Volunteer Vivian Sukenik of Pine Plains goes through a recent donation of handmade children’s sweaters.
Photo by Rhiannon Leo-Jameson
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Mike Familant of Sussex, New Jersey, has collected casts of suspected Bigfoot prints from dozens of sights since he began researching the cryptid in 2011.
Nathan Miller
Familant said he began his Sasquatch hunting career basically on a whim. In 2011 he bought tickets to join fans on a Bigfoot research expedition at Torreya State Park in the Florida Panhandle, put on by the crew behind Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot.”
That first trip was life changing for Familant. He and his friend Jimmy had set up their encampment away from the other guests on the trip, both to reduce the chances of bothering the other campers with late-night fireside chatter and to improve their chances of encountering the elusive Bigfoot. The woods were quiet until the last night of the trip. Early in the morning, as Familant and Jimmy were relaxing by the fire, they began hearing knocks on trees surrounding the tent. Frightened, Familant retreated to the car to avoid any wildlife that might want to hurt him. Undeterred, Jimmy coaxed him back to the campfire to experience the strange encounter. Shortly after returning, Familant said a series of fist-sized rocks flew through the trees and landed on the ground with solid thuds around their camp. Familant’s friend then picked up one of the fist-sized rocks, and in an attempt to communicate with whatever might be throwing them, threw it back. “I knew it wasn’t a person,” Familant said. “Because at that exact moment a 15 pound, laptop-sized boulder came crashing down and lands just five feet from us.”
Familant said during his talk that getting friends and families outside is his biggest inspiration.Nathan Miller
That night in the woods convinced Familant of the existence of Bigfoot, and he has been producing his show ever since. “I would still be sitting in an ambulance on the street corners of Tampa if that rock hadn’t been thrown at me,” Familant said.
Now, producing “In the Shadow of Big Red Eye” is Familant’s full-time job. He spends over a hundred nights camping ever year, collecting footprint casts, video and audio in his search for evidence of Bigfoot. Familant’s travels have taken him across the Eastern U.S. into nearly every state east of Ohio.
Familant’s mission in producing the show and touring the country for presentations is to “entice friends and families to get off the couch and into nature, to see something you wouldn’t normally see.”
“Growing up I was happiest in front of the TV playing a video game,” Familant said. But now, he spends most nights in a tent or on the road, hiking or on his way to the next hike to find Bigfoot in the Appalachian wilderness. Whether or not Bigfoot really exists, Familant said what’s important is discovery, curiosity and getting outside.
“Life with the possibility of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster,” Familant said, “is a hell of a lot better than life without it.”
