Interesting. Thanks for that Rounder;
I guess we'll see a few more of those kinds of encounters in the future but given the total # of humans and the total number of deaths it seems like just another thing that could get you.
Maybe the most horrific aspect of being eaten by wolves is just imagining it, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some instinctual fear that amplifies the horror...unlike being killed in a highway accident, for which most of us have little actual fear despite the almost half million of us that have died in 'em in the last 10 years...but this is off topic.
As to what BF eats, I think an amimal's intelligence implies the ability to adapt to what it encounters, understand its surroundings and altering its strategies, so I think BF is an apex predator that eats whatever it likes, not finding that it eats what it finds, and using its ability to travel big distance to make it happen. But I don't think it hangs around the PNW's rainforests eating plants until the next salmon run. Like, when you're on the trail up the Hoh river, even though the trail is another dozen miles until you reach the sub-alpine and alpine zones, it really is only a few thousand feet away... in elevation and if you could bushwhack straight up as I suspect an 8 to 10 foot tall guy with strong legs could do it pretty well.
I also don't think it's some kind of cellulose digesting fermenter like gorillas or as has been proposed for the giganto and its phytolithic-scared molars, but I'd bet they can pack away a lot of berries when they're in abundance, or some farmer's apples if they could.

dogu4,
I agree with your assessment that this is likely an apex predator that eats whatever it can and has the legs to take it where the food is. I think you're also right about the options open to mountain dwelling types, but I wonder about the ones in the boreal forest where they have to deal with five months of snow and some pretty harsh temperatures. I have nothing to back this up but pure speculation, but suppose they employed a strategy somewhere between a bear and a wolf. I don't see them travelling as much in the winter, especially during the brutal cold snaps. Would it not make sense to establish a sort of denning area within a reasonable distance of some available vegetation and a couple of deer yards. On nice days you browse and scrounge opportunistically, and when you feel frisky you run down a deer and stash it near or in the den. When the weather turns toward 30 below you say screw it and snooze in the den chewing on a deer leg. I don't see them hibernating like a bear, but neither do I see them out in the open everyday -- it would just take too many calories. For what its worth, in all the sighting reports I've read there seems to be a higher number of sightings in early snowstorms, and I wonder if that's not the time they get on the move to wherever they spend the winter. Its just a hunch, but if I was looking for sasquatch prints in the snow I'd head to the most inaccessible place I could find -- in these parts that would be the Wildcat Wilderness Area in the Pasquia Hills. No roads, no development, no nothing but lots of room and no human company.

That sounds emminently reasonable to me. Ever since reading Charles Sheldon's "A Winter in Denali" I've thought that a long duration winter expedition would be great...excellent. If my computer wasn't actin' up I'd google earth the area and scout out a nice elevated southern exposure with good sightlines....cheers.

You got 'er bud, in the sun and out of the wind, that's where they'd be.

I posted this on the "cold climates" topic, and I'll do it again here. I wonder if Sasquatch raid garbage cans and dumpsters like bears do in order to get calories? It would seem an easy source.

See the Dan Jackson Flordia skunk ape encounter where he was face to face and shot at one with a
.44 that lunged at him--and missed, that changed him from an investigator to an observer n(redratsnake posted the
url for his site under What Would Bigfoot Eat thread http://www.geocities.com/sutek316/
and also the Oklahoma Casino case (BIPcast 4 Sasquatch on the Oklahoma Prairie by the way and a good listen) of the grease trap and dumpster diving
squatch investigated by Roger Roberts and others where the squatch ducked under a 9ft. street light and was caught
on video surveillance camera walking across a parking lot by tribal security for the casino, but they refused to release the video due to unwelcome publicity and wacko concerns.
There are also more than one BFRO report near apartments of dumpster diving squatches.

It was probably held to determine actual cause of death. Just because they saw the wolves eating him does not mean they are the ones who killed him.

No. it was all there in the snow for all to read. The guy was killed, then dragged a short distance to where the pack was discovered feeding on him. I should add, the coroner's inquest was held after some pressure from the victim's family, not because the government or the mining companies were particularly curious. This is just speculation, but I got the sense the family was trying to establish a link between the careless unregulated garbage dumps and the death of the young man. I think this may have been in preparation for some sort of suit against the government and the mines, but since I've heard of no legal action since (its only been a month or so) I might just be reading things wrong.

You'd think they'd just arrtibute it to an "Act of doG".


I think the dead, if they have anything, have a keen sense of humor.

And Rounder: what better reason to be 10 feet tall and covered by hair than to be able to stand out on a tundra when it's like 20 below to enjoy a beautiful aurora filled sky while you can still a bit of red in the southeast...knowing you're gonna get a calm sunny day if only for a few hours. Most people don't know what they're missing. I pity the people who measure their comfort with a thermometer.

One of the things the "Ammi" person with pics on bfro forum thread pics over there, states
in the sasquatchdetective show on blogtalk is that "her" bf do not eat citrus. It is funny I'm
in the same state and I have seen no evidence in my research area that they will take citrus
either, anybody else have familiarity with this situation at a feeding station, just curious if citrus
turns them on in other parts of the country.

Hairy man and Redwolf had plums as bait. Whatever ate them barfed them up soon after eating them. I believe their expedition was in Northern CA. Gawd 4-5 yrs. ago.

Was any DNA taken from the BARF?
That is a good tactic possibly. Lace bait with Vomit inducers, then once bait is taken, grid the area, and perform a search for the Gack.

Why don't put laxitives in the bait and follow the sh-t trail back to their sleeping area?

Because what if was a bear not a BF. I would not want to run into a bear with an upset stomach and sore @$$!

Ok. Some questions for biologists and such. In my research trying to determine good food sources for BF, I found that watercress is high in iodine. Is is my understanding that iodine is not a common substance outside of seafood.

1) How important is iodine in animals other than man?
2) How common is it really?
3) Are there other substances that are necessary for animals that are hard to get naturally?
4) Where can these substances be obtained by wildlife?

If it something an animal needs, yet is hard to come by, finding a source might be a good place to stake out. Animals seem to have a good sense on what they need.

I was flipping through the channels last night and saw an add for a show about orangutans. It showed them fishing (grabbing them up from the water) and eating them. Kind of gives credence to the Native American tails of Sas raiding salmon traps.

BF does not eat too much red meat. He knows it accumulates in his colon and causes problems down the road.
And when you dont have access to a good proctologist, you dont take chances like that.


Seriously tho- i think BF would be an oppurtunist... as the seasons change taking the food from nature, berries, fruits, nuts etc- and also keeping his eye out for a nice juicy woodchuck he can thump with a stick or rock and chow on....

BARF.

Bigfoot Ate Rancid Fruit.



(I'll get me coat).

I agree. At the same time, many plants that a BF could eat would also attract game animals of all sizes. Berry bushes make great rabbit dens. Who knows, BF might be more resistant to thorns than other predators. Honey badgers can walk right through a thorny hedge without caring much where the same hedge would stop a lion or hyena in thier tracks.

I would think that fish would be high on BF's list of food items. They would be good protein and if BF is as intelligent as most think he is, he would need that protein for brain matter (fish is good brain food). I think there have also been many sightings near streams (obviously PGF comes to mind) so that would seem to at least make it possible BF is a fisherman.

I would say, based on the points you made, that it seems entirely plausible.

Probably an omnivouras diet. Stuff like Berries, grasses, fish, small animals.

There have been reports in Australia of large bite marks at heights of over 6 ft in trees presumably to extract large grubs in the bark. In the Cropper/Healy book on the Yowie, a Yowie researcher also described finding what he considered "Yowie Faeces" (it was 18 inches long and 8 inches in circumference). On examination of the contents it was found to consist of leaves, bark, beetles, grubs, crickets, and some plant materials that are known to be poisonous to livestock.

The barf was collected from an expedition in Washington and is still in a deep freeze. No testing of any kind has been done because at the time, the advice we received was that there likely wasn't enough sloughed cells in the sample to do any DNA testing (and the cost of doing a DNA test on something we weren't 100% certain came from a bigfoot was prohibitive). We are still very open on having the sample tested. Is there any newer information or new techniques that might make it possible to get DNA from the sample now?

Any more accurate information? Any knowledge on what trees seem to have had thier bark eaten. Plants are funny. Some have some poisonous parts while other parts are quite edible. Some plants are higher in certain nutrients than other nearby and 'tastier' plants. Maybe the bark contains another substance the Yowie was after, caffiene like a coffe or tea, nicotine like a chew, or something stronger?????

Maybe it was a willow 'cause he had a headache.... sounds jokey but meaning that in a serious vein really, analgesic, bug repellant, even "poisonous" barks, yew for example have medicinal qualities in small doses.

Actually, you may not be far off the mark. There is an interesting report by Michael Huffman regarding chimps in the Mahale Mountains of Tanzania swallowing Aspilia leaves to cleans themselves of internal parasites. I can't seem to locate the article (Current Evidence for Self-Medication in Primates: A Multidisciplinary Perspective) here is an abstract: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin...=1&SRETRY=0

There's a bit more about that and some other interesting tidbits here. http://www.primates.com/misc/index.html


Redwolf

Bigfoot is possibly omnivorus. The shape of the prints sugest that it does infact activley hunt, possibly even trap, game. I can also see a bigfoot foraging in the blueberry bushes. It would be very adept at foraging. Its larg mass would make it a imposing target even for the largest predator. Although the chances of a creature of BFs size substaining itself on plants and vegetation alone is highly improbable.

Here in the PNW, salmon is a big food source for all the large omnivores, being most plentiful in spring and fall--supplemented by mushrooms. Summer is berry time and seed-bearing grass tops can be calorie rich, and lets not miss the protein rich insects like locusts and salmon flies. Winter when the frost is on you'd expect them to travel to lower elevations and exploit the deer, rabbits, tubers, shellfish, crayfish, etc. in our marshy valleys. The mountains have pica too but I imagine they're pretty hard to locate, and there are loads of salal (very carb rich) and other berries. Difficult times would be late fall, to early spring, say from Nov. to March. By April you get all the new shoots coming up like fern, hemlock, fresh new grass and the ducks and geese are back. Bird nests will yield eggs. If this creature is an intelligent opportunist it will find lots to eat. People can too if they are not fussy. Upwards of 90% of the food resource in our environment is rejected because it is not a culturally accepted or recognized food source, something to keep in mind during tough times. "Kids, eat your fried salmon flies. They're getting cold."

I'm curious if you have any recommended reading on NW food sources. I would like to keep that handy. Primate approved only please Ima vegetarian, but haven't always been. I grew up in a family that hunted dinner more often than not, so I think I could remember that part easy enough if I really really had to. I'm looking for recommended reading on edible plants here in the NW.

Edit to say that the Salmon berries are ripe RIGHT NOW! I was on Marys Peak and almost ate myself sick! Yummy!

I highly recommend Pojar and McKinnon's Plants of the Pacific Northwest for a field guide. Daniel E. Moerman's Native American Ethnobotany is one of the most intense (and heaviest) books on the subject.

This site has some good resources including information on wild food outings.
http://www.thelivingweb.net/ediblewildplants.html

Try Googling "wild foods of the northwest" and you will get a ton of hits. Powell's bookstores usually has a good selection of out of print or hard to find books on the subject.

Have you ever made oregon grape/salal berry jam? Yum. Don't eat too many Oregon grapes raw though....

Thank you! I didn't even know you could eat Oregon Grapes! I thought they were poison! When I think of all the times I walked right by.... I'm gonna check those out for sure! I've had stir fried fiddleheads before and those were good... I have this image of a pocket book with pictures clearly labeled eat/no eat Kinda like "Cascade Survival for Dummies".

As for the jam....the only time I really cook is outdoors.... I can bake on a coleman stove without the oven attachment and make a mean camp stew!

Oregon grape berries impart a beet-like flavour to soups, so think of adding them to a meaty stew to give a nice borsht flavour. Acidic and, well, beety. You can also use them to dye. The root also is used for dye, and medicinal purposes.

Stick to the salal, blueberries and salmon berries! Right now you can find pockets of hazelnut trees that will give a nice feast. Specially if you put them in muffins!

Right now though the best thing out there is the mushrooms! If you don't eat meat, that is. Maybe even if you do.

As a kid I was told that Oregon grape were poisonous. I think most people misunderstood the warnings. Eating them raw can cause stomach problems. They are also rather sour.

The blackberries are starting to ripen in the valleys. Still some huckleberries in the mountains. I am really looking forward to the blue elderberries. (DO NOT EAT Red Elderberries Sambucus racemosa) Also, only eat the elderberries cooked. Be sure if you make syrups or jams to get every stem and leaf out of the mix. When cooked, the berries taste like a wild Maine blueberry. Divine!!!


Here is a short list of edible berries: (NOTE berries edible usually when cooked, PLEASE find a complete reference and know the variety you are picking. I am not a botanist and if you get sick don't blame me!! )

Western Mountain Ash- Sorbus scopulina cooked into jams and jellies. Native Americans boiled the inner bark for medicinal tea. This shrub is a wonderful draw for birds. We have two on our property but I have never eaten them. I leave them for the birds.

Blue Elderberries S. cerula or S. glauca Flowers can be used to make tea. Berries are seedy and must be cooked. The stems, bark. leaves and roots contain cyananide-producing glycosides and are POISONOUS. Jam is delish!!

Trailing Blackberries Rubus ursinus or
Himalayan Blackberry Rubus discolor Eat them...mmmm

Black Raspberries aka Black Caps Rubus leucodermis Heavenly berries make excellent jam, wine and syrup. Can be eaten raw (ask my blue tongued children). The fresh or dried leaves can be used to make tea to ease cramps. Drink is small quantities and don't use wilted leaves which are toxic.

Black Huckleberries aka Mountain Huckleberries Vaccinium membranaceum Probably my favorite out of all the wild berries in the NW. They can be eaten raw or dried or made into jams, jellies, syrups, and anything else you can think of. Makes a great sauce for salmon. Very high in anti-oxidents.

Red Huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium edible but just so-so and rather tart. Best left for the birds and bears IMO

Oval Leafed Blueberry V. ovalifolium not as tasty IMO as black huckleberry, but still good and I have found them growing side by side with blk huckleberry in Skookum meadow.

Salmonberries Rubus spectabilis edible raw but not my favorite

Salal Berries Gaultheria Shallon cook first and combine with Oregon grape for a good jelly

Tall Oregon Grape Mahonia aquifolium Good Jelly

Thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus I am told that these soft berries make good jam, but have never tried it. Another berry I leave for the critters because they are so soft it is a pain to pick them.


When picking wild berries, please remember to leave some for the bears, birds and other critters that rely on these food sources.


Bon Appetit!

Redwolf

Thanks for the info! Berries are a superfood that are just ripe for a short time (the ones I know) so I am all a flutterpated right now with the hiking and eating! I really should remember how to preserve (my grandma made us all learn, along with how to make biscuits with pinches) so I can enjoy these later on this year. My mom has a giant patch of blackberries she leaves alone and the decades long agreement has been "I gather, I get jam". Guess it's time for this big kid to grow up!

Just as an aside, I found a roadside fruit stand with gravestein apples yesterday! Anyone who cares about apples, plant a tree! These are the best of the best of the best! I looked at the wiki and they said it didn't keep well, but they do, if you do it right. You need a half barrel or a wooden apple box. Hay in the bottom, thick thick thick. Then take a layer of apples, not touching! Lay down more hay on top, five, maybe six inches at least. Gentle hay, loose, no cramming or pushing!) repeat as needed. The apples just never ever can touch each other, or get poked with the hay (any hay poked apples should be eaten immediately....lol) so however much hay that can take is needed. If you store them in a cool dry place they will last crisy juicy goody straight right on until spring! We always used at least most of a bale for a big wooden apple box (not the kind you get apples in the store in. We had a pantry with a purpose built box, maybe 3x3x3...)....maybe the wiki meant it wasn't fast easy and cheap to store them so no one wants to grow them commercially.... it's a pity..... I know that sounds like a lot of work for an apple, but trust me...it's worth it!

I love my red gravensteins! I would eventually like to set up a food cellar, though my apples never last the winter lol! I also grow an heirloom variety that makes good sauce and dried apples. No one knows what type it is. The tree was planted in the 1920-30's.

Preserving food is not as challenging as it sounds. A few basic rules to remember and you are good to go. I highly recommend The Ball Blue Book and Googling some University Extensions. Georgia and Oregon have good ones. Georgia is the National Center for Home Food Preserving. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/ They have a ton of information!

Aside from canning, there is drying and freezing. Berries freeze very well. Just rinse them gently in a large pan of water, then lift them onto a dry towel to air dry for a bit. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze. When berries are frozen, transfer them to a gallon freezer bag or Food saver and tossed back in the freezer. I use them frozen in smoothies, pancakes and the like. If we time it right, we will use up all of our previous years berries just before the season comes back around.

Those of us that can and preserve should unite. But I have to be honest...Lord don't let any more roma tomatores grow in the next week...I'm worn out! And the stinkin' cherries are now ripe too...I say it's a conspiracy!

(Red - your apple butter recipe rocks...I gave a jar of my latest batch to Bob Gimlin...taking full credit of course...but I'm sure he'll enjoy it!!!)

Lordy I have half my freezer full of berries and slices of apples, and my mom has booked me to come spend a day making apple pies with her when she harvests her trees. Will probably come home with sore feet and about 15 or 20 pies to pile into the freezer. Sigh...maybe I need another freezer. Plus usually a friend passes me a salmon or two (smoked is yum), and I'd sure love to hold my hand out to someone if they bag a moose this fall.

Wait a minute, this is getting a bit off topic...lol. But it's gonna be a great thanksgiving this fall, I can tell!

Why not go for the three pointer to win the game? Put the bait in a high area and possible in some kind of enclosure that would more than likely require hands to open it. Lace it with poison, then onece the bait is taken, grid the area, and perform a search for a big huge stinky bf carcass!

What about Salmon, or other native stream fish????