Bigfoot's Adapted Night Vision

[Lake County Bigfooot]

Some animals have adapted vision capable of seeing better in the night, for example deer have more rods than cones which

allows them to see more acutely in the twilight and night time, but also causes them over stimulus when confronted by headlights

or a spot light, and thus the deer in the headlights.  I am wondering if Sasquatch also have this adaption, and if so is it similar to

deer in that a spot light will stun or freeze them in place due to over stimulus.  I have heard several instances where this was used

to fend off a charging Sasquatch in the night, or to simply keep them at bay.  I also wonder if this adaption somewhat cripples their

ability to see in the daylight making them less active and more reclusive.  What do you guys think of this commonly discussed aspect

of Sasquatch anatomy, and what are it's implications.  Realize that only a few other primate species have any sort of night vision

capabilities, and none of the great apes or lesser apes have this adaption to my knowledge.

[Lake County Bigfooot]

This link explains some of what adaptions are needed for a nocturnal animal like a Sasquatch to see,

https://www.ebiomedia.com/how-do-animals-see-in-the-dark.html

Do we have reports of pupil shapes or of a pupil at all?

The implications of night vision during the day are certainly worthy of discussion and what

if anything can we conclude about this ability and other behaviors we have heard of, such as

chasing down prey, using infra sound, and what we have come to know as eye shine.

The following quote from the BFRO

"The sasquatch is a predominantly nocturnal animal and its night vision exceeds that of man substantially. It is probable that this increase in night vision is a function of a larger eye and pupillary size rather than a reflecting layer. The animals walk with ease in seeming total darkness, but forage during the day. An indication of their nighttime activity is the fact that they are seen as frequently during the night, if not more often, than during the day, despite the limited sight distance and detection by nocturnal observers."

Edited October 15, 2014 by Lake County Bigfooot

[Terry]

Most animals have their eyes approaching the side of their face...i.e. deer.  A good reason for this is there would be far less incidents of them poking their eyes on brush.  As many here know who tramp the wilderness, getting your eye poked or scratched is dabilitating and painful.  Worst case scenario is an eye could be lost.  It there is such a thing as bigfoot, the positioning of the eyes on a creature that we are told runs around at night and in the thickest of brush isn't a good thing and there would be cases of severe eye injuries.  At least I would think so.  

 

t.

[Guest]

Thanks LCB, informative reading. Can I ask where you read those instances of spotlights stunning a Bigfoot, if you don't mind sharing.

[Guest Darrell]

Terry makes a good point. The problem that I see is that we are making bigfoot become a creature based on unsubstansiated observation. Nobody knows what the creature's abilities are. As a young Army Infantryman in the 80's, before NV was general issue, we operated at night all the time. After a while we developed techniques and abilities that allowd us to operate successfully in the dark.  It didnt mean we evolved into superiour nocturnal creatures. Its not like there is one trained observer documenting bigfoot behaviour, like a Diane Fossey, instead there are a thousand people putting observations on websites with behaviour all over the spectrum.

[georgerm]

"So, although nocturnal animals see mostly crude shapes, outlines and no color, by maximizing their sensitivity to low light levels with the above adaptations, it is enough for them to hunt, feed and survive in the dark of night."

 

Could this have something to do with the swaying action BF makes when spotting a person?

 

If this is the case, BF is really visually disabled during the day.

[Guest Darrell]

^So can we then assume the if BF is visually disabled during the day, that all day time sightings are not credible?

[Guest]

I don't believe that BF's eyes are especially adapted for nocturnal vision. Most animals that have evolved for night vision usually have exceptionally large eyes, such as owls. I don't recall large eyes being described in eyewitness accounts, and I believe that some have remarked that their eyes seemed unusually small for the size of their heads. This would imply that they can probably see just fine in the daylight. The PGF would seem to support this because if Patty was relying on other senses, such as smell or hearing, she would have had no need to look back at Patterson and Gimlin. This does not mean that BF are not primarily nocturnal, but rather opportunists that will take advantage of resources whenever they are available.

 

The reason most herbivores, such as deer, have their eyes situated on the sides of their heads is to provide them with the widest field of vision possible in order to avoid predators. Because thir fields of vision do not overlap, they have a blind spot directly in front of their heads and cannot judge distances very well. Predators have forward facing eyes to allow them to better estimate the distance to their prey. Arboreal animals also have binocular vision so that they can judge the distance between branches when they leap from one to another.  This is why all modern primates, such as us and BF if they actually exist, also have binocular vision.

[Terry]

 

 

The reason most herbivores, such as deer, have their eyes situated on the sides of their heads is to provide them with the widest field of vision possible in order to avoid predators. Because thir fields of vision do not overlap, they have a blind spot directly in front of their heads and cannot judge distances very well. Predators have forward facing eyes to allow them to better estimate the distance to their prey. Arboreal animals also have binocular vision so that they can judge the distance between branches when they leap from one to another.  This is why all modern primates, such as us and BF if they actually exist, also have binocular vision.

 

Yep, good post!

 

t.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Terry

[Lake County Bigfooot]

I think we can already see why this idea of Sasquatch being nocturnal poses a problem in general, for one
we commonly have descriptions of neck immobility, which is not at all an adaption of nocturnal creatures, for
example the owl with its unusual ability to rotate its neck. This neck rotation is to compensate for large
eyes that are not able to roll loosely in the eye sockets, and are more or less fixed. The general observation
based on eye witness reports is that the eyes are solid in color with little or no white, and that they do appear
to be large in some cases. These observations suggest that they seem to have good vision in both light and low
light, and that they can move about even at high speeds in thick brush in both light conditions, not unlike a
deer.

BoggyCreekDave, sorry I have heard it reported mainly in interviews with witnesses. As I have heard perhaps
100s and maybe 1000s of these I can only say that it has come up periodically and it registered to me as a
possible means of buying time in an unwanted encounter. But as an example I provide the following interview, it follows
the discussion of the campsite being destroyed.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lake County Bigfooot

[Teegunn]

I was going to mention the eye's on the side of the head thing also.  Predators have their eye's in front for better binocular vision.  Non predators have eyes on the side of their head to have a view from almost 360 degrees.  The reasons for both are obvious, but eye's on the side of the head is not to keep from getting poked by branches.....

[BobZenor]

Whatever walked up on my brother and I in the middle of the night seemed to have much better night vision than I do but it is hard to know because I had just had a flashlight shined at me.  It was very dark that night and whatever was walking toward us was apparently active near Bluff Creek at night.  We couldn't see anything.  Unfortunately, to me now, my brother didn't shine his light at it.  It was obviously close enough but we were both pretty frightened at the time.  It never even crossed my mind to shine the light at it.  I know I didn't want to see it.  Survival instinct had kicked in.

 

It is reportedly potentially simple for primates to evolve much better night vision. The easiest thing to do is probably to increase the relative number of rods to cones or just increase the number of rods.  It is also possible to increase the amount of the pigment rhodopsin.  Another trait commonly seen in nocturnal animals is increasing the size the eyes.  An aside is that neanderthals have large eye sockets not that I am suggesting they are likely neanderthals.  Larger eyes gather more light.   Some have suggested the possibility of them developing a reflective tapetum lucidum.  Some of those are relatively simple like a layer of guanine crystals so I wouldn't totally rule it out but that does reduce the sharpness of your day vision some.   That would cause an eye glow or reflection if a light were shined at it.  

 

I think they probably have large eyes and more rods to see better at night and I'm satisfied that they apparently are often active at night.  It logically would be part of an avoidance strategy to avoid modern humans and our probably our ancestors and closer relatives in the distant past.

[Lake County Bigfooot]

BoggyCreekDave, here is an example of using a laser shining directly into a Sasquatches eyes to ward it off, listen to the following broadcast at the 33 minute mark and Bob Garrett will tell you the story and how the laser was used to stop it from charging.  I know that this is not a simple flashlight example, but I have heard these as well.  I assure you it is reported in some cases to freeze or discourage the creatures.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bigfoothotspot/2014/06/09/sc-ep34-charged-by-a-sasquatch

 

Texdgr, good observations, though I would say that many of the night time encounters report larger than normal eyes, while the daylight encounters may be observing them protecting their eyes from the light by closing or squinting them more.

 

The eyewitness reports, while not evidence to a skeptic, provide us arm chair and not so arm chair researchers with an opportunity

to uncover patterns of behavior, some of which will lead us to conclusions regarding the make up of this creature.  Over time the image

of just what this creature is doing to survive will emerge, we cannot but be thankful to those who continue that effort to document

all these sightings.  I myself will attest to the veracity of one such compiler who refused to list my encounter due to the lack of evidentiary

substance, although he readily admitted to believe my account. 

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lake County Bigfooot

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

The questions you address are quite interesting. Sighting reports indicate that sasquatch behave in an uncharacteristic manner when they are on the side of the road at night. The tentative conclusions that I've previously drawn to explain such behavior includes the ideas that they do not grasp the fact that a vehicle has a human occupant, as well as the idea that they are terrible when it comes to judging the high speeds at which most vehicles are travelling. The first, that they do not grasp the human occupant's presence, might very well be incorrect, but perhaps it depends on the experiences of the individual sasquatch in question. Most likely do not have the opportunity to witness a human entering and exiting a vehicle, and as a matter of fact I suspect that it might be difficult for them to even determine that a vehicle seen in the daylight is the same thing they are seeing at night, due to the bright lights that will obscure the shape of the vehicle, thus hindering identification. It all depends on their experiences and how intelligent they happen to be.

 

Their personal experiences give them no understanding of the high speeds at which vehicles travel, and it is only that particular type of experience which could give them such knowledge. They seem to wait for an approaching vehicle only to dart in front of it when the danger has obviously increased. A better explanation is that they simply get frightened when the vehicle is almost right on top of them, and they panic and flee, perhaps crossing the road because that is where they had already decided to go, and this might explain why they would cross as opposed to retreating back in the same direction they came from.

 

The hypothesis that headlights cause some form of temporary blindness or decreases their vision definitely could account for their erratic behavior, since the shock that would likely accompany such an occurrence could impair any ability they have to reason and make calculated decisions. It is definitely a hypothesis which has as much merit as any other at this point in time. My idea that the animals become confused is explained more thoroughly by your method of action, namely that some form of semi-blindness initiates a flight response, as opposed to my explanation that the confusion is caused by the speed of the vehicle. So it is likely a combination of both of these ideas, or solely your explanation, as opposed to the speed explanation by itself. So a combination of misjudging the speed, which may frighten them when they realize they don't know what is going on, having impaired vision, which besides not allowing them to see where they're going could also cause confusion through fear.

 

Now as to why sasquatch would have night vision capabilities that no other primate possesses could be somewhat explained by their diet. We suspect they are omnivorous, as they have been witnessed eating both plant matter and flesh. Their size likely means they need a large amount of calories to sustain that mass, and I do not believe that a plant diet alone would be sufficient in most instances. I'm sure some are wondering why a gorilla can maintain a herbivorous diet while maintaining their body mass, and the answer is likely found in their habits. Gorillas are not as active as sasquatch, even if they do approach them in terms of body mass, although a fully-grown sasquatch is likely much larger than an equivalently-aged gorilla. What does this have to do with sight? Bigfoot, needing to eat meat to survive and maintain a healthy body weight, need to be efficient hunters if they wish to survive. Not having weapons means they must use their speed, their intelligence, and their bodies/hands. Early humans seemed to use weapons, and also group hunting tactics, and this likely allowed them to overcome the difficulties more effectively than sasquatch.

 

Sasquatch, if they possess night vision capabilities, are going to be efficient night-hunters. Without night vision capabilities they would be more efficient day-hunters. The daytime and nighttime sasquatch sightings being relatively equal tells us that sasquatch are likely nocturnal, as there are fewer humans present to witness the animals at night. If they are nocturnal, it is not a stretch to conclude that they spend this time hunting, or at least a portion of it. They must have some sort of night vision capabilities to even attempt a night hunt, especially when hunting alone and without weapons. So from an evolutionary point of view it would be extremely beneficial for a sasquatch to be able to hunt at night, because their chances of success are increased. There are many more animals active at night, meaning more prey, and it is also easier to sneak up on animals whose night vision is inferior to that of a sasquatch.

 

If sasquatch used weapons, like spears or something else that would not make it necessary to actually be right on top of their prey, then they would likely do more hunting during the day. So this is how their diet and their body mass likely has a lot to do with whether they possess enhanced night vision capabilities. So while many say that sasquatch do not have such capabilities due to the fact that other primates don't have them, this is ignoring the fact that other primates do not have the same needs or the same deficiencies that sasquatch have. Their size is a huge deficiency when it comes to hunting, as there is more the prey animal can see, giving the sasquatch's position away.

And again, I like your idea regarding sasquatch having their vision messed up by the headlights of a vehicle. There are numerous accounts of sasquatch not liking having a light shined in their eyes, although this is not necessarily due to the fact that it messes up their night vision, but it could be.

[MIB]

If BF does not have some kind of special adaptation for night vision they fake it very convincingly. 

 

In August 2011 I went on a backpacking trip.   Camp was in a glacial basin, not quite deep enough I'd call it a cirque but that's the general idea.   Bunch of moraine piles with small lakes behind them in the basin rather than a single large lake.   Half moon didn't rise 'til after midnight.   The walls of the basin were high enough to block out a fair bit of light.   Pretty thick high elevation firs.   And maybe 50% cloud cover left over from the thunder storms that'd skirted by during the day.   At 10:00 pm it was DARK.  It was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face AT ALL, no reflection, nothing.  The only way I could see it was to find one of the few stars visible through the tree canopy and move my hand 'til it blocked out that bit of light.   It was DARK. 

 

Best I can tell, "IT" had been waiting out there watching because within a couple of minutes of lights-out, before I could even finish squirming around to get comfortable, "IT" came tromping into camp from the deeper forest.   Whatever it was had soft feet, maybe leather moccasins but absolutely not hooves or hard soled shoes.  The feet hit with a thud, not a crunch, on broken rock.   It walked on two feet, absolutely and unavoidably ... camp was in snow brush and not only were the footfalls bipedal, but swish between steps was "two stroke."  The ground didn't shake but it seemed like it should have.   It sounded like 1000 pounds, ballpark.   While heavy, it did not seem ponderous or overloaded, it seemed like something really heavy but with such leg power it was nimble.

 

"Whatever it was" it managed to walk into camp at 10, 12 miles an hour or more, weaving between trees without hitting them or their low hanging branches, changing directions to avoid obstacles, and walked right up to my tent.   "Tent" ... such as it was.  30 inches wide, 18 inches tall, 90 inches long, pointed on both ends made of bug mesh, two hoops, and a camouflaged rain fly. 

 

About 4 steps before it would have stepped on me, the pace slowed and it stopped one stride short of squishing me.   And stood there.  The rest is a story for a different day, it's off on a tangent.   I'll just say it spent 45 minutes messin' with my tent engaging in behavior I interpret as testing my responses.\

 

It was either bigfoot or we have some "Ishi" types running around with 800 pound packs on their back in moccasins wearing night vision goggles.   Bigfoot seems less of a stretch.  

 

The important thing is, whatever that was ... it apparently sees in the dark a whole lot better than I can otherwise it would have been running into tree trunks, low hanging branches, and it would have trampled me.  

 

So ... I'm going on the assumption that possible or not, BF does indeed have some kind of enhanced ability to see in the dark.   Just my personal bias from personal experience.

 

MIB

Edited October 16, 2014 by MIB