklore dating from before the White Man, or even dating from before the quite recnet fakes started. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/51 "2008-09-12T18:15:07Z")
> [@diggleblop](#): > > You can say you saw a large, hairy creature running around in forests that haven’t been explored yet, take pictures of it, video and even plaster casts of it’s footprints and nobody will believe you, you’ll even get laughed at. > > Yet you can turn around and say you saw Bob Jones (whom has never been violent, no criminal history and has been an overall nice guy) loading his truck up with a large box that had blood seeping out of it and he can get the death penalty when there is no body and only circumstantial evidence. Somebody has to address this nonsense directly. It is completely untrue that if I say I saw Bob Jones loading a blood-dripping box into his truck, that our legal system will simply believe me and find Bob guilty of murder. There would have to be some additional, corroborating evidence.Bob would have a chance to counter my claim by, for example, demonstrating that he was somewhere else at the time I said I saw him. Nowhere in the legal system is any eyewitness claim simply accepted without question. Even video or photo evidence is challenged. If I produce a photo of Bob loading that bloody box, but then the defense photography experts establish that man in the photo is six feet tall while Bob is clearly six feet four inches tall, the photo now becomes evidence that Bob is NOT guilty. And it’s the same with bigfoot claims, sightings, videos, and photos. That famous footage of a supposed bigfoot walking away and looking back at the camera, for example. It has been clearly established that it’s a guy in a suit, therefore it’s not evidence of a bigfoot. People who just say they saw a bigfoot are not just accepted at their word, just as an eyewitness to a crime is not just accepted at their word. If there is additional evidence of the crime, then the eyewitness testimony is given more weight because it corroborates. If there were any physical evidence that supported the existence of bigfoot, then eyewitness testimony would be given more weight. The point is this: If I claim that I saw Bob commit a crime, the burden is on me (and the prosecution) to prove that. Just so, if you claim bigfoot exists, the burden is on you to prove it. It’s the same standard of proof in both cases. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/52 "2008-09-12T18:29:02Z")
When these “folks” see something strange how do they determine what it is they’re seeing? Bigfoot? An alien? A ghost? Do they sit around the dinner table at night using the scientific method? If it’s hairy it’s bigfoot. If it’s green and has big eyes it’s an alien. If it flys it’s a UFO. If it’s transparent it’s a ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/53 "2008-09-12T18:38:18Z")
My family has a 600 acre tract of wooded land in Louisiana that we let people deer hunt on. Lots of people have reported seeing “goat man” who is presumably half man and half goat. Town conversation often turns to the question of whether goat man is dangerous or not. Lots of other people have reported seeing a panther (black mountain lion) there as well. Goat man seems rather definitive but panthers are somewhat out of range in that area. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/54 "2008-09-12T21:44:53Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Really? I wouldn’t know as I have never lived within 500 or so miles of a bear.Again, really? Large primates tend to consume mostly fruits? That would seriously shrink the areas of possible habitation. Yes. Really. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/55 "2008-09-12T22:15:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Goat man seems rather definitive but panthers are somewhat out of range in that area. Yes, Louisiana is well within the natural range of Goat Men. I am, however, surprised that the Chupacabras haven’t wiped them out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/56 "2008-09-12T22:16:06Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > My family has a 600 acre tract of wooded land in Louisiana that we let people deer hunt on. Lots of people have reported seeing “goat man” who is presumably half man and half goat. Town conversation often turns to the question of whether goat man is dangerous or not. Lots of other people have reported seeing a panther (black mountain lion) there as well. Goat man seems rather definitive but panthers are somewhat out of range in that area. There were Florida panthers in Louisiana once; the known population is now isolated in southern Florida, but finding a panther population in Louisiana is much more likely than finding… well, a goat man. Or bigfoot. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/57 "2008-09-13T00:47:20Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > Somebody has to address this nonsense directly. It is completely untrue that if I say I saw Bob Jones loading a blood-dripping box into his truck, that our legal system will simply believe me and find Bob guilty of murder. There would have to be some additional, corroborating evidence.Bob would have a chance to counter my claim by, for example, demonstrating that he was somewhere else at the time I said I saw him. > > Nowhere in the legal system is any eyewitness claim simply accepted without question. > > Even video or photo evidence is challenged. If I produce a photo of Bob loading that bloody box, but then the defense photography experts establish that man in the photo is six feet tall while Bob is clearly six feet four inches tall, the photo now becomes evidence that Bob is NOT guilty. > . Does anyone have any cites to support anyone being convicted of murder without the body or at least a good deal of blood from a body? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/58 "2008-09-13T00:49:48Z")
On the food issue these creatures which all have different physical descriptions, do get credited with eating deer and other animals they can catch. Don’t give the there isn’t enough fruit and plant material available argument. Most of the people in the field will tell you they are hunters. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/59 "2008-09-13T00:59:28Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > On the food issue these creatures which all have different physical descriptions, do get credited with eating deer and other animals they can catch. Don’t give the there isn’t enough fruit and plant material available argument. Most of the people in the field will tell you they are hunters. Which field is that? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046/60 "2008-09-13T01:07:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Which field is that? cryptozoology [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bigfoot-real/463046.md?page=4)