It’s the first full week of 2025! We’re kicking off a theme week on Stories You Might Have Missed in 2024. In January 2024, a study was published that found that Bigfoot sightings are probably just bears. The study, “Bigfoot: If it’s there, could it be a bear?”, was published in the Journal of Zoology. A data scientist named Floe Foxon compared the most recent information for bear populations in 37 U.S. states and 7 Canadian provinces with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization’s dataset of alleged sightings. She found that for every 1000 bears in an area, there was a 4% increase in Bigfoot sightings.
Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is said to live in North American forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Descriptions estimate a height of 6-9 feet, although heights of 10-15 feet have also been reported. Common descriptions include broad shoulders, no visible neck, dark hair, and long arms. Many skeptics attribute this to a misidentification of a bear standing upright.
The act of looking for Bigfoot is called “Squatching” and Bigfoot researchers and believers are often called “Bigfooters” or “Squatchers”. The top states for Bigfoot sightings are Washington, California, and Florida. A 2020 poll found that about 1 in 10 Americans believe Bigfoot is real. Learn more in the audio below!