杏吧原创

ON 20 October, 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin surprised a female Bigfoot in the Bluff Creek valley, northern California. Thrown to the ground when his frightened horse bucked, Patterson grabbed his rented movie camera, and ran after the fleeing Bigfoot, shooting 952 frames of 16-mm film at an uncertain speed. Patterson鈥檚 film certainly exists. But does Bigfoot?

The belief that there is an unknown species of hominoid primate, living in the wilderness areas of the northwestern US, is an enduring one. Drawing upon years of apocryphal reports, and disputable physical evidence, the consensus among believers is that Bigfoot is a nomadic, nocturnal, foul-smelling, omnivorous ape-like creature, at least six feet tall, powerful enough to hurl boulders, yet shy and nonaggressive. The nonbelievers protest that the evidence is nowhere near conclusive.

Funded by a Guggenheim Fellowship, naturalist Robert Pyle set out to explore the myths, evidence and hoaxes that comprise Bigfoot culture. In Where Bigfoot Walks, he presents a narrative that combines an account of his Bigfoot fieldwork, a compelling plea for ecological sanity, and a meditation on the nature of human belief.

Pyle has trekked into Bigfoot country (the 鈥渄ark divide鈥� of northern Washington state), interviewed Native Americans about their tribal traditions, attended conferences, and met with many of the major characters, asking the obvious questions on our behalf: if the sightings are as abundant as claimed, why hasn鈥檛 a Bigfoot yet been captured? Where are their bones? How do they get enough to eat? Where do they go in winter?

The believers respond with confident theories, suggesting that it鈥檚 up to nonbelievers to prove the negative. But, as Pyle says, the discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker in Cuba shows it is hard to prove extinction or absolute absence.

For some people, however, such as Grover Krantz of Washington State University鈥檚 Department of Anthropology, belief is not the issue. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 鈥榖elieve鈥� in Bigfoot鈥�, he says, 鈥淚 have certain knowledge that causes me to 鈥榗onclude鈥�.鈥� Even so, the authenticity of some tracks which most impress Krantz has been convincingly challenged by analyses in Skeptical Inquirer. And so it goes on.

Where Bigfoot Walks could just as well be about UFO abductions, crop circles or anything else from the paranormal catalogue. Given that so many people desperately want to believe in 鈥渕ysteries鈥�, the question is whether such things have any external reality, or whether they are cultural artefacts. On this issue, Pyle remains openminded, and truly sceptical.

The Bigfoot industry, however, rumbles on: entire towns depend on the Bigfoot-spotters for their livelihoods, and now the inevitable Internet mailing list and World Wide Web pages. In Pyle鈥檚 view, mysteries like Bigfoot give shape to many lives.

Where Bigfoot Walks is a pleasure, although at times Pyle鈥檚 writing is over-colourful. But whether he is helping a slug across the road, or discussing the colour of bear excrement, Pyle rejoices in the beauty of the world, and communicates his enthusiasm and expert knowledge with a rare modesty. His book should appeal to anyone with an interest in why people want to believe in the supernatural when they already live in a world bursting with natural wonders.