Your Thoughts On How Bf Stays Warm In The North

[Guest Kat]

With winter coming I can't help but wonder. Many stories I've heard about BF is that they have a rather thin coat of hair over the body. So how does BF withstand sub-zero temps in a northern winter? Do they shed like dogs and grow heavier hair in the fall? Do they hole-up in caves? I realize that the answers are just speculation (nobody really knows) but what are your thoughts?

[Guest]

I'm guessing they grow a pretty thick coat in winter. In areas where caves aren't common maybe the nest in piles of branches or something, easily found near clearcuts.

[See-Te-Cah NC]

Maybe the answer can be found in the intelligence level of the creature. Surely BF can, and does, limit it's exposure during the winter months. BF could use various materials and articles to insulate itself from the cold. Perhaps it digs a hole and stays in the warm earth to stay comfortable. It may also store food so it won't have to get out to forrige or hunt as often. Just guessing here as well, but maybe it can regulate it's body temperature and metabolism in response to cold weather. I believe I remember reading about Zana and the fact that she would sleep outside in a depression she dug because it was too warm inside her master's house.

Every type of creature has strengths and traits unique to them that they put to use in their environment. Bigfoot may be no different in this regard. However, until we know for sure that it exists I suppose anything is possible.

Edited October 5, 2011 by See-Te-Cah NC

[wiiawiwb]

A woodstove.

[Guest]

I think they save deer skins.

[BobbyO]

I don't really know what they do..

Best i can come up with is, like other Animals, BF's that live in the more Mountainous regions would come down to lower elevations in the Winter Months..

I guess they also, like STC said, they could utilize certain parts of their Environment & even possibly adjust sleeping areas to suit, for example..

I think evolution would suggest that the ones that live in the Northern parts of North America would be suited to those Winter conditions, just like the Animals of the Southern States would have evolved to deal with the Summer Months in those Areas as they are equally extreme for them, just the other end of the spectrum..

[Guest BuzzardEater]

Skins make so much sense to me. It explains the stanch, if they are worn raw. It explains why they are bullet proof, to some extent, as well.

The traditional Inuit (eskimo) leather is rawhide.

Mountain folk wore skins with fur out in pre-Columbian days.

They can be layered for warmth. No tailoring is needed if the skins are tied on, rough shaping is enough.

Hoods can be fashioned for that cool peaked look.

I nominate bear skins for BF duty. I also think bears are food, of course, especially in hibernation season. The skins can be chewed for fat content (yum!) and the saliva softens them somewhat. The raw skins can then be tied on with sinews.

The fact that the other bipeds were doing it is compelling, as well. Although, if it were that simple. we'd be seeing them in hockey jerseys around here.

[mesabe]

I found some fresh tracks in deep snow. Upon examining them I saw that the snow had melted in the footprint of the track, leading me to believe that the creature that made it had very high body heat. I also think their fur thickens and they seek some type of shelter in extreme weather. I have also read reports that stated skins were used.

I always pondered this very question myself, and knowing dogs and horses adapt to cold weather with winter coats and acclimation, they also have higher body temperatures than we do. I think most winter dwelling mammals that don't hibernate, adapt, so that the weather doesn't kill them off.

[Guest]

I think they are similar to bears and have a denning or winter lethargy cycle. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation, 10/05/2011)

Human are thought to have, or do have, a recessive hibernation gene that may have been active some time ago. There is a least one other primate that is known to hibernate.

BTW, hibernate means different things to different people and describes different animals. So, the definition may be ambiguous.

[Guest Luckyfoot]

Mebbe it's just cuz of the size of bigfoot that allows it to tolerate colder climates. More fat for insulation , more muscle to generate heat,possibly higher metabolism to generate internal heat..........

just a WAG.

[Guest]

As someone who lives in upstate NY, and deals each year with the cold and snow- this has been something I've wondered about myself.

Some say/think they migrate- even possibly over long distances to get to where its warmer.

It's possible, but i'm not so sure.

I've stood outside on the most brutal of Winter nights, with the temperatures in single digits, and the wind howling through mountains so it sounds like a freight train- and wondered how can anything survive outside on a night like this.

The hibernation idea is one part of it- very few animals hibernate for the entire winter- even bears here in the Northeast will be out exploring for food during a few day's of thaw. Animals like squirrels and deer forage when they can- and hunker down and tough it out on the coldest days and nights.

The will to survive runs strong in all living things- and I'm amazed each Spring at how many of the animals are able to spend the entire Winter out of doors.

I've walked through clearings near/at the edge of woods- and wondered why every bush and stem is clipped neatly off at the same height- almost like a cutting machine came through and cut everything at the same height- but its from the deer moving through and clipping off anything that sticks up through- at the level of the snow at that point in time. Anything young and tender enough to be eaten- has been taken.

If "they" are out there year round- I'd see it the same way. Opportunists, they'd have to be.

A change in diet for sure- and without a body for scientific study- it would be hard to say how much of a fat layer they put on by gorging themselves in the fall- like bears do.

It's also possible with the right den (under a bank, or into the side of a hill) to have an environment under ground that stays at or above the freezing mark even on the coldest of days/nights.

It's not for me, that's to be sure. I'll take my large brain, and my relatively hairless body inside next to the fire that we learned to master so long ago...

And wait patiently for Spring!

Art

[Guest]

It might not be as difficult as some might think since the disabling effects of cold as most of us experience them may have more to do with our mental rigor, psychological effects, and our lack of training in using our mind to combat cold. The human record has stories of people surviving some incredibly cold conditions in various ways from having natural traits to ward off cold (inherited size and fat), to bio-feedback control over metabolic rates, to behavioral tricks that train one to cope with the cold. Those who believe that BF exist as an ancestral human who was adapted to living in the sometimes harsh seasonal conditions of continental Eurasia over the last million years of so know that it's only been the last few tens of thousands when those lands weren't in a state of 'ice age' which suggests that our ancestors had lots of time to adapt through natural selection.

[Guest]

As someone who lives in upstate NY, and deals each year with the cold and snow- this has been something I've wondered about myself.

Some say/think they migrate- even possibly over long distances to get to where its warmer.

It's possible, but i'm not so sure.

I've stood outside on the most brutal of Winter nights, with the temperatures in single digits, and the wind howling through mountains so it sounds like a freight train- and wondered how can anything survive outside on a night like this.

The hibernation idea is one part of it- very few animals hibernate for the entire winter- even bears here in the Northeast will be out exploring for food during a few day's of thaw. Animals like squirrels and deer forage when they can- and hunker down and tough it out on the coldest days and nights.

The will to survive runs strong in all living things- and I'm amazed each Spring at how many of the animals are able to spend the entire Winter out of doors.

I've walked through clearings near/at the edge of woods- and wondered why every bush and stem is clipped neatly off at the same height- almost like a cutting machine came through and cut everything at the same height- but its from the deer moving through and clipping off anything that sticks up through- at the level of the snow at that point in time. Anything young and tender enough to be eaten- has been taken.

If "they" are out there year round- I'd see it the same way. Opportunists, they'd have to be.

A change in diet for sure- and without a body for scientific study- it would be hard to say how much of a fat layer they put on by gorging themselves in the fall- like bears do.

It's also possible with the right den (under a bank, or into the side of a hill) to have an environment under ground that stays at or above the freezing mark even on the coldest of days/nights.

It's not for me, that's to be sure. I'll take my large brain, and my relatively hairless body inside next to the fire that we learned to master so long ago...

And wait patiently for Spring!

Art

Art, I agree a lot with what you said.

I think that their coats get thicker and heavier for winter, and I think that they load up on calories in the fall like bears do and perhaps hibernate and/or move south for winter.

I also think they may give birth in the spring with a fall rutting season.That way the baby would be almost a year old for the next winter

[Guest]

dogu4,

I agree, I don’t think it’s as hard as most think it is, although I agree for different reasons. In a survival situation mental state is key; however, for animals this isn’t a survival situation, it is a daily life occurrence. What separates man from animal in this situation, in my opinion, is something as simple as lack of exposed skin. We tend to think in terms of ourselves, in how we think and how our bodies are designed.

We tend to rationalize or think of things in a more logical way when we aren’t naturally adapted. Think about how we handle the elements in terms of clothing (in colder climates). We want a wicking layer, insulation, and we want a thin layer to protect us from getting wet; usually a 3-layer system. There is a naturally occurring material that does all of this, at least somewhat; wool. Wool wicks moisture away from the skin, it insulates (even when wet), and although there are better materials, it blocks the wind. Wool does everything we need to “survive†the elements. It also happens to nothing more than hair, and found in abundance on many other animals and especially those that live in colder climates.

Bigfoot doesn’t have to survive in cold environments; it’s already perfectly adapted for it. You can be too by shopping at http://www.filson.com I suggest a Double Mackinaw cap, Mackinaw Cruiser and Mackinaw bibs. It takes a remarkably thin layer of quality wool to be warm in the environments we typically see here. With Filson wool garments, proudly made by craftsmen in the USA, you’ll be toasty warm in most anything Mother Nature can throw at you!

[Guest COGrizzly]

I agree with Dogu4 and Ace

When this question comes up, I always respond with - "How do deer, moose, Cody Lundeen, etc do it?"