Black bear walking upright generates false BF reports.

[PNWexplorer]

Enjoyed another evening around a fire pit with my elderly father and his best friend, a retired criminal justice professor.

 

We were discussing my latest camping trip and the possible tree twisting damage from a BF when my dad's friend mentioned an article he read recently about a black bear in the region that generated a slew of Bigfoot sightings.

 

Apparently, a black bear had taken to walking around on it's hind feet nearly full time.  It was a rather large bear and was observed walking around on two feet nearly 100% of the time, which resulted in multiple reports of a Bigfoot.

 

I had never heard of a bear engaging in such activity, but could see how such behavior would result in multiple false reports.

 

I googled for reports of a black bear walking around on it's hind legs and could not find any results that matched with the conversation.  Anybody else heard of such a thing?

 

FYI, I did learn that my brother, who disavows any BF existence, did have an encounter with a creature that matches the description of the infamous Chupacabra while driving through Arizona a few years ago.  Funny that he totally believes in that cryptic creature, but not BF.

[wiiawiwb]

I can understand how a devoted city dweller from Manhattan who goes to the Pine Barren and sees a walking bear could mistake it for a sasquatch.  That person has never been to the woods before and has no frame of reference.  I can't understand how anyone who has spent a moment in the outdoors could mistake it for a sasquatch.

 

The bear has ears on top of its head, a long snout, a heard lurched out far in front of its body, T-Rex arms which are held up and motionless rather than swinging, and walks with tiny, little steps. Contrast that with a sasquatch which has no easily visible ears,  an vertically-oriented conical head which is in line with its body, exceedingly long arms that swing back and forth, and walks with outrageously long steps.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vqI_jC_qcY

[bipedalist]

 

[Twist]

2 hours ago, wiiawiwb said:

I can understand how a devoted city dweller from Manhattan who goes to the Pine Barren and sees a walking bear could mistake it for a sasquatch.  That person has never been to the woods before and has no frame of reference.  I can't understand how anyone who has spent a moment in the outdoors could mistake it for a sasquatch.

 

The bear has ears on top of its head, a long snout, a heard lurched out far in front of its body, T-Rex arms which are held up and motionless rather than swinging, and walks with tiny, little steps. Contrast that with a sasquatch which has no easily visible ears,  an vertically-oriented conical head which is in line with its body, exceedingly long arms that swing back and forth, and walks with outrageously long steps.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vqI_jC_qcY

I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to think urban or rural dwellers could mistake a walking bear as a BF if viewed from the rear or maybe obscured by trees and branches.  A large hairy/furry creature walking up right isn’t a common site so jumping to BF if you’ve only heard about it casually is not far fetched imo.   

[Huntster]

5 hours ago, PNWexplorer said:

.......my dad's friend mentioned an article he read recently about a black bear in the region that generated a slew of Bigfoot sightings.

 

Apparently, a black bear had taken to walking around on it's hind feet nearly full time.  It was a rather large bear and was observed walking around on two feet nearly 100% of the time, which resulted in multiple reports of a Bigfoot.........

 

The video that Bipedal posted shows a bear with his front right leg/paw damaged. This obviously happens from time to time. My wife and I observed a black bear (with chocolate fur) near the Alaska/Yukon border a few years ago with a missing front right leg at just 100' away. He was walking on three legs.

 

A bipedal bear would easily generate sasquatch reports.

 

[BobbyO]

I'm not so sure. Just like a horse is a horse and a cow is a cow, a black bear is a black bear, and a Sasquatch is a Sasquatch.

[Patterson-Gimlin]

4 out of 5 not bad.

I am sure it happens more often than not as far as mistaken identifications go.

I think it is often referred to as bigfoot on the brain.

[Twist]

There is the story about the hunter up in Canada that claims to have shot a BF by accident thinking it was the hind end of an Elk he had been tracking.   Sometime in 1800’s maybe or early 1900’s.  The name eludes me but I think it’s a rather well known incident.   If that story is to be believed then I don’t think a bear walking upright is much more of a stretch to misidentify.   

[Nipissing]

 

3 hours ago, Twist said:

There is the story about the hunter up in Canada that claims to have shot a BF by accident thinking it was the hind end of an Elk he had been tracking.   Sometime in 1800’s maybe or early 1900’s.  The name eludes me but I think it’s a rather well known incident.   If that story is to be believed then I don’t think a bear walking upright is much more of a stretch to misidentify.   

 

http://bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=9552

[Incorrigible1]

The sightings seem to be most confined to Jellystone Park.

[bipedalist]

18 hours ago, Twist said:

There is the story about the hunter up in Canada that claims to have shot a BF by accident thinking it was the hind end of an Elk he had been tracking.   Sometime in 1800’s maybe or early 1900’s.  The name eludes me but I think it’s a rather well known incident.   If that story is to be believed then I don’t think a bear walking upright is much more of a stretch to misidentify.   

 

He thought it was a moose and his first name was Peter in Manitoba,  I believe an artist (Pat Barker) did a rendition painting of what he saw.  https://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_report.asp?id=9552  He was hunting out of season or without a license or both and was concerned he'd be arrested so never reported it until late in life.  I believe there was an image/video of a bipedal black bear that was routinely seen walking in standing position without having any noticeable injuries.  This was ten or more years ago.  I am sure a bear could be trained to walk that way routinely, in the wild prolly extremely rare without injury. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by bipedalist

[norseman]

As hunters we judge a Bears size by its ears in relation to its head. A small bear will have big looking ears sitting on top of its head. Think mickey mouse. Plus the snout sticking out.

 

A large bear will have smaller looking ears more on the sides of its head.

 

Obviously a Sasquatch as a primate will not have ears sitting on top of its head. They probably will not be visible at all.

 

Another quick check is shoulders. Primates shoulders are made to hang from trees. They are pronounced. A bears shoulders are narrow and do not stick out.

 

Lastly, a Bears inseam is super short. They legs look odd when bipedal. Its obvious they did not develop to support full time bipedalism.

 

 

[BlackRockBigfoot]

Good info in the ears in relation to body size.

[NatFoot]

41 minutes ago, BlackRockBigfoot said:

Good info in the ears in relation to body size.

 

No kidding. Thanks @norseman.

 

I would not want to meet that big chonky one. 

[miker]

*I* mistook a bear for a Bigfoot.

 

Walking a trail in a reasonably isolated area where there is reputed to be BF activity. Suddenly up the ridge to my north is a loud CRACK. I jump out of my skin and turn to see a tree swaying and something with black shiny hair/fur moving off behind thick bushes - I could see the sun shining on it thru the little spaces between the leaves. Blob roughly 4' high and 3' wide.

 

Now, this was in a state where the DNR said "There are no black bears here". Anyway, the blob looked too big to be a cub and too small to be an adult. My gut feel was that it was moving something like a large chimpanzee, scuttling sideways, and was the right color for that.

 

Come to find out much later, several hiking parties had reported seeing a black bear on that trail the same month, and the bear then went on the highway and got himself killed by a car. They stuffed him and put him in the county museum. I went to see him and he was just the right size.

 

*NOW* they say, yeah, there could be some bears there.