WGRZ writes “Few creatures in the wild attract more controversy than Bigfoot. The legendary primate has been an enigma for centuries and continues to fascinate.
Mayville resident Peter Wiemer has been sponsoring an annual Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo since 2012. The outpouring of eyewitnesses since then has many believing that Sasquatch may be living in the area.
“They are from all kinds of walks of life. There’s 45 eyewitnesses that have reached out to me, there’s a hundred or more in Chautauqua County that aren’t talking to me,” Wiemer said.
The county is lush with dense forests and deep gorges that would offer such a large animal plenty of space to remain concealed. Their habitat requirements are very similar to the Black Bear, a common, but seldom seen species in the area.
Dr. Jeff Meldrum a Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology at Idaho State University has done extensive research on the elusive Cryptid.
“There has been published data that indicates that examination of the bioclimatic factors that establish a black bears’ population seem to also run very parallel to those attributable to Bigfoot based on its reported distribution,” Meldrum said.
Skeptics often point to the lack of physical evidence such as bones to discount these animals’ existence. But that’s not unusual with any animal, says Sasquatch Researcher Steve Kulls.
“To find a dead bear in the wild is unheard of, the same thing with a coyote or a fox even, because the environment has its own disposal system,” Kulls said.
Footprints are confirmation of an animal’s presence, and are impossible to hoax. Many have been found in Chautauqua.
“Footprints tell us a lot a lot of things too,” Meldrum said.
“Not only presence of something, but obviously, like I mentioned earlier, something about it’s distribution, it’s movements across the landscape.”
For those convinced of its existence, the proof is out there, and always has been.
“This mystery does go back centuries,” Kulls said. “If you think about it, not only do you have the Native American lore, but throughout history. ”
Wiemer agrees, “Whether they’re humanoid or more animal, that is yet to be figured out, but they’re there.”
Ron S
Common sense tells me that a very old or wounded animal that is known to have a den would likely go there to die or it subsequently dies there unable to make it through winter…it’s even common for dogs and cats to find places with little intrusion when they’re ready to “cross the rainbow bridge” as my daughter says:)
Unless you’re a thrill seeker and enjoy crawling into deep, smelly, dark holes head first that you can barely fit into, and possibly in the middle of winter, and in the off chance find a recently deceased bear, you’ll probably be pretty hard pressed to ever find one before nature takes it back.
We have tons and tons of information on bears as well as specimens and footage…there’s probably plenty of people that know right now exactly where a bear den is, but not one person can show you where a Sasquatch exactly lives during a certain time of year, a travel route, or how to get any reliable video of one. It’s been decades of advancement in technology and understanding the human and animal brain and it’s senses but still nothing…we can splice DNA, split atoms, travel to space and the depths of the oceans and no Sasquatch. Seasoned hunters know their quarry and it’s senses like a scientist to outwit animals that can smell you a mile away or detect the slightest movement, see in the dark or far greater than we can, we get pictures of these animals and always figure out how to harvest that particular game animal…but with Sasquatch we just throw our hands up and shrug?
I think it’s about time we stop using the dead bear analogy, that isn’t even remotely close to how elusive a Sasquatch or how complicated the topic of one is.
When was the last time a bear or it’s tracks just disappeared, bears were associated with odd lights, impossible athleticism or caused failure to technology, or were accused of anything other than being a bear? Use your noggins….you’ll have to dig deeper than your box of animal crackers to figure this one out. Ok, I’m done ranting now. Take care everyone!
John M
I will definitely make next yrs expos..And I had encounters in Steuben County on a 1500 acre farm a family friend owned and posted for us in the 70’s and early 80’s when I hunted it with my dad,I still have family members who still hunt it..getting my head straight with all I remember to tell Wes