Bigfoot exists!

Ever since I was a little kid I've had an interest (obsession) with the unknown. The paranormal, supernatural, and occult. I've chased ghosts and even lived in a haunted house. I've studied everything from UFO's to Chupacabras. I have a wealth of knowledge on all manners of cryptids from Vampires and Werewolves to the Mothman and the Loch Ness Monster. Indeed, I'm a practical reference book on characters you haven't even heard about, like Spring-Heeled Jack for example.

Out of all the craziness I just name dropped (like a BOSS) there are varying levels of believability and historical accounts to either debunk or prove individual cases of sightings and encounters.

It's very easy to say that Vampires don't exist based on the world we live in today. However, if one looks throughout the pages of history, we begin to find that almost every society, even on different continents when communication was not feasible (or existent) have some type of Vampire myth. For me, that's interesting. It doesn't outright prove anything, but it begs questions to be asked. Werewolves are like this as well. As are sea, river, and lake monsters. For centuries, scientists said the Giant Squid did not exist. Detailed drawings showing Giant Squid attacking ships were bawked at by the scientific community. But not anymore:

Published in 1884

BOOM!

The same situation occurs with Bigfoot phenomena. Throughout time, through different cultures and different continents, the unknown ape in the forest story can be seen everywhere. Even today. The Yeti of  the Himalayas. The Yowi of Australia. The Maricoxi of South America. The Yeren of China. The Wendigo or Sasquatch of Canada. And indeed, in the U.S. we have the at least two different versions/species, the Skunk Ape of the South and the Bigfoot of the North (which goes by everything from Grassman to Sasquatch).

Oh and by the way, this is just scratching the surface. There are many more countries and regions with different unidentified ape-like creatures that even go by different names and/or look different than the ones I've already listed.

With all that said there is at least ONE species of ape that was once deemed myth that I forgot to mention.

Gorillas.

That's right. There was a time not so long ago when Gorillas were actually considered to be mythological creatures. And even now we're just recently starting to realize that their might actually be TWO species of Gorilla within the small region of Africa that they habituate. But for centuries, explorers and natives alike would tell stories of dark fur-covered men that lived in the jungle while the scientific community simply laughed. It wasn't until 1902 that anyone started taking it seriously. And even then it would still be decades before we'd even really start to understand and document these amazing creatures.

This to me is a blaring example of history repeating itself.

Personally, I believe that most of the apes already listed above probably exist in some fashion. There's just too many historical sightings to discount them entirely. However, I'm going to limit myself to focusing mainly on the classic Bigfoot of North America that seems to make it's home in the Pacific Northwest. Because if the accounts are accurate, there are at least two separate species of unknown apes living in the U.S. alone. The Skunkape being the second (kind of like a larger Chimpanzee that makes it's home in the Everglades). But for now, we'll just center on the original, Bigfoot.

When we look at just this one case, what do we have? Well for one we have ancient historical accounts from various Native American tribes (including but not limited to the Lakota, Inuit, Eskimo, Hopi, and Iroquois). Sightings are even added by frontiersmen making the journey to the West. We have an established record of continuous sightings throughout history. For me, as previously mentioned, that's just about enough to believe.

But what else?

Well we have pictures and videos. Most aren't conclusive but some are truly intriguing. The validity of some are hotly debated even today. Meaning, some of the photo's and videos haven't been completely ruled out!

There are the hundreds if not thousands of footprints that have either been seen, photographed or had castings made out of. Sure, some of these could and probably are hoaxes (the same can be said of the photo's and videos of Bigfoot), but not all. Think about it. They just cannot all be fake. There are some that even scientists have looked at and said they can't explain them. Meaning, they appear real but don't want to say that on the record. 

In a few instances we've taken hair and DNA samples from areas of known sightings. In at least one case, the DNA of a hair strand couldn't be identified, but all signs pointed to the hair coming from some sort of primate. Let that sink in.

We also have evidence in many cases of tool use. There are countless stories of rocks being thrown in the woods. Well besides humans, nothing we know of that lives in the woods is capable of throwing rocks. Usually strange grunts and calls are heard when this happens. Very similar to how Gorilla's will make their presence known if you encroach on their territory.

So why can't we find them? That's your question right? If they're out there, why haven't we set-up shop right in their camp and proven they exist? It's a valid question, but it's easily explained.

For one, no one has launched the kind of expedition that would be needed to prove Bigfoot exists. You've seen documentaries I'm sure and shows covering Bigfoot enthusiasts enter the woods looking for the animals. And that's the problem. They only ever enter the woods. They stay close to trails, heavy human population and they don't go deep enough to where these animals likely live.

Most people tend to think that the world is small, but next time you fly over the U.S. take a look out the window...there's a lot of land out there. The forests of the Pacific Northwest are HUGE. If these animals exist they probably migrate somewhat which would make them even harder to find. They probably always stay close to water, and away from human presence when possible. After all, the old idiom that they're more afraid of us than we are of them would be absolutely true in this case. The fact that no case of a Bigfoot ever attacking a human speaks volumes. They are most likely herbivores.

The main problem would be isolating the area they frequent, especially if they migrate at all. Which I have a gut feeling they do. For example, take a look at this map showing the distribution of the two Gorilla species found in Africa:

The smaller the area the harder to isolate. 

There's a lot of forest out there to hide in.

The truth is that there is something out there. There is just simply too many stories, legends, encounters and sightings to discount them all.

Once you accept that Gorillas were once thought to be myths as well you can start opening your mind to the very real possibility that Bigfoot isn't some sort of fantastic creature with amazing powers of deception and subterfuge but an animal that is waiting to be discovered and studied. These are probably incredibly rare and highly intelligent mammals that we could learn so much from. I find it hilarious that someone would discount the possibility that a yet undiscovered ape population exists in North America or many other places for that matter. We think we know so much in our bright shiny cities and forget that there is a larger world out there just beyond the trees full of shadows waiting to be explored.

We seem to think that Africa is the only place that could have a large primate hidden within the jungle, yet I keep hearing stories from all over the world that tell me otherwise...