Research ·
Closer to Nature
A season in the Pennsylvania hills with Dr. Jim Goodall and the Field Observation team.
At Hemoglobin's Mythical Creatures Research Division,
we study Bigfoot in his natural habitat.
So far, we've learned to be patient,
and to bring apples.
Of course, the woods are full of variables,
so we built a habitat of our own.
Once he's here, our first experiment
will measure how long he keeps looking for an exit.
Hemoglobin International.
Nature. Under new management.
Jim Goodall starts every morning the same way: coffee in a steel thermos, a paper map in a plastic sleeve, and a two-mile walk to the first camera. He has done this most mornings for eleven years.
“I grew up near here,” he says, stepping over a creek without looking down. “My grandfather used to tell stories about these hills. I'm the only one in the family who went looking.”
The Field Observation team supports Jim with equipment, data review and logistics. In return, he provides something no camera can: judgment. He knows which disturbed leaves are deer, which are wind, and which are worth a second visit.
A simple study
This season, Jim ran a bait study at three stations using ordinary apples from a local orchard. He placed one apple per station at dusk and checked them at dawn. On several mornings, the apples were gone and the tracks around the stump did not match anything in his field guides.
“That's the exciting part,” Jim says. “Not knowing yet.”
The results have been forwarded to the Office of Research for review.
Study approved. Proceed to controlled observation.