Friday, June 6, 2014

Dr. Jeff Meldrum Excerpt from 'American Sasquatch Hunters: Bigfoot in America'


In the 2013 film American Sasquatch Hunters: Bigfoot in America a question is posed to the interviewees regarding the best tools for people to use in their search for Sasquatch. Full Professor of anatomy and anthropology and expert on foot morphology along with locomotion in primates, Dr. Jeff Meldrum, replies: 

Well, I think the first thing would be their noodle [pointing at his head and laughing]. I always encourage amateurs to not get overly caught up in the expectation of finding evidence, but rather become very familiar with their own neck of the woods, their immediately accessible region. Where they're going to be spending their time and then spend time there, get familiar with the lay of the land, where are the resources, you know where are berries, where are other fruiting trees, where are the animals sheltering, what are the habits of the other commonly known wildlife that are much more observable. And gain a better understanding of the nature of the ecosystem, what are the plants and other resources that might be available to a Sasquatch that would allow it to make a living in that habitat.

And then just enjoy that and get used to that and get used to that and become a good observer of nature. Understand animal sign and footprints, so that you can objectively interpret that kind of evidence. All of that you make your experience much more gratifying.

You know I've always raised a cautionary note with individuals who go out, you know these weekend warriors, who consistently have some kind of contact. You know they wrap on a tree and they get a response, or they give a whoop and they get a response. And they describe these experiences and I've you know I've sometimes said, well that's impressive that you're so able to so consistently observe and make contact with, or feel that you're close to this very rare and elusive animal, you know that I've been looking for, for a couple decades now.

Why don't you demonstrate your skills in another way. I challenge them to go out and bring me back a photograph, a calendar style photograph, of a deer, or an elk, or a moose, or a raccoon. These are animals that much much more common and easier to observe in the wild. And if they're unable to do that, then hope that causes them to pause and reflect upon the claims that they're making, the assertions they're making with this consistent repeated contact with this very rare and elusive animal.