Bare Stick

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Cheeta and Patty

I think it was about mid-2012 when I read about the chimpanzee named Cheeta from the Tarzan movies had died in late 2011 at the ripe old age of 80. My memories flooded back of watching Cheeta in the various Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies on TV as a kid. I thought it wonderful that Cheeta had survived for all those years, being well taken care of after retiring from his career as a Hollywood movie star.

It was also in 2012 that I began to regularly visit the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, California and go on hikes in the nearby area. I distinctly remember discussing the recent death of Cheeta with the guys at the museum, then musing if Patty, the creature in the Patterson-Gimlin Film, could maybe still be alive and roaming the mountains of Northern California.

Fast forward to July 2016...

I happened to watch a short YouTube video of Cheeta having his 75th birthday party at Casa de Cheeta and wondered if there maybe were other videos of Cheeta events online. After an Internet search, I discovered something odd. In Cheeta's 75th birthday video, he was living at the C.H.E.E.T.A. Primate Sanctuary (Casa de Cheeta) in Palm Springs, California. But the newspaper article listing his death on Dec 24, 2011 at age 80, Cheeta was living at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Florida. Turns out there were at least two different chimps whose caretakers claimed them to be Cheeta.

One Cheeta was originally owned by long time entertainment industry animal trainer Tony Gentry. Two years prior to Gentry's death, Cheeta was given to Gentry's distant cousin Don Westfall in 1991, the same year Westfall founded the C.H.E.E.T.A. Primate Sanctuary in Palm Springs. Gentry had always told people this Cheeta had been born in 1932, but according to a 2008 article by journalist R. D. Rosen, Gentry acquired the chimp from Pacific Ocean Park on the Santa Monica Pier when POP closed in 1967 and was probably born about 1960. As far as I could find online, this Cheeta is currently still alive and well, living at the Palm Springs sanctuary.

Another Cheeta lived at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, Florida and died on Dec 24, 2011. Debbie Cobb, outreach director at the sanctuary, said her grandparents acquired Cheeta during the early 1960's from the estate of Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller, but the documentation of Cheeta's history was burned in a 1995 fire. Miami New Times, Dec 28, 2011.

So the truth is, there never was a single long lived chimp who was the fictional movie character we all know as Cheeta. As is true for other famous movie characters, the actors who play them change over the years.

However, I think the two chimps I've described above, along with their animal sanctuaries, have been worthy representatives of the Hollywood Cheeta for the public and for me at least, helped to refresh some of my childhood memories.

Life expectancy...

According to the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, male chimps live to about 32 on average, females live to about 39. One captive chimp in an Association of Zoos & Aquariums study lived to 72. One female wild chimp is thought to have been about 63 at death.

Gorilla 40-50
At the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, a female gorilla named Colo turned 59 on Dec 22, 2015.

Orangutan 45
At the Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo, a female orangutan named Gypsy is 61 (born 1955).

Human varies depending on where you live, USA is 79 (male 77, female 82, World Health 2016).

Could Patty still be alive...

The Patterson-Gimlin Film was shot in October 1967, almost 49 years ago. The creature they filmed looked to be an adult female bigfoot many now call Patty. If her age was say 15-20 (just a guess), that would make her age today 64-69.

Currently, bigfoot has not been proven to science to even exist, let alone knowing what their life expectancy might be.

Therefore, while it's interesting to speculate if Patty could still be alive today roaming the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the truth is, like Cheeta of early Tarzan movie fame, Patty is probably gone as well.

"So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are part of us."

Vietnam Veterans of America Ritual Manual

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Stolen Honor in Bigfoot Research

Yesterday, I had a shock. I stumbled onto a year old news article online saying a US Navy Veteran I had known for 20 years was a fake. Everything I had thought about him over the years changed. All the times I had talked with him and listened to his stories of valor in combat were fake. What a let down.

I couldn't help thinking about all my other friends and Veterans, many now gone from this world, who, like myself, had also been betrayed over the years by this person. I can see their faces in my mind's eye. What would they say?

Be sure to watch this ABC video to help understand why Stolen Valor is such an important issue:
I-Team: Phony lieutenant commander honored at Alameda's USS Hornet Museum

And here's a Mercury News article from a few days later:
"Frogman" admits his claim of World War II heroism was bogus

This got me thinking. A person who hoaxes or fakes bigfoot stuff is similar to someone who fakes their military background. They are both thieves.

A bigfoot hoaxer is stealing the credibility and integrity of all the past and present bigfoot researchers who have spent years seriously looking into the subject. You are stealing their honor. You are a thief.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Thunderbird

Here are four newspaper articles of large birds...

A strange winged monster discovered and killed on the Huachuca Desert:
Tombstone Epitaph, April 26, 1890

An American Eagle tried to fly off with a pig:
San Francisco Call, April 2, 1890

Eagle makes off with four year old child:
San Francisco Call, August 8, 1913

A prize yarn about a mixed sea monster:
The Star, January 6, 1904

Thunderbird Petroglyph - Library of Congress

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Looking for King Kong in Thailand

A little over a year ago, I moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand to try retirement living. Shortly after arriving here, I met a lady named Nung who is now my wife. About six months ago, I was trying to explain to Nung and her older daughter Joy about my interest in Bigfoot. When I showed them a video of the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film and some of the online artist drawings of Bigfoot and Yeti, Joy said "Oh, you look King Kong". But it still did not register, at least with Nung, until a few nights ago. There was nothing of interest on TV, so I was showing Nung some of my Evening Hike videos I did in California before moving to Thailand. Out of the blue, she told me a story her father had told her. Nung was 10 years old at the time, so this happened about 38 years ago.

Nung's family was living about an hour (by car) south of Chiang Mai. Some of Nung's relatives still live in the area today. When Nung was young, her family, 9 kids in all, did not have much money. Sometimes, Nung's father would go to a nearby mountain to gather wood (maybe bamboo) to make things to sell. Nung did not remember exactly where this was, just that it was nearby. My guess is that it was a little south of Thailand's highest mountain Doi Inthanon. As Nung's father neared his destination in the forest, he noticed another person sitting up ahead and called out a greeting, asking if the stranger was there working as well. Although a little puzzled why the stranger did not reply, Nung's father continued walking. As her father got nearer, the other person stood up. It was then he realized the stranger was not a person at all, but something covered in hair, taller than himself with a human looking face. Fear took over and Nung's father ran away as fast as he could. When her father returned home, he said his arms and legs were covered in period. Nung meant her father's arms and legs were scratched badly from him running through the bushes.

The next day, Nung's father with a gun in hand, one of her brothers who was 13 at the time, along with 2 dogs, returned to the mountain to retrieve her father's stuff. They found large barefoot prints in the mud near a stream close to where the unknown creature had been the day before. As Nung told me the part about the footprints, she held her hands out much bigger than her own foot.

After telling this story, Nung's father warned her to never go to that mountain location, to just stay away. Unfortunately, Nung's father and brother have both passed away, so there can be no direct follow-up to this story.

Nung's story is only the second time I have heard about a possible Bigfoot type creature being seen inside Thailand. Last year, I found this other story on a travel blog about the Mae Charim area in Nan Province: The yetis of Northern Thailand.

I have found a new life and family here in Thailand. And just maybe, I will find King Kong here as well.

Update October 3, 2015:

One of Nung's other brothers was with their father on a different trek to their nearby mountain where they again encountered something unusual. Here's my interview:

Looking for King Kong - Oct 3, 2015

Update May 7, 2016:

We had a new house warming party in Chiang Mai and my wife's brother attended, so I took the opportunity to show him some cryptid ape drawings off the Internet to see if any were the creature he saw some 40-50 years ago near Doi Inthanon, Thailand. He picked a drawing found on the Bigfoot Lunch Club of Orang Pendek with it's left arm raised above it's head:

http://www.bigfootlunchclub.com/2013/07/new-ish-art-from-history-channel.html

I showed him other depictions of Orang Pendek and cryptid apes from around the Internet, but he said no to them. We also tried to identify the smaller creatures he saw with the larger one that day, but could not find a match. Although, I did verify again that the large creature walked on two legs and had no tail. The smaller creatures walked on four legs and had a tail.

Facebook Group:

Ape-Men in Thailand

Friday, June 27, 2014

Bigfoot Drawing by Brook

My friend Oscar's granddaughter gave me this drawing of bigfoot she made:

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Bigfoot Discovery Museum on TV

Following below are my videos for a few of the stories from this week's Finding Bigfoot TV program called "Surf's Up, Sasquatch". I signed an NDA prior to filming last July, so couldn't talk about what they did till the episode aired. I think spotlighting the Bigfoot Discovery Museum, their large tooth and some of the local stories is great.

In 1999, there was a sighting one mile from downtown Santa Cruz.

In 2012, there were two sightings in a Felton area where I've been hiking each week for the past year and a half. The first was on April 25 about 8:30 pm by a mother and daughter out driving. They saw an adult and a juvenile standing beside the road next to a tree. The second was on July 16 about 4:10 pm by my friend Ray. He saw an adult sitting in the bushes by a pond. These two sightings happened about half a mile from each other, so that's why I've focused so much time on that Felton area.

The day of Ray's sighting it was just luck that he tagged along and luckier still that he happened to go in the bushes beside the pond. It never occurred to me that there would be a creature that close to where people were. Since then, I only look in the bushes off trail, lol.

I already have a Bare Stick blog page devoted to these two 2012 sightings, so please go there to learn more and watch my investigation videos: Ray's Sighting.

Two other areas where the Finding Bigfoot team visited were Big Basin Redwoods State Park and The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. Both these areas have had multiple sightings either inside or nearby reported over the years, but here's two I was involved in investigating.

Big Basin Field Trip

Nisene Marks Day Trip

A few weeks after the Finding Bigfoot team had left, I found these two items near the pond in Felton.

I recorded these Howls and Knocks during two Night Ops near Boulder Creek.

This is what the Boulder Creek location looks like in daylight.
(The full story is in my comment pinned below this video)

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Dark Poop Found Near Felton, California

I've been going to an area near Felton, California to hike and look for signs of bigfoot. This area has had two sightings in 2012 (click here for blog article).

After the second sighting which was in the bushes beside the pond, Mike Rugg (Bigfoot Discovery Museum) found dark poop nearby. Since then, other similar looking poop has been found in the area. Following below, are screen stills from various videos shot at the time each poop was found. Click on the Photo to see a bigger view, click on the Title to watch the video.

UPDATE: I learned in October 2013 that there is a 1200 pound wild cow in this area that no one has been able to catch for 3 years. It only comes out at night or early morning and bolts at the sight of humans. The large poop below is probably from this cow. The smaller poop is either from deer or other small animals.

Evening Hike - Bigfoot Sighting Investigation (1:45:30)

Evening Hike - Bigfoot Sighting Investigation (1:49:11)

In September 2012, I started finding similar poop in another secluded spot half mile from the pond. Some may have been there for awhile, but at least one was fresher because I stepped in it by accident one evening when I was there later than normal and couldn't really see where I was going. I walked around for a week not knowing it was embedded in my right heel.

Evening Hike - September 22, 2012 (9:04)

Evening Hike - November 12, 2012 (19:26)

Evening Hike - November 26, 2012 (9:33)

Evening Hike - November 26, 2012 (19:03)

Evening Hike - November 26, 2012 (21:52)

Photo below found a couple hundred yards from the pond.

Evening Hike - January 11, 2013 (39:30)

Photo below might be horse, riders certainly walk through here.

Evening Hike - January 18, 2013 (34:21)

Photo below found about quarter mile from the pond in another direction.

Evening Hike - February 15, 2013 (1:13)

Photos below found about 100 yards from the pond.

Also possible they could be horse?

Evening Hike - February 15, 2013 (26:54)

Photo below found on the approach to the secluded area half mile from the pond. This might be compacted deer, although there's usually other loose pellets around also?

Evening Hike - March 4, 2013 (4:20)