February 26, 2014
Yahoo TV spoke with Natalia Reagan, a primatologist and one of the judges on “Bigfoot Bounty,” along with Dr. Todd Disotell, professor of anthropology at New York University and actor Dean Cain. We got some advice from her for aspiring Bigfoot hunters or, as they’re sometimes known, “squatchers.”
1. Think Like a Primate
“Think about what exactly are you looking for? What is this primate like? If, for example, you believe that Bigfoot is nocturnal, look for it at night. If Sasquatch, in your mind, is a vegetarian that loves berries or eating mushrooms, then go looking for areas rich with berries and mushrooms.”
2. Change Your Theories
Science is a process: You have a hypothesis, you test it and, if it’s proved wrong, come up with a new hypothesis. “I watched these contestants change theories as they gained more information,” said Reagan. “They would see things in the forest and talk to other Bigfooters and were surprised about the information the other Bigfooters had, and were willing and open enough change their hypothesis.”
Hunters Kirsten and Shaney, in particular, learned from the squatchers “and used that information to come up with their own theories.” Reagan and Dr. Disotell also loved seeing die-hard squatchers Dave and Stacy talk about their hypotheses using terminology they never would have used at the beginning of the show.
3. Know What Hair Looks like
Not once but twice, the judges were presented with hair samples from Bigfoot, only to discover, after analysis, that they were moss. “They actually cut out my line, I’m so bummed,” Reagan revealed. “It was the second episode, and it was the second time they got moss as hair, and I remember just yelling at them, “No mas, moss!” Perhaps the bilingual joke was lost on producers.
4. Know Your Scat
Squatchers Ro and Justin believed “with 100 percent certainty” that the feces they had found were from Bigfoot, so much so that they got into an argument with Dr. Disotell when he told them the analysis proved it came from a horse. Dr. Disotell built a mobile DNA lab specifically for the show (something Reagan would love to take on her expeditions to Panama, where she studies spider monkeys; sadly, the equipment remains the property of Spike TV), but if you don’t have one of those, it can be months between the time when you pick up your Bigfoot sample and you discover that it’s from just a bobcat or a bear.
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.
Filed under 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty, Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Footprint Evidence, Forensic Science, Pop Culture, Sasquatch, Television