Craig Woolheater, the TBRC, and Rationalization

Bigfoot Evidence: July 2011 Bigfoot shooting incident at Honobia, OK

"Voucher" specimen. A term used by biologists and other scientist to euphimistically disguise the act of intentionally killing an animal to satisfy the ego.

In this case, the term is used by Alton Higgens of the TBRC, along with the disingenuous statement: "It is not immoral, even if there are those who disagree for various emotional reasons."  Higgens cites the use of collecting "voucher" specimens -- in other words, killing creatures to drag back to the lab -- to justify a Sasquatch kill.Higgens wrote:

Speaking now outside of my Chairman role, as a field biologist I have always indicated that I supported collecting a specimen for documentation and study, although I have not personally pursued that objective. I don’t think sasquatches are people. Biologists are trained to think in terms of, and to care about, populations. Collection of a voucher specimen is a way of protecting the population, from my perspective. It is not immoral, even if there are those who disagree for various emotional reasons. Since this would be a new species to science, there is little question but that a specimen is justifiable. Here’s a link to guidelines and policies that have been worked out in the scientific community regarding the collection of voucher specimens. (Source.)

It is immoral.

The use of the word "emotional" is used to trivialize NO KILL supporters and activists and it's extremely condescending. Dismissing those who are avidly No Kill as mere "emotional" beings with no understanding of the clinical is dishonest, as is using euphemistic terms like "vouchers," citing scientific protocols to bolster justification, outline the TBRC policies on carrying guns, and being passive-aggressive about one's own part in killing, er, collecting, a Sasquatch, I mean voucher. (I also noticed the lower case use of "sasquatches" in the above quote, which is either a typo, or an intentional use to  further distance oneself from seeing Sasquatch as a living being and both marginalize and underscore the idea that Sasquatch aren't "people."

Craig Wooheater, a co-founder of TBRC doesn't agree with the Kill/Capture platform either. This is what Craig recently posted on his Facebook page; it's been re-posted many times since throughout the Internet. Craig gave me permission to post his statement:

As the co-founder, former board member, former director and chairman of the TBRC, I feel it necessary to state my opinion regarding the shooting incident involving the organization.

The organization was formed as a strictly no-kill organization.

Myself, former member Gino Napoli and Daryl Colyer participated in a pro-kill versus no-kill debate held at Chester Moore's Southern Crypto Conference in 2005. We represented the no-kill position, which was hugely unpopular with the vast majority of the attendees.

I stepped down from the organization in July of 2010 and was given the title of Chairman Emeritus and Co-Founder.

In December of 2010, I began hearing rumors that there was a philosophical change brewing in at least several current TBRC board members.

I communicated with Alton Higgins, current chairman, regarding the rumors and he stated the TBRC's position was neutrality regarding pro-kill versus no-kill.

I felt that was not the case and I relinquished the honorary titles and asked that my name be removed in all instances from the website.

This was not an easy decision to make, taking into account the 11 years of dedication I had given to the organization.

After word came out regarding the shooting incident, my suspicions were verified and I knew I had made the correct decision.

- Craig Woolheater

I cannot tell you how much I respect Craig for doing this.

This is an issue I feel so damn strongly about; it's not a mere disagreement on theory or speculations about what Sasquatch is, or isn't, or the "flesh and blood vs. paranormal" issue. (Although that does bring up interesting aspects that one should consider in all this.)

 Some of the comments on the sites where the above articles have been posted (a few which are "anonymous" yet feel compelled to share their opinions, including name calling, while hiding behind the ubiquitous no name name) say that Sasquatch "aren't people." Higgens certainly has said so. Maybe they are, maybe they're not. I have not been honored to see a Sasquatch so I don't know. For many who have, they say it is indeed closer to human than not. For myself, it doesn't matter (well, it does, but...) if it's "people" or closer to a worm. Its intelligence level is not the criteria for making the decision to go out and kill one. Or, capture one for that matter.

Naturally, if Sasaquatch is "closer to people" than not, then yes, it'd be horrific to kill one. But it's also pretty damn horrible to kill one just because you can. (Although, have you noticed, no one has, thankfully.)

It's a living being minding its own business and we do not have the right to intrude upon its habitat and attempt to kill or capture, simply to satisfy our egos. It gets to that, and only that. Fuck science. We don't need to prove a damn thing. Witnesses who've seen Sasquatch know. The rest of us who haven't, well, too bad for us. Maybe we'll be blessed as well some day.

Area Man Kicked Off Mineola Nature Preserve Trying to Bait Bigfoot in His Toyota - Dallas News - Unfair Park

A Texas man went looking for Bigfoot, attempting to lure the creature out with pieces of orange and nuts. Turns out someone called the police, for the guy was on private property, unbeknownst to him.

Some funny little phrasings in this article; the man was not armed, he just had a camera, but some see a camera has a potential threat:

Green [caretaker of private property] says the man had a camera in his car; KMOO reports he was otherwise unarmed.

Caretaker Green doesn't put much stock in Bigfoot's abilities. Referring to  the would be Bigfoot explorer, Green said:

"He was a big boy. He's over six-foot, 230-ish," Green says. "He didn't need nothing to be hunting Bigfoot. He could've gone down there with just a switch."

Area Man Kicked Off Mineola Nature Preserve Trying to Bait Bigfoot in His Toyota - Dallas News - Unfair Park

Two Chupacabras

Tonight's Monster Quest was about Chupacabra. One thing I've noticed about MQ is that they avoid the darker side of things, or maybe conspiratorial side of things is a better way of putting it. What I mean is, when I first heard of Chupacabra in Puerto Rico ten years ago or so, I was on it! I was fascinated by the stories; and I kept returning to one possible explanation for Chupie sightings: some Dr. Evil experiment gone horribly awry. We're getting into some odd territory here, but there are American military and government bases there that are very secretive, a history of high strangeness and UFOs. The Chupacabra activity just came up from nowhere; suddenly, there they were. (Not quite actually; there is a history of goat sucker and vampire type beings in the folklore of the region.)


I remember seeing this image just about ten years ago. It was one of the first available on-line of the Chupacabra; the story I read that accompanied this image was that a school custodian found it and photographed it. I don't remember if that was in the U.S. or not; though I think it was, an L.A. school. This screams "fake" very loudly; but it is interesting that it looks a bit like the Texas chupies.

The Chupacabra stories "jumped" from Puerto Rico after a couple of years to Florida, and Mexico, . . . I remember years ago hearing Art Bell say there was a case in Oregon! No matter where the Chupacarbra attacks occur ed -- Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, etc. -- the description of the being stayed the same. And the description made sense, given the types of attacks. A strong being, bi-pedal, that could leap or jump quite high, seemed to have speed, luminous eyes (ethier because it seemed to be nocturnal, or the red glowing eyes are an added bonus to the overall Fortean high strangeness of the creature), these seemed to match the kind of creature that could be capable of desanguinating the poor victims. Strong, fast, lithe.


This image has been around for some time as well. The reports from Puerto Rico ten years ago say the creature looked like this.

Roughly eight years later, stories of Chupacabra started to come from Texas. But what's strange is that the description of this so-called Chupacabra differs quite a bit from the "original," -- yet the animal deaths caused by this Texas creature appear to be the same as teh ones in Puerto Rico, etc.

Well, MQ found that the Texas Chupie seems to be a dog/coyote/possibly wolf hybrid. With mange. Maybe. But what's strange is that it isn't just one creature like this, but a few, and from different areas. The fangs are strange as well. It doesn't add up, but there it is.

With the Texas Chupies, it could be that the hybrids, because they're hybrids, contaminated each other with mange, or . . .I"m just speculations. More like thinking aloud here, since I'm no wildlife expert and really don't know. What we do know is they exist; and, the animals they killed were killed in a weird enough way that only raises more questions. The fact that these UADS parallel the earlier Chupacabra deaths just adds to the mystery. It isn't enough to say the Texas creatures are "just" canine hybrids of some kind, which seems to be the case, for there are added elements of high strangeness that makes this a Fortean mystery.


The Texas chupacabra. Image from:maryvisbal.blogspot.com
/2007_12_01_archive.html

It could be that these Texas canines have nothing to do iwth the deaths at all; and the 'real" Chupacabra remains hidden.

So, is the Texas "chupie" the Chupacabra? It doesn't seem like it, yet the fact the victims seem to have been killed in the same way is curious.

Step Right Up, It's Biscardi's Reality Bigfoot!

In the Paris News, writer Bill Hankins reports on Tom Biscardi's latest adventure. Paris: Hotbed of bigfoot activity. A gang of Bigfoot "hunters" led by Biscardi with hidden cameras looking for Bigfoot. The local CBS team has joined them. Biscardi hopes for a reality TV show about the search for Bigfoot. They've reported rocks being thrown and lots of activity. If Bigfoot is around, I have a feeling things could get ugly. Either for Bigfoot, or the humans. I'm rooting for Bigfoot.