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DOZENS
OF SASQUATCH - ADULTS, JUVENILES AND INFANTS - COEXISTING IN A REMOTE
BOX CANYON OVER THE WINTER...
Unfortunately,
absolutely nothing is "known" about Sasquatch mating or
breeding habits, since there's been no official discovery... and
although eyewitnesses will tell you they exist, the majority of
the scientific community might argue otherwise. With that aside,
I can offer some ideas I've been pondering about this for quite
some time. This is the first time I've published anything in depth
about this theory of mine... and let me remind you, it's only a
theory. An idea. In no way do I attest that anything in this article
is fact, only speculation. But if you'll humor me and read on, you
may find this topic of speculation as fascinating as I do...
It's safe to
say that Sasquatch would be a mammal - that is, a warm-blooded creature
that is viviparous (gives birth to live offspring). Gestation, the
period of time in which an embryo grows to a mature fetus within
the womb, differs between mammal species. (I've learned a lot about
this lately, being currently pregnant myself. <grin>) As a
general rule, the larger the mammal, the longer the gestation period.
Human gestation takes approximately 266 days (an average of 9-10
months, depending whether you're counting from the date of conception
or the LMP... last menstrual period.). African gorillas take somewhere
in the neighborhood of 250 to 296 days, with an average of 8.5 months.
Horses gestate for about 48 weeks, or 12 months. So gestation varies
a lot, from species to species and also within the individual pregnancy,
depending on any number of factors.
With those species
as size comparisons though, let's take a stab at a Sasquatch gestation
period. They're built similarly to a human, being bipedal, and although
their upper torso may be similar in size to an adult gorilla's,
there is extra leg mass to consider. On the low end, I'd guess 9
months. But due to the extra size of the creature, I'd venture to
say that the gestation period may last up to 12 months.
Being pregnant
myself, I have a new appreciation for how difficult life can be
while you're carrying a child. And that's with all the "modern
conveniences" we humans are used to... Sasquatch moms-to-be
don't have the luxury of super markets, refrigerators, comfortable
beds in warm homes... you get the idea.
While the question
of whether Sasquatch is closer to human or animal is something still
open to debate, (as are all things "sasquatch"), I'd like
to take this moment to make what may be a somewhat controversial
suggestion:
I
propose that Sasquatches may very well meet en masse in order
to breed
and give birth to young.
Now at first
glance, this proposition may appear fanciful, too good to be true,
even outrageous, but let me share my reasoning behind this idea...
and where it came from.
There are a
few stories of eyewitnesses claiming to observe family units and/or
large gatherings of these creatures. Take, for instance, the story
of Albert Ostman, who claims a detailed encounter with a family
group. Briefly, Ostman claims to have been abducted near the Toba
Inlet in British Columbia in 1924. After a harrowing night of being
carried in his sleeping bag on the back of "something",
he was finally set down and crawled out. He described interacting
with a "family" of four creatures in a box canyon: "I
could see now that I was in a small valley or basin about eight
or ten acres, surrounded by high mountains, on the southeast side
there was a V-shaped opening about eight feet wide at the bottom
and about twenty feet high at the highest point — that must
be the way I came in." He also describes their shelter:
"On my way back I noticed where these people were sleeping.
On the east side wall of this valley was a shelf in the mountain
side, with overhanging rock, looking something like a big undercut
in a big tree about 10 feet deep and 30 feet wide."
When reading
Ostman's account 16 years or so ago in John
Green's book, Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, I
was certainly fascinated, but didn't give much thought at the time
to family units and how they come to be. It wasn't until MANY years
later that I revisited Ostman's story when an idea began brewing
in my head.
The next account
I'd like to refer to is the story of Muchalat Harry, from 1928.
Once again, it is the story of a man who is abducted while sleeping.
This witness describes a similar shelter to the one Albert
Ostman described... however, the number of creatures he describes
is astounding: "When daylight came he was able to see that
he was in a sort of camp, under a high rock shelf and surrounded
by some twenty Bigfoot. They were of all sexes and sizes."
(Read the full account in Peter
Byrne: The Search for Bigfoot)
The final story,
and the one that ultimately caused me to examine Sasquatch breeding
habits and the possibility that breeding and birthing may be a "community"
phenomenon, was published in Seattle Magazine in August of 1970..
It isn't widely disseminated; I found it quite by accident on the
internet years ago. It's unclear whether the "Vancouver"
referred to in this article is Vancouver, B.C. or Vancouver, WA.
Since the paragraph precluding this one discussed the Ostman story,
I'm inclined to think it refers, once again, to the Vancouver, B.C.
area.
A similar
story comes from Warren Scott, a 37-year-old Seattle man who works
as a building superintendent. It was June of 1961, and Scott,
who grew up in a tough neighborhood in New York City and spent
several years bumming around after his release from the Army,
was camping alone, 30 miles northeast of Vancouver. Late at night,
a Sasquatch kidnapped him and carried him 70 miles. During the
journey, Scott was almost suffocated by the creature's vice-like
grip and uremic odor. Eventually, he was carried through a long
tunnel and dumped in a cave.
Most of
Scott's ordeal was spent in this hot, fire-lit enclosure. The
mother took care of him, bringing him food (greens and inedible
chunks of raw meat); the old man was seldom around. "I was
treated like a pet," Scott recalls.
He endured some good-natured whacking on the rump; he was watched
intently when passing wastes, and he engaged in some rock-rolling
with the kids. The noise and the smell were terrific. At night,
father, mother and son Sasquatch would hold each other tightly,
rock for 10 minutes, and then drop off to sleep on bough beds.
One day,
Scott wandered out of the momentarily unguarded cave and was terrified
to see 50 or 60 Sasquatch wandering about in the canyon.
"The female who fed me came up to me, grabbed me and held
me to her bosom until I was calm. Then she put me down."
Soon thereafter, Scott's protector took him, together with her
own son, on a tour of the other caves, one of which proved
to be a very busy nursery.
A few days
later, Scott located the densely curtained tunnel opening and
made his escape.
What interested
me about these three reports were the startling similarities between
them. All three occurred In British Columbia, contained an abduction
of a human to a remote area (a hidden or box canyon) where multiple
creatures were seen using caves or overhangs as shelters - and two
of the reports contained elements of "tribal" bigfoot
gatherings.
Who knows whether
ANY of these reports turn out to be true and accurate... but, for
the sake of argument, let's assume there is truth to them. The final
report, despite the strangeness of the "fire-lit enclosure",
really got me thinking. Scott claimed to have viewed a "nursery".
Was this an isolated case? Perhaps. But Muchalat Harry described
seeing multiple juvenile creatures as well.
What would cause
so many creatures to be collected in such a small area? Wouldn't
that number of bodies put an incredible strain on available food
resources? Probably. But consider this...
Perhaps
gathering for breeding and birthing would be beneficial.
Let's examine
the following scenario. First, let's pick up the trail of a female
sasquatch at some point in her young adult life. She's lived in
a small family group with her parents since infancy, staying somewhat
in the same area (though that area is wide by our standards). Each
family has its own stomping grounds, and although family groups
may run into each other from time to time, they haven't yet to run
into a single male juvenile who is available for her. Mom and Pop
Bigfoot know that she's matured and ready to mate. This October,
they take her on a journey, far from their usual "home",
to a box canyon high in the remote mountains. It's an area where
creatures from miles around have gathered for centuries, during
the winter months, to breed and give birth. She's never been here
before, and Mom and Pop haven't been here since she was born. There
simply wasn't a reason to make the trek again... until now.
After days,
perhaps weeks of traveling, they reach the box canyon. There are
dozens of creatures and many family groups milling around. Several
females are huge with pregnancy. As newcomers and the winter weather
arrive, the canyon fills to capacity.
The box canyon,
though high in the mountains, provides caves which will maintain
a moderate temperature throughout the winter. Pregnant females find
shelter in the caves. Their mates, the parents of breeding-age offspring,
and even the mature juvenile offspring themselves forage for food
for the entire group, providing sustenance for the pregnant females,
who cannot hunt and forage. As the infants are born, there is a
communal effort to provide food for breastfeeding mothers. In addition,
the group provides warm bodies and protection for the vulnerable
young offspring.
This is an opportune
time for sexually mature offspring to find a mate and breed. By
finding a mate at a gathering, the offspring can better their chances
of mixing up the gene pool - thereby avoiding birth defects from
inbreeding. By copulating during the gathering, pregnancy would
be timed "properly" so that the birth would occur during
the following yea'rs gathering... thus allowing the pregnant female
the advantages of Community.
The babies are
born one by one, mostly throughout December, January, and February.
The infants mature more rapidly than humans and are ready for travel
by April (though not necessarily under their own power yet...).
In the early spring, the gathering begins to break up, each family
group begins the journey back to their old stomping grounds (perhaps
now with a new member or two... either an infant, or a mate for
their mature offspring). Next year, the pregnant females and their
mates (and parents) will likely make the journey earlier, to avoid
traveling when she is far along in her pregnancy. Once the infant
is born, they may not make the journey again for many years...
Okay, wait a
minute, Autumn. Where are you getting all of these crazy ideas?
<grin>
Native Americans
lived in relatively isolated communities and would arrange marriages
in order to avoid incest and inbreeding. Why would Sasquatch be
any different? Wtih something as important as survival of the species
at stake, do you suppose Bigfoot families just "wait around"
in hopes that a family with an equally eligible youngster of the
opposite sex might happen by? Or would they have developed, long
ago, a means by which to facilitate breeding? Are you finding it
hard to swallow this idea? Perhaps because you're assuming that
they're more gorilla-like and less like, say, a Neanderthal? :)
So why did I
choose the winter months? Why not the summer, when food is plentiful
at ALL elevations? Well, for a couple of reasons: First, the time
during which it is MOST DIFFICULT for a pregnant female to find
food might be the best time to rely on the community to help. Secondly,
and most importantly, I've got numerous reports from eyewitnesses,
both long-term and incidental, that tell of female Sasquatches being
seen with young infants predominantly in the spring. In addition,
the number of reports of creatures seemingly "passing through"
rural areas tends to increase in the spring and fall (those reports
which indicate that a creature was moving quickly through an area,
was not sighted again, etc.)
So there you
have it. Again, please remember that these are IDEAS, not beliefs.
It could also be that the creatures simply stumble around in the
woods, bump into one another, breed, and give birth on the fly.
I think it's unlikely, simply because the closest model we have
to a "Sasquatch lifestyle" is Early Native Americans and
they didn't do things that way, for good reason.
(Also, researchers
often ponder whether these creatures are "territorial"
or "nomadic". Weren't Early Native Americans both, in
a way? They'd choose a spot to inhabit but then would journey occasionally
to other areas for a specific purpose...)
One final thought...
can you IMAGINE coming across one of those box canyons and seeing
a gathering with your own eyes? Wow. Of course, the creatures there
might be overprotective and not-quite-friendly...
I have my ideas
about where some of these areas might exist. Where do you
think they might be? Why do you think, if the above stories are
accurate, these creatures would kidnap humans and bring them into
the Gathering Place?
Please feel
free to email
me your thoughts and feedback.
Autumn Williams
August 17, 2006
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Greg
Oakes
