Skookum cast


The Skookum cast is a plaster cast showing the imprint of what appears to be a large animal’s left forearm, hip, thigh and buttocks. It was discovered in a muddy wallow near Mount Adams in southern part of Washington state, US, and is argued by some to be a bigfoot.

Description

The cast was taken on September 22, 2000, during a Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization expedition to the Skookum Meadows area of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state, during filming of the Animal-X television show. There was also evidence of 17-inch human-like footprints found in the area.
The cast, which measures and weighs approximately, is of a partial body imprint left in roadside mud.

Skepticism

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry have put forward the suggestion that the initial identification was premature and created bias among subsequent team members. The casting was made by wildlife ecologist LeRoy Fish, tracker Richard Noll, and animal tracker Derek Randles. While working with this team to find evidence of bigfoot, Richard Noll saw the impression and suggested to his team that it was left by a bigfoot. These team members may have been influenced by the suggestion, motivating them to co-validate the original identification.

Conclusion

On March 3, 2001, Marc Hume wrote an article for the National Post of Canada in which he recognized the clear tracks of an elk and described: "imprints left that would match perfectly with an elk's legs." In his opinion, the cast was "if anything, a cast of the impression made by the hindquarters of an elk.