Bigfoot

In the United States it’s called Bigfoot, in Canada it’s called Sasquatch, the Yowie in Australia, and in Tibet and Nepal the arctic version is called the Yeti or Meh-Teh. No matter what the name or location for this mythical creature, people around the globe are continually fascinated with the idea of a large hairy abominable snowman roaming in the wilderness.

The creature has had sightings not only in North America, but the people of Tibet are convinced that an abnormally large human-like figure roams the Himalayas. They instill their faith in his existence and insist that he comes to the aid of those in need.

Reportedly, Bigfoot’s prints have been measured up to 18 inches from toe to heel. This would put his height at anywhere from seven to ten feet tall. It’s said to look like a huge anthropoid ape.

Mainstream scientists and experts have concluded the evidence of the animal’s existence to be weak at best. They explain his traits as simply as a legendary misidentification of currently known species (much like mariner’s tales of “mermaids” who were eventually identified as manatees) or as a mere hoax. Such animals known to the region to be considered responsible for the Yeti’s myth are the Langur monkey, the Tibetan Blue Bear, the Dzu-Teh (Himalayan Red Bear) or the Himalayan Brown Bear.

It is no surprise that these bears are often mistaken for the roaming ape-like creature. Consider the etymology for the Yeti : Yeh = “rocky”, Teh = “bear”
Or
Meh = “man”, Teh = “bear”

The name “Abominable Snowman” was first used in 1921 when Lt. Colonel Charles Howard-Bury led the Royal Geographical Society’s “Everest Reconnaissance Expedition”. He wrote about the expedition in “Money Everest The Reconnaissance” where he wrote about finding footprints he believed were made by a large wolf running. The doubled-up footprints in the snow looked as if a they were made by a barefooted man. His Sherpa guides insisted they were made by someone they called “metoh-kangmi” Metoh = “man-bear”, Kang-mi = “snowman”. When Henry Newman, a contributor to The Statesman in Calcutta interviewed the returning adventurers he mistranslated the word “metoh” to mean “filthy” and substituted the word “abominable” for his writing purposes. Hence the Bumble’s been bouncing ever since.

The myth continues to unravel as we look further back into the history of this animal. In 1832, B.H. Hodgson from The Journal of the Asiatic Society, reported his native guides as spotting a tall bipedal creature with long, dark hair. He concluded the animal to be an orangutan.

In 1889, L.A. Waddell’s “Among the Himalayas” reported his guide describing an apelike creature leaving large prints behind. Waddell concluded the prints to be made by a bear. He questioned many or these “witnesses” and never turned up with any genuinely believable recounts of the sighthings. In each case, it was always resolved to be some other kind of previously known creature.
In the early 20th century reports of the odd creatures and strange tracks began to increase as more Westerners began to scale the mountains. Despite rising reports and mounting so-called evidence from well-financed expeditions, scientists have concluded that the Yeti reports have just been misidentifications of identifiable indigenous creatures.

The Yeti’s cousin in the west, Bigfoot, was first reported in 1924. Bigfoot is theorized to be related to the Yeti through a creature called Gigantopithecus. Most fossils of these ancient creatures were found in China, whose forests can be very similar to those in north-western North America. Because it is known that many species migrated across the Bering Strait, it is argued that a relic population of these creatures would explain the Bigfoot reports as well as that of the Yeti. However, it is widely believed that the creatures were quadrupedal and since they were so huge, it is very unlikey that they would ever have adapted to being bipedal.

Just as in the case of the Yeti, mainstream scientists once again shoot down the idea of Bigfoot’s existence. The probability of a creature that large, and with the described characteristics existing in the North American habitant in slim to none. Based on temperatures and latitudes, and the fact that all other nonhuman apes don’t exist in regions such as these, it is highly unlikely for a Bigfoot creature to have the survival abilities needed to roam these territories.

In a pop-culture sense, these giant ape-like creatures are fun at the least. From “Harry and the Hendersons” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to Walth Disney World roller coaster attractions to the actual indigenous people of the regions in which this giants are supposed to inhabit, people love the idea of this legendary creature. Whether myth, man, or monster, people want to believe - despite all contrary evidence.