Does the sasquatch exist or not? Discussions about the sasquatch usually bog down on this question. People who believe that it exists generally point to reports by credible observers of a huge, apelike animal. People who dispute the sasquatch's existence, and the validity of reported sightings, usually raise objection such as the similarity of the typical sasquatch description to a human in a fur suit, or even to a bear standing on its hind legs. They may go on to point out the unlikelihood of such a large animal finding enough food to sustain itself in the forests of North America, the difficulty of rare animals maintaining a viable breeding population, and the paucity of records.

As a wildlife biologist I have approached the existence of the sasquatch in the same way I would assess the existence of any large mammal, be it the grizzly bear, black bear, or mountain gorilla. My interest in the sasquatch begins at that point in the discussion when a skeptic finally asks, "If it does exist, what does it eat? How does it behave? And how does it survive the winter?" Having accepted the available eyewitness evidence, corroborated by tracks and track casts, as sufficient to document the existence of the sasquatch, I feel that these are the questions we should now be addressing.
    I am now satisfied with the available evidence for the existence of the sasquatch in North America. My view is that not only do we have sufficient evidence to treat the sasquatch as an extant North American mammal, but that we already know a great deal about its anatomy, behaviour and ecology.
   I can be reached at johnb@island.net. I try to answer e-mail correspondence to the best of my ability, given the unfunded nature of this research.