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A while back I offered the opinion that bigfoot are the (surviving) megafauna member of the hominid family. We've also discussed how hominid lung capacity increases with height and ribcage depth such that a human with a six inch longer torso has the advantage of better than a 50% increase in lung tidal volume. I've also been noting with interest the increasing number of reported finds of submerged ice age settlements around the world. Along with this, the recent discussion of large skeletons found in Midwestern mounds during the 1800's has set me to musing. My intent here is to make as few assertions as possible. What I want to do is throw out some raw thoughts and opinions and seek opinions from other members regarding their perceptions. I've seen both bigfoot (in and near the Sierras) and large skeletons (of the Si-Teh-Cah on display in the Mark Twain Museum in the late 60's and 70's). They did not appear to be the same species. The Si-Teh-Cah skeletons, though tall, were not as robust or barrel-chested as the bigfoot I have observed. I find it difficult to correlate them to the same species. In addition, the Si-Teh-Cah skeletons were displayed with artifacts from the cave in which they were discovered (not the Lovelock Cave in this case, but from a cave near Walker Lake, about 100 miles South of Lovelock). The artifacts included stone implements, atlatls, and rough textiles (similar in appearance to poor quality burlap). So I do not believe that bigfoot and the race that produced the large skeletons found in Nevada or in the Midwestern mounds are the same species. They seemed to me to be both physically and culturally different. I do believe that the Si-Teh-Cah and the skeletons from the mounds are from the same race. If not, then there would have to be two such races, and that is too much of a stretch for me. So why would two species of hominid, both larger than modern humans evolve? And why would one apparently survive to this day, while the other has apparently gone extinct? So some speculation. I think it is reasonable to say that both species existed and possibly arose during the last ice age. What about the conditions then might have supported the larger size as an advantage, but also made it possible for large size to be achieved? Then what difference between the two large hominid species that made the difference in their fates? It must all come down to science in the end, so I got to looking at the environmental factors. I think it's all about oxygen. During the ice age, sea levels were estimated to be 400 feet lower. At sea level, the air pressure is greater, which means that there are more oxygen atoms packed into every liter of air that you breathe. Now take this four hundred feet lower than today's sea level. The concentration of oxygen would be even denser (footnote: the graph showing the relationship between air pressure and altitude is not linear, it has a shallow slope at high elevations and a steep slope at low elevations, meaning that the lower you go, the faster air pressure increases). Now on top of this, the air was cooler on the average back then. Cooler air is also denser than warmer air. This provides a second effect that would increase the density of air and increase the concentration of oxygen in the air. We should also take into account that the air pressure vs. altitude graph we use today is based on temperatures common today. I'm not sure how the graph would look exactly if calculated using lower temperatures, but cooler, denser air suggests that the slope would approach the vertical even faster than it does at today's temperatures. There is a possible third effect, but I haven't had the chance to explore it yet. Nitrogen is lighter than oxygen, weighing seven eighths as much as oxygen. We all know that the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen in the air at sea level today is 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen, but would it be the same at air pressures and densities caused by 400 foot lower elevations and ice age temperatures? Probably not. The lighter nitrogen would probably have a lower percentage than 78%, and the heavier oxygen would probably have a higher percentage than 21%. So three different effects would lead toward more oxygen available in every breath, all day long for hominids living back then, throughout their entire lives. So what effect would this have? I recall having once heard, and haven't yet verified, that Jacques Cousteau once cut himself to the bone while living in an underwater habitat and that the wound healed in an astonishingly short amount of time because of the increased air pressure and oxygen concentration in the habitat. So I decided to look into Hyperbaric medicine to see if this might be true. I found that hyperbaric medicine (placing people in pressurized capsules with high oxygen concentrations) is now routinely used to treat burns and to treat necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria), so whether or not the Cousteau story is true, there does appear to be some benefit associated with increased oxygen pressure and healing. I also found that at Wake Forest University they are exploring the use of hyperbaric treatments to increase health and longevity. They claim that increased oxygenation improves both the health and function of stem cells, allowing them to keep the body healthier and make it more resistant to disease. They believe that by placing people in a hyperbaric chamber a few hours a week at pressures 66% higher than normal they might be able to live as long as 120 or 130 years. Wow, right? But think of this. During the ice age people lived in what may have been fifteen to twenty percent higher oxygen concentrations their entire lives. What does that mean? Here come the maybe's. Maybe the evolution of megafauna wasn't simply because bigger bodies (higher body volume to body surface ratio) made it easier to conserve heat. This may have helped from a natural selection process, but perhaps healthier and better functioning stem cells made it biologically possible to grow larger. Maybe, this mechanism led to the evolution of robust hominids the size of bigfoot. Maybe this mechanism led to the evolution of a taller, less robust, race of people like the Si-Teh-Cah. Maybe the larger lung capacity of the bigfoot was sufficient to sustain their modern size and mass (heck, for all we know they were once twelve feet tall, for all we know some still are based on reports, and some do believe that the average size of the local bigfoot is smaller the further South you go). Maybe, the Si-Teh-Cah, even with larger lung capacity than a modern human, simply didn't have enough capacity to sustain the size and health of their larger, but less robust, bodies without the benefit of denser oxygen concentrations. And maybe there's something to the lore about long-lived standard sized humans. Living at ice age sea level, but in warmer regions, perhaps they did live for hundreds of years due to better oxygenation and healthier stem cell function.

^^^^^^^This exactly! Sunflower, save your "bait" for habituating sites. Perhaps you should go back and actually read what has transpired rather than having a knee-jerk reaction. At no point did I take a swipe at Nathan. In fact, to the contrary, I clearly stated in post #1229 regarding his posts: "Overall, I am prone to agree with those statements, albeit with small reservations. Specifically, I'm not aware of reports on monkeys deliberately hopping trains to go places...conceivable I suppose, but if so, I seriously doubt they have a destination in mind." By no stretch of the imagination can this be construed as a "swipe." In fact, nowhere on this thread has Nathan even stated anything about BF riding trains other than in post #1216: "Sasquatch most likely do not regularly do this but I can see how it could happen." All he has offered is observations on other KNOWN primate behavior which is certainly valid grist for the mill. Nathan is hardly a 12 year old defenseless child, and he strikes me as a quite capable and inquisitive young adult who needs no rescuing as determined by yourself. My guess is that were you to be entirely honest about the situation, what really galls you is that I don't subscribe to the fanciful notion of BF riding trains and other outlandish claims. Not that many will pay heed, but how about we prove the species exists before we start spewing fanciful "facts"? I don't care how many videos you turn up of birds riding bottle caps or trains...that still, no matter how much you want to imagine, ponder, wishful think, or conjure doesn't prove your point. Nor does it make CLAIMS of BF riding trains true. You and others may believe those stories to be true which is your perogative, but many of us believe them to be silly campsire stories until solid documentation is provided to back them up. At the point that proof is delivered, I will gladly recant my position. Until that is provided, this is the only sensible position to have. Without question certain primates are capable of stunning feats. The story of a baboon known as "Jack the Signalman" is a perfect example. Not only did he push his legless owner around on a rail cart, pick up trash, and sweep the floors; but he was able to route trains through a trainyard by listening to signals and operating switches. This hardly however, translates to other primates doing the same. Particularly one which is unproven, uncaptured, unstudied, and undocumented. I suppose next now I will be reading eyewitness accounts of BF driving trains, and why not? As DWA alludes to in the previous post, with the line of reasoning exhibited by many here, the only boundaries of BF capabilities are our inferior human minds.

OK, Chelefoot, I finally found the report I believe you wanted to see. It's a long one. ***************** The RFP Research Project (RFPRP) - Report of Multiple Encounters Date Report Submitted to the RFPRP: The initial oral report was received at the site on October 24th & 25th, 2006. On November 18th, 2006 the writer received from a family member a handwritten document and copies of a few of the numerous photographs the family has taken of tracks they have found on their property over the years. Family members, relatives and neighbors provided additional details by telephone at various times prior to the publication of this report. Date of Encounters: Various encounters from about 1969 to about 2004. Time of Incident: Mostly daylight sightings, some at night. Weather Conditions: Various. State: Alabama County: The county is in the Northwest portion of the State. Nearest City or Town: Not disclosed. (The events described below have become public knowledge in the local area over the years and the property owners have been troubled by large numbers of people coming into the area and onto the property hoping to kill or get a glimpse of one of the creatures. The problem became so acute that the owners were forced to restrict entry to the properties.) Location: Not disclosed. Nearest highway or road: Not disclosed. General Land Use Description: Farming and poultry production. General Terrain Description: Rolling hills with bluffs along the creeks. Nearest Lakes or Streams: A large spring fed creek adjoins some of the family property, and the creek empties into a large man-made lake a few miles from the site. Witness Profiles: The man and his wife are approximately 70 years old now. They have six children; five daughters and one son, the oldest in her late 40s. Both the parents and all of the children have seen one or more of the animals at various times and under various conditions. The oldest daughter who still lives in the immediate vicinity has a son who is now 17 and a student. He has seen and encountered the animals on several occasions. Mature neighbors have also seen the animals. Background Information: About 1958 the family began a small poultry farming operation in Northwest Alabama. The single chicken house is behind their present home, although for about 12 years they lived about 3/4 mile from the chicken house and they raised chickens in that same building. There is a small fenced pasture behind the chicken house that has a small tree-lined branch passing through it. That branch discharges into the large creek about a mile from the house. The extended family has other parcels of adjoining land. A family member who lives out of state has one large parcel that adjoins the large creek on one side, and the creek actually cuts through one corner of that property. The witnesses oversee that property, and several years ago about 25 acres of that land was cleared for hay production. The family refers to that land as "the bottoms", although the hay field appears to be about 100 feet above the creek. The creek bottom itself is very dense with very large timber, brush and vines. Across the creek are numerous limestone and sandstone bluffs, some with overhangs and, reportedly, some caves upstream. The creek itself is wide and deep in places and reportedly contains abundant fish, and is noted for its population of large catfish. Beginning when the family lived away from the poultry house the children helped in caring for the chickens. Before they moved to the house which is on the same property as the chicken house, the children initially were allowed to walk alone to the chicken house to do their chores. Summary: This family's experiences, and the experiences of relatives, neighbors and one visitor, over a period of more than 30 years are unique. Based on their statements, and on vivid face-to-face descriptions, and on the numerous clearly detailed photographs of tracks made on the property, there are compelling reasons to believe that these people are credible, and their accounts of somewhat routine encounters with enigmatic primates are factual. What makes their experiences even more unique and interesting is that while there appears to have been a small family group of animals that either resided or foraged through the area which completely fit the generally accepted description of the reclusive forest primate called "Bigfoot", it appears there was also a different type of primate that traveled with, or followed the Bigfoot troupe. According to the witnesses, that "different" primate was larger than a human, had black hair, walked on two feet, had arms that appeared to be somewhat short and/or deformed. The animal's head appeared to have been injured or deformed as its eyes were unevenly spaced vertically and there was a scar across its nose and part of the face. There was some exposed skin on the face and it was a "dirty grey" color. Its face as a whole looked somewhat like a monkey, although its nose was said to be shaped more like a human's than a monkey's. The animal was also said to have a sickening odor at all times. Some of the numerous tracks seen, photographed and cast by the witnesses indicate there were small, immature animals of both types in the group -or at least following the same pathways. It should be clearly noted that at no time were the immature animals indicated by the tracks actually seen by the family, although one smaller animal was seen by a neighbor. The entire history of the family's association with the animals is more suitable for a book than a report such as that normally posted here. The family is considering writing such a book, and the writer has encouraged them to do so. Written Accounts Submitted by Witness: One family member, the oldest daughter, agreed to write a brief account of her own experiences with the animals to be included in this report. That account was received on November 18, 2006, and it is recorded verbatim below, except for the deletion of names of individuals and specific locations. "Sorry this took so long, my boys play sports, we coach and do books for the school. I'll try to start from the beginning, around 1969. We were picking peas with my Grandmother, my sister xxxxxx needed to use the bathroom. We were not close to the house so she went to the cornfield which was next to the pea patch. What happened next was the start of our childhood fears. Xxxxxx came back from the cornfield with her pants around her ankles saying something big and black was in there. The rest of us did not see this. We went and looked but it was well gone or hiding very well. From this time on we started to notice a bad smell when it was around. We also could hear it whistle. One time when it came up to the house it let out a very low (base), very loud roar. (Not sure how to tell you the sound it made.) Kind of like a bear sound. I never did see this thing face to face. Only the back. I just know it was tall and black. My sisters xxxxxx, xxxxx, and xxxxxxx saw this thing many times face to face along with my brother xxxxx. It seemed to always know when we were outside alone. We have a lot of woods around here. My family owns over 200 acres here with a log company owning the timber of at least 300-400 acres around us. So you see it has a lot of woods to call home. My parent raised chickens when we were small. This was a place it was seen a lot. Xxxxxx had one of them to try and reach out for her. She pulled back and it scratched her arm and ripped her shirt arm off. My sister xxxxx had it try and talk to her at one time. It tried many time to get her to understand them. Them I mean by at least one black and one a reddish color. My Dad took us to the zoo (B'ham AL) to see if we could find anything there that looked like what we saw. Every cage we went up to , he would say, "Did it look like this?". Every time they would say no. The one my family saw when we were young is not the one my son xxxx saw about two years ago. The reason I know this is my sister would say it had one eye up higher than the other with not so long arms. My son said it was 8' - 10' tall with long arms, not as much hair on the face but thick oily hair on its body. Everyone always talks about the bad smell. If you want to know more about it you will have to talk to my brother, sisters or my son. This thing has not only been seen in our woods, it has come up to our chicken house and our home. At times it came right up to my sisters' window, face to face. You have to be over 6' tall for this to be possible. This happens at night, not real late, somewhere around 9 - 11 maybe. I felt many times when we went to the woods something was watching us. Trust your feelings if you think you need to run, do it. We learned fast to scream and run. Little did we know how fast this thing can run. My Dad tried many times to get there fast enough to see it face to face but it never happened. One time he tracked it for a long way and never did see it. (Investigator's note: The father did see the animal, but not "face-to-face"). We thought at one time when we got older that it was not around any more but about 5 years ago here it comes again! This time my child was seeing it. He was around 12 or 13 the first time he saw it and hearing it along with the smell. (At first) he said, "Mom I think something was in the woods with us (he and a friend). I smelled something that was bad." Well I knew right away. He came to fear being in the woods as we did as children. It seems to pick out people it wants to be around - children. Back in the early 70s it seemed the whole world was coming with guns and dogs to track the things down. When we first started telling people they came. Night and day they came, young and old to hunt for it. Even the cops came. The local paper even did a story about this. Me and my family will help you any way to find out what this is. We are just happy someone really believes us finally." Other Witness Accounts- Summarized: Although family members have tried to establish the dates as closely as possible, some of the dates in this report are approximate, and the sequences of events may not be in chronological order. The large black animal was the most often seen because it appeared to try to play, communicate or otherwise interact with the children when they were outside during the day time. It also came to the window of the room in which three of the girls slept. This animal was quickly give the name "The Black Thing", simply because of its color and the fact none of the family could identify it. The family tried to obtain outside assistance in identifying these animals and evaluating the possible danger to the family from having them on the property. According to family members, a local newspaper wrote an article about the situation, the county sheriff's office sent deputies to look into the matter (which was reportedly a very superficial look), at least three "Bigfoot Investigators" came to the scene, and eventually, after the affair became public knowledge in the area, the place was overrun with curious people and hunters. All of the plaster of Paris castings made by the family were reportedly taken "for examination" and for safe return by the "Bigfoot Investigators", but the owner reported he never saw the casts again. Because the animal was only seen by the children the first few times, the parents were not sure that what they had seen was not a bear or some other native animal. After the animal reportedly approached the children at play a few times, it grabbed the shirt sleeve of one of the girls on one occasion, and tore the sleeve and scratched the girl when she pulled away from it. Although the family did not believe the animal ever tried to hurt the children, but simply wanted to play with them, the father began carrying a high-powered rifle with him when he and the children were outside after the animal touched the child. A few days later the father saw the animal for the first time while the children were cleaning the chickens' water containers. They were loudly laughing and having fun with their tasks. At the time the father was working on a well pump about 75 yards away. The "Black Thing" appeared and began approaching the children with its arms extended while it was "jabbering" constantly. The kids began to scream and run toward their father. When he heard the children screaming he grabbed his rifle and started toward them. From his position, he only saw the animal's head at first, then he saw the animal cross the fence into the pasture. He yelled and gave chase. The man jumped the fence and started running to attempt to get a clear shot at the animal, but he stated the animal was running at such an unbelievable speed that it disappeared into the thickets along the small branch before he could get a bead on it. Later the father saw a large hirsute bipedal animals while he was doing bush-hogging on the hay fields. The first time the animal was standing just inside the field on the opposite side. As the man circled the field on the tractor, the animal would step out of sight into the woods when the man and machine came within about 100 yards of it. He said the animal was a different colored creature than the black one. He said that animal was a lot taller and its hair was brown. He said it was standing upright, and he estimated its height to be about 7 or 8 feet. On another occasion when he was driving a tractor down the narrow road to "the bottoms" an animal that appeared to be the same one that watched him at work earlier crossed the road in front of the tractor. He stated that animal was running at a speed faster than anything he had ever seen. On the old sandy road leading to that hayfield and the creek, the father often saw tracks crossing the road in the same general location, and he photographed, measured and cast them on different occasions. On one such occasion while he was studying the tracks, he smelled one of the animals close by, and turned to see it watching him from the wood line about 100 yards away. The family's only son saw the "Black Thing" many times, and some encounters were too close he thought. About dusky dark one day during the early winter of 1971 the boy, who was 8 years old at the time, was working alone at the chicken house. He was cleaning the clinkers out of a coal-fired stove used to heat chicken house. He was using a large metal poker to break up the clinkers, and had the poker in his hand when he went outside to get a bucket of coal. Outside he smelled a strong odor of rotten meat mixed with a sulfur smell. He looked around and heard a low growling moan. Then he saw the "Black Thing" standing behind the coal pile. At that time the animal was only 5 or 6 feet from him. He yelled at the animal and drew the poker back as if to strike it, and the animal darted around the corner of the chicken house and out of sight. Some time later the chickens were removed from the chicken house and the boy and two of his sisters were playing outside the chicken house when the "Black Thing" came around the corner of the building with its arms outstretched. The animal was "jabbering" constantly and acted as if it wanted to play with the children. The kids fled from the animal and it apparently left. On another occasion the mother and some of the children were picking corn and loading it in a pickup truck. As the mother drove slowly along the corn rows, the children were picking and throwing the corn into the truck. Again the kids were talking and laughing loudly. The "Black Thing" suddenly appeared in the corn rows near the truck. The children screamed and ran to the truck and jumped into the bed. Once on the truck they yelled for the mother to drive off, but she said she wanted to see the "thing" and stepped out of the truck for a few seconds. Because the kids were terrified and screaming, she got back in and drove to the house without seeing the animal. The mother stated she had only seen the animal once, and it was running away from her at the time. Her sighting occurred when the animal approached the children at play. She was not sure when she had seen it because the animal approached the children at play several times. She said that on most of those occasions, the children simply ran to the house and the animal left. Some of the children stated they had smelled the "Black Thing" many times when they could not see it. These incidents usually took place when the kids were playing in the woods, or when the children were in the corn field for any reason. One of the younger daughters was both terrified and intrigued by the "Black Thing." When the animal approached her and the other children at work or at play, she would "freeze" while the others ran away. In most cases, the animal would approach her with its apparently deformed arms waving and emitting quick "jabbering" sounds. Before she regained her composure and ran, she had a very close-up view of the animal on several occasions. The same thing happened when the "Black Thing" came to the window of the bedroom the girl shared with two of her sisters. When the animal was at the window, and unnoticed by the girls, it would scratch on the screen to get their attention. The other two girls would immediately flee toward their parents' bedroom shouting. "The black thing, the black thing!" The younger girl would often remain staring at the animal until it left, which was usually within a few seconds. When this particular daughter was a little older, she began to put out food for the animal near the pasture fence. There was a barrel there which was turned upside down, and the girl would shell corn or bring other food and place it on the up-turned bottom. While doing so she would whistle in short bursts, and often the animal would answer with whistles of it own. It would never come into view while she was there, but within a few minutes after she left, the food would disappear. Several times during the summer months, when the field corn was in the "roasting ear" stage of maturity, the family would find where ears of corn had been "shucked", and the kernels eaten off the cob as if done by a human. At times there would be impressions left in the ground to show where one of the animals had rested as it fed on the corn. An older woman, now deceased, who lived nearby told her family that she had seen one of the animals in one of the nearby corn patches during that time of year. The family's encounters with the animals continued until the children grew up and quit played outside as often as before. The family believed the animals left the area about that time. The oldest daughter, who lives near the parent's property, has a son who is now 17. At about the time the boy was 11 or 12 years old he and a friend were walking in the woods behind his home and stopped beside a small pond. From the other side of the pond they heard a loud, deep whistling sound and they stopped. Shortly thereafter from the same area they smelled a rank odor and heard "a really deep growling sound." They both turned and ran to the boy's home. When they told the boy's mother what had happened, she told them the "Black Thing" had probably returned. When the boy was 13 or 14 years old, he and a friend were hunting deer in the area. They had placed two lawn chairs on a flat rock outcrop alongside the top of a hollow. From the chairs they were able to see into the hollow and see the side of the ridge across the hollow. While sitting there they noticed a "huge", dark brown hair covered animal walking on two feet on the hillside across the hollow. They said the animal was walking parallel to the hollow and taking long strides, with its long arms swinging in long arcs. It was walking in a slightly stooped position, and the hands were at, or slightly below the knees. The boys were astounded at the animal's size, and the primary witness stated it was massive through the chest, shoulders and back. (At all times they had only a side view of the animal.) The animal appeared to be at least 8 feet tall, and never looked toward the boys. The primary witness stated he was carrying a .30-.30 Marlin lever action rifle with a Simmons Whitetail scope. He lifted the gun to try to observe the animal through the scope, but said he was shaking so badly that he could not view the animal through it. The animals soon walked out of their sight, and the boys left. This boy's most frightening encounter with one of the animals came when he and a friend were camping on the bank of the large creek during the summertime. About midnight, while both were sleeping in separate hammocks, the primary witness awoke needing to urinate. In the flickering light of the campfire he walked 5 or 10 yards from his hammock and began to relieve himself. While doing so he began to smell a putrid odor and immediately heard something walking in the leaves close behind him. He turned quickly and was terrified to see one of the animals standing between him and his friend's hammock. From the light of the campfire, which was to his left, he could see the animal was very dark colored, and that its hair was "oily looking" in the firelight. The boy tried to scream to alert his friend, but was unable to make a sound. In a panic he darted into the woods, intending to run home for help. In the darkness, barefoot, without a shirt or light, he became lost, but continued to run until he was exhausted. He fell over a log, and remained on the ground beside it to rest and catch his breath. He could hear something moving in the brush around him, but he remained behind the log for several minutes hoping the animal making the sounds would go away. When the sounds got closer, he bolted from behind the log and continued running. In a few more minutes he ran onto a road which he recognized, and he followed the road to the home of a neighbor. He jumped a cattle fence and ran to the door of the home, beating on the door until it was opened by the home owner. He told the man what had happened, and the man drove him home. (The neighbor was contacted by telephone by the writer, and he confirmed the boy's story. In addition, the neighbor stated that when he drove back into the yard of his home, the vehicle's lights briefly illuminated a very large and dark form retreating into the woods from behind the fence the boy had jumped over.) Shortly after the boy arrived at his home, the friend that he had left behind at the campsite drove to the house on his four-wheeler and berated him for running off and leaving him alone. The boy explained why he had left, why he had been unable to alert him, and showed the friend the cuts and scratches he had received all over his body during his flight. The next morning the boys and the father of the primary witness went to the campsite where they found the primary witnesses' hammock in shreds, his shirt thrown on the ground away from the camp, and large human-like barefoot tracks beside both hammocks. Prior to the above described encounter the boy and other friends had camped along the creek several times when they would be kept awake by the sounds of sticks being beaten against trees. They had no idea at the time what was making the sounds. At other times at night the boys would hear loud, human-like screams that they assumed were panthers, because they had been told by others that panthers made such sounds. On one occasion during the day time, the boys heard loud and deep "barking-like" sounds that soon ending in short howls. The boys stated the sounds were in no way like those made by canines. One day in 1982 a woman who lives near the family walked into her back yard with her 14 year old granddaughter at dusk. The weather was clear. She said that when she looked toward a "burn barrel" which was near the wood line and a thick patch of kudzu vines, both saw a black animal standing on two feet beside the barrel, and looking into the opening. The animal was sideways to the barrel, and it was only about 1 foot taller than the barrel. The animal was facing away from the witnesses, but apparently detected their presence, and ran quickly on two feet into the woods and vines. The woman was certain the animal was not a bear. One summer about the same year, the woman was picking blackberries around the edge of the woods near her home. She was accompanied by her small dog. As she walked across a small grass covered opening and approached the edge of a dense pine thicket, the dog began to act very nervous and became hesitant to go any closer to the thicket. As the woman neared the thicket she noticed a large fresh animal bed in the grass just inside the edge of the thicket. She saw the bed was much larger than that made by a deer, and out of curiosity, she stopped to examine it. The dog nervously approached the bed, took a brief sniff and began staring into the thicket. The dog suddenly turned and ran toward the house, but stopped several yards away. The woman then realized the dog was trying to warn her of something, and she left the area quickly. About two years ago a friend of the father drove from Birmingham drove to visit and to hunt on the family property. After spending some time with the family, he drove his small truck down the old road and hunted awhile along the creek and hay field. Later the father was in the yard and heard the small truck coming toward the house at breakneck speed. The hunter sped into the yard, got out of the truck while loudly cursing and waving his arms. The father asked the man what was wrong and the man loudly exclaimed he was never going to hunt on this place again. The hunter said that as he got into his truck to leave the "bottoms", a huge, hair-covered animal ran out of the woods on two feet and passed just in front of the truck. The man repeatedly said the animal was massive in size, and that he believed the animal had deliberately tried to scare or intimidate him. According to the father, the man had hunted the land before, but he never again returned to hunt. The incident was amusing to the father because the friend had never really believed the family when they told him about the animals being in the area. Photos or Drawings Made?: Some of the numerous photos made by the family of tracks found at various times are included with this report. Description of Related Sounds: As described above. Description of Related Scents / Odors: As described above. Investigator's Comments: The information contained in this report is believed to be factual and as chronologically accurate as could be expected when considering the time span and the number of witnesses involved. ****************************************************************************** Report received and recorded by: Tal H. Branco, Field Researcher/Investigator, The RFP Research Project

Hi All, A friend of mine Jim Vieira has been investigated this for 20 years. He was at our BF conference in GA this past January and his knowledge of the subject is amazing. I have seen a couple of posts in this thread regarding him. I will ask and see of he would like to come here and elaborate or take questions. Also, another friend of mine, Ron Morehead of Sierra Sounds fame has been working on a documentary in Peru regarding the ancient people and Giants there. KB