Bigfoot Thursday – Bigfoot Call Home!

TalkingBF02Today we’re listening to a video with recordings of Bigfoot made in Yosemite National Park, CA. Cryptozoology lovers will agree, something is making a monster of a sound! But it is Bigfoot, or is something else lurking in the forest?

Is this a recording of Bigfoot calling in the dark forests of California? Possibly, however I have my doubts. While I’m not an expert in animal calls, there was something avian about the calls recorded in Yosemite National Park that night, which have been attributed to Bigfoot.

Here’s the video:

Fortunately for us, an astute listener shared her thoughts in the comments section below this video recording – thank you Swampgirl whoever you are! She thinks they are the calls of an owl called Strix varia, the Barred Owl (photo below).

BarredOwlStrixVaria01

Let’s listen to the Barred Owl and see how they sound (recorded and copyrighted by Richard Peet).

http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Strix-varia-10.mp3

Doesn’t that sound ape-like? One answers the other in the distance. Scientists tell us these are the Barred Owls’ “contact calls.”

Do They Live in Yosemite?

I then wondered whether Yosemite was in the known range of these birds. Here’s what I found out:

According to a site called beautyofbirds.com, “Barred owls are most common in eastern United States west to Texas and their territory ranges north to southern Canada and south to Mexico.

During the 20th century, they have been expanding their range westward in the north of their range (probably as a result of habitat modifications in those areas), and are now found in southwestern Canada, Washington, Oregon, and northern California.”

Why do they need a “contact call”? According to my research, these owls are usually solitary except during breeding season. They each defend a territory measuring anywhere between 213-903 acres.  That’s a pretty big area, so the need to find each other in a pinch makes more sense.

BarredOwlStrixVaria02Whooo’s Responsible

Here’s what the Barred Owl looks like (photo right).  They measure between 17 – 24 inches long (43 – 61 cm), weigh between 16 – 37 oz (470 – 1050 g), and have a wingspan reaching between 39 – 44 inches (99 – 111 cm) wide.

The video also mentions sounds recorded at a place called Hockett Meadow which is in Sequoia National Park, California. I compared the contact calls of the Barred owl to both these samples and I’m satisfied that the owls are the culprits behind the calls recorded in both cases.

Bigfoot Call Home

So what does that mean for Bigfoot? Nothing really, it’s just that these two samples didn’t catch a Bigfoot call. If you read my blog you’ll know I believe in the existence of Bigfoot (and his kin around the world) for several reasons. I’m sure they do make noises and calls. But these samples are not him, in my opinion.

As Gollum would say, nature is tricksy!

Til the next time!

GollumTricksy

References:

http://www.beautyofbirds.com/barredowlsubspecies.html

http://www.owlpages.com/sounds/Strix-varia-10.mp3

http://www.owlpages.com/sounds.php?genus=Strix&species=varia

One comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.