Zero Results in Sasq-Watch

This rare shot was taken in the summer of 2004, before the winter season that will go unmentioned. Naturalists who study primate behavior presume this beast was upset because Whiskey Jacks got all of the attention, and, most importantly, all of the handouts. Photo: Neil Havers

For the first time in nearly two decades, there were no sightings of Sasquatch at Mount Washington this past summer.

There were, however, sightings in Teslin, Yukon that set the cryptozoological community on its collective feet. In a wildlife CSI story, a hairy creature described as something big, about eight feet tall [2.4 metres]. It’s black, hairy, muscular. It was huge! was heard crashing through the bush in Teslin, a town of 400 located in Canada’s Yukon.

There were three such sightings in Teslin this past summer, and on the last, the creature left behind a treasure: a tuft of brown, coarse hair.

The hair tuft was sent to a DNA lab - University of Alberta wildlife geneticist David Coltman agreed to conduct the test - where the DNA of most of the Yukon’s large animals are on file.

“If Sasquatch is indeed a primate, then we would expect the sample to be closer to humans or chimpanzees or gorillas,” Coltman said at the time. However, when the tests came in it turned out to be a plain old bison that had been crashing about.

The news has not deterred Sasquatch believers on the West Coast, though. One sasquatch follower, who declined to give his name, said he will continue to keep watch at Paradise Meadows, where Sasquatch has been sighted before. The follower said it is rare indeed for no sightings to happen at Mount Washington. “What we’re likely seeing is the effect of the lack of snow on the mountain last year,” said the man.

“The Sasquatch likely altered its migratory path this year; because the snow wasn’t covering its traditional spring and summer feeding grounds, it had sufficient food. “Their food sources weren’t covered in 12 feet of snow.”