Michael Rugg said that residents of the San Lorenzo Valley share habitat with Bigfoot.
“For awhile I figured the Santa Cruz Mountains were too populated to be a Bigfoot habitat but eyewitness reports challenged that assumption,” Rugg said.
A Sasquatch fanatic since childhood, Rugg founded the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton six years ago.
On Oct. 16 Rugg is hosting Bigfoot Discovery Day, a symposium that will feature Sasquatch witnesses and investigators, who will present new research and evidence.
Rugg said the emphasis will be on the Santa Cruz breed of Bigfoot.
“We want people in Santa Cruz to know that we’re doing something, that we are making gains,” Rugg said.
The event will report on DNA evidence that is currently being tested.
“Bigfoot’s existence is totally plausible,” Rugg said. “The DNA evidence is going to support that.”
Locally recorded Sasquatch sightings began as early as the mid-1800’s, according to Rugg.
Rugg said that while there’s a mythical component to some sightings and “imaginations can get the best of people,” there have been many viable accounts in the area.
The latest reported sighting was in 2009 from a man in Zayante, who claims to have seen one in his backyard around 2:30 a.m., Rugg said.
“He went outside with a shotgun and looked it directly in the eye,” Rugg said. “He called the sheriff and then came here to the museum.”
Rugg’s fascination with Bigfoot started when he went on a family trip to Humboldt County in 1950 when he was five years old. It was there that he had his first sighting of a very large man covered in bushy dark hair wearing nothing but a torn shirt.
Since then, Rugg has methodically collected every article and memorabilia he can get a hold of.
From his research Rugg said that the bipedal humanoids are nomadic hunter-gatherers.
“They have to keep on the move, which is why they are so rarely seen,” Rugg said.
Rugg said they travel in pairs and that he’s heard accounts of white, black, and blond ones.
“They come in all human hair colors,” Rugg said. “We’ve had the gamut described to us by local witnesses.”
Rugg said that while most sightings have come from the Pacific Northwest, reports have come from all across the country.
“Accounts of Bigfoot sightings are very similar,” Rugg said. “And it’s arrogant to discount witnesses as fools or liars just because they have seen one.”
Bigfoot Discovery Day
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 16
Barbeque and roundtable is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Bigfoot Discovery Museum, 5497 Highway 9, in Felton. Lunch is $5.
Presentations are at 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center Street, in Santa Cruz. Cost is $8 to $10. Children under 12 are free.
INFO: 335-4478
