Bigfoot in Texas- Compelling New Evidence

The Trinity River watershed of North Texas has several extensive branches that wind through many miles of surprisingly varied geography. The forested greenbelts that surround the waterways are an ever-changing sequence of micro-ecosystems with an astonishing variety of plant and animal life. The watershed may also be the foraging grounds of the nomadic Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch.

The stretch along one such branch of the Trinity River that I was exploring on a cold day in December, 2008, has an extraordinarily rich environment for wildlife. Deer, wild boar, beaver, coyote, wolf, raccoon and possum inhabit the woodlands. Great horned owls, the red-tailed hawk and even the occasional eagle soar above the treetops. The river and marshes abound with fish, turtles, huge diamond-back watersnakes and even alligator. There are gigantic cottonwood trees fully seven foot in diameter, towering elms and oaks, and ancient, gnarled Osage-orange trees. Food-bearing plants include pecan, hickory, plum, persimmon, raspberry, choke-cherries and all manner of edible roots and tubers.

Along the riverbanks there are narrow but well-worn game trails. With a pair of soft-soled boots it is possible to stalk very quietly through the forest along these trails. That day I found remains of a possum and a beaver that were killed and eaten by predators. I collected the fresh beaver skull with its long, sharp incisors. A great horned owl swooped silently through the trees, alighting on a nearby tree to curiously observe me.

Shortly after the encounter with the owl, I heard a deep guttural sound that was a combination of a grunt and a growl. It had an distinct tone of annoyance. I froze in my tracks. The sound came from a thicket of cane-like pigweed that grows in 6-foot stalks an inch or more thick. The sound was followed by the thrashing sound of something large moving through the dry stalks, headed away from me. I also heard another guttural expression, almost like a muttering complaint. After waiting several minutes, when all was quiet, I proceeded cautiously forward. There was an area where the stalks were completely flattened in a trail about five feet wide, running for about 30 feet. Since it was a very unusual type of trail, I followed it deeper, and it led into a small meadow-like clearing inside the thicket.

Much to my surprise, in the middle of the meadow, there was a large structure roughly six and a half feet in diameter made of leaves and grass-stalks that could only be described as a ground-nest or bedding. The grass and leaves were collected from an area outside the thicket, and were a mix of freshly plucked and fallen fall foliage that stood out in contrast to the grayed old ground cover on the meadow. Although I had been on the trail of Bigfoot previously, I had the sudden, somewhat shocking realization that this bedding area was likely the handiwork of the Sasquatch.

Rather than a loose collection or heap of vegetation, the dry stalks and leaves appeared to be selected for their dry clean properties, and were fashioned in a mat that was rolled, folded and kneaded together. It is difficult to image that any animal without human-like hands could have gathered and constructed the bedding.

There was a distinct impression of a bodily form in the bedding, shaped much like a very large human or anthropoid lying on its side, curled up with knees to chest. The lower legs and feet of the impression extended beyond the bedding and crushed a portion of the rolled-under outer edges. The bedding had a rank odor, a smell that I associate with Bigfoot. Since I did not have a camera, with me, I decided to scout the area for additional sign and return for photographs the next day.

From the meadow I worked my way outward in a spiraling path, looking for a distinct trail or other sign of passage. At one point I crossed what appeared to be a fairly recently beaten trail, possibly a day or two old. I followed the trail through the wooded bottom lands along the river. Whatever made the trail had easily stepped over fallen tree-trunks a yard thick.

I emerged into a clearing with a drying mud-flat in the middle created by ebbing flood-water. There, I immediately saw some large scat or droppings. The first set appeared to be a day or two old. A second set seemed fresher, perhaps from the previous night. The formation of the scat closely resembled that of a human or great ape, but on a larger scale. The content appeared to be a mix of plant and animal material, evidence of an omnivorous diet. There were large but

indistinct impressions resembling footprints. I followed the prints further, where the stride lengthened to over six feet.

Ahead of me I saw a trail that crossed the larger patches of mud in a sparse, flat meadow of dry grass. There, the mud by that time had condensed to a hard surface fragmented with cracks from the shrinkage caused by drying. The passage of the creature had left tracks with several of the hallmarks of Bigfoot. I estimated the tracks to be perhaps two days old. The texture of the mud, during the creature's passing, had a skin over the top surface about three-eighths of an

inch thick with consistency of moist clay, with harder compacted soil beneath. This top layer of mud had stuck to the soles of the creature's feet and was mostly lifted off, except in a few tracks, where the impression of the toes was left. The toe impressions had a few patches with discernible patterns of dermal ridges, which, in the great apes and in humans, form fingerprints (and toe-prints). The width of the footprints across the balls of the feet were about seven and one-half inches, which is consistent with reported Bigfoot or Saquatch footprint dimensions.

The length of the stride of the creature was at points just over eight feet. The footprint sequence had a bipedal pattern, and, judging by the impressions, which were made mainly by the toes and balls of the large but human-like feet, the creature was running at a fast pace across the muddy flat. Both the size of the feet and the length of the stride were much larger than a human's, and since the weather was very cold, close to freezing, it is not likely that they were made by a human being. The tracks eventually led into a marshy area thick with grass.

I decided then to return the next day to photograph the evidence. On the return visit, I neither heard nor saw anything new, with the exception of the discovery of a single white hair about 2.5 inches long among the bedding material. I collected the hair and scat samples.

In an article to follow this publication, I will provide some additional analysis and details of the photographs. The photographs accompanying these articles can be enlarged twice- by first clicking on the photo's number, then clicking on the link that reads "Enlarge", and then, by a third click directly on the enlarged image, to go to full scale enlargement. Feel free to contact me via e-mail for additional information.