The once extinct Humboldt Marten captured by one of our Bigfoot trail cameras

Humbodlt Marten

We are pleased to announce that we have captured an image of a cryptid Humboldt Marten Martes caurina humboldtensis. The animal was once thought to have been extinct up until 1996 when one was photographed.


Truth be told we have been catching glimpses of them for years. Our cameras are set about two feet off of the ground and the triggers are not set to fire on small animals. The only reason we captured this one is because the camera had malfunctioned. We had rushed in to Bluff Creek last October after filming the Lenny Green music video (Patty where are you now). I knew this might be out last shot to visit the film site since the gates were closing soon. I convinced Robert Leiterman and Steven Streufert to hike in with me in the dark to service the MK Davis site camera and the Plug camera, and also install two brand new units I has recently purchased.

Marten in the snow.

We hiked in and then went to the Plug camera first then dropped our packs. We swapped out the MK Davis site camera and installed a new 2015 Bushnell Agressor cam. We serviced the Plug camera and had one more Bushnell Agressor to install. I decided that we should just install the new camera adjacent to the Plug camera. We strapped it to a tree and leveled it with a stick with haste.

Robert and I setting up the camera mid October 2014

While I serviced the Plug camera I had Robert setup the new one and secure it to a tree. He was unfamiliar with this new model camera and failed to set it to record video. The date was also reset since we swapped out the batteries, it is off by about eight months.  It was set to its default setting which was high sensitivity. Over the next six months it recorded 1,232 images occupying 8.40gb of memory. The first two months were the most productive but after the creek filled it was mostly pictures of the flowing water.

Cinnamon colored Black Bear

I retrieved the camera in late June of 2015 and check the photos. I saw that it had taken thousands and scanned a few in the field, I never thought much of them. It's been a busy summer for me working in Redwoods National Park so I hadn't gone through all the still photos. I started working on it last week and I noticed the Marten. It was pretty clear this time so I think it is best to get the word out to the scientific community.


Here is some footage of a Fisher Marten for comparison. Taken at the Patterson-Gimlin film site:

Typical Black Bear 

Our only potential Bigfoot photo. This one is likely a bear.

A good looking bird fishing for fingerlings.

Likely a Marten

Looks about the size of a Marten