Everything’s Bigger in Texas Including Bigfoot
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on May 13th, 2006
At least that’s what National Geographic News would have you believe…
Posted Friday, on National Geographic News, is an interview I did with them regarding our research here in Texas, as well as the Bigfoot in Texas? exhibit and lecture series.
How about this great cartoon that was included with the article?
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including some of the footprints, according to Bigfoot believers in the Lone Star State.
Illustration by Oddtoe
I guess their cartoonist didn’t read the part of the article where I stated:
"Here in Texas," he added, "We have 22 million acres (9 million hectares) of forestland. In the four-state region [Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana] there are 65 million acres [26,000,000 hectares]. That’s equivalent to the entire state of Oregon—not just the forest, but the entire state [much of Oregon is desert]."
I don’t know where the part about much of Oregon is desert came from. Maybe it is, but I don’t know, nor did I claim it. I guess it is more entertaining to play up the stereotype of Texas as a series of vast, empty plains?
And then one of the resident Bigfoot skeptics, Joe Nickell, weighs in.
There is no credible evidence for the existence of Bigfoot, says Joe Nickell, senior research fellow for the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, an Amherst, New York-based debunking organization that publishes a bimonthly magazine called Skeptical Inquirer.
"Or to put it another way," he said, "there’s really quite a lot of evidence, but unfortunately it’s very poor quality."
That’s a problem for Bigfoot-believers, Nickell says, because if the creature really does exist, then it must exist in fairly substantial numbers. Otherwise, it would long ago have gone extinct.
"Not a single carcass has been found," he said.
I’m looking forward to Benjamin Radford’s presentation in San Antonio in 3 weeks. I wonder if this is an example of the logic that will be presented? I wish that Rick Noll and Jeff Meldrum were going to be on hand to discuss the Skookum Cast replicas with Radford.
"While we can’t prove Bigfoot doesn’t exist," he added, "it’s fair to point out that we can’t prove that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. We can’t prove that there are no leprechauns."
The Bigfoot myth, Nickell suggests, is fueled by human hopes and fears. In that manner, he continues, it is similar to other myths.
"We are hopeful that we are not alone in the universe, so we believe in extraterrestrials," he said. "We are fearful of the unknown, so we imagine monsters and sinister aliens.
"I think Bigfoot represents an artifact from a vanishing world. It’s tempting to think that some early cousin of ours is still around. Extraterrestrials are futuristic versions of us. Bigfoot is our beastly cousin from the past."
I don’t know about you, but my cousins are still around, and beastly they are not…Let’s see, we want to believe that our prehistoric ancestors are still around, so eyewitnesses are imagining seeing Bigfoot? Or is it that we are afraid of the dark, "fearful of the unknown, so we imagine monsters?"
I tell you what. It is far bigger of a stretch to think that every piece of evidence, every track that has been found, photographed or cast, every eyewitness account is a lie, a hoax or a case of mistaken identity, than to accept that there is credible evidence that this creature exists.
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
I agree with your last statement. This is the argument I present to skeptics when they try to discredit the existence of unknown animals.
I believe it’s extremely unlikely for hundreds upon thousands of sightings all around the globe to have been faked.
I agree. to belive that we, as humans, have mastered the mysteries of all life on earth, as well as all life in the universe is an example of ignorance meets writing job.
He stated one thing about the evidence that has been brought forward is poor quality evidence. In a way he is correct but only to a point that their is no way in “HE**” it can all be fakes and hoaxes.
Good morning Craig….when God visits the planet he stays in Texas….enough said…
Regarding the Skeptical “bluebelly know it alls”….I’ve got several cold “crow” recipes I’m saving for those folks…hope they like feathers…it’s an acquired taste…LOL
The media seldom gets it right….they prefer sensation or sarcasm over facts…I appreciate all you do…bubba…JMHO
seeing is believing…
ole bub and the dawgs
Unfortunately Mr. Nickell is extremely narrow minded and suffering from denial, that’s similar to finding droppings on the kitchen counter every morning and swearing you don,t have a mouse problem. Even though you don’t see them they leave evidence.
I have been to 306 countries of the world and have been to the most remote places on earth. I have seen nothing!
But I give this challenge. You pick the place and I will camp out and range about for 30 to 60 days in your area of pick and keep a video diary about what I seen and do. You cover the cost of the trip and I will either find you the proof or state its nothing but people who fear bumps in the night or something shaggy which they can not explain in the day.
I can track over most terrain and I am an expert at surviving in most climates. So if you want to take up the challenge let me know! I have never seen anything which was not alcohol induced or brought on by fear where peoples mind plays tricks on them. Even the best of Scientist can be fooled if they are put into a dark forest and are not aware of all the things that go creeping around.
First of all Craig, this is a good article. Second, why is it that the first thing that skeptical people ask is why is there not a body, well Craig said it very well, if an animal is sick or hurt they go some where far from man to heal or die. A good example is the bear, experts will tell you that you will not find to many bears that die of natural causes. So why should Bigfoot be any different. I have never seen one, but I feel there is something out there. Too many people have seen something, so it is at least worth a look. Who knows, something might be found. I doent think it would hurt to check it out. Keep up the good work guys.
Being skeptical is one thing. I cannot blame anyone for having doubts. However, being totally closed-minded to the possibility is another thing altogether. Sadly, it will probably take a corpse to convince most.
Well there you have it. Skepticism, sure, as I think I’ve said. It’s the no-way cynicism that gets me. To say nothing of the certainty that we have it all figured when we can’t even figure out whether caffeine is good for you or not!
I believe there are four schools of thought on Bigfoot, to mention only one cryptid:
1. You believe the evidence points to an actual animal …and say why.
2. You believe it doesn’t…and say why not. (And what you say makes sense, and properly accounts for the volume and nature of evidence.)
3. You can’t tell from the available evidence one way or another.
4. You don’t know enough about the nature of the evidence to form an opinion.
I’ve almost never heard a Bigfood skeptic who didn’t belong in category 4. Almost every one of them makes a critical error of ignorance…and here’s the latest one.
And oh by the way, I didn’t intend to introduce “Bigfood,” the cryptid that will finally Feed Us All.
Although wouldn’t it be nice for all this talk to amount to something good. 🙂
I notice that when it comes to put up or shut up people try the idiotic ploy for a third option of sulking of its so because I say its so.
What I have proposed is far better than anything I have ever seen or heard of. The problem now is for those who believe to put up or simply shut up.
If there is an animal then people must make an effort greater than a few days in the woods. I am willing to go as long as a year if need be. But generally 90 days is more than enough. The mountain gorillas of Africa were found in a 60 day expedition which is exactly what I have proposed.
So the choice is on the believers to put up or shut up. If there is a creature then put the effort into finding it. All these so called efforts are like the lottery in chance. Even the spartan funded effort by Washington State by a few scientist only goes out into the bush for no more than 1 week at a time and only to check placed photo traps.
Thats like stupid unless a person knows for a fact that a certain animal crosses those places frequently enough to set such a thing. But 14 months now with nothing to show should say something even to the most hard core believer. Either the method used is flawed or the animal does not exist in the area of the traps.
Surviverman….an expert in fieldcraft should be able to live off the land…for a few months…bona fide verifiable “proof” would be worth high 6 digits perhaps more….an “expert” should have no downside….perhaps you should offer us a finders fee…while you collect the prize….LOL
I’ve spent the past thirty-five years, 6-7 days a week, 12 hours a day in the oil and gas fields of the Arkoma Basin….in SE Oklahoma’s prime sasquatch habitat….an area with a rich history of sightings….my hands and I have a handful of sightings between us…but your going to prove us wrong in a month or two of “wandering” lost with a video diary…not likely…JMHO
I doubt you would last a few weeks in the swamps, bayous and piney forests of East Texas or the Ouachita/Kiamichi wilderness of SE Oklahoma…chiggers, ticks, snakes, gators and skeeters…then of course there is the “big fella”…illegal pot plots and real rednecks…”squeal like a pig”…
seeing is believing….
ole bub and the dawgs
Really.
I believe the animals exist, and feel no need to put up or shut up. I think they exist because there’s no compelling reason to think they don’t. Then there’s the quantity of the evidence — more than for, say, the kipunji, who saw it being the only difference along with, OK, the rather spectacular, no-way nature of the animal — a quantity that will not be added to, materially, by Indiana Jones for 60 days.
If you don’t believe the Patterson film to show what it shows, hang it up. How much better can the evidence get without being conclusive proof?
“While we can’t prove Bigfoot doesn’t exist,” he added, “it’s fair to point out that we can’t prove that the tooth fairy doesn’t exist. We can’t prove that there are no leprechauns.”
And I love this, because, as I’ve said to other debunkers in the past, I don’t believe in Santa, but I don’t go ruining the Christmas of children everywhere by ranting against his existence.
Why might someone be so threatened by something that is “myth” to them?
“The Bigfoot myth, Nickell suggests, is fueled by human hopes and fears. In that manner, he continues, it is similar to other myths.
“We are hopeful that we are not alone in the universe, so we believe in extraterrestrials,” he said. “We are fearful of the unknown, so we imagine monsters and sinister aliens.
Or, perhaps, we are fearful of the unknown, and what the verification of that unknown might mean to our neat, set world view, and so we lash out at “fairy tales”?
surviverman
I’ve been in the woods since I was big enough to walk. Started carrying a gun when I was 10 and have 20+ years experience hunting and fishing throughout the Appalachian foothills that birthed me.
I know they are out there, because I’ve found there spoor and scratches, but I have NEVER in all my years seen one bobcat in the woods, and I’ve only seen one red fox, and that was because a group of hounds chased it right past me while I was sitting on a deer stand.
I know otters are there too, because I’ve seen their mud slides on creek banks, but I’ve not actually seen an otter since I was a very young child.
I know that coyotes have moved east too, because I’ve seen them as roadkill and heard their howls, but I’ve never seen one alive in the woods.
Plus, if I had the money to support anyone on a two month vacation to the wilderness, I’d do it myself. This city living is starting to chafe at me.
Well, there you go, Jeremy.
I try to keep Santa’s nonexistence out of the conversation with my kids, ’till I know for sure they “know.” (Hey, can’t disprove it…right….?) Same with the Easter Bunny.
I wish I could figure out what, perzackly, it is with professional debunkers. Was it what happened to them when Daddy told them Santa and the Bunny didn’t exist? Do they want to inflict the same pain on others that was inflicted on them? Are they afraid that if Bigfoot is proven, there really ARE monsters under the bed…?
Loren, you gotta ask these questions! ‘Cause professional debunkers is a cryptid if ever was!