Winter - Where Do They Go

[Guest]

Having lots of trouble connecting the dots, and understanding winter movement and habits of BF.     In my area (Alaska) there are trappers with long lines, and small aircraft flying all the time.   You just don't hear anything about folks finding tracks here in the winter.   I have had people tell me, "They go to remote areas in winter", fine so do trappers and small aircraft.   You can tell a moose track from a bear track at 1000 ft above ground level in an airplane.  

 

We do have reports here in the summer, admittedly they are few and far between but there are some.  

 

I don't really buy off on the hibernation thing at all.   I know I have heard the theory that bears hibernate so why can't BF, well BF is not a bear for starters.   There are a lot of changes that happen within a bears body metabolically to make hibernation possible, its not just a matter of saying, "hey think I will sleep for 6 months.   

 

Good walk to the coast from here, but it can be done  (300 miles).   Lets say every BF does make the walk,  why don't folks see them more in the fall?

 

Inquiring minds?

 

Talarik. 

[Sasfooty]

Maybe Alaska is just a summer vacation spot for them & they go south in the winter.....

[HOLDMYBEER]

You are on to an issue that has been debated here at length. No sign during the winter months is difficult to reconcile where access by humans is unlimited and snow covers the area. Any creature of that size would leave sign.

[Guest]

I'm guessing they have some deer and other food in natural cold storage.  Bring it into the cage and let it thaw. Yum

[TD-40]

I've heard they hunker down and lay low because they don't want to leave tracks. But what about food?

[Incorrigible1]

This has always been a strong point of contention to those questioning BF existence.

[Yuchi1]

Many NA tribes had a winter retreat location.

[Branco]

It seems obvious they would survive  just as the original Homo sapien settlers did. Make or take advantage of natural shelters, kill and store meat inside the shelters, and save their energy by kicking back on bed of moss or animal skins as long as necessary. BF hair (at least that from those southern states) is an excellent insulator; very little medulla. Stick close to home and restock the larder with local prey that burrow or travel nearby. Meat is the key; it generates the heat the body needs to survive.

 

Disclaimer: This opinion is based on absolutely no personal knowledge, or experiences in the State of Alaska nor does the writer have any desire or intention to conduct on-site investigations to validate or discount that opinion. After spending a few hours last night on the windswept banks  of the Saline River in central Arkansa when the temperature was ONLY 32 degrees while listening for Bigfoot vocals - and having the only vocal heard by my partner while I was in the van preparing the audio recording equipment - I have concluded that old age and daily aspirin intakes are no longer compatible with booger hunting in freezing weather, much less sub-freezing weather.

[hiflier]

Hello Talarik,

 

Having lots of trouble connecting the dots, and understanding winter movement and habits of BF.     In my area (Alaska) there are trappers with long lines, and small aircraft flying all the time.   You just don't hear anything about folks finding tracks here in the winter.   I have had people tell me, "They go to remote areas in winter", fine so do trappers and small aircraft.   You can tell a moose track from a bear track at 1000 ft above ground level in an airplane.  

 

We do have reports here in the summer, admittedly they are few and far between but there are some.  

 

I don't really buy off on the hibernation thing at all.   I know I have heard the theory that bears hibernate so why can't BF, well BF is not a bear for starters.   There are a lot of changes that happen within a bears body metabolically to make hibernation possible, its not just a matter of saying, "hey think I will sleep for 6 months.   

 

Good walk to the coast from here, but it can be done  (300 miles).   Lets say every BF does make the walk,  why don't folks see them more in the fall?

 

Inquiring minds?

 

Talarik. 

 

You or anyone else can look through this if you have something that will open an Excel-type spreadsheet. I scaled down John Willison Green's full database to isolate only the winter season Dec-Feb. All any members who know about this database (and many do) had to do was ask- but as you can see they don't. Why they don't is something I'll never understand. This file contains 571 winter season reports spanning from Feb. 25,1886 to Feb. 2, 2000. which is only about 11% of the total body of work in the database:

 

Edited February 14, 2016 by hiflier

[Old Dog]

It seems obvious they would survive  just as the original Homo sapien settlers did. Make or take advantage of natural shelters, kill and store meat inside the shelters, and save their energy by kicking back on bed of moss or animal skins as long as necessary. BF hair (at least that from those southern states) is an excellent insulator; very little medulla. Stick close to home and restock the larder with local prey that burrow or travel nearby. Meat is the key; it generates the heat the body needs to survive.

 

Disclaimer: This opinion is based on absolutely no personal knowledge, or experiences in the State of Alaska nor does the writer have any desire or intention to conduct on-site investigations to validate or discount that opinion. After spending a few hours last night on the windswept banks  of the Saline River in central Arkansa when the temperature was ONLY 32 degrees while listening for Bigfoot vocals - and having the only vocal heard by my partner while I was in the van preparing the audio recording equipment - I have concluded that old age and daily aspirin intakes are no longer compatible with booger hunting in freezing weather, much less sub-freezing weather.

 

Great and plausible theory, but when the winter is over and they move on, why don't we find the shelters?  I suppose they could totally dismantle a structure, and clean up any sign of habitation for those few months, but that seems a stretch.

[Incorrigible1]

The winter caloric intake requirements would require additional food gathering activity, and where are the telltale tracks of that activity?

 

It is a conundrum.

[JDL]

Some possibly connected points.  The speculation is all theory.

 

1.  I suggested a while back that they could maintain middens in their shelters that generate heat like compost piles.  To start with, a shelter could be built around a tree stump that is already beginning to rot, and then decaying vegetable matter, urine and feces could be added to the mix on a continuing basis.  With enough insulation, even snow over the wooden frame, the shelter could be maintained at a warm enough temperature to be comfortable.  Someone, I think it was Kathy Strain, made out a report a while back about what she interpreted to be a bigfoot shelter.  She described the bedding she found as layers of rotting vegetation, urine and feces.  This is consistent with the midden heating theory and goes a long way to explain the odor so often reported.

 

2.  I have found what appeared to be dismantled shelters in Northeastern Alabama and Northwestern Georgia.  A flat level area on the side of a draw with a stream below it with packed earth indicating extended use, and a tangle of logs, branches and other materials thrown down the slope toward the stream.  The tangled materials were not deadfall from trees that had grown in that area.  They had been moved there from somewhere else, presumably used to build the shelter, then dismantled and discarded down the slope.  There was no evidence of the use of axes or saws to cut the discarded branches and logs.

 

3.  The BFRO a few years back had an article on strangely decaying tree stumps that were found in the Sierras.  They were generally located in small cleared areas and could have been the basis for midden heating for shelters that had since been dismantled.  The accelerated decay shown was consistent with what one might expect in the center of midden pile.

 

4.  A couple of years ago someone posted on this forum a short video of a crude wooden structure of logs and branches.  It was shaped sort of like a very large pup tent from the angle shown in the video.  The person who filmed it had hiked to a high elevation during the first, rapid thaw of the early spring, and come upon the structure.  It still had patches of snow on it, but snow was clearly melting and dripping down through the open areas between the logs.  There was a sizeable plume of steam, but no smoke, emanating from the structure, so clearly the melting snow was falling on some source of heat inside of the structure.

 

5.  Edit to include one additional point:  There is a member on here that I've lost track of who told the following story, abbreviated here:  He was on a boy scout outing and against the instructions of the troop leaders, he and another scout took a canoe downstream into an area with rapids.  Their canoe capsized and he struck his head on a rock.  Unable to find him, his companion made it back to camp and a search ensued.  In the meantime, the injured scout had intermittent conscious moments where he recalled being picked up and carried, then a second one where he recalled regaining consciousness briefly, felt that he was laying on dry earth in a poorly lighted area with a warm current of air bearing a stench flowing past him, and observed a large, bare hair covered foot step past him.  He was later found on the bank of the river in the same spot from which he had disappeared, as if he had been returned to that same location once the search started.  He was taken back to camp and treated, but no one wanted to be near him because of the awful stench he had picked up on his body and clothing.

Edited February 14, 2016 by JDL

[ShadowBorn]

 

It seems obvious they would survive  just as the original Homo sapien settlers did. Make or take advantage of natural shelters, kill and store meat inside the shelters, and save their energy by kicking back on bed of moss or animal skins as long as necessary. BF hair (at least that from those southern states) is an excellent insulator; very little medulla. Stick close to home and restock the larder with local prey that burrow or travel nearby. Meat is the key; it generates the heat the body needs to survive.

 

Disclaimer: This opinion is based on absolutely no personal knowledge, or experiences in the State of Alaska nor does the writer have any desire or intention to conduct on-site investigations to validate or discount that opinion. After spending a few hours last night on the windswept banks  of the Saline River in central Arkansa when the temperature was ONLY 32 degrees while listening for Bigfoot vocals - and having the only vocal heard by my partner while I was in the van preparing the audio recording equipment - I have concluded that old age and daily aspirin intakes are no longer compatible with booger hunting in freezing weather, much less sub-freezing weather.

 

Great and plausible theory, but when the winter is over and they move on, why don't we find the shelters?  I suppose they could totally dismantle a structure, and clean up any sign of habitation for those few months, but that seems a stretch.

 

Perhaps that they could be far reaching areas where humans just do not travel too. It could be these areas where un-explored cave system are still have not been found and those who have disappeared due to them. Now this is all theory but it is not far fetching since we still have not explored the full earth. 

[Twist]

Hello Talarik,

 

Having lots of trouble connecting the dots, and understanding winter movement and habits of BF.     In my area (Alaska) there are trappers with long lines, and small aircraft flying all the time.   You just don't hear anything about folks finding tracks here in the winter.   I have had people tell me, "They go to remote areas in winter", fine so do trappers and small aircraft.   You can tell a moose track from a bear track at 1000 ft above ground level in an airplane.  

 

We do have reports here in the summer, admittedly they are few and far between but there are some.  

 

I don't really buy off on the hibernation thing at all.   I know I have heard the theory that bears hibernate so why can't BF, well BF is not a bear for starters.   There are a lot of changes that happen within a bears body metabolically to make hibernation possible, its not just a matter of saying, "hey think I will sleep for 6 months.   

 

Good walk to the coast from here, but it can be done  (300 miles).   Lets say every BF does make the walk,  why don't folks see them more in the fall?

 

Inquiring minds?

 

Talarik. 

 

You or anyone else can look through this if you have something that will open an Excel-type spreadsheet. I scaled down John Willison Green's full database to isolate only the winter season Dec-Feb. All any members who know about this database (and many do) had to do was ask- but as you can see they don't. Why they don't is something I'll never understand. This file contains 571 winter season reports spanning from Feb. 25,1886 to Feb. 2, 2000. which is only about 11% of the total body of work in the database:

 

John Willison Green Database- Winter.zip

 

I would imagine that a reduction in human activity during the winter months plays some part in the reduction of sighting reported, how big of a part I do not know. 

[JDL]

Others have theorized that they build their shelters near deer yards during the winter.