>> Editor's Note:

April's come and gone and the April wrapup newsletter is here! What's new at Oregonbigfoot.com, you ask? I've uploaded the final three Snohomish recordings to the members' section and there are new reports in the recent reports section for non-members. Once again, take note of the information on upcoming conferences (I'll be speaking at the Bellingham conference AT THE END OF THE MONTH, so come by and introduce yourself!).

Preparations for the month-long field expedition are going well, considering it's only about a month away. Donations are still desperately needed, no matter how large or small (even $10 would help... If everyone who receives this monthly newsletter would find it in their hearts to donate a measly $10, we'd be able to make the MOST of this. See? I'm not too proud to beg! <grin> If you don't have a PayPal account to donate with, you may email me for a snail mail address...)

I've got the opportunity to set up SIX remote video camera traps (color during the day, B/W infrared at night), but am having a difficult time coming up with the funding for some crucial pieces of equipment to make those happen. I'd LOVE to set up a webcam while we're out there so that you folks back home can monitor one of the bait stations... I'd also be able to give live updates via the web, but to do so, we'll need a DirecWay satellite internet system. If you or someone you know has a DirecWay that is not being used, or you'd like to sponsor the webcam project, please let us know.

IF YOU'RE NOT DEAD OR HIDING UNDER A ROCK SOMEWHERE, you've probably caught wind of the puported footage recorded April 16, 2005 by a ferryboat driver in Manitoba. The videographer, Bobby Clark, kept his camera with him after working the night shift and hearing eerie screams. The footage was recorded at approximately 250 yards and, while shaky, apparently shows a huge dark creature standing in the water. No facial details are reported to have been recorded. The family was inundated by calls from researchers and news media and apparently held out for the highest bidder. The footage has been reported to have been licensed by "A Current Affair" for six figures.

Over the years, I've seen footage and photographs come and go. It usually begins with a flurry of speculation and excitement within the bigfoot community and ends in disappointment. I have mixed feelings about it, as usual. Like the Memorial Day/Paul Freeman/Redwoods footage or the Myakka Skunk Ape photos, it DOES serve to get the topic some publicity and likely results in some water-cooler chat at the office from those who might otherwise never think about the Bigfoot phenomenon. On the other hand, blurry footage and photographs serve to afford skeptics and critics further ammunition - and so the debate over Sasquaches' existence rages on.

A Current Affair" on FOX is said to be airing the footage soon. Check your local listings or click here.

RELATED ARTICLES:
The Edmonton Sun
Bigfoot' tape thrills northern community
Newswatch50.com: 6:30 AM News Update - Bigfoot Sighting In Canada

RELATED PHOTO:
Arial View of Sighting Area

RELATED AUDIO:
CBC's Marilyn Maki talks to Michelle Barrow, a Manitoban Sasquatch researcher

RELATED VIDEO:
Canadian Discovery Channel
CBC news story

SASQUATCH RESEARCH CONFERENCE - Bellingham, WA

SPEAKERS:

For more information and pre-registration, visit: http://www.sasquatchresearch.com/src.html
or contact Jason Valenti at jason@sasquatchresearch.com

17TH ANNUAL BIGFOOT CONFERENCE/EXPO - Cambridge, OH

Date: May 7th, 2005
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Location: Salt Fork State Park near Cambridge, Ohio
Admission: Free

SPEAKERS:
Larry Lund
Ron Schaffner
Eric Altman
Dr. Paul Johnson
Joedy Cook

For more information, visit:http://www.angelfire.com/oh/ohiobigfoot/abc.htm

Data Analysis: What do Bigfoot creatures eat?

Like most animals, including the human animal, Bigfoot is likely an opportunistic feeder and will eat what is readily available. Reports that include eating habits also indicate that they are omnivourous. I recently culled available reports for eyewitness reports of creatures eating (these are only reports of creatures seen eating - they do not include secondary reports of creatures STEALING food items). Here's what I found:

FISH:
1869 - IOWA: Saw ugly, sandy-haired 'wild boy' eating fish in river
1947 - CA: While fishing, saw 2 smelly Bigfeet walking along river bank eating fish and reeds
1978 - LA: Saw 'big ape' eating minnows from stream.
1994 - AK: Saw huge human-like hairy animal sitting in the snow eating fish

DEER:
1885 - OR: Hunters saw hairy 'man' eating deer flesh.

BERRIES:
1915 - BC: Prospectors watched Bigfoot eating berries
1933 - BC: Saw Bigfoot through field glasses, eating berries
1974 - BC: Creature seen eating Saskatoon berries

LEAVES/PLANTS:
1955 - BC: Watched female Bigfoot eating leaves at a distance of 20 ft
1968 - OR: Watched female Bigfoot eating willow leaves.
1969 - WA: Bigfoot seen digging ferns out of knee-deep snow and eating the roots
1974 - BC: Two figures seen going from one small jack pine to another, picking and eating the needle tips of the branches
1996 - WA: The creature was observed through binoculars at a distance of 90 feet, eating yellow wood violets

RODENTS:
1967 - OR: Watched 2 adult and a young Bigfoot eating rodents.
1998 - MI: Creature seen eating squirrel or a rabbit

ROADKILL/CARRION:
1968 - NM: Bigfoot with long black wavy fur eating an animal killed on the road
1980 - IA: Railroad engineer on train saw strange creature on all fours eating carcass
1990's - NV: Creature seen scraping up and eating something with black feathers off of the highway.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE:
1973 - NM: Creature seen eating apples in orchard
1974 -IA: Saw Bigfoot only 3'/2 ft tall eating tomatoes in her garden; footprints found
1975 - MS: Creature squatting down eating the vegetables from the plants in garden.
1977 - SD: Saw two Bigfeet in cornfield eating corn
1978 - NC: saw 'Knobby' eating soybean crop in field

GARBAGE:
1974 - GA: 8-ft Bigfoot seen eating out of rubbish bins in the early morning
1977 - OK: Creature seen eating garbage

As is evident from these accounts, the Lakota and Dakota Sioux see Chiye-tanka as a spiritual being, appearing in times of trouble, possibly to warn the people of the potential damage that could come from their misguided ways.

Within the majority of Native American tribes, the existence of Bigfoot is taken for granted, as are his powerful psychic abilities. Many of the stories contained within Native American folklore claim that Bigfoot knows when humans are searching for him and that he chooses when and to whom to make an appearance, and that his psychic powers account for his ability to elude man's efforts to capture him or hunt him down. In Native American culture, the entire natural world -- the animals, the plants, the rivers, the stars -- is seen as a family. And Bigfoot is seen as one of our close relatives, the "great elder brother."

Resources:
Sasquatch and Native Americans
The Bigfoot

FILMING THE ELUSIVE BLURFOOT...

"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, because there's a large, out of focus monster roaming the countryside. Run. He's fuzzy. Get out of here."- The Late Comedian Mitch Hedberg

In all seriousness, why ARE Bigfoot photographs and videos so often blurry and out of focus? And why are there so few pieces of footage when every Tom, Dick and Harry owns a Sony Handycam?

Let's assume for a moment that you're driving down a forested road, that you happen to be at the right spot at the right moment, and that you have your video camera sitting on the seat next to you. It's dark out and your headlights illuminate the road ahead of you. Suddenly, a large figure crosses the road.

Count with me... one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three...

From the onset, your mind begins to attempt to place that figure within a known category. "Whoa, what's that? A guy? A bear? On it's hind legs? No way... a guy in a fur suit? A gorilla? What the...?!" By the time your mind opens far enough to allow for what you MIGHT be seeing, you're 300 yards down the road, hitting your brakes and peering into the red glow in your rearview mirror. Your trusty Sony Handycam sits, useless, on the seat beside you.

How prepared were they?

In the case of the Patterson/Gimlin film, Roger Patterson was LOOKING for bigfoot. While his 16mm camera was in his pack, he had presumably prepared himself mentally for that very moment and, not being a professional filmographer, did a remarkable job getting the camera out and getting what footage he did.

As for the Freeman footage, Freeman was trying to obtain video evidence of creatures he believed lived in the Blue Mountains and had his video camera running: he was photographing tracks in the dirt when he spotted the creature.

Now let's look at the Memorial Day, Marble Mountain and Redwoods footages: in all three cases, the videographers were simply "in the right place at the right time" and were using a video camera for other purposes. Presumably, if these footages were authentic and not hoaxed (some have their doubts, particularly about the Redwoods film), Sasquatch was the last thing on the minds of the camera operators.

Having a video camera IN HAND, whether you're looking for Saquatch or not, appears to be the key to getting the footage.

Soft Evidence

Blurry photographs and video don't consitute hard proof of bigfoot's existence. Period. They are, at best, soft evidence. But will ANY photographic evidence do?

There are a couple of things to consider here... first of all, with the advent of digital image manipulation, CGI, etc., industrious induviduals have the capacity to hoax some very compelling images. Secondly, images don't tell us the species/genus of the creature we're dealing with, or where they may fall on the human/pongid family tree. Only DNA can do that.

But attempting to acquire good, clear video or photographic evidence may not be entirely in vain. What good, clear images CAN do is interest the science and academia to the point that a fully-funded research project can get under way.

Autumn Williams
April, 2005