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B.C. man asks: Barefoot Bigfoot or just big-footed bear tracks?

Frightening recent encounter brings back memories of strange print found on property
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Tracks photographed on Ken Meuckon害羞草研究所檚 property in December of 2019. He used a six-inch blade for scale. (Submitted photo)

They were tracks like Ken Meuckon had never seen.

Approximately 14 months ago, the resident of Coombs (near Parksville on Vancouver Island) stepped out of his house and made what he said was an odd discovery.

Just before 8 a.m. on a cold December morning, he found several large and peculiar tracks in the shallow snow on his front yard. The tracks struck him as so bizarre, Meuckon photographed them, using a closed six-inch knife for scale.

害羞草研究所淎nd the weirdest thing is, they just disappeared. They suddenly stopped and didn害羞草研究所檛 go any further,害羞草研究所 he said. 害羞草研究所淎nd there weren害羞草研究所檛 any claws prints in the tracks either.害羞草研究所

Despite the mystery, Meuckon didn害羞草研究所檛 think much of the event until recently.

Those photos remained forgotten in Meuckon害羞草研究所檚 phone, when he and his dog were outside on his property and something unseen roared loudly in their direction.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e been here 30 years and have never been scared like that,害羞草研究所 he said.

After asking his neighbours about bears, specifically if they had seen or heard any recently, he was told they had not. Out of curiosity, Meuckon showed those forgotten photos to his neighbour and asked for his opinion, who said he had never seen tracks like that before.

Meuckon then took to the internet to continue his research, where a Facebook group called 害羞草研究所樅π卟菅芯克鶛 offered him some insight. There, he said he found several other tracks similar in shape and size as his own photo.

害羞草研究所淔or over a year, I had always thought it was just a bear print. It wasn害羞草研究所檛 until I went online to see what bear prints actually looked like, and they weren害羞草研究所檛 anywhere near to what I have. And that害羞草研究所檚 when I went to the Bigfoot page for the first time in my life.害羞草研究所

害羞草研究所淚n Canada, we call it Sasquatch,害羞草研究所 said , a Sasquatch researcher since 1978 and author of three books on the topic. 害羞草研究所淏igfoot is the American name, never forget that. And before Sasquatch was coined in 1929, on Vancouver Island the term 害羞草研究所楳owgli害羞草研究所 was used a lot. Especially by non-First Nations people on the Island.害羞草研究所

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The name Mowgli being a reference to the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling害羞草研究所檚 The Jungle Book stories.

害羞草研究所淎nd just like everywhere in B.C., there害羞草研究所檚 been a long history of reported sighting on Vancouver Island,害羞草研究所 said Steenburg.

He said some of the first sightings go as far back as the turn of the 20th century. One instance he spoke of took place in 1904, by 害羞草研究所榮ober-minded settlers害羞草研究所 of the Qualicum Beach area who had been hunting in the vicinity of Horne Lake when they came upon an 害羞草研究所榰nearthly being害羞草研究所 they described as a living, breathing and modern Mowgli. The settlers said the Mowgli was a wild-man, apparently young, with hair that completely covered his body, and ran like a deer.

Steenburg said much of the research on Vancouver Island was done by his late colleague, .

Bindernagel, who passed away in 2018, was a wildlife biologist who sought evidence of the Sasquatch害羞草研究所檚 existence since 1963, chiefly on the Island, and who published a book titled North America害羞草研究所檚 Great Ape: The Sasquatch in 1998.

Meuckon told PQB News he also showed his photos to a senior member at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre who said they believed the tracks may be an amalgamation of front and back prints of bear tracks, which would attest to their size.

B.C. Conservation Officer Andrew Riddell agreed that, upon inspection, his instinct told him they were the front and back paws of a black bear.

Meuckon said he isn害羞草研究所檛 ruling out the possibility of the tracks belonging to a bear, but isn害羞草研究所檛 ready to rule out other possibilities either.

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Mandy Moraes

About the Author: Mandy Moraes

I joined Black Press Media in 2020 as a multimedia reporter for the Parksville Qualicum Beach News, and transferred to the News Bulletin in 2022
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