It would be exciting to think that something as big and unknown as Bigfoot was out there. Unfortunately, I don't think that's the case. There just isn't any untainted evidence out there and the determination of TV shows and the BFRO crowd to endlessly recycle the Patterson footage doesn't seem to be any more convincing. There is a minor TV industry created around this stuff, churning out cheap filler for outlets like the History Channel (who seem to have run out of Nazi film footage to fill up their schedule). That's drawn even more crackpots into it, as well as a lot of hucksters looking to make a buck. In some ways, this kind of sideshow activity has a long history in the US--after all, P. T. Barnum was one of our own.
On the other hand, there are a lot of sincere people who are deeply interested in this and are spending lots of their free time in the woods searching for something. But still nothing turns up. Apart from Meldrum (the anthropologist who is the duty expert on just about every TV show and must be making some nice coin for his efforts), legitimate primatologists have not made it a priority to catch the big guy. And I just don't think that the argument that "the lack of evidence that Bigfoot doesn't exist somehow proves that he does" will hold water.
I'm very interested in folklore, and I love to hear stories like this. In many ways, following Bigfoot lore lets us see legends being produced in the modern world. I think we can learn a lot about what people are thinking about the world around them by listening to the stories and following the expeditions. But I don't think that there's any big hairy primate to be bagged at the end of the day. If there is any real, living creature out there driving all this, I think that Todd hit the nail on the head.
On the other hand, there are a lot of sincere people who are deeply interested in this and are spending lots of their free time in the woods searching for something. But still nothing turns up. Apart from Meldrum (the anthropologist who is the duty expert on just about every TV show and must be making some nice coin for his efforts), legitimate primatologists have not made it a priority to catch the big guy. And I just don't think that the argument that "the lack of evidence that Bigfoot doesn't exist somehow proves that he does" will hold water.
I'm very interested in folklore, and I love to hear stories like this. In many ways, following Bigfoot lore lets us see legends being produced in the modern world. I think we can learn a lot about what people are thinking about the world around them by listening to the stories and following the expeditions. But I don't think that there's any big hairy primate to be bagged at the end of the day. If there is any real, living creature out there driving all this, I think that Todd hit the nail on the head.