NARRATOR: At a
remote fishing camp, something has
unleashed it's wrath. The refrigerator is
ripped from the wall. NARRATOR: When MonsterQuest
first investigated, a legendary creature may have
turned up its aggression. This rock inside of
the building was bang. NARRATOR: And since then, the
cabin has been attacked again. And all of a sudden, something
was thrown at the cabin. NARRATOR: Now MonsterQuest
returns with a new search, a new plan, and
a new opportunity to analyze some of the most
startling evidence collected. If there is any
DNA left there, we should be able to read it. NARRATOR: And a
shocking discovery suggests they may be closing in. It was eight feet
tall, blacker than black. NARRATOR: Witnesses around the
world report seeing monsters. Are they real or imagined? Science searches for
answers on "MonsterQuest." [growling] Ontario, Canada, one
of North America's great untouched
wilderness regions. It is an outdoorsman's paradise. But there was
something else here, something that does
not want visitors and will turn aggressive
to keep them away. Cabin had been broke into. Kind of felt like
we were being watched. There's nothing in the
woods that can throw a rock. He made such a
mess that at first I thought it had to be kids. I didn't believe even
an animal would do it, but there's no way
for them to get here. I told them, I
said it wasn't a man. I said it looked like this. It actually sounded
like two individuals, one over here and one over here. I don't think it was
trying to play with us. I think we were food. NARRATOR: The creature
described by some to be hair covered, 6 to 10
feet tall, equal to the size of a Kodiak bear but walking
upright, it has 17-inch feet, long arms, and is believed
to weigh in at nearly 1,000 pounds, and is
capable of shaking a fishing cabin to its foundation. It fits the historical
description of a Sasquatch. [growling] The epicenter of these
mysterious creature reports may be Snelgrove Lake,
Ontario, just 250 miles north of Manitoba's
capital of Winnipeg. In August of 2006, researchers
investigating reports of a threatening
creature at the cabin were themselves victims
to rocks being thrown during the dark of night. JEFF MELDRUM: Did you hear that? That rock was
pretty good size. I'm still shaking. - It's-- it sounded to me like--
- I think it might still be on. It came in that side. It was-- I think came it
over to this side. I'm walking up
to the building. JEFF MELDRUM: One of
us was urinating off the porch when the first stone
hit the side of the cabin. And this rock and the side
of the building was bang, and it's scary. It's amazing. It's always stuff you hear about
that doesn't happen to you. I've been in the woods a lot. I camped a lot, and I
was out in the woods all by myself last night. NARRATOR: Camera crews
scanned the immediate area with night vision
and thermal cameras. JEFF MELDRUM: This is weird. This is quite exciting
I have to admit. I've not experienced anything
quite this dramatic before. NARRATOR: One researcher threw
a rock back into the woods. And that was followed shortly
after by a rather larger rock bouncing down the
roof of the cabin. This is quite distinct. Obviously, there's nothing
in the woods that's recognized anyway that can
lob rocks in that fashion. JEFF MELDRUM:
We're all together. I'm with everybody,
so I know that it's nobody goofing around. NARRATOR: A cameraman
scouted around the area while others on the team
observed from the cabin. We've turned down
the lights inside and so we can get a better view
through the windows and to see if anything goes through
our line of sight. JEFF MELDRUM: I'm afraid
for the first time and it was for sure a
rock and it was for sure on the roof of the building. NARRATOR: A search of the
area the following day confirmed their suspicions. A rock the size of a tennis
ball was found on the roof. Who or what had thrown it? Perhaps the creature that
left this, a 17-inch bloody footprint. In 2002, at the
same isolated cabin, something unknown completely
ransacked the interior. Nearly everything was ripped
from the walls including the bathroom sink. CHUCK MOSSBACK: Everything
was on the floor. NARRATOR: Cabin
owner Chuck Mossback is quite certain it
wasn't due to vandals. There's no way in
other than flying in. NARRATOR: The likely
culprit, a bear, was ruled out for
several reasons. LYNN ROGERS: This is
sometime between October 1st and the middle of the winter. Bears up that far north towards
the north edge of the range should be in hibernation
during that time. NARRATOR: Wildlife
biologist Dr. Lynn Rogers, who specializes in black bear
research in Ely, Minnesota, explains why the damage to the
refrigerator is significant. LYNN ROGERS: If they go
for the refrigerator, they very often are not going so
much for the contents in there but for insulation. And formaldehyde is one of the
ingredients of making this, and it breaks down into formic
acid, which smells like an ant colony. And so then you look for
bite marks and claw marks where they tore open the
inside of the refrigerator to get into the insulation. I didn't see any of
that in this case. NARRATOR: As a deterrent,
the owner of the cabin had laid out a bed of
screws, and it worked. A 17-inch bloody footprint was
left behind along with tissue. MonsterQuest
retrieve the tissue, and subsequent DNA analysis
revealed potentially startling results. CURT NELSON: And I found that
it was identical to human DNA except it had one
nucleotide polymorphism. That nucleotide
that was different was a difference that is
shared with chimpanzees. I got DNA that was primate DNA. NARRATOR: According to some
scientists, there was only a 1 in 5,000 chance
the DNA is human, and further testing is required. CURT NELSON: The
thing we have to do now is we have to
look at more DNA. We have to sequence more of it. We have to design primers
to amplify different regions of the DNA so that
we can get sequence across the mitochondrial genome
and determine whether or not it is just human DNA, which
seems unlikely that something other than a human would
step on that board like that. NARRATOR: In an effort to
identify the origin of the nail board samples, further DNA
analysis will be conducted. MonsterQuest will send
the tissue samples to an institution that will
pick up the testing where Nelson left off. At the same time, a
new team of researchers returns to the shores of
Snelgrove Lake in search of more evidence. Dr. Jeff Meldrum, a professor
of anthropology at Idaho State University, was part
of the 2006 expedition. He is returning to the
isolated camp for a second time to find out just what
was throwing rocks at him during his last visit. JEFF MELDRUM: On this
trip, I'm hoping that we'll have the good fortune of a
repeat occurrence of what transpired last time. Stay here. We've had action. Now we've had
rocks thrown at us. And get some
photographic evidence to correlate with the
rock throwing activity that we experienced last time. NARRATOR: But the team will need
more than photographic evidence for the scientific community. Zoology wants a type specimen. They want some bones, some
DNA, some skin, or a body. NARRATOR: Dr. Greg Bambenek,
a psychiatrist and wildlife expert, has come prepared. And that's why I've got
a gun with a biopsy dart to get the DNA, a gun
with a transmitter dart so we can follow the
critter with a yagi antenna, and either see where he lives
or even with an airplane and get some real
close up photos and get some of the evidence
that's needed so science can take this a little
more seriously. I want to know
more about the area. I want to know if it's feasible
that an animal of that size, with the ability to
throw, that's an ape could live in this area. What other animals
live in this area and what it is that
they're eating? NARRATOR: Joining Meldrum
and Bambenek is primatologist Esteban Sarmiento. With over 30 years
experience studying primates in the field
including great apes, Sarmiento is a published
author and is well recognized within the
scientific community. Having someone see that
this animal that has access to the scientific community
would make its importance much more emphasized. An experienced and
well-reputationed field primatologist such as Esteban
taking interest in the evidence and the data that have
accumulated to date and making the effort to come and
investigate for himself I think is an important step forward. NARRATOR: Repeating his role
from the 2006 expedition, Doug Hajicek will oversee
the technical aspects of the mission. Hajicek is a wilderness
television producer and camera expert who believes that
implementing surveillance technology is key. I've been very successful
in helping develop very simple camera systems
for animal surveillance, and I've applied some of
those techniques here. And I'm really hoping that we'll
have some luck in getting close up footage of one
of these things. NARRATOR: Rounding out
the team is Hajicek's son and technical assistant
Blane Hajicek. Four years ago, we
had some rock throwing. We had some wood knocking. And it made me very curious as
to what has been doing this. So I think that maybe
this time since we brought more technology we might
be able to see what it is. NARRATOR: The team plans to
use a three-pronged approach-- infrared cameras mounted on
the cabin, camera traps hidden around the perimeter
of the forest, and audio and video
recorders that will be running continuously
inside a custom made blind. Before leaving
Minneapolis, Hajicek had a canvas tent
like structure design to conceal the glow of their
electronic equipment at night and hide the person assigned
to monitor the video screens. JEFF MELDRUM: The blind I
think is an excellent strategy. It allows us to portray the
appearance of having-- everyone having gone to bed or the cabin
being quiet while yet some of us are still hard
at work monitoring the perimeter of the cabin. NARRATOR: The list
of gear and supplies the team will need for
12 days is extensive. It will take the
plane several trips to transport all the gear. The view from the air shows
just how isolated the cabin is. The camp is the only
dwelling on the lake, and the only way in
is by float plane. The team will be on their own. After unloading the gear,
the first order of business is to set up the blind. Well, you can't see through-- I mean, it's pitch
black in there. So we've got to figure
out where the door is. NARRATOR: Once the
blind is assembled, they must then create
their surveillance network. You guys want to hook up all
your camera systems, plug in the power to all
your camera systems. OK, let's say how far working.
Let's do it. Let's install this. About time. The first step is we're
going to drill a hole. Chuck's not going to like this. NARRATOR: Infrared
cameras will be mounted in strategic positions on each
side of the cabin networked back to the monitors
in the blind. Each camera has an invisible
infrared light source which allows the camera
to capture images in total darkness. Right there but a
little bit to the left. Keep the same height. DOUG HAJICEK: Yeah,
we'll get them installed, then we'll go through
and we'll tweak them all with angle and what not. I just want to get this
done before nightfall. This is scope number two.
All right. We only got a few more hours. That's going to be
on the other side. NARRATOR: The cameras
are strategically mounted on the eaves of the cabin. The objective is to avoid
alerting the intruder that it is being watched. Looks like there's something
obstructing the right side. That looks good. We're ready for final install. NARRATOR: After some final
adjustments, everything is set. The cameras will be
monitored from the blind inside the cabin. The crew decided that
I had the first shift. NARRATOR: At the first
sign of any activity, Hajicek will alert
the rest of the team. Nightfall brings
not only darkness but an almost deafening silence
over the isolated fishing camp. But could evidence
collected from another frightening
encounter at Snelgrove reveal the identity
of the monster? You can really
start to see some of the microscopic
features that allow us to make the identification. cabin on Snelgrove Lake,TORg Ontario, has long been the
target of aggressive attacks by an unknown creature. In some cases,
the aggression was focused on the cabin itself. Other times, it was seemingly
directed at the inhabitants. In 2002, the cabin was
completely ransacked. In 2006, MonsterQuest
researchers were the targets
of rock throwing, and they collected DNA evidence
that points to a primate. In 2007, the attacks continued. [growling] Well, in 2007, there
was a bunch of us that-- well, there was actually
five of us that went up fishing at Snelgrove Lake. NARRATOR: Dave Regel was a
member of the fishing party staying at the cabin. His second night
at Snelgrove LAKE would be a night he
will never forget. It doesn't take me
long to fall asleep and I was tired and relaxed
and I'm not a sound sleeper. And all of a sudden,
heard this big crash and didn't if somebody
fell out of bed. I kind of sat up,
looked around in my room because it was three
of us in our room, and everything was fine. And started to lay back
down and all of a sudden, there was another like something
was thrown at the cabin, and the cabin kind of. Shook And not knowing, it
woke all of us up. And we all went out into this
big room where the dining areas and saw that out through the
patio doors, out on the deck, table was knocked over, chair,
the rod case, my rod case, which is about 6
and 1/2 feet long, was laying down like it had
bounced back off of something. NARRATOR: Whatever shook
the cabin may also have left behind a clue on
Regel's rod case, a clue that could point to
the identity of the attacker. One of the things
that we noticed once daylight came and it was-- one of the fellows
just happened to see it was down on I have a
name that's on this case and there was a long hair on it. And picked it up and didn't
really think too much about it, but they thought, well, maybe
we should take this back. NARRATOR: Could this hair belong
to the creature that terrorized the cabin, or is it possible
that it was already on the rod case before the case was thrown? We'll be able to identify
whether or not this hair is human or non-human. NARRATOR: Jay Beckert is a
microscopist with Microtrace, a private independent
laboratory specializing in the identification
of small quantities of unknown materials. He will be examining the
hair to determine its origin. It came from Canada. It was involved in some sort
of mysterious disturbance at a cabin in a remote location. And it was sent to us
for identification. NARRATOR: To positively
identify the hair, it will be necessary to compare
it to other known samples. JAY BECKERT: So here
at Microtrace, we maintain a physical
reference collection of both human and animal hair. And currently we have
over 1,500 animal hair samples that
have been cataloged and are accessible
via our database. NARRATOR: As the hair undergoes
initial study and testing, the team out at
Snelgrove Lake is hoping to collect additional evidence. Blane Hajicek has
been up all night watching the monitors
for activity, but the first night
proved to be uneventful. Day two, the plan is to deploy
camera traps in the surrounding forest. Accompanying the
cameras will be sent lures to appeal to the
creature's sense of smell. We're using a lot
of olfactory cues to try and draw it because
that's what you do when you're hunting an animal. You want to draw them in to
get a close up with the camera traps. [engine whirring] NARRATOR: Sandwiched
between two pheromone chips is a radio transmitter. Transmitters are typically
used by biologists for tracking wildlife. In the event it
is moved, the team will be able to track
it electronically. [beeping] Oh, boy. Well, only seven more to do. NARRATOR: The bait
and camera stations are positioned at strategic
points in the vicinity of the cabin to try to capture
the attention of whatever may be lurking nearby. While Bambenek puts out
the rest of the traps, Sarmiento plans to determine
if this habitat can sustain a large primate like animal. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: If
it's a mammal that exists and it's real, like
all other mammals, it has certain necessities. It has to breed, it has to
eat, and it has to reproduce. It's the food really
that sort of tells you it has to be in certain areas. NARRATOR: In addition to
spruce grouse identified as a potential food source
in a previous expedition, Sarmiento has found
other possibilities. The floor here is
covered mostly by moss. Some of it is lichen. And as we walk by, we'll be
able to see some of the lichen, and lichen's always
a food for animals. NARRATOR: Ferns, which are also
plentiful on the forest floor, are a common food
source for some animals. In the higher areas,
raspberry and blueberry plants are thick though they
have yet to fully ripen. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: There's no
doubt a large primate could sustain himself here. There's just the other large-- other large mammals do it. And the truth is that the
primate is a generalist. He's-- he eats a wide variety of
foods and doesn't really depend on any one food generally. One of the food sources
that we can't see are the under
water food sources. And we have an awful
lot of lake shore. And a lot of these food sources
where they'd be cat tails, lilies. And another assortment of
aquatic and semi-aquatic plants have tubers, and they have
leaves that are really edible to the animals. And, in fact, for an
animal like moose, such plants-- such
aquatic plants provide a large
portion of their diet. So any large animal may
come here to get berries, and if it's not a carnivore
and subsists on plants, it would doubtless
go to the shores to get the tubers and
some of their starches. NARRATOR: The second
night is Sarmiento's turned in the blind. As the minutes turn
into hours, morning comes again without incident. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: I was really
hopeful that the night might bring sounds or movements
of some of the mammals that live here. But the night went
without incident. NARRATOR: Today the team will
deploy another attractant in an effort to lure
the creature in. The scent and the
method are unique. One technique that
we're trying on this trip is to use great
ape urine collected during the menstrual cycle. In this case, we have gorilla
urine that was collected from a zoo specimen. NARRATOR: The scent
is intended to appeal to either the creature's primal
instincts or its curiosity. This stuff we're going to
be putting on a little tripod. I've developed a
little scent odorizer. It's almost like the
olfactory organ itself. It's got little
leaves, and so the wind is going to carry these
pheromones from the gorilla urine out. And we've got a southeast
wind, and so it's going to go back into the forest. And the end of the dock,
they can't get to the end of the dock across water. Going to draw them right past
the cabin past our cameras that are concealed here. NARRATOR: Silence falls over the
camp along with the darkness. But little did they know that
while Snelgrove is quiet, just over 100 miles away,
Sasquatch is making headlines, and DNA testing may
be making history. It's basically in the
center of a mystery, and we are solving that. on Sn, has been the focus of
a menacing attacker, causing destruction and
tormenting the inhabitants. For five days and four nights,
MonsterQuest researchers have been trying to
collect evidence of what has been terrorizing the cabin. The team hopes to capture
photographic proof of whatever left the tissue sample behind
on this board back in 2005. Material clinging to these--
the threads on these screws in a few places. Does that look
like tissue to you? It kind of does. NARRATOR: Subsequent
DNA testing yielded an astonishing conclusion. LYNN ROGERS: I got DNA
that was primate DNA, and I knew that I
might be looking at the DNA of a Sasquatch. NARRATOR: Now more
extensive DNA testing is underway to find out
what left it behind. We have been able to
obtain DNA sequences from very old material, very
degraded sort of material. NARRATOR: Dr. Mehrdad Hajibabaei
is a molecular biologist with the Canadian Center for
DNA Barcoding at the University of Guelph. He believes the unique
approach may enable him to solve this mystery. We recently analyzed a sample
that is about 150 years old, and it's basically in
the center of a mystery and we are solving that using
the technique that we've developed here. NARRATOR: Unlike the process
used by Curt Nelson in 2006, which used specific
ape primers, Hajibabaei has developed primers capable
of amplifying any DNA, making it ideal for
unknown specimens. What we do usually
is to try to look at smaller fragments of DNA. Can go after a smaller
fragment from that barcode, a mini barcode, and this
is typically about 100 base fragments. And oftentimes that 100 base
or 100 nucleotide information is enough to make a
good identification. NARRATOR: As Dr. Hajibabaei
attempts to extract DNA from the tissue
collected in 2006, the researchers at
Snelgrove are hoping to make a visual identification
of the beast that has been attacking the cabin. [chatter] Six nights have passed,
and so far their tactics have not provoked an attack. We have tried a lot of
things-- the wood knocking, call blasting. We've put out the camera
traps, baiting with scent, baiting with the
Sasquatch pheromone chips. We've been trying
a lot of things, and we haven't had much success. NARRATOR: But the next
morning, a surprise visit from a local bush
pilot brings news that the creature may be near. We just heard that
there's two people-- a woman and a child, they
were blueberry picking and they saw Sasquatch. No, this came on-- this came on the airplane radio? - No just the local radio.
- Local radio? OK. NARRATOR: Further research
indicates the location of the sighting is quite close. They saw it around
here, Grassy Narrows. That's what they say, right? Yep, right there. Jeff, it's only
115 miles on the-- straight line.
- Straight line. Do you think it's possible
an animal would actually just follow the wave of berries? Oh, sure, I think that would
be very likely, very reasonable possibility. What you think, Greg? GREGORY BAMBENEK: Yes,
and this is a late-- a late spring around here, and
so the blueberries are late. So, yeah, if it's following
blueberries because around here they're small and green. There's a lot of them, so
it's going to be a good crop. But, yeah, why be
around here if you're eating a lot of
blueberries when you've got to be 100 miles southwest? NARRATOR: Bears are known to
migrate in search of food. Is it possible that this
creature would as well? There are documented stories
that suggest Sasquatch each blueberries. [growling] An affidavit from
William Roe in 1955 describes the
following encounter that happened on Mica Mountain
just 80 miles west of Jasper, Alberta. Roe had just come
out of some brush into a clearing when he saw what
he thought was a grizzly bear in the blueberry bushes. A moment later, it
stepped into the clearing, and Roe quickly realized
it was not a bear. He estimated the creature
to be six feet tall, almost three feet wide, and 300
pounds covered head to toe with dark brown
silver tipped hair. The creature squatted
down on its haunches and reached out its hands. It pulled the branches of
berry bushes toward its mouth and ate. Upon seeing Roe, the creature
stood upright and walked away on two legs. Could the lack of
blueberries at Snelgrove explain the lack of activity? Yeah, it's really interesting. I mean, it lends sort
of a very plausible ecological explanation
for why this year seems to be different than
the previous years. NARRATOR: Day 8, the
float plane is back with more news of the sighting. Talked to the gentleman's
wife yesterday because I called. This is the lady
that saw the Bigfoot. This is the gentleman which
I believe is her brother or brother-in-law. He went there, talked
her into going back, and he brought
the casting stuff. Took a casting. He said they found
the footprints, made their castings, and they saw
where it was eating berries, everything. NARRATOR: With the
report only a week old and only 115 miles between
Snelgrove Lake and Grassy Narrows, the team
decides to shift the location of its search. We were scared. I had no idea what it was. It wasn't a bear or
moose, she stressed. It was upright and walking. Looks like you're
going to Grassy Narrows. OK. NARRATOR: Could what they find
be an undiscovered species? It was eight feet
tall, pitch black. NARRATOR: For centuries,
northern Canada has been home to mysterious
reports of strange creatures with sometimes
aggressive behavior. And in recent years, something
has been leaving its violet mark at this isolated fishing
cabin at Snelgrove Lake, Ontario. DNA collected at the site
was analyzed and found to be that of a
non-human primate. The result raised as many
questions as it answered. Now MonsterQuest is testing
it more extensively to reach a definitive conclusion. But this is not the
only physical evidence from Snelgrove Lake. In 2007, Dave Regel reported
that he and others in his party were the victims of an
attack in the dead of night. Like something was
throwing at a cabin. NARRATOR: Hair collected
from that fishing rod case is being analyzed for
evidence of its species. Does it belong to a human or
a creature of unknown origin? Right now, we're observing
the hair under approximately 400 times magnification going up to
our highest powered objective. And now reviewing the
hair at roughly 630 times magnification, and
we can really start to see some of the microscopical
features that allow us to make the identification. NARRATOR: As the examination
continues at Microtrace, the team at Snelgrove Lake has
decided to cut their stay short in order to investigate
a creature sighting 115 miles to the south. After retrieving
the camera traps, they pack up camp and
head to Grassy Narrows. Well, the past seven
days have not yielded much, so it may be good to go move
to where there's actually been a sighting. NARRATOR: Located just
181 miles from Winnipeg, Grassy Narrows is an Ojibwe
First Nations settlement with a population
of just over 800. After the initial flight
into Kenora, Ontario, it's just a two-hour ride by
car to interview the witnesses at Grassy Narrows. I thought I was seeing things. NARRATOR: Helen
Pahpasay and her mother encountered the creature
as they were pulling up to one of their favorite
blueberry picking spots. [growling] We'd come to a
winding road, and then all of a sudden, this
black figure comes on and she says in Ojibwe what
is that coming towards us. And I looked at her and said
did you see that, too, mom. And she said, yeah. [speaking ojibwe] She's saying she was so-- she couldn't believe-- she
couldn't believe what she'd just seen. It was eight feet
tall, pitch black. I'd say blacker than black. We seen it walk
off into the bush. NARRATOR: Suggestions
that it may have been a bear are quickly dismissed. HELEN PAHPASAY: But
this thing was upright-- upright human like, but it's
still didn't look human. It was a creature. To me, it looked-- just it wasn't-- I know
it wasn't an animal. NARRATOR: The beast was so
disturbing that Helen's mother refuses to ever return. She says it ruined her
blueberry picking, her rice picking. And to go out there alone, this
thing ruined it all, she says. NARRATOR: Helen's brother
convinced her to show him where she saw the creature. RANDY FOBISTER: We searched this
area and this one spot by the-- by the mud puddle there. That's where we found
a real good print. There was some beer tracks. It's obvious there
are bear tracks. But this print, you could
tell it's human like. NARRATOR: Randy Fobister
says other evidence left behind raises many questions. There's branches that are
broken that's way too high. A moose couldn't-- his neck
wouldn't be long enough to reach there and
grab those sticks. I thought it was weird the
way the sticks were broken and bent down, just a few. NARRATOR: Fobister takes
the researchers out to the area where the
sighting occurred. So is this the spot, Randy? Yeah. Yeah, this is-- yeah,
that's the spot. NARRATOR: Signs indicate
the area is well-traveled by bear and other wildlife. But the researchers are anxious
to see where the footprints were found. Perhaps there are others or more
importantly physical evidence left behind. Where that red tape is,
that's where I found that-- the good print where we could
actually put the plaster on. NARRATOR: But
first, Meldrum wants to take a look at the cast. RANDY FOBISTER:
That looks like a-- Well, this is interesting. RANDY FOBISTER: You could
see those six toes, eh? I didn't really do a good job
of that really plastering. The Sasquatch tracks that I'm
familiar with, being a primate, they have a very
distinctive and very round broad heel pad under
that heel bone. And it makes a very
distinctively round heel. NARRATOR: Meldrum
believes the print may have been made by a bear. JEFF MELDRUM: You've got the
possibility of a forepaw right here, one forepaw, and then you
have this nice series of toes-- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5-- and the curve right
there of another pad. In fact, this
would be the adult, and this would be the cub. NARRATOR: Two prints
overlapping each other could account for length,
width, and the additional toes. However, when compared
to the print of the bear, differences come to light. JEFF MELDRUM: So I mean by
comparison to this adult bear, that big toe is pretty large. I mean, even the largest
toe on a bear, which is the outside toe, this
would be the right paw. The outside toe is
usually the largest. It still doesn't quite fit
the bill for this toe here. NARRATOR: Because
of the condition of the substrate material from
which the print was taken, it is difficult
from Meldrum to come to a definitive conclusion. But a search of the area
soon turns up something else. Right there. That's too-- it's really a
little bit too big to be bear. What do you think
about that, huh? s Snelgrove Lake, a
cabin sits alone in the vast Canadian wilderness. Solitary but for one uninvited
and destructive visitor who watches and waits. This isolated cabin has been the
focus of physical attacks too remote and inaccessible
to be vandalism and too powerful to be a bear. This man says he was inside
as the creature shook the building. This man says something
destroyed the interior. This expert says it
wasn't caused by bears. This team of researchers
is determined to solve the mystery. And this scientist may
already have the answer. Dr. Mehrdad Hajibabaei
has been extracting DNA from tissue samples collected
from a nail board left out of the cabin as a deterrent. MEHRDAD HAJIBABAEI: You
had three specimens, and one is a hair sample
and two sort of tissue type. NARRATOR: Previous testing
indicated primate DNA. However, further
analysis was required to make a definitive
identification of the attacker. It looked quite degraded. My understanding is that these
have been collected a few years ago. The material that we received,
we did a rigorous testing on it to purify the DNA and to amplify
this barcode regions using different primers and
different settings. This allows us to look for
different groups of organisms. And the DNA that came
from the material belongs to fungi and bacteria. These are harmless fungi and
bacteria from environment. They can be on soil or
water, and so we did not find any animal DNA
or any primate DNA. NARRATOR: So why would the
results differ with those of the first test done in 2006? One possibility is that the
first test may have contained human DNA as a result
of contamination, or perhaps the sample is now too
degraded to extract DNA at all. MEHRDAD HAJIBABAEI: We might be
able to design some new tests using next generation
of sequencing-- DNA sequencing machines. NARRATOR: The Snelgrove
expedition team has shifted the
focus of this search to Grassy Narrows, the location
of a recent Sasquatch sighting. JEFF MELDRUM: Oftentimes things
come to my attention that are years or even decades old. And it's a very
different situation to be able to interview
a witness with very fresh memories of an
event, of an encounter, of their impressions
of what it is they saw. NARRATOR: Interviewing
witnesses may offer insight, but more significantly, there
could be other evidence here. Now here's some more
disturbances here. NARRATOR: The team searches
the area for other footprints or signs of the creature. There is a great deal
of evidence of wildlife. This seems like it's been
torn open by some animal looking for grub. And now chances are it's a bear. And I guess you can see here it
looks like that's a claw mark. That's a claw mark. NARRATOR: The heavy traffic
from curiosity seekers has made the search
more difficult. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: You
can see some of the grass has been trampled here
that were here before. That's where I
found the berry. Here these berries. I don't know what kind
of berries those are. This is a juneberry. Juneberries, huh? NARRATOR: And yet right next
to a berry bush, a sign. And the animal's been
eating juneberries. Along with raspberries. I just ate a raspberry. What is that bear or-- It's two. It's really a little
bit too big to be bear. Can you see the-- That's the-- what do
you think about that, huh? NARRATOR: A fresh track
means a fresh trail. It's partly been open. But this is all-- this
has all been smashed down. Right here. It sure-- it seems to have a
ridge here in the middle going in this way. So these are the
toes, little toes. These are-- this is a big toe. I don't know. I can't-- Yeah, it doesn't have
a lot of definition, but it's definitely something
big that put its weight there. And it doesn't seem
like it's human. No. And I can't see how
it could be a bear. Whatever it is, it's
good size right. NARRATOR: The size and
impression of the track leaves them to
question just what could have made that
footprint, and is it following the crop of berries? Questions that fuel the
mystery surrounding Sasquatch. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: Obviously
there's signs of animals, like lots of them. And the reason they're there is
because there's a lot of food here, raspberries
and blueberries. I mean, this whole
hill's covered with them. NARRATOR: When the previous
attacks on the cabin at Snelgrove Lake occurred,
various berries including blueberries were fully ripe. This year, spring and summer
have come late to Snelgrove, and the berries are delayed. But 115 miles south
at Grassy Narrows, the berries are at their peak. Could this be another clue to
the identity of the creature? Animal migrations are known to
follow available food sources, and while a comparative
analysis between Ontario's Sasquatch sightings and
berry ripening patterns does not yet exist, it is
possible the two overlap. The Snelgrove trip was
in some ways disappointing, but in other ways it was
a real education for me. In short, we are in the right
place but at the wrong time. NARRATOR: While it
is still unclear why the creature returns to
the isolated cabin on Snelgrove Lake, perhaps other evidence
can determine what it is. The hair on the rod case from
2007 may still hold the answer. JASON BECKERT: So we have the
hair that was sent from Canada mounted up for examination. We have it under the polarized
light microscope being viewed at approximately 630
times magnification. And you can see here as a
longitudinal view of the hair we have the cuticle, which
is the outermost layer and the hair, running on
the edges top and bottom. Everything in the middle
of the hair is cortex. And you can see the light
brown pigment granules that are dispersed in that cortex. There is no medulla, the
innermost portion of the hair. In this particular
hair, the medulla is absent where if
it had been present, it'd be running down the
middle of the hair here. But you can see
there is no medulla. Beckert explains
the absence of medulla can be a natural variation
in some human hairs. However, his examination reveals
another unexpected discovery. JASON BECKERT: And you
can see by looking here that this region of the
hair has been bleached. It's colorless in
this region, and it has the characteristic
texture of a hair that has been bleached. NARRATOR: In order to confirm
the hair has been bleached, Beckert conducts
a staining test. The hair is placed in blue
dye then washed thoroughly. If the hair has been
bleached, the dye will remain. So we have the hair
after it has been stained with the methylene blue, and
it has been thoroughly washed. And now we see that the hair
has retained the blue color of the stain. And the fact that the hairs
retain that blue color indicates that this hair has
been artificially bleached, and it is a human head hair,
most likely of a Caucasian. NARRATOR: But the mystery
remains what through the rod case at the cabin. The body of evidence in support
of a large creature prowling the Ontario wilderness
is mounting-- eyewitnesses who claim to
have seen the creature, a possible migratory
pattern linked to the ripening of an
abundant food source, and repeated attacks
on the isolated cabin. DOUG HAJICEK: You know, it
has to either be a human, or it has to be one
of these animals. It has to be
something with hands. It just can't be any
other explanation for it. These rocks and logs aren't
falling out in the sky. Moose don't throw rocks. Bears don't throw rocks. And so I really also want
to solve the mystery. Given the right
tools, I think science can solve the mysteries. I'm confident about it. ESTEBAN SARMIENTO: This
is an enormous area, and, you know, that it could
support something that's totally new, there's
no doubt about that. Whether it does is
another question.
