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Well, there is the pesky problem of knowing what tools bigfoot does or doesn't use. No facts are no facts. I personally ascribe to the notion that necessity is the mother of invention. So there is the question of what causes sasquatch to be brawny. Was it the inability to make tools as a selective pressure towards physical prowess or was the physical prowess always there, and thus precludes the need for tools beyond a stone or club? I think Sas has demonstrated that he's not making many mistakes, and if it was a mere animal it would have been proven long ago. People who can't see the humanity in bigfoot grossly underestimate this creature IMO.

Yes, but only superficially. In one of those photos the subject has the strength of sixteen humans.........and does not construct tools or fire. Something the Homo lineage has been doing for at least 400,000 years. From a anthropological standpoint that is a pretty big knock against Sasquatch belonging to the Homo line. We are not talking about "Uncle Bob" the big poor dumb hobo guy that lives under the bridge somewhere........... Sasquatch doesn't have within his race evidently ANY member that can figure out how to flake obsidian, or make a fish spear, or construct a bow/drill to start a fire, even though for millennia he has supposedly peered out from the shadows watching his "little cousins" do it in a mundane fashion day in and day out. Well gee, many people will say..........."Sasquatch doesn't need such things, he is at one with nature". And I say that is a load of mystical, blunt toking, PacNW hippie hogwash if I have ever heard it. They are right about one thing........he DOESN'T need such things, and the reason being is very simple. The reason is is that he lacks that Homo spark of creativity and ingenuity in his brain that separates us from the rest of our primate cousins. And I'm not talking about modern humans and the computer age.............I'm talking about a lowly 800 cc brain cased Homo Erectus that one day looked appraisingly at a rock and decided to try and flake a hand axe out of it. The hand axe enriched his life and made it easier for him to exist in this harsh world. Something that any INTELLIGENT creature is going to strive for.........a better life for it's children. The rest of the animal kingdom is at peace to do it as it's always been done..........because that's the way it's always been done. Like cattle grazing in a circular fashion in a field. Until the door closes on the niche they are currently occupying and their race blinks out into the fossil record. I'm sorry Vil, I love you and you know that, I just very adamantly reject this line of reasoning that seems to be growing on this site. If anybody would like to step up to the plate and explain to us why Sasquatch is the lone Homo exception to the rule in a scientific fashion? I'm all ears. Next let's seriously talk about this for a minute. You see Sasquatch........you shoot Sasquatch......you call authorities.......they roll up on scene and arrest you because...........why? Because you shot a new species of Homo that shares the same Genus as you? "Sir.........it looks like you have shot some archaic form of human here, so I'm afraid I've got to book you down town!" Sure............that could happen.......right before the Smithsonian and every other scientific institution on the PLANET calls you and offers you an honorary position on their staff with a giant salary and a "please don't forget to bring the body" reminder as well. The mayor would personally let you go ONLY after a publicity stunt that included the town naming a major avenue after you..... Sure.........you'd get death threats.........from bunny huggers......the same bunny huggers that don't have the heart to kill BUNNIES! They would pool their money together, buy a pistol, draw straws on who would cap you, try to figure out how the bullet thingys load into pistol, start talking about your mother's anguish, cry, hold hands, hug..........and then drop the whole thing altogether. With several stern angry protest letters........of course. Mean while the whole planet would be turned on it's head. This would be the biggest event of human history minus alien first contact. We would still be alone in the universe.......but we would no longer be alone on the planet! How many are there? Do they need our assistance? Did we screw up with that giant timber sale? How bout that dam project? So forth and so on. In fact it would be such a mania effect.........the method of HOW the species was revealed to science would quickly become a foot note in history. Meanwhile you are put on a token trial in which you claim you thought it was a hairy bear.........charging.........with foaming fangs.......and you shot only to stop it from tearing you limb from limb (while sobbing hysterically) and that would be the end of that. The end.

Many animals that do not use tools have managed to pass the "mirror test" (http://en.wikipedia....iki/Mirror_test) of self-awareness, and I would bet that Sasquatch would, too. Although it may not be sufficient to label that something a "someone", it is strong evidence. The fact is that we know little to nothing about the cognitive contents of most animals. Those contents could be completely inscrutable to human beings, but that does not mean that they do not have value. Wittgenstein famously said that if a lion could talk [in a human language], we would still not be able to understand it. That does not mean that such an animal does not share in consciousness to some degree. IMO humans disregard the intelligence of animals for their own purposes. It's only recently that people have accepted the tool use of chimpanzees and gorillas. If you'd suggested this in 1898, scientists would probably laugh at you. (It's completely unethical to kill either of those, too.) So, I agree with posters above who've stated that killing a Bigfoot for no reason would be unethical. It's questionable at best, given its behavior, and shouldn't one err on the side of caution? edit: I'm going to go hug my cat now.