Sw Wa Field Work

[SWWASAS]

Here are some pictures I took doing field work in the last couple of weeks.        The first picture is a structure that appears to be a shelter but is too small even for a human.     Examination of the floor did not show that it had ever been used.    It is in a really out of the way location off a logging road.     No sign of human encampment, and there are usually signs of that since most humans are pigs when they camp and leave trash.    The only thing I can conclude is that it was constructed more for art than shelter.    It is too small for a human shelter.     If by a human why when it did not seem to have been used?   My hiking pole is about 4 feet long for size reference.   

 

I found this footprint probably a half mile away from the structure.    I followed a game path leading away from the structure and found the footprint.       It appears to be about 16 inches long although the heel is not every well defined, but the toes are and are fairly straight across and as you can see from the tape about 7 inches across at  the toes.    There was a bit of a trackway of 4 footprints leading to this print and away but with all the dry branches etc on the forest floor this footprint was the best of the lot.  The soil was quite dry and my own boots were not making any sort of footprint impressions.    This is a new area for me and with the footprint find I will return.      

 

The final picture is a rock stack that has suddenly appeared on the trail leading to the location where I was zapped.    Nothing like this is within a couple of miles and suddenly it was there.   It is right where the trail I normally used to approach the zapping location enters the wood line at the edge of a clear cut.   Is it a warning for me to stay off the trail?   A peace offering since I am sure they have observed me photographing other rocks stacks a few miles away?    The rocks are quite large and heavy and I could not find where they had been relocated from. 

Edited August 30, 2014 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[Explorer]

The rock stack suddenly appearing is bizarre. 

Can you clarify how you define suddenly?  Is that days, hours, minutes?

Also, can you clarify what kind of trail the rock stack appeared on?  I was not sure if it was the same game trail you mentioned above or a human trail.

If it was in a game trail (not used by humans), then I find it really odd.

If it was on a human trail, then are there any other rock cairns along this trail or this is the only one?

Thanks, for sharing, BTW!

[BC witness]

Thanks for the pics, SWWAS. I see that you wear the same walking shoes as I do. That structure certainly is different; it's more symetrical than any other "stick" photo that I've seen posted, but as you noted, doesn't appear to have a function.

 

Does the small log at the rock cairn point to anything interesting, like a fork in the trail, a pass in the mountains, or a water source? It looks like a pointer.

Edited August 30, 2014 by BC witness

[hiflier]

Hello All,

It is an interesting arrangement. I think with a bit of light plastic over it that it would make a good quick pup tent for a rainy night. If not it may make for a safe sleep knowing if anything had ill intent the sound of the structure being tampered with might wake the sleeper in time for defense? Good thing to store in the back of my mind. It may have been left up for reuse. I would choose branches easy to break or saw and brittle enough to be noisy. I zoomed in but couldn't tell how the pieces were severed; certianly looks as though there might be enough laying around to choose the different lengths? For a simple looking construct it's pretty sophisticated and relatively stable. Good job and thanks for posting the pics.

Edited August 30, 2014 by hiflier

[SWWASAS]

Let me try to answer the questions.    The rock stack had not appeared in months after my zapping.     I kept going back to the location but never had any contact after the first week when I got growled at a few days after getting zapped.   But since then,  now and then I would walk down the trail and hope they were around when I was in the area.  It is fairly near a logging road.       Then I had not been there in almost a month because the area went cold, and there the stack was when I went back.   It is a joint use human trail  for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.    It is sort of in the way for all of those activities.    The nearest rock stack I have found previously is about 2 miles away on the same trail.    The log in view goes directly across the trail.    I recall it there before the stack was placed.    There is wear on it from being stepped on.  I spent a lot of time on that trail trying to provoke BF to zap me again.  The biggest rock is about 12 inches on a side so it is pretty heavy. 

 

The shelter thing is barely 6 feet long at the ridge pole.   A kid would fit in it but not most adults.     The sticks are broken off but that does not mean anything with sticks that size.    Notice the ridge pole is just placed on a branch from the nearby tree.     It did not seem very secure to me.     Also if I had made a similar shelter, and I have,  I would have placed the side sticks closer to the ridge pole so they did not stick out so much from the ridge pole and a tarp would not have a depression running down the length of a ridge pole.   With a tarp rain would pool down the length of the ridge pole, and possibly leak into the shelter.    The small size and the sticks overlapping the ridge pole were somewhat strange to me.   If the sticks were placed with the end closer to the ridge pole, then the shelter would have been significantly larger with a larger footprint.    I would be inclined to think this a human construct but unless it was a boy scout project I would think it would have been made larger with more room inside.    Perhaps it was just for some human to stash stuff under a tarp and not meant to sleep in.    Never seen anything like it in the area before.    This entire area does not have much history of constructs other than rock stacks and rocks on tree stumps even though it is quite active with BF.    I have wondered if there is too much human activity for BF to make structures in this area and give themselves away.    The rock stacks are more subtle and most are not on human trails but game trails. 

[hiflier]

Hello SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT,

 

Thank you for clarifying. If trail use was beginning to widen because folks were going around the end of the cross log then the rock stack would perhaps force the traffic to keep to a narrower course. IDK, just thinking loudly here. Keep an eye to see if one crops up on the opposite side of the log maybe?

[SWWASAS]

That area is very wet in wet season so rather than step over it most people would step on the log to avoid stepping in the mud.     The trails have little maintenance so I just don't think that could have been part of it.   With horses and bikes the stack is more of a hazard than anything.      I have no direct evidence that BF make rock stacks other than the crossed stick glyph that was placed behind me one time when I was present.    With humans doing howls, knocks, and calls trying to communicate with BF, I would not be at all surprised if some of the rock stacks are some attempt at communication by humans.      I have even seen that in Youtube videos where someone places rocks on a particular order then is excited when something is moved.    I may be dead wrong in my philosophy but I don't change things I find, not knowing what I am doing.     For all I know moving a rock in a display left for me might be the BF equivalent of unfriending someone on Facebook.   If one knew exactly what such things meant then you could know how to respond and indeed communicate.    It is much like finding an ancient unknown language on a clay tablet someplace.     Until you have some sort of a Rosetta stone, and can equate BF stacks and glyphs to something humans understand already, then the meanings will remain a mystery.    Similarly as Scott Nelson says about BF language,   until you are face to face with a BF it is impossible to learn their language because what is said has no context to learn from.    If you pick up an apple, say apple, point to the apple, and BF responds with his word for it and consistently makes the same sound, then you can assume that sound is their word for apple.  That takes time and face to face contact.    Quite frankly I think it more likely because they have observed us for millennia, that it is more likely they understand or even speak human languages than we will ever learn BF, if they are capable of language at all.    But chimpanzees, dogs, and other animals around humans can learn and understand words even though they cannot speak back.    One researcher taught his dog over 1000 words with 1000 different objects.    He would say the word for the particular object, and the dog would find it and bring it to the researcher.     I would think that sort of thing very likely with BF if they cannot speak our language.    Certainly their intelligence exceeds that of dogs. 

[LeafTalker]

In my opinion, you don't have to worry so much about miscommunicating. They know you don't speak their stick language, so they don't expect you to know what you're saying via signs and symbols. All they care about is your basic intent -- whether it's hostile or friendly. A simple rearrangement of some sticks they left for you, or an arrangement you make on your own, reads to them as an attempt to connect peacefully, whatever the sticks actually "say" in BF speak. And a peaceful attempt to connect is, 99% of the time, a welcome thing. 

 

They are not petty. They have bigger worries than whether you've moved a stone the wrong way. They just don't want to be killed or harrassed. You are doing neither thing, so you're good.  

[SWWASAS]

You may very well be right but if they do leave stick writing it seems to be an attempt at communication.    I would think that they would hope I would understand rather than assume I do not.      I recall doing something technical with my dog watching.    I could just see the look of bewilderment on his face.   It was intriguing for him to watch but he simply did not understand.     If BF see any benefit, or have any respect for technology, perhaps they are in awe of us for that and would expect us to understand simple things like stick writing.    On the other side of that coin, if they have rejected human technologies like tool making, written language,  etc, then they might see no benefit in communication.     Or more likely look at it as a dangerous activity because of how dangerous contact with humans are.    A stick sign of friendship left by a female BF might be looked at in disfavor by the male tribal leader.     That sort of thing is very common in human interactions.    All supposition and conjecture but certainly an interesting topic.  

[LeafTalker]

Yes, I think their stick writing, when directed at us, is an attempt at communication with us. But I think they're pretty clear that we won't understand it. I think they're just saying "we're here" and trying to engage us. 

 

I have left stick formations for them that they have then rearranged, and then I rearrange the rearrangement, and then they rearrange my rearrangement of their rearrangement, and so forth. And I haven't been killed for making spelling mistakes, or even maimed. 

 

But I kinda got bored with the stick drawings, and I think they did, too, and we moved on to other things. 

 

It's all just one big "hello". The details are not important. If they were, the BF would figure out another way to drive those details home, and there would be no mistaking their meaning when they did.  

 

I don't think it's useful to worry about what you might be saying inadvertently. If you're afraid and worried when you try to communicate, that's what they'll notice: the fear and the worry. If you can relax a little about your messages, they'll notice that, too -- the relaxation -- and you'll be fine.

 

I've never heard of a male BF killing a male human in a fit of jealousy over a female BF, so that's another thing that's probably worth crossing off the list of things to worry about.  

[Guest Divergent1]

It sounds flip but I am being serious, I think a smiley face is universal.

[LeafTalker]

I think you're right about that. I vaguely remember somebody creating a smiley face with rocks, which I think did get a reaction or response of some kind. 

[SWWASAS]

Leaftalker I think you know much or have experienced much that you have not posted.     I have just not found the right location to try to set up some communication because what I have found is over a pretty large area.     There seems to be a seasonal presence,  which implies some migration.     I hope to find a camping location and with BF presence and can start establishing what ever communication they are interested in.      Solo day field work is pretty hit and miss on having contact.  

[LeafTalker]

I posted a few details about my experiences way back when and then learned not to post them anymore -- although I am on a bit of an upswing again.  

 

And the experiences I have out in the woods are pretty much like yours. I'm just not afraid of drawing the obvious conclusions from those experiences, especially when those same conclusions have been reached so many times before by sooooo many other people. 

 

I think your plan is great, to find a place to camp and take it from there. But it might be good to be prepared for hits and misses, even there. These guys do things on their own schedule, not ours. I went on a week-long camping trip in an area where I had already had lots of interactions with the locals, and it felt like a bust. It wasn't, actually -- some really cool things happened -- but they weren't on the level I was expecting, so I kind of downplayed them in my mind until much later, when I finally smartened up. 

 

One thing I, like many others, have been trying to learn from all this is to appreciate every little thing, because you never know when (or if!) that little (or big!) thing will ever happen again. 

[SWWASAS]

Contact for me happens so rarely that I do enjoy it when it happens.    It is really funny but footprints finds are getting to the point where they are only exciting in that I know BF have been around to make them.    The one I posted above is in an area that I had written off because of no sign but decided on a whim to go back.   The water situation is so limited there that I think that area will be better when the rains start again.