Rudimentary Tool Use?

[clubbedfoot]

^^^was waiting for you to say that a no-head stole your Zebco 202---I wouldn't expect them to have the dexterity for a open-face reel let alone a bait casting reel...all kidding aside that's a strange circumstance you describe...

Edited March 28, 2014 by clubbedfoot

[Guest keninsc]

But keep in mind Coonbo, sometimes you just loose stuff. No mystery to it at all.....and no Bigfoot. The only reason I was so sure something got my small ax that time was I'd planted it in a log when I was finished with it for the night and wanted to be sure i could find it. I don't mind saying when I woke up and was packing up my gear to head off and I realized it wasn't where I'd left it.......and let's be real, when you are making sure that you know where something is then you know where it is. Then when it's gone you know it.

 

Like I said, "Bigfoot" isn't the only answer, but it's an answer I can't rule out either. And I don't mind telling you that I think it's a bit unnerving to discover something got that close to you while you were asleep and could have ripped you up in your sleep, had it wanted to at the time.

[Gotta Know]

Coonbo, any speculation about their use for a tool like a knife? I recall one of the Finding Bigfoot episodes (this one filmed in Australia) where after having a midnight visitor (a Yowie had peered in his window) a man found his six goats hanging in a gum tree, eviscerated. He spoke of them being "cleanly" cut open and I have always wondered if a man-made tool hadn't played a role.

[Guest keninsc]

If a Bigfoot got hold of a knife that a human dropped or was procured, the issue is going to be hand and finger size issues, or at least it would stand to reason it would be an issue, since I think it's safe to assume if they got giant feet then they must have giant hands as well. 

[Guest Coonbo]

My gut feeling is that they probably would take a knife more out of curiosity, than wanting to use it for its intended purpose, but who knows for sure?.  They seem to be attracted to shiny objects, as are some other animals.  The blades on my fisherman's knife were highly polished and the bolsters were German silver and the scales were the good looking yellow composite.  A very attractive looking object for them, possibly.  However, I don't think that particular knife would last very long used by BF since the blades are pretty fragile in that design. 

 

I've found deer and calves that had their body cavities opened so cleanly that it looked like it was done with a knife, and have heard of folks finding hogs similarly opened up, but have never heard of anyone actually seeing BF eviscerating/gutting/butchering any large animals.  So we really don't know if they are just skilled with their hands and nails, if they use flint or stone knives, or if they use man-made objects or materials such as knives, broken glass, pieces of scrap steel, etc.

[Guest WesT]

In my personal experience, there seems to be something unknown that goes out of their way to conceal their handi-work and presence. Therefore making a sound assessment, of just how advanced their tool use and ability is, more difficult to verify and confirm.

[Guest Coonbo]

But keep in mind Coonbo, sometimes you just loose stuff. No mystery to it at all.....and no Bigfoot. The only reason I was so sure something got my small ax that time was I'd planted it in a log when I was finished with it for the night and wanted to be sure i could find it. I don't mind saying when I woke up and was packing up my gear to head off and I realized it wasn't where I'd left it.......and let's be real, when you are making sure that you know where something is then you know where it is. Then when it's gone you know it.

 

Like I said, "Bigfoot" isn't the only answer, but it's an answer I can't rule out either. And I don't mind telling you that I think it's a bit unnerving to discover something got that close to you while you were asleep and could have ripped you up in your sleep, had it wanted to at the time.

 

 

Ken, Agreed.   Just as good, maybe even better probability that the saw and screwdriver were somehow just lost rather than boogers nabbing them.  I'm not 100% sure about the saw, since there were two other folks involved besides myself.  I'm not 100% sure about the screwdriver because I have a proclivity to stick them in my back pocket, where they could easily fall out getting into or out of my truck.  But I AM 100% sure about my knife.  I consciously stuck it in that stump with the full intention of cleaning it up and putting it back in its bag when I got back from taking the fish to my truck.  That one still gives me the creeps, even though it happened on a beautiful, clear, sunny morning.  And it irritates me because that was my Grandfather's knife, plus it's worth quite a bit of money.

[Guest keninsc]

Ken, Agreed.   Just as good, maybe even better probability that the saw and screwdriver were somehow just lost rather than boogers nabbing them.  I'm not 100% sure about the saw, since there were two other folks involved besides myself.  I'm not 100% sure about the screwdriver because I have a proclivity to stick them in my back pocket, where they could easily fall out getting into or out of my truck.  But I AM 100% sure about my knife.  I consciously stuck it in that stump with the full intention of cleaning it up and putting it back in its bag when I got back from taking the fish to my truck.  That one still gives me the creeps, even though it happened on a beautiful, clear, sunny morning.  And it irritates me because that was my Grandfather's knife, plus it's worth quite a bit of money.

 

Ok, that's the same way it was about my small hand ax. I knew exactly where I put it, I put there intentionally so I would have it in the morning to make a pot of hot water for coffee. Hey, a man's gotta have his coffee in the morning, being in the middle of the woods is no excuse. And I'm right there with you on it freaking me out, but I found no obvious sign of anything like tracks or whatever and then you realize that something came up on you in the night while you were asleep and took it. I mean, I wasn't more than six or so feet from it, talk about feeling vulnerable? Had whatever it was, decided to take an interest in me, I'd have been boned. Straight up. And I don't mind saying it made me feel very uneasy.

 

Now one thing that I have often wondered is the reason that Bigfoots have big foots is so they don't make so much noise when they walk. You spread a load out over a large area then you reduce the amount of pressure exerted on the ground and cut down on breaking twigs, crushing leaves and leaving foot prints. Which why I think is the reason most people don't find long trails of prints, unless they're in snow or mud. If you read reports of prints you'll read that they find one or two then further down maybe one or two more.

 

I recall talking with a lady once who was all adither over renting her apartment out to a man who had a water bed. She was afraid that the weight of the bed would make the floor sag. So I asked her if she'd feel good about putting a refrigerator in the bedroom? She sort of looked at me like I was crazy. I said, if you'd feel good about putting a refrigerator there then a water bed will be fine because it actually puts out less weight per square foot than a refrigerator. Anyway, she told the guy yes and he put it in and filled it up and I told her to go check and see if the floor slagged. She did, it didn't and she was shocked.

 

Now back to tool use, I have to wonder if a Bigfoot would keep a tool taken, found, procured. The only things I've ever heard of bigfoot ever being seen with are the occasional stick and maybe a rock. Never have heard of one carrying a hammer or a knife or an ax. Could be they're just curious about them, "Why do the small, hairless ones carry these things?" Now I have this Bigfoot version of the movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy". With the whole strange thing with the Coke bottle.