All right… so the daily blog isn’t always “daily”. I’m working on getting daycare a couple of days a week so I can get caught up on any number of things. Full-time motherhood and the word “concentration” don’t go hand-in-hand, unfortunately.
Taking a break from the Discovery series to bring you the latest in Bigfoot news…
Wildlife researcher brings Bigfoot legend to life at library
October 22, 2009
BY JEFF MANES, POST-TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENT
Most folks would skedaddle if they were in a secluded forest and came face-to-face with a very hairy biped standing 8 feet tall and weighing a quarter-ton.
Especially if the creature, with long arms akimbo and angry eyes aglow, unleashed a scream that would make a banshee blanch.
At a glance
The Lowell Public Library is at 1505 E. Commercial Ave. Visit www.lowellpl.lib.in.us or call 696-7704 for information on library programs, including tonight’s spinning of ghost stories by Mark Marimen, author of “Haunted Indiana.” The program, for adults and young adults, will begin at 6 p.m.
Larry Battson would die for such a close encounter. He has researched and pursued Bigfoot for more than 25 years.
Battson, 57, lives in Putnam County. He’s a licensed wildlife educator by trade. In 1979, he founded Wildlife Services Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to using rescued wild animals to educate the public.
But it was the legendary primate, also known as Sasquatch, Yeti and the Abominable Snowman, he recently discussed at the Lowell Public Library.
There were no empty seats in the library’s program room.
“In 1983, I was contacted about displaying an innovative exhibit for an outdoor show in Cleveland,” Battson said. “At that time, I was a skeptic, but I said, ‘What about Bigfoot?’ ”
Battson’s skepticism soon faded.
“The more I researched Bigfoot, the more I began to believe.”
Books about Bigfoot were displayed at the library, including what is considered the bible on the subject, “Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us” by John Green.
Also on hand were posters, a footprint cast, recordings of hideous woodland noises and, of course, the famous 30 seconds of 16-millimeter film shot by Roger Patterson in 1967 of a female Bigfoot in Bluff Creek, Calif.
But it might have been Battson’s retelling of anecdotes from eyewitnesses that captivated his audience most.
He spoke of a person who claimed Bigfoot had learned to imitate his voice and would call his Rottweiler by name in an attempt to lure the canine into the woods.
June 9, 2009, was a momentous day regarding Bigfoot.
“I was asked to share my years of research and documentation at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va.,” Battson said. “That was a groundbreaking event, because Fish and Wildlife employees weren’t allowed to utter the word ‘Bigfoot’ before that.”
When nonbelievers ask why Bigfoot hasn’t been captured after all these years, Battson says: “Anthropologists know there are tribes in New Guinea that exist. But those people don’t want to be found.”
Battson said Bigfoot has been sighted in every state but Rhode Island and Hawaii.
A woman from Dyer, wishing to be known only as Margo, slowly raised her hand.
“About four years ago, I was driving on Indiana 35, just north of Indiana 10 in Starke County,” she said. “It was nighttime. I was heading north when something came out of a swampy area from the west. It was huge and walked across the road on two feet.
“I stopped the car in disbelief. I was shaking so badly that my daughter had to drive the rest of the way. I don’t know what it was. That’s why I’m here tonight.”
What to do in Oklahoma on Oct. 23, 2009
Posted by brandy
on October 23, 2009M at 6:31 am
Today’s featured event:
NORMAN – Explore the world of Bigfoot with Oklahoma artist Harvey Pratt, an American Indian artist and forensic artist with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
He will open his new art exhibit “They Walk Among Us – Bigfoot: Bewitched and Bedeviled” from 7 to 10 tonight with an opening reception, book signing and lecture at Tribes 131 Gallery, 131 24 Ave. NW. The exhibit reflects the struggle between Bigfoot believers and nonbelievers.
Pratt has more than 40 years experience interviewing and drawing suspects in criminal cases. He was contacted by Dave Paulides of The North America Bigfoot Search organization to contact reliable witnesses who had first-hand experiences with the elusive creature and to complete witness descriptions drawing of their sightings.
This collaboration turned into a long-term working relationship with Paulides, the author and researcher of the books “The Hoopa Project” and “Tribal Bigfoot.” Pratt’s forensic drawings are included in both books.
During the course of the research, the forensic drawings revealed that the Bigfoot had more human characteristic then previously thought. There also appears to be a strong association between the Bigfoot and the native tribes of North American that had ties to sightings in Asia.
The exhibit will be on display through Nov. 15. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
For more information, go to www.tribes131.com.
Reported Bigfoot sightings in Northern Arizona (click to view video)
[Editor's note: Put your skepticals on... this is Biscardi's Group... - Autumn]
by Jared Dillingham / 3TV
Posted on October 16, 2009 at 6:31 PM
SELIGMAN, ARIZONA — Seligman is the birthplace of historic Route 66, but could it also be the home of Bigfoot? “Java” Bob Smallsback of Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. is in town researching two reported Bigfoot sightings by a Phoenix man who is building a cabin in the area. The sightings reportedly happened on two different occasions over the past two years. Smallsback says he was called in after the most recent sighting and claims he was able to track the creature, finding what he says is a fingernail where the Sasquatch had stubbed his toe on a rock.
Smallsback says a team from Searching for Bigfoot, Inc. will be in Seligman for the next few months in hopes of making contact with the elusive creature.
