Does Bigfoot Exist

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Does Bigfoot Exist

The Premise

            A great number of credible witnesses in several countries around the world claim to have seen or encountered a large, hairy, upright walking ape-like creature.  The animals are known by many names; bigfoot, yeti, sasquatch, skunk ape and grass man, just to name a few.  Crypto zoologists claim that it may well be an undiscovered x-creature, while many mainstream scientists dismiss the claims as the mistaken identity of a bear or wolf, or even just the result of hysteria.

            The question must then be asked.  Is there really something out there?

The Debate

            I believe that there are valid arguments on both sides of the issue.  Believers say that you may be able to dismiss what a few people claim to have seen or even what a hand full of people may say, but you can’t ignore the testimony of a plethora of different individuals all around the world.  Skeptics, on the other hand, want to know where the fossil record is for such a creature.  Why hasn’t a body been found?  Why has no hunter ever inadvertently shot one?  Show me the DNA.

The Facts

            On the believer’s side, although there have been some hoaxes, it should be noted that many credible casts of footprints have been made that show enough detail to prove that they were indeed made by some living creature.  There are even a few handprint castings that are very revealing.  There have been some vague photographs and films.  And then there are the countless eye witness accounts of encounters with the creatures in many different countries.

            But why then is there no fossil record?  Why hasn’t anyone found a body or a skeleton or even a tooth?  No creature known to science has passed on without leaving some sign that it was once here.

The Logic

            First of all, I believe that most people would agree that, if bigfoot really does exist, he acted wisely in eluding man.  Although our views on wildlife conservation are much different today, it wasn’t until the last century that we developed our, “let’s save the animals,” attitudes.  A creature like a bigfoot would surely have been rendered extinct by now had it become familiar with early man.  So it stands to reason that such an animal would avoid human beings any way it could.  No carcass has ever been found, but then, how many human bodies do you see just laying around.  The animal may have a way of dealing with its dead.  Most hunters are after specific game and will not inadvertently shoot at an upright walking shadow in the woods.  Finally, there have been hair-samples tested that cannot be attributed to any known creature.  The DNA has been tagged as, unidentifiable.

The Philosophy

            I have no choice but to side with the believers that there is something, as yet, unknown and undiscovered out there.  It is neither scientific nor logical to dismiss the many eye witnesses and the physical evidence that has surfaced to date; although some of it is admittedly circumstantial.  Still, one cannot flippantly call it hysteria and ignore the larger body of data. 

            So, does bigfoot, or something like it, really exist?  I must say, yes.  Will positive proof of the creature be discovered before it is pushed to extinction?  The jury is still out on that one.