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Bigfoot/Yeti/Skunk Ape


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MantoidLight

Paranormal Novice
Hi, I was curious about whether Bigfoot and the Skunk Ape are thought to be different species or whether they are assumed to be the same species but in different locale? I'm assuming the yeti is generally thought to be a different species. And sasquatch is the same as Bigfoot?
 
Im open minded on Bigfoot.From what Ive read,the Skunk Ape sounds like an ape of some description.An escaped exotic pet?.The Yeti according to some reports could be a species of mountain bear.Bigfoot/Sasquatch a giant,intelligent bi-ped?.Who knows.Sadly we have none to hunt for here in the North of England.
 
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Has anybody watched the recent Bigfoot TV show on Netflix?

I have family members that have sworn they've seen them, and I've even seen casts from family members that helped cast them.

But... this show was pretty compelling. Every single sample they found was a known animal. They spent something like 200K pounds per sample analyzing them. They were bears, horses, etc.
 
marduk said:
Has anybody watched the recent Bigfoot TV show on Netflix?

I have family members that have sworn they've seen them, and I've even seen casts from family members that helped cast them.

But... this show was pretty compelling. Every single sample they found was a known animal. They spent something like 200K pounds per sample analyzing them. They were bears, horses, etc.
Click to expand...

Do you remember the title of the show? I would like to check it out.

I am especially interested in why they would spend that amount of money per test, unless they were sure they had a really "good" sample, my understanding is that with the correct expertise and a powerful microscope it is possible to tell a lot about a hair just by looking at it under magnification. I imagine it should be possible to eliminate known animal hairs by a process of comparison, before going on to spend money on further expensive testing.

Coincidentally I recently read an article recently about testing animal fur used in clothing:

"As part of an awareness campaign, the charity carried out laboratory tests on three items being sold as faux fur this winter, and found them to be made of mink, fox and rabbit."

Faux fur or real - do you know what you're wearing? - BBC News

RE skunk ape, @MantoidLight do you have a link to the picture you mentioned please?

I understand that Burmese Pythons are now present in the wild in the Everglades, having either been deliberately or accidentally released, I believe that a major factor is the similarity in habitat between Florida and the Burmese Pythons natural home:

Risk assessment
One of the most contentious issues related to the Burmese python population in Florida is the potential spread to other areas of the southern United States. A potential limitation to a species's habitat range is climate. Numerous climate matching models have indicated that most of Florida and vast portions of the coast of the rest of Southeastern United States provide hospitable habitats for Burmese pythons.[13][14][15]


The original model takes into account only the fundamental climate space of the python and thus disregards other factors that could limit python spread.[13] Furthermore, most of the data set was obtained from localities outside of the Burmese python's native range.[16]


In contrast to the 2009 proposal, the more conservative niche model identifies regions of suitable climate in South Florida, extreme southern Texas, and spotty areas across the Central and Southern Americas.[17] However, the use of this model has been criticized for the overfitting of data from excess variables and the misidentification of four Blood pythons as Burmese pythons.[15] A model corrected for these miscalculations showed a greater projected range of Burmese python climate match including nearly all of Florida, much of the lower Coastal Plain of the southeast United States, and southern Texas.[15]


A severe freeze in the southeastern United States during January 2010 provided additional insight into the threat of Burmese python range extension. In the wake of this extended cold spell, several investigators reported dead snakes coiled along canal banks and in outdoor enclosures.[18][19][20]


However, numerous snakes survived this cold spell, potentially by using behavioral mechanisms (such as seeking refuge underground). If these behavioral traits are heritable, it is possible that the winter of 2009-2010 served as a selection event for more cold-tolerant pythons. This selected population of pythons would have an enhanced ability to spread northwards and extend the python's invasive range.[7]*

*Burmese pythons in Florida - Wikipedia


The reason I mention Pythons is because I believe it is possible that the same thing has happened with Orangutans:

map1.png



degreemap.jpg


Both Pythons and Orangutans are kept as pets (not sure on the legality today but certainly in the recent past).

I don't think the actual "Skunk ape" is an Orangutan I think it is like Bigfoot, in that it is more of a "magic animal".
But I certainly can believe that it is possible that some Orangutan/s are surviving in the wild in the Everglades, maybe not a "breeding population" but who knows?
 
marduk said:
It was a very even handed and scientific approach, I thought.
Click to expand...


I have seen that one, it was well done in some ways, but I thought that Dr Meldrums criticism (when he was last on the paracast*) of the samples they selected was valid.

December 18, 2016 — Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio

I did think that the sample of the ancient or Hybrid "Bear" was fascinating, but I have just read that Dr Sykes' result have been challenged:


"Prof Sykes said the most likely explanation for the myth was that the animal was a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.

The research was reported widely by the media last year and, in July this year, published by the Royal Society.

However, following re-analysis of the same data, Dr Edwards and Dr Barnett argue that the hybrid bear does not exist in the Himalayas."

Scientists challenge 'Abominable Snowman DNA' results - BBC News

Definitely worth a watch though, it might be on youtube ;)
 
Han said:
I have seen that one, it was well done in some ways, but I thought that Dr Meldrums criticism (when he was last on the paracast*) of the samples they selected was valid.

December 18, 2016 — Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio

I did think that the sample of the ancient or Hybrid "Bear" was fascinating, but I have just read that Dr Sykes' result have been challenged:


"Prof Sykes said the most likely explanation for the myth was that the animal was a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.

The research was reported widely by the media last year and, in July this year, published by the Royal Society.

However, following re-analysis of the same data, Dr Edwards and Dr Barnett argue that the hybrid bear does not exist in the Himalayas."

Scientists challenge 'Abominable Snowman DNA' results - BBC News

Definitely worth a watch though, it might be on youtube ;)
Click to expand...
I think it's very much easier to buy a weird species of bear than a whole unknown species of giant hominid.

I mean, there's lots of bears in almost every terrestrial niche. In terms of big bipeds, there's only us for the past 30k years or so.

So it's pretty easy to get an unknown bear, but very hard to get an unknown kissing cousin, hominid wise.
 
MantoidLight said:
Here's a link to the photo, Han. Initially, I thought orangutan but it could just be a guy in a suit now that I'm seeing it again:

http://www.lorencoleman.com/images/MAPhotosm.jpg

I lived in Southwest Florida when I was a kid and I remember them catching a python near my elementary school. They actually caught a few young Nile crocodiles in the Everglades a couple years ago.
Click to expand...
That photo always struck me as very problematic. I can't identify why -- I'm not an image expert -- but it seems totally fake. Like a dummy set up at night or something.
 
The biggest red flag for me is that the photographer is "unknown", so even if it is genuine it could have been taken anywhere (e.g Sumatra or in a zoo).

To my eye it doesn't look like a man in a suit, because the arm is too long:

variants_large_5637.jpg

(Sumartran Orangutan ((Pongo abelii))) Skeleton*

MAPhotosm.jpg

**

But it could be "Taxidermy" or a realistic model.
I am certain it is not CGI.

I wonder if the thing that @marduk was trying to describe is: that there seems to be a lack of movement in the images, and that those leaves are conveniently "situated", they obscure a good proportion of the "creature's" body. I agree that it looks staged somehow.

MAface1sm.jpg


the more I look the more suspicious I become....

however if this is a genuine picture of a "skunk ape" I would say that they are a very different species to "Sasquatch/Bigfoot" because my understanding is that Bigfoot is very much a Biped and takes long strides, the length of the arms of the creature pictured suggest to me that it would move about very differently.



*Orangutan Skeleton (Pongo abelii ) | Skulls Unlimited 1-800-659-SKULL

**The Myakka “Skunk Ape” Photographs | The Cryptozoologist : Loren Coleman
 
Yeah, I never really noticed the lack of movement but you're right. It seems positioned. I never considered a taxidermy animal before but that could be the case.
 
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