April 7, 2007

Bigfoot in Michigan

Is bigfoot trouncing through Tobico? Probably not, but it is one theory behind mysterious tree breaks

A bunch of trees snapped in two along a trail at Bay County’s Tobico Marsh has some wondering if it’s the handiwork of a bigfoot.

Lynn Conley, a Bay City artist, can’t think of what else but a hairy, man-like creature, or sasquatch, could have done the damage.

Last month, about a quarter mile from a parking lot for marsh visitors, Conley and friend Charles Robinson of Sanford say they found a group of 15-20 live poplar and oak trees that had recently been snapped off at a height of 2-10 feet.

“I looked at it really carefully,” said Conley, 52. “I thought at first it might have been a bear. But there were no claw marks, just snaps.”

“My first inclination was bigfoot. Honestly, it was so weird. The air was eerie. It was something I can’t even hardly describe.”

Conley and Robinson left the trees and were getting back into their car when they heard another tree snap.

“There was no wind, no reason for it to snap,” she said.

Mike Evanoff, supervisor for the Bay City State Recreation Area in Bangor Township, which includes the marsh, said he doesn’t know what could have caused the tree breaks.

“There’s probably a logical explanation,” Evanoff said.

He said the park gets reports every couple of years about black bears passing through the marsh.

But if the tree breaks are the work of bigfoot, that wouldn’t be a bad thing, either, Evanoff said.

“I think if we did have a bigfoot sighting that would be very beneficial,” he said, “then we could put some tours together and have a promotional opportunity for the park and the community.”

Robinson, 59, owns Bird’s Custom Framing on Midland Street in Bay City and said he regularly takes his dog, Loco, for walks on the marsh trails.

He said it’s common to see dead trees that have fallen down in the area.

But these trees were still alive, and similar-sized pieces were broken off. Some segments were missing. He tried to push one tree down and it wouldn’t give.

“I’m a naturalist,” Robinson said. “I grew up in the woods, so I know when something doesn’t look right.”

He said the broken pieces were not laying in any particular direction, which he thinks rules out a storm. They didn’t seem to have enough branches to be broken by snow and ice buildup, either. The trees weren’t saplings. They were too thick to wrap a hand around.

“My theory is that we had an exceptionally wet December, with a lot of rain,” Robinson said.

“That quickly froze. These trees were wet and saturated and with the quick freeze, just like a frozen pipe, they snapped off.”

Stories of mysterious tree breaks blamed on bigfoot are abundant on the Internet, and have been reported in numerous states.

Bigfoot is purported to inhabit remote forests in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, but sightings have been reported in Michigan and even Bay City, according to a Web site for the Michigan Bigfoot Information Center.The Bay City Times

Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Report, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Sasquatch