New "Bigfoot" Audio from Humboldt Redwoods

A clip was just passed to me of a purported Bigfoot vocalization from up in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The clip which first appeared on YouTube on Jun 21, 2017 and is about 2 minutes long and contains an enhanced audio rip of the original clip. It appears to show a camper in a tent who is awoken by vocalization coming from the nearby forest. At first glance the video clip has all the good hallmarks of a legitimate clip. It appears to portray an immediate emotional reaction to an event, the person is excited and startled, the video is fairly clear and has good audio, it comes from an account which does not appear to have been previously used for Bigfoot clips. At face value it appears to have been taken by a legitimate person who is not associated with the bigfooter or prank community. At face value I can reasonably conclude that the clip itself is probably not a hoax or some sort of gaff.





Now on to what is heard, we hear several short calls or vocalizations followed by some longer vocalizations which sound like they may be coming from a different individual, that is my best guess. As for the vocalizer or call maker's identity, I can definitively say that at first listen that this appears to be a common vocalization from a barred owl. Barred owls are common in the area and produce a variety of calls ranging from short trill "whoo"s to more complex "whoo cooks for youoo" sounds. It is the opinion of the author and the opinion of the Bluff Creek Project that the clip is just a recording of a common barred owl.

Here is a small quote from Steven Streufert on the clip; he is the owner of Bigfoot Books in Willow Creek, and the local expert on Humboldt's local Bigfoot history:
"We hear these sounds regularly up in Bluff Creek. Neophytes [a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief.] are constantly saying they are Bigfoot, along with other things like acorns falling from trees. That is an owl, and nothing more than an owl. It's always best to study and know the known and real wildlife of an area before one starts assuming unknown monsters."



Above, a clip from youtube.


That being said there are numerous Yurok texts that allege that their Bigfoot or Indian Devil legends can imitate owls and other animals. The one that comes to mind is from the Lucy Thompson Book, To the American Indian.

Thompson, Lucy. 1916 . To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman.

I would caution anyone from associating the "Indian Devil" (Om'ah), "Creek Devil (ra'k ni uma-ah), Brush Devil (ka'p ni uma-ah) legends with the creature known as Bigfoot as there are several creatures or people that tend to fit the description. From my research it seems that there are several different stories of Om'ah which seem to refer to them as just "wild indians" or bad medicine persons. Often the creature or legend of the Yruok, Karuk, and Hupa refer to them by other names like "ridge walker" or "upslope people" (maruk-ara'r) which seem to refer to more of a hairy monster as opposed to a feral human like the Indian devil. The text I base this on is an academic paper paper titled:  Monsters and the Quest for Balance in Native Northwest California which appeared in the book, Manlike Monsters on Trial; which is exceedingly hard to get these days. I will post a few relevant pages here which I consider not to be a violation of copyright law under the doctrine of fair use for purposes of review.


 




















I find the best way to learn about native Bigfoot legends though is just to go and talk with some tribal elders and ask them for yourselves. A lot of them will tell you that the books are wrong a lot of the times, and that Bigfoots are just the protectors of the forests. That they punishing those who harm people and nature and reward people who are pure of heart and prove themselves as outdoorsmen or outdoorswomen.


*****Update, Matt Moneymaker from Finding Bigfoot has chimed in a said that he believes that it is a Bigfoot making the calls. We disagree as the caller clearly sounds like a Barred owl, but we concede that there are historic reports of Bigfoots mimicking owls.

Typically, squatch howls hv longer sustain thn what u hear in this recording, beyond that, this does sound like one: https://t.co/9F2U45aRi9

— Matt Moneymaker (@MattMoneymaker1) June 22, 2017

Buckley, Thomas. Quest for Balance in Native Northwest California, from the book Manlike Monsters on Trial. UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PRESS, Vancouver and London. 1980. ISBN 0-7748-0119-0.

Thompson, Lucy. 1916 . To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman. Heyday Books Berkeley, CA. (1991 edition). Page 130.