Paranormalis
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There tends to be a leaning towards a human-like origin, or at least a primate origin for the elusive cryptid. But this is contradictory to early classic and well reported tracks left by the so called Fouke Monster of Southern Arkansas.
In Lyle Blackburn’s excellent book on the legendary hairy wild man, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of The Fouke Monster, distinct three-toed tracks were left, with a smaller fourth toe set back from the rest, as explained on page 27.
“The trackway appeared to have been made by a bipedal creature walking upright. According to an article that ran two days later in the Texarkana Gazette, the tracks measured 13.5 inches long by 4.5 inches wide with a maximum stride of 57 inches between them. Just as in the Ford incident, the animal appeared to have three toes, all about the same length. Another smaller toe imprint was observed 5 inches back from the big toe, but this digit only made a faint indentation in the sandy soil.”
There’s a photograph on page 29 of a clear three-toed track which appeared in the Texarkana Gazette and on page 31, there’s a picture of the town’s mayor holding an original 1971 track casting.
The book then continues with a series of sightings and encounters with the latest listed sighting being in 2010. These are consistent with a Bigfoot-type creature leaving three toed tracks. Note that on page 67, a witness “was stepping out onto the porch early one morning when she surprised the animal as it was licking remnants of food from an old hub cap used as a dog bowl. As before, the creature paused and looked at her. Ms. Harvin made note of the creature’s straggly hair and it’s ability to stand on two legs. She could also see that it had rather long canine teeth, which resembled those of a baboon (although the face was much more flat like that of a gorilla)”.
I then started reading Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, which is another excellently researched book, but features five-toed prints from encounters in California. On page 47, there’s an article from 1908 which similarly describes the teeth: “His teeth are reported to be unnaturally long in the form of a tusk.” The author is of the opinion that Bigfoot is a type of human that hunts deer for food, although the conclusion contradicts the three-toed prints of the Fouke Monster.
How could a five toed bipedal primate evolve into a three toed sub-species? It simply doesn’t make sense.
I have an alternative explanation, which resolves the issue of the number of toes, as well as the long canine teeth occasionally reported. I initially came upon the idea after seeing photographs of the alleged Dartmoor Beast of the UK and noticing the similarity with the head of a rock hyrax.
The “Beast of Dartmoor” as shown by the camera of Martin Whitley. Credit: Martin Whitley
This animal is unique in that it has three toes on its rear feet and four toes on it’s front feet. It is therefore conceivable that a giant bipedal hyrax would leave three toed prints, just like the Fouke Monster. It’s also conceivable that with increasing size and weight of it’s upper body, the Bigfoot physiology would change to five toes, to give greater stability when upright. The hyrax is also unique in that it uses syntax within its communication. In the book Tribal Bigfoot, David Paulides reports of a Bigfoot language being heard on a number of occasions. On further reading of Paulides’ book, he states that he is accepting of other track prints with three or four toes but then says he doesn’t “have an explanation as to why some feet have a different number of toes.”
A Rock hyrax rests on a rock. Credit: Lydia Jacobs
There’s even evidence to suggest that giant hyraxes did exist into the modern era. Cryptozoologist Karl Shuker, in his article A Giant Hyrax and China’s Mystery Beasts of Bronze, describes how Chinese bronze statuettes show the details of just such a mystery creature. The semi-aquatic feature identified fits ideally with David Paulides’ conclusion of its close proximity to water, rivers, lakes and the ocean.
I even managed to compare the magnified hair samples of the Sumatran Orang Pendek cryptid and matched the inner structure with the ventrical hairs of the Rock hyrax, as seen on the scientific paper Organic Evidence of New Species of Primate in Sumatra.
Coincidentally, the notorious stench of the Bigfoot fits with the hyrax candidate due to it having an anal gland.
On a final note of the similarities, rather surprisingly, the hyrax is the closest relative of the elephant. In ‘Tribal Bigfoot’ on page 92, Bigfoot’s notorious ear-piercing scream is described as “a cross between an elephant’s and a lion’s”.
Editor’s Note: Alan Lowey is a Cryptozoology News reader and a regular contributor to this publication. The views expressed are the writer’s own.
The post Opinion: A Possible Explanation to the the Three-Toed Bigfoot appeared first on Cryptozoology News.
In Lyle Blackburn’s excellent book on the legendary hairy wild man, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of The Fouke Monster, distinct three-toed tracks were left, with a smaller fourth toe set back from the rest, as explained on page 27.
“The trackway appeared to have been made by a bipedal creature walking upright. According to an article that ran two days later in the Texarkana Gazette, the tracks measured 13.5 inches long by 4.5 inches wide with a maximum stride of 57 inches between them. Just as in the Ford incident, the animal appeared to have three toes, all about the same length. Another smaller toe imprint was observed 5 inches back from the big toe, but this digit only made a faint indentation in the sandy soil.”
There’s a photograph on page 29 of a clear three-toed track which appeared in the Texarkana Gazette and on page 31, there’s a picture of the town’s mayor holding an original 1971 track casting.
The book then continues with a series of sightings and encounters with the latest listed sighting being in 2010. These are consistent with a Bigfoot-type creature leaving three toed tracks. Note that on page 67, a witness “was stepping out onto the porch early one morning when she surprised the animal as it was licking remnants of food from an old hub cap used as a dog bowl. As before, the creature paused and looked at her. Ms. Harvin made note of the creature’s straggly hair and it’s ability to stand on two legs. She could also see that it had rather long canine teeth, which resembled those of a baboon (although the face was much more flat like that of a gorilla)”.
I then started reading Tribal Bigfoot by David Paulides, which is another excellently researched book, but features five-toed prints from encounters in California. On page 47, there’s an article from 1908 which similarly describes the teeth: “His teeth are reported to be unnaturally long in the form of a tusk.” The author is of the opinion that Bigfoot is a type of human that hunts deer for food, although the conclusion contradicts the three-toed prints of the Fouke Monster.
How could a five toed bipedal primate evolve into a three toed sub-species? It simply doesn’t make sense.
I have an alternative explanation, which resolves the issue of the number of toes, as well as the long canine teeth occasionally reported. I initially came upon the idea after seeing photographs of the alleged Dartmoor Beast of the UK and noticing the similarity with the head of a rock hyrax.
The “Beast of Dartmoor” as shown by the camera of Martin Whitley. Credit: Martin Whitley
This animal is unique in that it has three toes on its rear feet and four toes on it’s front feet. It is therefore conceivable that a giant bipedal hyrax would leave three toed prints, just like the Fouke Monster. It’s also conceivable that with increasing size and weight of it’s upper body, the Bigfoot physiology would change to five toes, to give greater stability when upright. The hyrax is also unique in that it uses syntax within its communication. In the book Tribal Bigfoot, David Paulides reports of a Bigfoot language being heard on a number of occasions. On further reading of Paulides’ book, he states that he is accepting of other track prints with three or four toes but then says he doesn’t “have an explanation as to why some feet have a different number of toes.”
A Rock hyrax rests on a rock. Credit: Lydia Jacobs
There’s even evidence to suggest that giant hyraxes did exist into the modern era. Cryptozoologist Karl Shuker, in his article A Giant Hyrax and China’s Mystery Beasts of Bronze, describes how Chinese bronze statuettes show the details of just such a mystery creature. The semi-aquatic feature identified fits ideally with David Paulides’ conclusion of its close proximity to water, rivers, lakes and the ocean.
I even managed to compare the magnified hair samples of the Sumatran Orang Pendek cryptid and matched the inner structure with the ventrical hairs of the Rock hyrax, as seen on the scientific paper Organic Evidence of New Species of Primate in Sumatra.
Coincidentally, the notorious stench of the Bigfoot fits with the hyrax candidate due to it having an anal gland.
On a final note of the similarities, rather surprisingly, the hyrax is the closest relative of the elephant. In ‘Tribal Bigfoot’ on page 92, Bigfoot’s notorious ear-piercing scream is described as “a cross between an elephant’s and a lion’s”.
Editor’s Note: Alan Lowey is a Cryptozoology News reader and a regular contributor to this publication. The views expressed are the writer’s own.
The post Opinion: A Possible Explanation to the the Three-Toed Bigfoot appeared first on Cryptozoology News.
