We've got the yoopers beat on Bigfoot

County tops in state for sightings, mostly at night Friday

Although a group led by the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO) started combing the woods around Marquette on Thursday for signs of Sasquatch, they may be looking at the wrong end of Michigan for the fabled hairy hominoid.

It is Washtenaw County, after all, that has had more reported Bigfoot sightings than any other county in Michigan, according to the BFR0's own database at www.bfro.net.

Washtenaw's tally stands at five to Marquette County's four, but you'd probably have to give the yoopers the edge based on quality. They've had two close-range daylight sightings, one for several minutes with several witnesses, while the Washtenaw County encounters have primarily been at night.

"Although we have a database of thousands of Bigfoot sighting reports, we only publish reports that we have investigated, "said BFRO curator Kevin Withers by e-mail.

If the BFRO has an investigator in the area they'll interview the witness in person. Otherwise an investigator does extensive phone interviews with the witness. If the report's deemed credible, it goes in the database.

At least two Washtenaw residents (names are kept confidential) have reported seeing dark, hairy creatures late at night, and others say they've seen large bare footprints in February and heard Bigfoot screams.

In August 2001, a local man and his mother said they saw a large, dark brown, hairy creature kneeling next to Geddes Road near Ypsilanti just after 1 a.m. By the time they turned the car around it was gone.

Three years later, a 12-year old Salem Township boy said he saw a hunched-over black figure, 3 to 4 feet tall, running down the dirt road by his house, its long arms swinging back and forth. The boy, who figured the creature was either a baby Bigfoot or a gremlin, ran and hid upstairs.