File:Finding Bigfoot - S05E02 - Squatters for Sasquatch

Description
Finding Bigfoot is a documentary television series that premiered on May 30, 2011, on Animal Planet. The program follows four researchers and explorers investigating potential evidence of Bigfoot, a cryptid hominid allegedly living in the wildernesses of the United States and Canada.

Contents

1 Premise 2 Cast 2.1 Matt Moneymaker 2.2 Cliff Barackman 2.3 James "Bobo" Fay 2.4 Ranae Holland 3 Format 4 Reception 5 See also 6 References

Premise

The team consists of Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) founder and President Matt Moneymaker, researchers James "Bobo" Fay and Cliff Barackman and skeptical scientist Ranae Holland. The series never questions the existence of Bigfoot, but rather documents the team's search efforts and study of evidence in an attempt to prove the existence of the elusive creature.[2]

Over the course of the series, the team has introduced many new Bigfoot related words into the American vernacular. Their nighttime investigations, for example, are referred to as "Squatchin" (though an action verb in the present participle, the "G" never appears at the end of the word). Areas are often described as "Squatchy," and Washington has been described as "the squatchiest state." Cast Matt Moneymaker

Moneymaker is the founder and president of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (founded in 1995).[3] Moneymaker was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and moved to Ohio in the 1990s. He has been researching Bigfoot for twenty-five years.[4] Cliff Barackman

Born and raised in Long Beach, California, Barackman currently resides in Portland, Oregon. Along with being a dedicated sasquatch field researcher for the past two decades who has been known to spend over 200 days a year in the field, he is also an accomplished jazz guitarist holding a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach. [5] James "Bobo" Fay

Fay was born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California, and has been searching for the creature since the 1980s. The tallest and burliest member of the team, he is the one most often used to stand in for bigfoot in reconstructions. Fay is known for his "Gone squatchin" hat, and often wears other Bigfoot-related clothing. He and Barackman searched for Bigfoot together before the series started.[6] Ranae Holland

The skeptical member of the cast is a Field Biologist born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Though she is not a member of the BFRO, and does not believe in Bigfoot, her interest in the creature was fueled by her father's fascination with the phenomenon. She and her father spent quality time together squatchin and watching Bigfoot movies.[7] Format

The show usually begins with the four en route to a new destination where new evidence was recently unearthed in the Bigfoot community (usually a photo or a piece of video footage). The team will then do a re-creation of the footage, and evaluate it. While one of the members camps out and looks for evidence, the rest of the team holds a town hall meeting, where local witnesses recount their Bigfoot encounters. The locations of these encounters are mapped out in order to determine if a pattern exists.

They then travel to the location of one or more of these sightings with the witness, and do a reconstruction with a team member as a stand-in for Bigfoot in order for witnesses to judge scale. Using the evidence collected, the team will pick a location do at least one nighttime investigation per show, where they use call blasting, mimicking the yells of the creatures. They also do wood knocks, which mimics the Bigfoot's communication. Night-vision technology and forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras are used to document these investigations. They will then evaluate what they learned and announce that during the ending credits. Occasionally, they will show their trail cam pictures or DNA results following the credits/summary.

In the third season, The team expanded its search from North America to investigate the sasquatch phenomenon known as "yowies" in Australia. Later in the season, they traveled to Indonesia searching for the "orang pendek" and Vietnam to search for the "wildman."[8] In season four, the team traveled to China in search of the "yeren," and Nepal in search of the "yeti." Reception

Animal Planet has received criticism for Finding Bigfoot and Mermaids: The Body Found[9] for their "outlandishness," however, Fay is quick to defend Finding Bigfoot, and draw a line between the two programs. "You can't equate bigfoot with mermaids."[10]