Why Do We Assume Sasquatch?
Posted by: John Kirk on September 2nd, 2013
Why do we automatically assume this is a sasquatch?
Eerie unidentifiable noises in the woods. Is the logic supposed to be that any unknown sound in the forest must be a sasquatch? If it is, it’s flawed.
We don’t know what it is. No one saw a sasquatch making these sounds so we can’t say they are sasquatch vocalizations. I’d love for them to be, but we have nothing to compare them to.
Sometimes known animals can make vocalizations that are not usually heard. An example is the Chehalis vocalizations that some of us in British Columbia investigated a number of years ago. If you go here:
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You will hear scary screams which the person who reported the sounds and recorded them thought might be a sasquatch. They do sound like they come from something powerful. thinking it may possibly have been sasquatch vocals, our team was stunned when one day they came upon the source of the noise making that noise. It was your run-of the-mill coyote. None of us could believe that something we all knew well was capable of making such a sound.
After that experience we played back some of the most famous sasquatch calls in existence and found that the sounds were identical, meaning no sasquatch had created them. It was just a plain old coyote.
My advice when dealing with vocalizations is to proceed with caution when trying to identify them. YNWA.
About John Kirk
One of the founders of the BCSCC, John Kirk has enjoyed a varied and exciting career path. Both a print and broadcast journalist, John Kirk has in recent years been at the forefront of much of the BCSCC’s expeditions, investigations and publishing. John has been particularly interested in the phenomenon of unknown aquatic cryptids around the world and is the author of In the Domain of the Lake Monsters (Key Porter Books, 1998).
In addition to his interest in freshwater cryptids, John has been keenly interested in investigating the possible existence of sasquatch and other bipedal hominids of the world, and in particular, the Yeren of China. John is also chairman of the Crypto Safari organization, which specializes in sending teams of investigators to remote parts of the world to search for animals as yet unidentified by science. John travelled with a Crypto Safari team to Cameroon and northern Republic of Congo to interview witnesses among the Baka pygmies and Bantu bushmen who have sighted a large unknown animal that bears more than a superficial resemblance to a dinosaur.
Since 1996, John Kirk has been editor and publisher of the BCSCC Quarterly which is the flagship publication of the BCSCC. In demand at conferences, seminars, lectures and on television and radio programs, John has spoken all over North America and has appeared in programs on NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, TLC, Discovery, CBC, CTV and the BBC.
In his personal life John spends much time studying the histories of Scottish Clans and is himself the president of the Clan Kirk Society. John is also an avid soccer enthusiast and player.
Just goes to prove assumption is the mother of all, err humm, cock ups.
Assumptions are a science-killer and it goes both ways.
I’m equally un-enamored of the folks that hear something that sounds pretty anomalous and tell me that’s just an ol’ hooty owl.
I had heard those “California screams” a good while ago. To me they sounded like a bunch of dogs, wolves, or coyotes down in a canyon (the echo made it a lot louder and weirder sounding).
Ahhh.. things that go bump in the night…ever since we sat by campfires there has been the intrigue of what lurks in the dark ;p
John Kirk–I have been saying the same things for years. I am glad you brought up this subject matter and addressed it from a logical and objective point of view. Finally, the voice of reason speaks!
Yes PhotoExpert your statement is so true! Not trying to be a skeptic nor a blind believer but those sounds could be anything. From researchers call blasting, to drunken campers or love hungry foxes 😉
Dr. Kaco: yes those sounds could be “anything.” But foxes and campers I’d doubt.
That doesn’t warrant our dismissing them. I sure haven’t heard anything like that; and I’ve heard foxes and campers.
“I’m equally un-enamored of the folks that hear something that sounds pretty anomalous and tell me that’s just an ol’ hooty owl.”
DWA: I certainly agree. Even very experienced woodsmen would have a hard time saying honestly what that was. I certainly would hazard a guess that Bigfoot is a real suspect here; I can’t imagine what else this could be, but I can’t TELL you what it is. I have a lot of experience with coyotes, and that’s no coyote, no fox, and I’m pretty sure it’s not a bobcat or lynx.
At a retreat in Virginia once, I heard two dogs that lived on the property get highly agitated by something that was around; they were so worked up I can’t imagine it was a bear, because bears are indigenous there, and I couldn’t imagine them getting that riled by something as familiar as a bear.
Cougar, perhaps. One woke me up there in the middle of the night that made me sit bolt upright in my sleeping bag, and every hair on my body stood bolt upright, as well.
I don’t know what kind of dogs they were, but they were the two biggest dogs I’ve seen in my life. They stood chest-high to me, and I don’t think something as familiar as a bear would cause them to panic like they did. Man, they were CRYING!
As Tonto once said to the Lone Ranger, “What you mean, ‘we’, white man.”
As the story goes… Lone Ranger and Tonto are riding the range and see 1000 Indians riding after them from the east… so they turn west, and see 1000 angry Indians riding after them… so they turn south and see 1000 more raging Indians riding after them… so they turn north and see 1000 more Indians hot on their trail… Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and says, “Oh boy, I guess we’re really done for now…”
I think there are posters on here that always assume Bigfoot, there are posters that do just the opposite and there are posters that do neither. Some true believers here as well as scofftics, some explorers with a balanced approach… and maybe, somewhere out there… the ever elusive “true” skeptic.
A very good point. Not every unexplained howl in the woods means it’s Bigfoot mating season 😛
Hi John,
Good post and great analysis pointing out a flaw in research.
However, in my encounters the whistling was accompanied by deliberate limb breaking loud enough to get our attention. After that we could hear definite deliberate crunching of the heavy forest debris from above and below our position. We then slowly retreated about 400 yards back up the road and it continued until we left the area.
We were heavily armed with large caliber weapons but chose to retreat. At no time did the species become visible but used very clear intimidation to get us to leave. This is typical of the species in the Sierras when encountered. They will either ignore or leave the immediate area of humans unless they feel directly threatened. Their intimidation tactics are very good and are normally used in an elevating fashion until the victims flee the area.
I welcome Professor Sykes upcoming report and think it will be a game changer. My best
Call Blasting is a GREAT research technique….but if the non-aware hear it…..it’s “REAL BIGFOOT SOUNDS”. This is a something I’ve brought up to both BFRO and this site and still shunt upon. Like I said before, not being a full on skeptic nor a full on blind believer… but COME ON! Let’s be logical yes?