So, you’re walking along and stumble on to this. What do you do? First thought in my head would be, “Whoop I found the Bigfoot Jackpot!” But did I? Is he really going to put a nest right where we could find it? If he just migrated through for the first time? Possibly, but if they’ve been around the area before I would think they would know our footprints and smells and traffic patterns.
I’m out frolicking in the forest a few days a week and I’ve found all kinds of shelters. As soon as I see one I’m like a little kid at Christmas. All excited like I’ve found Amelia Earhart out there. But I can’t help it because they are amazing to find. Maybe Bigfoot isn’t making them, but I know I can’t either. Anything that is not natural in the forest stands out and that makes it exciting.
I’ve found so many out there. They can’t all be his, can they? After I stop dancing like I scored a touchdown, I go through the mental checklist or the debunking process if you will.
Here are just a few questions from my checklist:
How far from the main road am I?
Could he fit in that shelter?
If not, what would he use it for?
Is it actually built well enough to be a shelter at all? (Is he’s getting a draft on his ass it could hardly be worth the effort)
Are there any prints, or other tell-tale signs around?
Could this area’s flora and fauna support one?
Are the branches put together to neatly? Or have they been ripped and snapped?
Is there hunting here? Could it be a hunters blind?
Are these being put up by bushcrafters practicing to build a shelter (growing trend just as popular as Bigfooting right now)?
You get the idea. That whole process happened within 5 minutes and I haven’t even looked inside yet?
But what about inside? What should we be looking for? Or not seeing? Here’s my inside checklist;
Is there food in there (If there is a Snickers rapper in there, it could still be him I hear)?
Does it look like something heavy bedded down here?
Does it stink to high heaven?
What if there is no evidence of food or basic needs being met at all? Some say these structures could be a form of communication? If so, what the hell are they trying to say? And who the hell are they saying it to?
I know the Olympia Project has found suspected nests. Beyond that, unless I missed it, I haven’t heard any details regarding them, but both the Olympia Project and the BFRO offer hands on training in the field if you think you need and can afford it. And maybe they will touch on nests a bit.
Right now, because I’m not sure what else I should be doing with them, and because I’m not a scientist, researcher or cryptozoologist, (my education was in…education) I just do what a friend drilled into me to do, document everything and that is what I’ve been doing. I have found so many of these, in different shapes, sizes and degrees of insulation.
A couple I have been suspicious that they could be something’s bed. Maybe one day this documentation will come in handy. I can only hope to contribute to this mystery a little in some way someday. But till then I’ll keep filming, measuring, crawling into, and smelling all kinds of crazy things, and I’ll pass the advice I received onto you. Document everything you see because you never know. Maybe you’ll find the Pièce de résistance everyone is looking for.
All pictures are my own, from my adventures in the forest.
Behind the scenes of the blog…
This week’s blog was re-edited and deleted by this crazy little gremlin who’s asked that their identity be hidden.
Sasysquatchgirl 