Survival of the fittest

I wasn't feeling too good today. Lack of sleep and a pinched nerve (I think) had led to a morning of pain and much discomfort. I took a couple of Ibuprofen and tried to go back to sleep. I managed to get a couple of hours but just couldn't sleep much more beyond the noon hour which was a miracle by any means to begin with. As I awoke the pain in the back of my neck and upper back really stung but I managed to get myself into the kitchen to make a coffee and try to wake up completely.

As groggy as I was, I sat down to read my emails and that in itself was a task because I had to squint. Somehow in Jason's body the eye muscles are connected to whatever is hooked up in the back and neck, for when I squinted to read a couple of messages I felt sick and I had sharp kicks of pain go through my neck.

Meanwhile, to take my mind off things, I thought about what I have done in the past. I mean, the places I have been and the conditions at the time. I was trying to make myself feel better, comparing the "poor conditions" in the field compared to being in the comfort of my own home. Yeah, even being in my own home I still felt like crap. I have a good bed, good pillows, everything was "typically" good. And there we have the jokers who made a few cracks about it all just being the result of a hangover from SuperBowl but all kidding aside, I was genuinely worried about my well being because it's not like me to be taken under the weather by something as simple as muscle pain. I tell you, it was a very quick decision made in the morning to just give up and call into work today because of the pain that I was in.

Well here we are. It's 11:03pm EST and it's almost bedtime. I feel better, but not "sparkling". I can move about and feel a little more relaxed but I still get stabs of pain in my neck and shoulders. As in the past, this will surely disappear. I can only hope.....but it's that sort of wishful thinking that also draws my attention to common illnesses and pain. As humans, we can recognize when we are in pain. We do stuff to fix the problem. A lot of it does not actually correct the problem, it just masks it. Why am I even mentioning this? Well, perhaps a little far fetched but I think we need to look at what animals do when they are sick. They hide. They hunker down. They seem to almost "hibernate" and take refuge from the world and in doing so they come out surviving their malady with minimal disruption. By way of instinct, an animal does what we would do if we did not feel well. We would disappear from the public, relax and get better, then re-emerge and continue life as we know it.

I don't need to tell you where this conversation is going but if you put 2 + 2 together, you might just realize that illness is in the eye of the beholder. If you feel that you can't just make it work you stay held back at your place, making sure that you are getting better. Something to think about next time your in the field. There are no hospitals, pharmacies, doctors, etc. It's just you and the woods. Our big hairy friend knows this all too well. It will be reserved and cautious with it's movements for fear that injury could really take it's toll. Any injury - could lead up to the demise of even the most formidable creature, including Sasquatch. We look at smallpox - an invisible enemy that literally wiped out a nation. We cured it but it took us by surprise. Where we seem so strong in some areas we remain considerably weaker in others. This is what kills us. This is what "turns over" a species. It's a sad way to put things but in the end, it's just life.

And so no doubt it might be one of the reasons why it has been to hard to gain proof & evidence of it's existence. Perhaps we killed it or have come close, simply by the viral and bacterial plagues that we are so used to. Perhaps it is like the North American Indian who lost several thousand to disease and viruses that we introduced unintentionally. We don't know, but in the end, it comes down to the same thing. Survival of the fittest.

J

Glowing Eyes - Yes, it happens.

I never bought into the idea that some Sasquatch reports noted "glowing" eyes. Not that I didn't believe the report in itself, but perhaps it was "enhanced"to draw attention. Glowing eyes is certainly a unique characteristic which is worthy of examination, don't you agree? In some respects it detracts from the actual sighting in itself. You saw a Sasquatch, or so you think, but you dwell on the "glowing eyes". Back up for a sec - you saw a Sasquatch? Aside from the glowing eyes, what else did you see? Or did you just see glowing eyes and then assume it was a Sasquatch. You need to put the horse before the cart to make reports like these move.

Now I certainly do not dispel the idea that "glowing eyes" exist. And I know that for a fact, only because I came across a unique situation that had me do a double-take when I noted a small fawn cross the road in North Oakville. Late at night. Glowing eyes. Glancing over to the shoulder and quickly noticing the eyes, but cautiously roaming back to the road to maintain control and care of the car - in that instance, I did not know what it was. I did not think Sasquatch - no, it was an animal, but it caught my attention and it caught me off guard. I quickly identified it as it leapt across the road, thankfully it did not pause like many do and become a splattered hood ornament. If that was the case I probably would not be writing this post right now.

The thing is, it was a perfect re-enactment. The fawn, the eyes, the fast action & movement. For a moment one might think of many things, see a shadow associated with the eyes, or just be travelling in a car too quickly to make sense of an observation. That was me, for a moment, but I put 2+2 together and I figured it out. As for these creatures in the forest that have glowing red eyes, I can only look back at my own experiences to relate to such stories and ask myself "Why"?

And you know, it's funny that the first answer I got was the most obvious. Your looking for something. Your waving your flashlight all over. Yeah, you might startle an animal, so what is it going to do? You got it - look at you. Voila -Glowing eyes. Surprised? Shouldn't be. You ever hit a tree with a Q-Beam after you scared the hell out of those little critters in your garbage can (for you city folk we call them raccoons LOL). Look at those little glowing eyes peering down at you. They don't really care about you. They just want YOU to disappear so that they come come back down out of the tree and continue their meal.

Reports are increasingly suggestive that much of a Sasquatches activity occurs during the nighttime. No doubt a nocturnal creature, thus the eyesight must be quite good in low light and the eyes themselves must be quite reflective. So let's take this one step further. As a creature that we deem to have an extended level of intelligence, would you think that it would continue to stare at a light source (causing the eyeshine) for any extended period of time? Not likely. Especially considering the fact that it's nightvision may be blown for a few minutes after such an exposure, thus limiting it's endurance. We've done it ourselves. If we look at something bright, we immediately squint and in most cases turn away. It preserves our vision based on the circumstances.

So, as I mentioned at the beginning, I never bought into the idea that Sasquatch's have glowing eyes. Based on what I mentioned, it's just a matter of the reflection of light. Many animals exhibit such visual behaviour. and no, I'm not classifying Sasquatch as an animal but just reiterating fact. Next time you see glowing eyes, think of the circumstances. Eyes usually only glow when a light source (visible or not) causes a reflection of such. Think of flash photography. Think of red-eye. The rest is left to your own thoughts.
Jason

Establishing a known presence

It was during one trip into the bush that I realized just how quickly things seemed to appear and dissapear, for example, cars on the gravel road would just come out of nowhere and dissapear just as quickly. Not only visually but audibly. When we spoke in the past (on SS Radio) about a heightened sense of awareness when we are in the bush, I keep thinking about and wonder if a background process kicks in and tells the brain "ignore" when it's something that we are familiar with, such as a car and the associated road noise. Who knows? Is this why it comes and goes so quickly? We just tune it out?

So this opens a question about how a "being" can identify that "something" is out of place or approaching the immediate area. I believe that animals can certainly sense a car approaching far and long before a human can, so does this mean that it gives them that extra time to take cover and hide? Yeah, you know, it probably does. Until the "threat" passes and all gets quiet again.

Now if there was something out of the ordinary that was making noise or was of a visual or olfactory nature, yet it remained somewhat subdued and contained, would your interest be perked? Would you approach the area to take a peek?

Having your presence known yet remaining non-offensive or overwhelming just might be the ticket to getting those bold little critters to come forward and take a peek. Look at the time that the fox came up from behind me during one of our expeditions. We had a couple lights on, we were talking in a normal tone of voice. There was nothing really intimidating at play and so the fox approached.

I think its this sort of activity that needs to be evaluated for it's value when it comes to research. Some prefer a stealth approach, leaving as "small" of a footprint as possible during their visit. Others prefer to just setup camp and act as they would if they were on a regular camping trip. Whatever you decide, consider your objective. The more you act differently than what you normally do might draw caution and skepticism by a creature who may be smarter than you think. Just be yourself. It may just be the ticket we need to see the big guy let it's guard down.

J

Darkwoods Media & More!!

I got a pleasant surprise this afternoon when Tim contacted me about the progress of the Darkwoods Media project. It's alive!! Yes folks, Http://www.darkwoodsmedia.com is the place to take a peek. Kudos to Tim for his hard work!

Let me draw your attention to the phrase or term "360 x 24".
It's easy to understand if you grasp the concept. 360 degrees x 24 hours.
And where this applies is video footage and audio recording. Advances in recording technology makes it really cheap to get a multi-channel DVR going and this could end up being the eyes needed to keep a lookout when human eyes just aren't around.
It's hard to grasp the concept of having to sit down and review hours of video that may show absolutely nothing so a DVR that has a motion sensing capability would be a great benefit, however, we fall into the same problem that we often see with trail cameras. The trigger time.
And so we keep this in the back of our mind when setting up a monitored perimeter. Just one more thing to consider.

A "monitored perimeter" you ask? Well, yes, but probably not to the extent of what you might think. It's simply a way of describing an area that has most, if not all of the entry and exit points monitored to the extent that it would be very hard to bypass the setup without detection. And so we are looking at a very good chance of catching something - anything - that approaches and this is what we are kicking ourselves about with regards to the "breather" audio that was recorded during one of our Still River trips. A quick recap, the three of us that were on this trip took off for just over an hour down the road to check out another trail and we setup a call-blast that went off every 30 seconds. We setup a recorder to see if we could get a response and we heard something that came into the area, apparently breathing and walking around the camp. Creepy!!!

Anyways going back to the "monitored perimeter" thing...Can you imagine having a video surveillance perimeter with audio capabilities setup to monitor all point of your camp? North, West, East & South. Or take it one step further. I call it the "Escher" setup.

M.C. Escher was an artist who created some thrilling and stimulating pieces of work that challenged logic and the human eye. They were puzzles in some respects...can you see the beginning or is the beginning the end? The art that never stops. Google Escher and take a peek. Look at "Drawing Hands" or check out some of his waterfall pieces. Wonderful. So what has this got to do with video surveillance ? Well going back to the "Escher" setup...it's the way that one thing leads to another...to another...to another...back to the beginning - oh wait? There really is no beginning.

Yes, that's right. Take a box. Say a trailer. Mount a camera on each corner of the trailer, each camera is pointed to the next. Wide angle camera's are probably best but you can make due...

Pictured below, each arrow is a camera. Can you tell the start or the finish? No - it's a circle. It covers all ground around the perimeter.
Looks kinda neat eh? If you look at some industrial facilities you will notice that the cameras are setup this way so that everything is covered in a full continuous rotation, 360 degrees. And of course, say for whatever reason a camera gets knocked out of commission, the reason for it will be recorded by the other cameras. Nothing will be out of view.

It would also be neat to take a telescoping pole and erect it on top or very close to the trailer with a wide-angled camera looking down and capturing everything. Now we really have the entire camp covered. The pole mounted camera is not a necessity but would be nice. In reality, we really only need 4 cams around the camp to keep an eye on everything. Fed into a DVR, we are good to go. How many people actually do this? What if we made a "imaginary" trailer - but say it was the entire camp. All the cameras were arranged in the Escher format. Would this work? Yeah quite possibly but it falls back to camera resolution, quality, IR projection range (for night video) and sound recording capabilities to cover the area.

So thinking about it, a small investment and a smart setup might lead to a better chance of capturing something. And even if you don't, the effort made will help to put your mind at ease that you are point in the right direction, trying to secure the audio and video of your camp. I mean, wouldn't you want to know what's "lingering around" out there?

Have a good one!!!!

Burlap blankets

You might have caught a glimpse or two of the cold spell that has hit Florida. Reports of Iguana's falling out of trees, apparently "dead" but in fact their bodies have just slowed down to the point that only their heart is beat enough to keep them alive, but nothing more. It's a normal response and when things warm up they spring back to life. And then we have the zoo's down there. They have been taking some of the burlap sacks that are used to carry in feed and cutting them open, then just placing them in the dens of apes, orangutans and some monkeys. They picked up on it pretty quickly and began to use them as blankets. Pretty smart, eh?

Would sasquatch take advantage of such opportunity should it exist? Well if it's living in the bush in northern Ontario then I would say no. The species should be adapted to the cold or have some sort of shelter to provide warmth. Or maybe....just maybe it migrates south. Who knows?

As humans, we would try to stay as warm as possible in a situation where we are exposed to extreme temps, but think about how we might go about this? Just turn up the heat? Put on a sweater? Eat something to give you energy? Well it could be all three but I looking at the last option -Eating. There is no doubt that food can make you warm and give you the energy needed to continue whatever you are doing, but you have to rest at some point, so when you do, your body slows down, you begin to feel cold, and it takes a while to get warmed back up again.

These creatures must be on the move. They must be eating well. They must have a shelter or some sort of protection to make them comfy during trying times. So where do we go from here? It's that time of season when the mercury hits single digits and we ask ourselves how something could live out there in these conditions.

Many questions, many thoughts.
Good Night.

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone and here I am at the helm of many responsibilities and projects and I sometimes just have to step aside to take a breath of fresh air in order to recap some of the items that have occurred in the past.

I have to take off to BC for a week to get a grip on a few things that have developed out there. I don't believe it will be overwhelming or raise any issues but it reminded me of just how one can be displaced very quickly. Air Canada fires a bird out to BC almost every hour. It's really the only way to get traffic across Canada as quickly as possible when time is of the essence. Westjet follows that tradition and if I had a choice I would be booking them for this trip but it's AC at this point. Anyways, I'm expected to be greeted by rainy weather and a 30 minute cab ride to the hotel. Something I can deal with, but when I wake up in the morning, I am in a new land. Nothing really out of the ordinary, but still, I was in Ontario the day before and now I am in BC. Do I register any immediate differences? Usually, aside for the time change, no - albeit the effects of that change see me wanting to fall asleep at 7pm but we will wait and see.

It draws me to think about changes in society, structure and our day to day activities. We have become very accustomed to our daily activities and so when change is involved, we react accordingly. Sometimes with haste, sometimes with aggression, sometimes with depression. As unique individuals, we all react accordingly, living in this great land that we call Canada, without scrutiny and comment - except as opinion, which is based on the freedom of speech principals that we all share. We don't take it to heart if someone says BOO to our goal(s). Our expressions, our loves and desires. No - In Canada, we have a vast diversity that speaks volumes about our openness and acceptance as a unified country, but delving deeper into the fiery pits of ones obsession can sometimes strain even the most open and forward thinking individuals. This is why, when we bring up Sasquatch, people begin to go silent. Why?

Simple. Something you are not used to. Not familiar with. At some point you know you are going to have to accept it for whatever it turns out to be, but it's not going to go away, not until we

have proof. It is because of our openness that we can be drawn in many different directions. I hate that people can be gullable in many respects but I also see it as a sign of openness and appreciation for what one might want to offer. And so, as we begin this new year, I wish to welcome everyone to 2010. It's been a hell of a trip but we are getting closer to the answers we have been waiting for.

To all, it is with admiration that you review this blog to the point where you have gotten this far, as so to you, thank you for reading. You are part of the true meaning of "Freedom of Speech" and your participation carries through the traditions, laws and respect that we each deserve.

Happy New Year.

Jason

Expedition Events...and then some!

Tim, myself and another fellow (OSR Member as well) took off to for a weekend trip to good ol’ Parry Sound. Ok, well not actually right in Parry Sound but around that area. The weather was not nice to us but we survived and I think we actually got somewhat crafty with our shelter by using our vehicles as a windbreak and water-barrier.

Water-barrier you ask? Well, sort of. The rain got quite heavy at times and was on occasion driven at an angle which would have made it all the more uncomfortable given the small square footage of our tarp canopy shelter.

We didn’t sleep in tents or trailers. We just used our vehicles which seemed to add a load of convenience given the weather conditions.

I personally found it unusual that there was a noticeable silence and lack of animals in the areas that we visited. I know that the weather had something to do with with it but I still felt that there was something unusual about the surroundings. Now, with that being said, we did see a deer (doe) and a fox, but nothing really more than that. If it wasn’t for Tim on his “lookout” perch which consisted of standing, or should I say leaning against the roll bar of a Kawasaki Mule, we might have driven right by the deer without noticing it.

The fox on the other hand was weird. Now I know that foxes can be crafty and sneaky, that’s part of their nature. The thing is, the first night we were up there Tim & I were talking back and forth and he looked beyond me at something which turned out to be a fox, however, it was approaching me from behind in sort of a stalking mode. It’s head was slung down and it’s tail was straight and parallel to the ground. I immediately got up and scared it off but that only lasted a few seconds. It turned around and came back, same sort of body language…like it was hunting prey. Once again we scared it off and for one final time it came back around and we really tried to scare it away, this time it worked…we had hoped. Thinking about it afterwards, it may have been that someone was feeding this fox so it was somewhat used to humans…or….what I feared to think about yet had to consider, it was rabid and delusional. Who knows?

And here is another thing - it's easy to get lost and even easier to become hidden. The leaves were still on the trees but they were at the metamorphical stage of change; they did a hell of a job hiding things. Take a quick glance here....See how easy Tim blends into the background?

Some good lessons were learned during the course of this trip. One thing that I would like to share is the actual field use of LED lights as opposed to regular incandescent bulbs. These LED lights are really great, especially for battery life and longevity of the actual bulb. At first I recognized these lights as being expensive, at least when they began to appear on the market, but now you can even find these things in the dollar store and they work well. Now, I wouldnt recommend dollar store flashlights when you are looking for reliability and so the term “you get what you pay for” casts some truth about the quality of your equipment. Give me a light that’s waterproof or at least has good water resistance, durable case, long life on/off switch, easy to use, great battery life and you’ve got a light that should be a winner. Personally I had a handheld LED light from “The Source” (AKA Old Radio Shack) located at http://www.thesource.ca plus a couple of other items.

My handheld light was on sale for $5 and it was worth it!!! Bright light for the entire weekend and the batteries are still strong. I used this guy the most.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/product.aspx?language=en-CA&catalog=Online&category=Flashlights&product=6118825

My trusty backup did not require batteries or have any wearable components…which by luck was also on sale for a mere $10 (regular $30). A solar LED flashlight. How simple is that? Works great!

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/product.aspx?language=en-CA&catalog=Online&category=Flashlights&product=6119241

Now here is the thing. When you are in the field working a night scope or using a knife or just trying to tie a rope, the hardest thing to do is to get your flashlight mounted in such a way that it gives you the light you need when you need it and where you need it. I wanted to get a headband light that would allow me the dexterity that I needed to do other things without being held back by planting a light on the ground or in a tree or having someone hold it, plus when I came across this little gem, I couldn’t pass up the price. $19 for a sports headlight (9 in 1) that worked beyond my expectations. http://www.walmart.ca/Canada-FeaturedPage.jsp?selection=listingDetails&assetId=45807&imageId=63173&departmentId=211&categoryId=1244&tabId=7

Walmart is the place for this gem. It not only has a bright white LED light on it but it also has a rear red light (flashing or steady, for tracking,etc) and a blue, green and red front beam which are all great, in particular the blue light. You can draw eyeshine from many yards away with the blue on. Best of all, the battery life is fantastic!

In closing; while there was nothing that I would consider as being conclusive evidence that a “sasquatch – like” entity exists in this area, we did notice a few things that stood out.

First, on Saturday we were driving back in the Mule to our vehicles when we approached a section of trail that was within some pretty dense bush. The trail was cleared itself and in good condition, as you will note in the video, but moving to either side gets you into some thick forest. As we approached this one area, I heard a loud series of brush snaps and I immediately signaled to stop the mule. It was dead quiet afterwards and we scanned the area pretty intensely. Whatever was moving around had stopped and therefore could have possibly been observing us. I do not believe that this would be typical behavior of a bear or deer. They would run for cover until they felt they were completely out of harm’s way (unless the bear was with its cubs).

Second, on our last day (Sunday) we were on our way to retrieve our trail cameras and as we approached the area, the same thing happened again….loud snaps then silence. We immediately dismounted the vehicle and approached the bush. More snaps were heard, then complete silence. Once again, whatever it was stopped and was observing us, yet we could not see a thing.

In closing, we enjoyed ourselves and had a great time.Looking forward to our next expedition (or “mini-expedition”) taking place in a few weeks. North-bound again!!

Until next time……