Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

I appreciate books which at least attempt to keep a balance between opposing views. Dr. Meldrum does that, even if he lets the mask slip a bit at the end. However, I didn't find the book as satisfying as I had hoped. In particular, I thought that some areas were covered far too extensively, some not nearly extensively enough, and some not at all. Perhaps I can review some of these areas.Dr. Meldrum specializes in primate locomotion. It is therefore natural that he would devote considerable space in the book to reviewing the footprint evidence. I'm sure Dr. Meldrum can differentiate between primate footprints and those of any other order and that he can detect clumsy fakes. However, human ingenuity is such that I'm not sure that he or anyone else can be certain that clever fakes can be ruled out, especially since footprint detail, as he admits, is by its nature ephemeral. I do think that the suggestion that the consistency of the size and shape of footprints is significant is not a valid point.There are so many representations in various media and I have been aware of what they looked like for at least 50 years. Anyone wishing to make a fake could easily have based it on readily available representations. Nevertheless, Dr. Meldrum's expert opinion is certainly better than mine and is the most persuasive argument for Sasquatch/Bigfoot (S/B)'s existence in the book. Whether the length and detail of the section is justified is another matter.The various sections dealing with how things might have happened but for which there is no evidence take up far too much of the book. There was a giant Asian ape, Gigantopithecus, now extinct. Is there any evidence it was ever in North America? No. The land bridge over what is now the Bering Strait is the way many animals came and went between the Americas and Asia. S/B might have used that means of access to the Americas. Is there any evidence that it did so? No. Fossils are only created in certain specific conditions and many species die without leaving fossil remains. True, but so what? We're talking about a living species here, not fossils, even if there were any, which there aren't. Native American folklore tells of hairy men. That would only have probative value if all the other Native American legends had a foundation in fact. One of the most prevalent is the Thunderbird, a giant bird capable of lifting an Orca and whose wings make the sound of thunder. Does anyone believe that is a real bird? While all these discussions in the book MIGHT be possibilities, they have no evidential value. Dr. Meldrum brings out the old saying, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but equally absence of evidence proves nothing. A scientific discussion should be about evidence, not speculation, so what does the evidence show?It's at this point that the book fails to live up to its claims. Logic begins to go out of the window, some major issues are given little consideration and others are ignored completely. Just to go over a few: what does S/B eat? Dr. Meldrum vaguely says its diet is omnivorous, which would probably be right, but why so little discussion of the specifics? An animal weighing up to 800lbs and up to 8/9 feet tall (Dr. Meldrum's calculations) must eat a LOT of food. Since there is no indication that it uses tools, let alone traps, how does it collect its food, and why does it not do what every other animal including man does and establish a feeding pattern, returning to places where food is abundant? Animals are routinely trapped by putting food out, since all animals will eat the easiest food to collect. Why doesn't this work with S/B? No explanation of this is even attempted.What does it do in Winter? Animals in climates with cool Winters either predate, migrate or go into hibernation/dormancy. Dr. Meldrum suggests that the latter is most likely, but animals in this state are easy to locate. Those that do stay awake are easier to see and must go to areas where food is available. A huge dark-haired bipedal primate searching for food in Winter must stick out like a sore thumb. No explanation.What happens to the sick, injured or old animals? Typically such animals lose their fear of danger since they must try and find the easiest sources of food and they are therefore easy to find and catch. The only exception is animals which live in colonies, where less robust specimens are cared for, but is anyone out there suggesting that we have somehow missed colonies of massive primates? The whole S/B premise is built on them being solitary. Not only does Dr. Meldrum not offer a scientific explanation of the absence of sick, injured or old animals, he doesn't even raise it as an issue.There are many other issues- where do mothers with young live, the fact that no-one in the nearly 50 years since Patterson/Gimlin has managed to capture as good, let alone better, footage of the creature (I had to laugh at the comment that because wildlife photography is difficult creatures ALREADY IN CAPTIVITY are used- why don't we try that? Oh, wait......), the fact that the last large primate discovered, the Mountain Gorilla, was found hundreds of miles into the African jungle the year before the Wright brothers managed to get a powered flying machine into the air, but we can't track massive primates in our own backyard with all our modern technology- but I'll conclude this review with a point that seems humorous but is actually quite serious. Of all the animals in North America, the only one that has NEVER been hit by a vehicle is S/B. How is that possible? In the area in which I live animal populations are actually estimated on the basis of how many are hit by vehicles. It's not as though S/B stays away from roads- many sightings are on or near roads. People, deer, coyotes, raccoons, even birds, all are struck by vehicles. S/B, not once.Dr. Meldrum's book is a good read and streets ahead of most books on the subject, but there are far too manyunanswered and sometimes unasked questions to rate it as scientifically satisfying. At the risk of being dismissed as an armchair skeptic, I want to see a body, alive if possible (please don't kill one). That's really not too much to ask.

The Almasty, Orang Pendek, Yeti, and numerous other names around the world that describe upright walking apes that indigenous cultures including one right in America’s backyard. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science by Dr. Jeff Meldrum explores if there is scientific merit to investigating “Bigfoot” by looking at all the available evidence.Meldrum begins the book by recounting how he actively started exploring the possibility of the upright walking ape in North America from his background as an anatomist and anthropologist. Following this up he goes into the history of looking for unknown animals from the 1700s to the present, including how the Abominable Snowman and Yeti entered the western lexicon. The 1950s beginnings of “Bigfoot” are discussed followed by the hoax claims of various individuals before Meldrum introduces the Native American view of Sasquatch. From this point on “legend” faded to the background as Meldrum begin scientifically looking at the evidence brought forth over the past 60 years including castings of body prinks and footprints, hairs, and the Patterson-Gimlin film from 1967 including analysis from numerous experts in their fields. In his conclusion Meldrum states while the available evidence does not prove the existence of a bipedal North American ape but does warrant the larger scientific community to realize that what is being found cannot be explained as men in costumes with wooden cutout feet or misidentifications of known animals.The book’s larger than normal dimensions provide for numerous photographs and illustrations that add to the text they share on the page, but also help the scientifically jargoned impaired understand what Meldrum explaining. Yet Meldrum’s analysis of the Patterson-Gimlin film and his knowledge of foot anatomy in discussing purported foot tracks are the sections of the book that stand out the most, the former because it literally still is the best evidence for the existence of Sasquatch while also standing up to measurable scientific scrutiny and the latter because its evidence that Meldrum is professionally expert on that has him putting his reputation on the line.Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science looks at the question of if a bipedal ape is roaming the North American wilderness. Dr. Meldrum does not claim at any point that there is indeed an actual animal, but the persuasive circumstantial evidence in his view warrants inquiry from the scientific community. If you’ve ever wonder if there is something to “Bigfoot” then I recommend reading this book.

Bought as a gift

This is an excellent book, for a several reasons. The prose is fluent and easy to read. Evidence is authoritative and drawn from a wide range of verified and credible sources. The evidence is discussed logically, snd without the emotive "guff" commonly used in "pseudo-science" books. I am a retired professor, and though this is not my field, I found the content to be well reasoned, scholarly, and academically sound. The arguments are compelling and many of the sections provide evidence that is very convincing. I am minded of the tree - 'Ginko biloba- that was known to Europeans through fossil records, before the living plants were "discovered" in China. Sasquatch (and many other species) fall into this pattern of discovery. There is a lot of information here that is new for me, but, equally, there are gaps that I hope will be covered in a future revision. In particular more details about nature of the DNA evidence, and some discussion about "eye-shine", as primates do not have a tapetum, and therefore have no eye-shine (which is not the same as red-eye caused by flash in photographs).Any one interested in primates, and the evidence about Sasquatch, from the sceptic to evangelical - should read this book, and give the science within it the respect that it deserves. The price is extremely reasonable.

An interesting and at times frustrating book. Frustrating because if this were any other animal, mainstream scientists would look at the evidence, take it seriously and launch a research project. But as soon as the word 'sasquatch' is mentioned, the shutters come down and the view is 'it can't exist therefore it doesn't exist'. Didn't they say the same about mountain gorillas? Dr Meldrum deserves great credit for trying to get the subject into the scientific mainstream and in this book explores the history as well as the science of the bigfoot phenomenon. If I were to take only one thing from reading this, it's that all the thousands of footprints seen over the years CANNOT be explained away as mere hoaxes. In which case, what is making them? Isn't it science's duty to find out and not pooh-pooh from the sidelines? I await the day when a new discovery is announced and we realise that our world is a little bit more complicated than we thought.

An excellent read, well-written, measured, knowledgeable and full of interesting information. If you are curious about the Sasquatch phenomenon, but get fed-up with all the woo-woo nonsense that so often gets in the way of a proper treatment of the subject, then this is the book for you. I would class it as one of the best popular science books I have ever read, and I’ve read a lot of them across a wide range of subjects.

As someone with a casual interest in the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon, this book has done more than any other to put forward convincing evidence for the existence of the creature as a real flesh and blood animal, not a mythological monster or pop culture icon. Dr Meldrum is a real asset to those of us with open minds. Hopefully one day this mystery will be solved and the North American Ape will be scientifically described, and on that day this book will be remembered as a milestone on the journey that took us there.

For those used to the slapdash approach of commercial TV to Bigfoot, be prepared for a bit of a shock. This book goes into great scientific depth on many points. The subtitle is Sasquatch meets Science, and the latter aspect is presented in a level headed manner, almost to the point of it reading like a science textbook.If you want to be titillated by the mystery of Bigfoot, don't buy this book. If you want to consider the evidence analysed using rigorous scientific methods, go for it. It's a slog in some instances, (some might say 'boring') but that's exactly why this book can be placed above most others on the subject.It's hard to dispute the conclusions reached.