Around 500 bc, a Carthaginian explorer named Hanno the Navigator( also thought to be possibly a king) guided a fleet of sixty oared ships through the Strait of Gibraltar and along the northwest lobe of the great elephant ear that is the African continent.

Toward the end of his journey, on an island in a lagoon, he encountered a “rude description of people”, rough-skinned, hairy, violent. The local interpreters called them Gorillae. Hanno and his crew attempted to capture some of them, but many climbed up steep elevations and hurled stones in defense. —wiki

He was able to catch three females and I’ll just leave it at that, the less you know the better. And there has been some question as to wether they are human or beast. But, if you look at this and some other very old encounters with the great apes, the more you hear the similarities of our modern bigfoot descriptions and behaviors. And they knew at that time about as much about the great apes as we do now of the bigfoot species now.

The bones weren’t plentiful and classified as a species till the 1800s. The first systematic study of one was not until 1920, And this first account was in 500 bc!

Looking at it in these terms, we are still in the infancy period of knowledge of these creatures. We are learning so many different things in just these past few years , now constantly adjusting our own evolutionary timeline and migration around the globe, after all this time that we can’t possibly be able to say, with conviction, that a North American Primate could not possibly have gotten here, and evolved in its own way.

My belief has always been that they are something in between man and primate, I usually used the description, missing link, but I no longer believe it is the link between ape and man. I believe we are Homo sapiens and we’ll, when we do have bones to classify, we can give them a proper name of their own.

I think with all the changes going on with our planet, the climate, weather etc.

That it’s time to throw location and migration patterns for all species out the window and go back to the drawing board. Their instinct will take them wherever they need to go to survive, they are operating on species survival instincts as old as the beginning of life, and way down deep, in our most basic nature so our we humans. Who knows where we may have to adapt and live in the future to continue our survival?

Welcome to the new world (animal migration) order everyone…buckle up. We’ll find that squatch someday.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanno_the_Navigator

A correspondent to a Hornellsville paper tells the following veracious story:

“For the very strange story I am about to relate I scarcely expect, nor do I solicit, belief. Indeed, were it not that hundreds of reliable men and women in the county of Steuben are ready and willing to vouch for its truthfulness, I would never ask you to put it in print. The facts are as follows:

“During the four weeks last past a wild man has been prowling around the woods in the towns of Woodhull and Troupsburg, in the southern part of this county, coming frequently into the highways and cleared fields, to the intense terror of women and children, and even strong men. So great is the excitement in some parts of the towns mentioned, that schools have been broken up – parents not daring to send their little ones along the public highways to the schoolhouses.

At first the whole thing was considered by most people as a hoax, intended merely to frighten old women and children; but as many of the most prominent citizens vouched for the actual existence of the wild man, and the disturbance of the schools was making it a matter of public importance, the people of Woodhull and Troupsburg determined to do all in their power to ferret the matter out.

Accordingly, on the 12th inst., about two hundred men assembled at the residence of Mr. S. G. Brown, and proceeded to search the woods in that immediate locality. Under the leadership of Captain J. J. Buchanan and the writer of this article, crowds searched the woods for hours, but with no success further than the finding of a campfire and the track of a barefooted man imprinted in the soil of a marshy part of the forest; and the whole party, at about three o’clock P. M., returned to Mr. Brown’s house, and, getting ready their teams, started back for Woodhull village.

The party had proceeded scarcely fifty rods from Mr. Brown’s, when, on the outskirts of the woods, and within twenty rods of the band of searchers, appeared the veritable wild man of the woods! Myself, Capt. Buchanan, and the others, immediately started in full pursuit. We approached within six or eight rods of this strange being without attracting his notice, when suddenly, with a wild, unearthly shriek, he notified us that we were perceived. I drew my rifle, intending to halt him or send a bullet crashing through his skull. I ordered him to halt, when he sprang, with the agility of a deer, toward the woods.

I did not fire, because on second thought I doubted my right to take the life of any human being, however wild, until he had at least violated some law. So far I have related facts, which will be vouched for by at lease one hundred persons. I will now give you a perfect description of this wild man – or animal – or ‘What is It’ – as he, she, or it appeared to me.

He was barefooted, bareheaded, and wore no clothing except an old pair of soldiers’ pants; his hair, which was black, sprinkled with grey, was from two to three feet long, frizzly, and natted, hanging over his neck, face, shoulders and back, reaching half way to the ground; his beard reached to the waistband of his pants, and was jet black; this, together with a springing, jerking huch in his gait, gave him more the appearance of a wild animal than a human being. And, though I am not of a nervous temperament, may all the saints in heaven shield and defend me from ever meeting such a fiendish looking being face to face again! The long, matted hair; the thick, black and uncombed beard; the wild, glaring, bloodshot eyeballs, which seemed bursting from their sockets; the savage, haggard, unearthly countenance; the wild, beastly appearance of this thing, whether man or animal, has haunted me continually by day and night; and I do not wonder that when this strange being rapped on the school-house windows, children were frightened half out of their senses and refused to be pacified; for, although I have seen the faces of fifty different tribes of Rocky Mountain Indians, painted for the war-path, and have looked with wonder on the stuffed gorilla, Barnum’s ‘What is it,’ the man monkey &c., I have never beheld any thing in the human one half as hideous as the wild man of Woodhull woods.
“I will close by saying that 25 years ago, a man named William Little suddenly disappeared from Woodhull, and has never been heard of since; and as the farm on which the wild man spends most of his time was formerly owned by the absentee, it is supposed, by some that the wild man is none other than William Little himself, returned in this disguise to the home of his youth.

But I hardly think this theory the true one. I do believe, however, that a woman and baby are somewhat mixed up in the matter.” [Cincinnati Daily Enquirer (Cincinnati, OH) July 8, 1869;

This article, in it’s entirety, I was able to find on genealogy trails.com

But, on three different bigfoot sites I found this same account edited and leaving out some pesky details that could cause some doubt as to whether or not this is actually a bigfoot sighting. It’s not their faults though, because this may be the only version they know, its an example of how these tales change and evolve over time. It happens even now despite all the information we have at our very finger tips. Here’s the edited version,

“During the summer of 1869, a wild man was spotted by at least one hundred residents in the vicinity of Woodhill and Troupsville in Steuben County. It made shrieking sounds as it raced through the countryside. An eyewitness said it moved “with a springing, jerking hitch in his gait [that] gave him more the appearance of a wild animal than a human being.” One man got a close-up view: “The long, matted hair; the thick, black, uncombed beard; the wild, glaring, bloodshot eyeballs, which seemed bursting from their sockets; the swage, haggard, unearthly countenance; the wild, beastly appearance of this thing, whether man or animal, has haunted me”

This version is missing a few things, a major one being that he’s wearing pants a soldier would wear. I’ve never heard of him wearing pants before, have you?

Now, I’m not saying that it isn’t a bigfoot, but, the edited version certainly sounds much more like a bigfoot then the original letter may have you believe.

What are your thoughts on the encounter? Do you believe it is still a bigfoot or maybe a soldier suffering some ptsd and unable to cope in society?

This is an example of why It’s very important that we do our own research as well, of course being in the field is the best part of it all, at least for me, but It is also really important we’re doing the research outside of the woods as well.

Especially with these historical wildman encounters, because throughout history wildman we’re what they called, well, everything that wasn’t their idea of civilized, people who escaped to the woods because of poverty, insanity etc.

So, I have a subject I always start to write about and ponder, then I stop, see more related comments and start again, but tonight I’m just going to bite the bullet and chat about it a bit.

This is one of those posts I’ve warned you about. The one where It’s just me sharing my thoughts and chatting with you. I consider this blog mostly as a conversation with you.

So, this past week, I saw at least four posts across social media platforms about how negative and jealous etc the bigfoot community can be. It’s so sad to see. Luckily I miss it usually.

And don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see it, I just want to understand why it happens?

I know I’m always in my happy bubble walking the woods alone , but occasionally I do come out and go on various platforms, and then I’ll see a post again talking about the negativity, haters, etc. and I’m just like why can’t we all just get along.

Look, I’m socially awkward, I know that. I’ve always known I’m the girl that just doesn’t fit in anywhere. I’m convinced I was born in the wrong century altogether, but I am present. I talk to a few of you wonderful footers. and you have all been kind. I have a hard time reaching out to people myself, but I always try to show my regard adding these groups or peoples good work to my story, or on my page posts. It takes just seconds to give credit and respect to another person and I truly enjoy doing it.

So now that you know I’m always in this bubble, (a bubble that I’ll gladly share with anyone who needs one), can anyone tell me where all this negativity comes from? We are all on different personal journeys yes, but our end goals are all the same. Why fight? Everyone who hopes to find a bigfoot one day puts a lot of effort and mostly foots all the bill it incurs solely out of their own pocket. So wether you like them or not is no matter, just respect matters. All we truly have is our integrity.

Always try to respect another person’s theories and research, their philosophy and findings. Maybe we don’t all agree but respect goes a long way. Why burn a bridge? Hurt another’s feelings?

If you don’t agree that’s totally okay, I’m sure a lot of people don’t love what I’m up too all the time. My main comments that are negative I guess, would be that I put things other than bigfoot on my pages.

Well, sadly, that won’t ever change. I simply can’t live on bigfoot alone. I like sharing my nature walks and my crazy rescue dog also, and my poetry, (yes I said poetry). All of these things makes me, me. And as long as everyone else is doing their own thing too and being themselves, doing their research their way and aren’t hurting anyone else what’s to argue over?

I think everyone from the artist all the way to the more professional side have a voice, a place, and adds a piece to this wonderful puzzle that is the wild man. If I don’t say it enough, I respect all of you, you all rock. Keep on keeping on and if some negativity lands your way? Delete, block and move on. It’s only a fight if the other person reacts back. Just keep spreading positivity and love baby. It can’t hurt.

Go to sleep tonight knowing that you are weirdly awesome , and keep up all the great research you’re working on…

Have a great night everyone!

A discovery of plesiosaur fossils in Morocco suggests that a Loch Ness monster could have once lived in an environment akin to Loch Ness.
— Read on gazette.com/content/tncms/live/

An interesting post on the Bigfoot Reddit page has caused the hairs to stand up on the back of the necks of Sasquatch believers
— Read on mysteriousuniverse.org/2022/07/Bigfoot-Hair-For-Sale-Again-/

Vietnam veterans have flocked on mass to a Bigfoot Reddit group and claimed they encountered a colony of sasquatches deep in the jungle that were wiped off the face of the earth by the bloody war
— Read on www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/vietnam-vet-claims-saw-colony-27554518

New York Times, September 1976…

ON a clear spring morning last year in the woods a dozen miles north of Newton in Sussex County, two men were examining a swamp made by a beaver dam when growls shattered the quiet. Across the swamp water, 150 feet away, two dogs were fighting with something that was partly submerged.

“It seemed like the dogs were trying to push the thing under,” Irving Raser, one Of the men, recounted some months later. “I couldn’t tell whether it was an animal, but it wasn’t a deer because it had dark hair. It was big, but it wasn’t a bear, either. I could see that.”

The men shouted and the dogs backed off, giving the creature time to work its way to dry land, where it stood up on two legs. It was then that Mr. Raser, a Layton resident, and his companion, Charles Ames of Flatbrookville, got a good look at the animal, and they were astonished by what they saw.

“It was about six feet tall.” Mr. Raser said. “It weighed 250 to 300 pounds, and it was covered with long, brown heir. It had a flat face with deep‐set eyes, and the palms of its hands were hairless; if I didn’t know better, I’d have said it was a man dressed up in e monkey suit.”

The animal screamed at the dogs, making a fierce sound that Mr. Raser had never heard before, even though he has hunted nearly every game animal in the eastern woods. It whacked its hand loudly against small maple tree to keep. the dogs at bay, and it continued to roar, all the time keeping an eye on the two men.

After a half‐hour or more, the men jumped into their pickup truck and hurried to the nearby Hainesville barracks of the state police. They returned shortly, accompanied by two state troopers armed with shotguns. Neither the dogs nor the animal were in sight. The spot where the animal had stood was inaccessible because of surrounding deep water; close by, the troopers found the carcass of a deer.

Later, Mr. Raser said that the deer was definitely not what they had seen. It was obvious it could not have been, he said, because the deer was not freshkilled. Mr. Raser knows something about wild animals; he is a state deputy game warden and has been a Division of Fish and Game worker for 21 years.

Since, at that time, there had been several similar reports of large, hairy animals in the Sussex County woods, the local newspaper picked up the State Troopers’ account and published a brief item, with the conclusions of the troopers foremost. Despite Mr. Raser’s background, and the fact that Mr. Ames told a corroborating story, the report quickly began to melt into oblivion.

But before the account was completely forgotten, it caught the attention of Robert E. Jones, a Byram Township resident, whose hobby is the investigation of unexplained phenomena.

The report reached Mr. Jones, who lives a few miles south of Newton, at the same time that he was beginning to gather information on a series of similar encounters with an unknown animal in the northwest New Jersey woodland: He interviewed Mr. Raser and included the deputy game warden’s testimony in a rapidly growing collection of stories that bore striking similarities.

During the Raser interview, Mr. Jones played a tape recording of the alleged cry of a California Bigfoot, the legendary animal from western North America that is said be either a giant ape or a subhominid left over from the Stone Age. Mr. Raser said the sound was exactly like the scream he had heard that morning in the swamp. He had never heard of the Bigfoot before.

In the last year or so, Mr. Jones has filed away more than 50 reports of experiences with large, apelike creatures in the woods and swamps and on the roads and fields of Sussex and Warren. Counties. It is his opinion — although he leaves room for enough pessimism to stimulate objectivity—that what is being seen is a Bigfoot, commonly called a Sasquatch by the northwestern Indians, and sometimes known as the yeti or abominable snowman in other places.

Reports of encounters with this creature are common in California and in the Pacific Northwest, as well as in many wild and sparsely populated areas of the world. In the last few years, sightings have been reported in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, but none have been as close to metropolitan New York as the several score sightings reported to have taken place in this part of New Jersey.

Mr. Jones, formerly a biology and mathematics teacher and an engineer on the lunar module, is a computer analyst for a large computer concern. at eastern states and Canada who are in pursuit of unexplained phenomena He is a founder of Vestigia, a newly formed group of 50 persons from severin general and of Bigfoot in particular.

Sitting on a pillow on the floor of a small room that he has outfitted with a desk, some file cabinets and a collection of guns he no longer uses (he gave up hunting some years ago), Mr. Jones told a visitor to his comfortable home of his efforts in the last year to set up an organized investigation into the alleged Bigfoot sightings in New Jersey.

“One thing in particular we try hard to do is to keep our witnesses anonymous whenever possible,” said the slender, bearded amateur scientist, who is a member of Mensa, the society of intellectuals. “I’ve seen too many people become the laughing stock of their communities after they report a Bigfoot sighting to the police or to the newspapers.”

There are other reasons for maintaining a low profile on a Bigfoot hunt, Mr. Jones said. One is that Bigfoot reports invariably attract adventureseekers and young children, many of whom tramp all over the sighting area, sometimes through private property, occasionally infuriating local residents and the police. That kind of thing makes serious investigation all the harder, Mr. Jones noted.

Instead, he relies on the eyes and ears of scores of persons—officials and ordinary citizens as well—to send him bits of information on possible sightings or tracks. Most of his sources prefer to remain anonymous.

“They are sober, reliable people for the most part,” Mr. Jones asserted. “The last thing they want is publicity, but they know what they saw and they are usually eager to talk about it to someone who won’t laugh at them.”

Typical of the complications that can arise from much‐publicized sightings was the disappearance last year of three young boys who became lost in the winter forest while on a search for Bigfoot. They were found unhurt, but that is the kind of problem Mr. Jones is trying to avoid.

Mr. Jones began his investigation of the New Jersey Bigfoot early in 1975, when a report reached him that three people had, sighted a strange animal fitting the beast’s description; at the time, he was about to undertake study of the Jersey Devil, the fabled celebrity who has haunted the Pine Barrens for centuries. Mr. Jones already had been to western Pennsylvania to investigate reports of Bigfoot there.

To meet the witnesses of the first alleged sighting lest year, he went to a neighborhood restaurant, where one of the witnesses told him that a minister who lived nearby had additional information.

The clergyman game to the restaurant and told Mr. Jones the story of two young boys who had come running home one day and told their parents that they had seen a “cave man” watching them from the rocks above where they were playing.

The parents shrugged off the story until several weeks later, when reports about a cave man/ape man began to appear in the newspapers. Then they told the minister about it. Mr. Jones later interviewed the boys separately, and their stories matched. He was convinced that something was happening that ought to be investigated.

So began the snowball‐like growth of the reports that Mr. Jones has collected in the last year. More than 35 of the 50 or more alleged encounters have taken place within the last 18 months or so; the earliest account dates to 1917.

Included in Mr. Jones’s list of witnesses are police officers, forest rangers and private citizens. Be said they were the kind of people who had more to lose than to gain by being associated with these kinds of reports.

Last year, a state forest ranger was walking up a lonely Sussex County path in total darkness when he heard a rustling in the bushes that made him turn. He stared directly into two red eyes level with his own—they were just a few feet away—and he quickly ran back down the path.

The next day, the ranger returned to the spot and was shocked to conclude that the animal must have been standing much lower than the level of the trail; since its eyes had been even with his own, it had to be between seven and eight feet tall, not an uncommon height for the Bigfoot as described by those who say they have seen it.

The majority of New Jersey sightings have been made by people who say they have seen the animal crossing road or a field. Residents of neighborhoods near large swamps say they often hear screaming at night that sounds much like the cry on Mr. Jones’s tape. It is a haunting, wailing cry that sounds something like a yodel, but plaintive.

To finance his work, Mr. Jones lectures on mysterious phenomen to college and high school students, social groups and community organizations. Invariably, the subject turns to the New Jersey Bigfoot stories.

As for Vestigia, the group that Mr. Jones helped to establish, its investigation of the New Jersey Bigfoot goes on the year round. Whenever two or more members of the organization have the time, they spend a day, a night or a weekend in the Sussex County Hills, searching for Bigfoot clues. During the night, one member of the team is awake at all times with a taperecorder running constantly.

When asked why, after all these years of Bigfoot reports, none has ever been captured or killed, Mr. Jones replied: “The animal’s greatest ally is the fact that established science refuses to believe it exists.”

Although Bigfoot’s elusiveness has kept it in the realm of fantasy so far as science is concerned, it should be the subject of a well‐organized and financed scientific investigation, Mr. Jones contends.

“Big scientific organizations and foundations won’t investigate the Bigfoot until they have more concrete facts,” he said. “Of course, it’s very difficult for a small group like Vestigia, as underfinanced as we are, to come up with those kinds of facts; the large foundations will have a hard time getting the evidence they need to justify their participation until they themselves start to investigate in the first place.”

Mr. Jones carries on the hunt partly because he loves the search itself. But there’s another reason.

“What if Bigfoot actually is a primate that is manlike to some degree?” he asked. “If it is, then it becomes the most important animal discovery in the history of man.” ■