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Bigfoot in Catskill? Believers say it's so
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Tommy ‘T.J.’ Biscardi, director of field security and the live capture team for the company Searching for Bigfoot Inc., holds a biopsy rifle, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes.
By Ariel Zangla, Freeman staff - 06/29/2008
THE MYSTERY of the creature commonly referred to as "bigfoot" has sparked the imagination and interest of millions of people around the world.
Many are skeptical of bigfoot's existence, but others believe in the creature and work tirelessly to provide proof that it's real.
And now the fascination has come to our neck of the woods: Recent local sightings of creatures believed to be members of the bigfoot family have drawn a team of bigfoot trackers to the Greene County town of Catskill.
TOM Biscardi, founder and chief executive officer of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., said he assembled an eight-member team to investigate reports from a local resident who said she and her family saw creatures believed to be bigfoots on their Tool House Road property.
Biscardi said that before the entire team arrived Thursday, he sent some local associates from Glens Falls to do a preliminary investigation. He said they found evidence of a pod where bigfoots might have slept on the property and also heard distinctive footfalls in the woods through the use of a bionic ear. He said the footfalls were not those of a regular woodland animal.
PATTY Williams said she first saw a bigfoot on her property about four months ago. She said she the creature was near the tree line and by her pigpen.
"It had a juvenile with it about my height," Williams said on Friday. She said the creatures went into the pen and ate her pig's food but did not bother any of her animals.
In her most recent sighting, Williams said, she had gone to get coffee with a friend one evening and saw a bigfoot standing along her driveway. She said the creature's eyes were glowing and that she knew it wasn't a bear because it was at least 7 feet tall.
"It's pretty exciting," Williams said. "Very interesting."
Williams said she threw a rock near where she believed one of the creatures was and it threw the rock back. She said she also threw a football and that it came back.
Williams said her daughter and her mother, both of whom live with her, also have seen the bigfoots.
WILLIAMS said she's not afraid of the bigfoots and feels comfortable with them, even though she knows something is watching her when she walks in the woods near her house every day.
She said the bigfoots have left her a rock on her boat and also leave pine cones for her.
BISCARDI - who's been tracking bigfoots on and off for 35 years and full time the past four - said his team set up several video and still cameras on Williams' approximately 3.8-acre property. He also said team members are equipped with tasers, night-vision goggles, thermal imagers, tranquilizer guns and a biopsy gun, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes.
"I'm here to capture one," Biscardi said.
Biscardi said he has plans in place to transport a captured bigfoot to an area where it can be studied by a team that will include a medical doctor and a veterinarian. The creature would be studied for 90 days, then released back where it was found with a tracker implanted in it, he said.
BISCARDI, who is from Menlo Park, Calif., said most people believe there is only one bigfoot in the world, but, in fact, there are more than 3,500. He said the creatures are nocturnal and travel in family units.
"It looks like a primate," Biscardi said of a bigfoot.
He said the creatures look like gorillas but stand upright most of the time. He described them as hairy with no visible neck and having human facial features. He said the average foot size for a bigfoot is 16 inches long and that the largest footprint he has seen was over 22 inches.
Biscardi said there are photos of bigfoots on his Web site, www.searchingforbigfoot.com.
BOB "JavaBob" Schmalzbach, vice president of Searching for Bigfoot, said the team is trying to assemble intrinsic evidence as well as empirical evidence. He said the organization receives calls "all the time" reporting bigfoot sightings but does not investigate each one.
Statistical evidence based on sightings reported over the past several years shows bigfoots travel along waterways, Schmalzbach said. He said the Searching for Bigfoot team has collected DNA evidence - such as hair and skin - that have been tested and shown to be from an unknown animal. Schmalzbach also said the team has "plenty of footprints."
Schmalzbach said one of the footprints the team has obtained shows dermal ridges and that the creature's toes were splayed as it walked. He said there were additional footprints at the same site, each with a different splaying of the toes, as would happen when the creature walked.
THE TEAM also has the hand of an unidentified creature believed to be a bigfoot, Schmalzbach said. He said the hand was found in a landfill in Montana and was given to local police because it was believed to be human.
Testing on the hand showed it was non-human and from an unidentified animal, Schmalzbach said.
Schmalzbach said bigfoots are quick, intelligent and do not want to be seen. He also said there have been no verifiable reports of a bigfoot injuring a person and that bigfoots seen during the day usually are adolescent males.
BECKY Sawyer, a researcher from Glens Falls, said she and Steve Kulls arrived at the Tool House Road property in Catskill on June 20 to do the preliminary assessment. She said she saw a place where the grass had been bent overnight in such a way to indicate the bigfoots had slept there. She also said an odor in two or three places on the property suggested the presence of bigfoots.
"These creatures have a musky odor to them," Sawyer said, noting the smell is not like that of a bear.
Biscardi said he hopes the team is able to see bigfoots on Williams' property, either with a camera or the night-vision goggles. He described the area as a fresh hot spot for the creatures.
BISCARDI said his operation is funded with private investments, profits from merchandising and proceeds from the sale of his movie, "Bigfoot Lives." He currently is filming "Bigfoot Lives 2," which he said will blow the bigfoot world's mind.
In addition to searching for bigfoots, Biscardi said he has a live radio show that people from around the world listen to.
Of his personal experiences with the creatures, Biscardi said: "I've had six encounters (with bigfoots) in my life-time. I'm talking about up close and personal."
He said he used to be the biggest skeptic, but no more.
Click to view attachment
Tommy ‘T.J.’ Biscardi, director of field security and the live capture team for the company Searching for Bigfoot Inc., holds a biopsy rifle, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes.
By Ariel Zangla, Freeman staff - 06/29/2008
THE MYSTERY of the creature commonly referred to as "bigfoot" has sparked the imagination and interest of millions of people around the world.
Many are skeptical of bigfoot's existence, but others believe in the creature and work tirelessly to provide proof that it's real.
And now the fascination has come to our neck of the woods: Recent local sightings of creatures believed to be members of the bigfoot family have drawn a team of bigfoot trackers to the Greene County town of Catskill.
TOM Biscardi, founder and chief executive officer of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., said he assembled an eight-member team to investigate reports from a local resident who said she and her family saw creatures believed to be bigfoots on their Tool House Road property.
Biscardi said that before the entire team arrived Thursday, he sent some local associates from Glens Falls to do a preliminary investigation. He said they found evidence of a pod where bigfoots might have slept on the property and also heard distinctive footfalls in the woods through the use of a bionic ear. He said the footfalls were not those of a regular woodland animal.
PATTY Williams said she first saw a bigfoot on her property about four months ago. She said she the creature was near the tree line and by her pigpen.
"It had a juvenile with it about my height," Williams said on Friday. She said the creatures went into the pen and ate her pig's food but did not bother any of her animals.
In her most recent sighting, Williams said, she had gone to get coffee with a friend one evening and saw a bigfoot standing along her driveway. She said the creature's eyes were glowing and that she knew it wasn't a bear because it was at least 7 feet tall.
"It's pretty exciting," Williams said. "Very interesting."
Williams said she threw a rock near where she believed one of the creatures was and it threw the rock back. She said she also threw a football and that it came back.
Williams said her daughter and her mother, both of whom live with her, also have seen the bigfoots.
WILLIAMS said she's not afraid of the bigfoots and feels comfortable with them, even though she knows something is watching her when she walks in the woods near her house every day.
She said the bigfoots have left her a rock on her boat and also leave pine cones for her.
BISCARDI - who's been tracking bigfoots on and off for 35 years and full time the past four - said his team set up several video and still cameras on Williams' approximately 3.8-acre property. He also said team members are equipped with tasers, night-vision goggles, thermal imagers, tranquilizer guns and a biopsy gun, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes.
"I'm here to capture one," Biscardi said.
Biscardi said he has plans in place to transport a captured bigfoot to an area where it can be studied by a team that will include a medical doctor and a veterinarian. The creature would be studied for 90 days, then released back where it was found with a tracker implanted in it, he said.
BISCARDI, who is from Menlo Park, Calif., said most people believe there is only one bigfoot in the world, but, in fact, there are more than 3,500. He said the creatures are nocturnal and travel in family units.
"It looks like a primate," Biscardi said of a bigfoot.
He said the creatures look like gorillas but stand upright most of the time. He described them as hairy with no visible neck and having human facial features. He said the average foot size for a bigfoot is 16 inches long and that the largest footprint he has seen was over 22 inches.
Biscardi said there are photos of bigfoots on his Web site, www.searchingforbigfoot.com.
BOB "JavaBob" Schmalzbach, vice president of Searching for Bigfoot, said the team is trying to assemble intrinsic evidence as well as empirical evidence. He said the organization receives calls "all the time" reporting bigfoot sightings but does not investigate each one.
Statistical evidence based on sightings reported over the past several years shows bigfoots travel along waterways, Schmalzbach said. He said the Searching for Bigfoot team has collected DNA evidence - such as hair and skin - that have been tested and shown to be from an unknown animal. Schmalzbach also said the team has "plenty of footprints."
Schmalzbach said one of the footprints the team has obtained shows dermal ridges and that the creature's toes were splayed as it walked. He said there were additional footprints at the same site, each with a different splaying of the toes, as would happen when the creature walked.
THE TEAM also has the hand of an unidentified creature believed to be a bigfoot, Schmalzbach said. He said the hand was found in a landfill in Montana and was given to local police because it was believed to be human.
Testing on the hand showed it was non-human and from an unidentified animal, Schmalzbach said.
Schmalzbach said bigfoots are quick, intelligent and do not want to be seen. He also said there have been no verifiable reports of a bigfoot injuring a person and that bigfoots seen during the day usually are adolescent males.
BECKY Sawyer, a researcher from Glens Falls, said she and Steve Kulls arrived at the Tool House Road property in Catskill on June 20 to do the preliminary assessment. She said she saw a place where the grass had been bent overnight in such a way to indicate the bigfoots had slept there. She also said an odor in two or three places on the property suggested the presence of bigfoots.
"These creatures have a musky odor to them," Sawyer said, noting the smell is not like that of a bear.
Biscardi said he hopes the team is able to see bigfoots on Williams' property, either with a camera or the night-vision goggles. He described the area as a fresh hot spot for the creatures.
BISCARDI said his operation is funded with private investments, profits from merchandising and proceeds from the sale of his movie, "Bigfoot Lives." He currently is filming "Bigfoot Lives 2," which he said will blow the bigfoot world's mind.
In addition to searching for bigfoots, Biscardi said he has a live radio show that people from around the world listen to.
Of his personal experiences with the creatures, Biscardi said: "I've had six encounters (with bigfoots) in my life-time. I'm talking about up close and personal."
He said he used to be the biggest skeptic, but no more.
Don't write the guy off just yet, He might be playing the media a little and trying to drum up some more news time using this as a way to get more Attention, Hell it works for just about everyone else that got a few minutes of TV Time, Then used it to put down the Media and there always " Upbeat " story's of man kinds romp through everyday life and Adventure, But then again fox will air just about anything, I never just shrug off a greedy man, Money and what might come with it makes people very resourceful sometimes 
