Of Bigfoot and big cats – is the truth out there?

I was fishing in the North Country when all the Georgia Bigfoot hoopla was occurring, but when I heard about it, I couldn't help but crack a wry smile (it proved to be a hoax – a Sasquatch costume filled with animal entrails and frozen in a block of ice). So another mysterious creature sighting proves to be a deadend. Only difference is my experiences most often involve mountain lions and/or black panthers being sighted. So when I started reviewing the Bigfoot storyline and video, it was, as Yogi Berra said, "deja vu all over again" on a more dynamic scale.

I guess it's human nature to be fascinated by the unexplained. Remember the UFO mania of the late '40s and '50s? Or the Hollywood-created creatures spawned about the same time by the radioactivity generated from nuclear bomb testing in the Southwest? Or the immensely popular "X-Files" TV series and resulting movies, and Fox Mulder's quest "the truth is out there." Indeed, many of us "want to believe" so badly that our exuberance can muddle what we think we see.

I've spent much of my life in the outdoors, and in some pretty isolated wildernesses. I've encountered a variety of critters there, as well as the visual sign left by those I didn't see in the flesh. I've also seen some rather strange things in the sky – usually at night – but with so many manmade objects soaring around this planet, I never once suspected alien space crafts from distant galaxies. That approach has also served me well when I glimpsed some creature in the wilds that I couldn't readily identify. In the vast majority of cases, careful examination of the area revealed the identity.

Unlike those who get coverage by CNN et al, my major quest is less grandiose – verified proof that a previously undocumented critter has actually been present, be it locally or a place I'm in at that time. I've followed up on dozens of sightings that were first thought to be mountain lions. I discount the "black panther" sightings because the true animal is a color-phase of the jaguar, a cat of the tropical jungle climates of Mexico and Central and South America. Several "lion" sightings turned out to be bobcats or large coyotes whose thinner summer fur was water soaked, making the normally bushy tails look slim (like a cat's).

In many northern areas of the state, the presence of fishers, a large, tree-climbing member of the weasel family, could easily be blamed for some of the black panther sightings. Seeing an almost black fox-size fisher bounding through the woods at some distance away does remind me of a black cat, given the long tail and great agility. And despite their name, a bobcat's tail is several inches long and given the right angle being viewed, can appear longer than it really is. Plus, a 25-30 pound bobcat looks larger than it really is.