I’ve only lived in Taos County for about 2 1/2 years, but each and every of my three summers here, I have regularly heard LOUD vocalizations from the hills east of town. These are quite similar to vocalizations found on BFRO’s site and others. In the summer of 2006 I heard speechlike – speechLIKE vocalizations out in back of my house. It occurs to me that some BF groups may possess some rudimentary speech patterns. These were DEFINITELY NOT human voices, although they shared some common characteristics. Whatever it was had a VERY large chest cavity – it sounded a LOT like the famous “Sierra Samurai” vocalizations. At one point, one said quite loudly, “reetZAH?”

My daughter had a sighting in Virginia – interestingly on the same day I moved to Taos. Last week she smelled the same stench on a hike in the mountains, in a little side canyon. She found some hairs as well. YES, we DID save ‘em!

So yes, I definitely believe there is clear evidence of BF in Taos County. Maybe an expedition should be put together for next summer. Whether Homie was in his cups or not.

You guys find fresh tracks; hear vocalizations; have close sound encounters and even sightings…and THEN HAVE TO GO HOME TO YOUR JOBS. Maybe this is why I’m not a field researcher. If my job called after a sighting, I’d be fired. Then, no more moola for research.

I don’t know what to say about the BFRO’s field work. I hear stripes of commentary on it here, good and bad. But anybody who thinks there’s nothing out there ought to go to the TBRC website with an open mind, and read the expedition reports. As well as the sightings.

Whenever I talk about science throwing its hat into the ring to supplement amateur field work, I know full well why amateur researchers might not embrace that. Scientific arrogance can be particularly galling if they’re standing on your shoulders.

Maybe this will get the Radfords of the world off their intellectual duffs, eh?

I’d like, as a simple intellectual proposition, to see the evidence investigated. And as I have nothing to prove here, no, I’m not interested in personally doing it myself. For one thing, there are many better-qualified people at hand, who could use a little help as they have real jobs and can’t do this full time. For another, I can’t deny a nagging feeling that wanting science to pursue this animal is selfish. Can’t we just leave him alone? I really actually am, totally, satisfied with the animal at its current status of completely plausible proposition. And with mine as philosopher prince/cheerleader for true investigative skepticism.

And if I found out a scientific expedition were going to East Texas next week, I might throw a party to celebrate. It’s like that with me.

But if you’re going to tell me there isn’t anything for anyone to hang his hat — or his research money — on, I’m simply going to tell you you’re wrong.

I really don’t want to call folks like Ben Radford Professionals. They have too much to bring to the table to settle for that, I’d hope.

“As long as Sasquatch is a personal rather than a collectively sanctioned experience it will remain hallucinatory as officially defined by Western culture.”

Which brings to mind Gandhi’s quote, when asked what he thought of Western civilization: “I think it would be a good idea.”

This is exactly what I’m saying. Now, I think it’s the skeptics’ (I don’t like ‘denialists’ either; I’ll just have to trust context here) major problem, I think, that they totally disregard eyewitness reports. Not saying specifically what one does with sightings — other than blanket-condemning them as poor evidence — is disregarding them, regardless any lip service to the contrary.

That having been said: I’m a skeptic for one reason: there’s no body. There’s no film other than P/G; and no one can go conclusive one way or the other on that one because…there’s no body. There are too many footprints for any all-faked scenario yet discussed (i.e., none) to hold water…but there’s no body. In other words: the existence of the animal, and the scenario where there simply isn’t one, and all these people are lying or deluded or sense-impaired, appear too close to equally absurd to accept either one on its face.

I haven’t seen a real nice painting in a scientific journal, of a sasquatch in its natural habitat, 90 degrees mis-pasted, OK I’ll stop now, like there is for a certain cloud-forest rat of Peru…because scientists have no body. He’s on, or was on, a Canadian postage stamp. But then so is the kraken.

You cannot ignore sightings.

But some sightings, you just have to ignore.

Not saying the subject of this thread is in the latter category. But not saying this is an easy field, either.

Especially for all the people looking at threads like this, shaking their heads, I hope not grinding their teeth, and saying: dammit, I saw one of these things. It’s more real than these posts, to me.

I KNOW.