Leaderboard

Hello, my interest in bigfoot started years ago as a kid. It went away until I decided to embrace it for real a couple of years ago! I went on a BFRO expedition in New Mexico, and might possibly have had an experience... not exactly sure, but have some great pics. Now I'm in Florida and would love to get in with folks and learn all that I can.

Koko and her sign language is actually quite remarkable. She not only used words in proper context, indicating conceptual understanding, she also would combine two words to express something she didn't already have a word/sign for. She acquired a very substantial vocabulary/lexicon of signs, and could express herself with pretty amazing clarity, especially in her later years. She also taught her offspring. What this says to me is that the cognitive basis for language exists before the physical processes develop. Unless, of course, it was our evolution of grunts and simple name gestures within our social context combined with our ever more upright stance and neck configuration which allowed us more refined control of the sounds we make, leading to defined verbal language, vocabulary and syntax which overshadowed any gesturing except during hunting when silence was needed. Only later would a more comprehensive gestural language be developed. And in this paradigm we humans imparted language to primates long before they had symbolic gestural communications, and that it required us and our pathway to be able to introduce verbal language of any form to them. And in doing so we effectively "violated the prime directive" by altering the course of their natural development. I guess the next stage of the experiment, were it not for contagions, would be to release signing great apes back into wild populations to see if this spread through different groups, and if they would find it an adaptation that betters their chances of survival or expands their capacity for abstraction. It is of interest to note that not only gorillas have learned this, but also chimps and orangutans, so there's some underlying predisposition for language amongst all of us.

In. Terms of objective cognition, the mirror test presents a basic dividing line, finding the spot on your forehead, fine. But realizing you're the one leaving those prints, not to mention even noticing them is a different (higher) level of cognitive awareness. Then there's the awareness you're being tracked/hunted, which is something all sorts of animals display. They know when something's after them if not simply taken by surprise in a direct assault. I would doubt, however, that most realize their tracks contribute to their trail. But those that do make that connection are acting on a higher level. And to actively hide their tracks higher still. However, its akin to a quantum leap of intelligence/cognition to use ones tracks to manipulate your persuer's perception by means of strategic misdirection. That's some crafty forest ninja level of avoidance behavior. That's a being capable of envisioning its hunters mindset and setting "traps" based on what it perceives as your expectational/interpretational set. And THAT is pretty dang clever! Almost frighteningly so.....

I think the best circumstantial evidence was obtained by the Olympic Project.

This is a great point - Bigfoot probably do leave signs, but ... 1) If they live in very remote areas, few people will go there to find those signs. 2) If they dine and dash (graze on plants or pick off animals and then move on), then the evidence won't accumulate in one neat pile. 3) As a large animal, they probably have a large home range, so the bread crumbs are scattered over a very wide area. 4) The largest (credible) group of Bigfoot I've seen reported is 4 at one time, two adults and two juvenile-sized Bigfoot. If they do congregate somewhere, its very far from where humans go. Not arguing with any of the points you made - just want to start fleshing out some common sense (I hope) explanations for when skofftics show up and start saying, "where's the poop, where's the bone piles?"

A BF-related report of such a "find" of bones outside a cave was distributed by Ray Crowe ("keep your skepticals on"). report cited by Oregon Bigfoot. The actual location was clarified to me by Autumn Williams -- it is a few miles from Hemlock Lake. I suppose she either contacted the witness or got more information from Ray. I looked for the site but the mountain is very steep with slowly accumulating rubble below from cliffs / bluffs crumbling above such that the cave must have been covered over. There are other caves in the mountain but, looking uphill above them up the "slide chutes", I think it would be risky crossing to access them with the possibility of having a major rock fall occur while exposed on a very uneven surface with nowhere to take cover.