Protecting the Georgia Gorilla

Note: I'm using the terms "Georgia Gorilla", "Georgia Bigfoot", "bigfoot" and "sasquatch" interchangeably. The creature found in Georgia by Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer (if it's real) may be one and the same as the creature known as sasquatch or bigfoot that has been seen for centuries throughout North America, or it could be a subspecies. It might be a while before we have the answer to that question.

Last month, my co-hosts Ash Hamilton and Mark Gray and I interviewed an avid and experienced hunter on our paranormal radio show, The Paranomalists. The hunter happened to be Ash's dad, Marvin Hamilton. Because we're always searching for new subjects and twists on existing ones, we thought it would be interesting to ask, in a purely speculative manner, what it would be required to bring down an animal with the size and bulk of the legendary sasquatch. Mr. Hamilton has hunted some very large game I'm told, and we thought it might be an interesting to get a hunter's perspective on what kind of firepower would be needed if one would choose to hunt such a creature. It was a relatively short interview (for us) and it can be downloaded on the Audio page of Disclose.tv. The segment is titled "Paranomalists - What Can Take Down Bigfoot?".

I was quick to add that this conversation was purely speculative and that in no way do The Paranomalists advocate the hunting and killing of sasquatch, should the creature actually exist. Now, less than a month later, we're facing the possibility that the legendary bigfoot may indeed exist (see my previous post, The Georgia Bigfoot - could this be the real thing at last? or go to Loren Coleman's article Georgia Gorilla: Bigfoot Body’s First Photo!).

If, on Friday, 8/15 we discover that the so-called "Georgia Gorilla" is the real thing, bigfoot, then I can envision an ugly scenario taking place that must somehow be prevented. Does anyone remember the scene in the movie "Jaws", when all those overzealous morons descended on the town of Amity to try to claim the reward money by bagging the shark that ate the poor little Alex Kintner boy? What do you think will happen if this bigfoot body is the real deal? Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, the two Georgia residents that discovered the body, are keeping the exact location of its discovery a secret in order to protect the creatures. However, the fact that it's known that the place where the carcass was found is in the northern woods of Georgia is enough. I can see the area being overrun by "bigfoot hunters" with high-powered rifles. The fact that Whitton and Dyer have been offered a million dollars for just the photos of the body is sure to bring a lot of greedy idiots with weapons to the woods of northern Georgia. Hey, if getting a second body of one of these creatures will bring millions of dollars, it's going to tempt both experienced hunters and novices to enter the fray in the hope of taking home the ultimate trophy.

As for myself, I'm not a hunter and probably couldn't bring myself to kill a squirrel (although I've run over a few with my car) and I certainly could not kill something that looks very close to being a human being (hell, I saw a dozen guys hairier than that this weekend down at the Jersey Shore). To me, that would be akin to murder rather than simply "hunting". But, once again, this whole thing could turn out to be a big hoax, in which case my point here is moot. However, if this is an actual flesh-and-blood, living animal or being, then it needs to be protected. State and Federal laws need to be put into place immediately to protect the Georgia Gorilla and the North American sasquatch from indiscriminate slaughter. Heavy fines should be levied, as well as jail time, for anyone who kills them. Who really knows how many are left in the wild? Can we afford to lose even one to a hunter's bullet?

John Carlson