Ep 93: The Yeti Part 3

Photo Credit:credit for Barun Valley photos - Dhilung - Own work (wikipedia CC by 3.0)

“Authentic wildness is found in choosing to walk home in the rain, embracing the absence of control and letting it soak into you. Wildness welcomes us whenever and wherever we want it.”
– Professor Daniel C. Taylor, PhD., from his book, "Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery"

Stunning photo of the Barun Valley in Nepal where Dr Taylor's research originated. This valley lies entirely within the Makalu Barun National Park. Photo Source Wikipedia user Dhilung.

Landscape within the Barun Valley in Nepal where Dr Taylor's research originated, showing how this region's ecosystems vary. This valley lies entirely within the Makalu Barun National Park. Photo Source Wikipedia user Dhilung.

Dr Daniel C Taylor (Dan'l), working with students and communities as part of the Future Generations University team, of which he is President. Photo: Future Generations University Website.

Dr Taylor on a panel at the 2017 Himalayan Consensus Summit. Photo: Himalayan Consensus Summit Website.

Dr Daniel C Taylor (Dan'l), working in a community as part of the Future Generations University team, of which he is President. Photo: Future Generations University Website.

Locals in Nepal benefit from computers provided as part of the work done by Future Generations University. Photo: Future Generations University Website.

Solar power cells provided as part of work done by students of Future Generations University.

The photograph taken by Eric Shipton that introduced the legend of the Yeti to the western world in the mid-twentieth century. 

The photograph (original framing) taken by Eric Shipton that introduced the legend of the Yeti to the western world in the mid-twentieth century. 

An additional Shipton Footprint photo, where he uses his boot for a size comparison.

This is what an adventurer looks like. Eric Shipton.

Wider shots of the Shipton tracks, showing multiple animals, further reinforcing the idea of a mother and her cubs pursuing the crest of the ridge.

Several Himalayan Yeti Sightings mapped out by our very own Astonishing Research Corps member Cody Rice.

A juvenile Asiatic Black Bear, notably climbing a tree, for which an opposable digit is considerably useful. That digit, leaves a very unusual footprint, especially in the case of an overprint (when the animals back foot settles within the footprint of the front foot while walking). Photo SOURCE

The foot of a juvenile Asiatic Black Bear. Note the thumb-like digit for tree-climbing.

Adult Asiatic Tree Bear. (The reason the juveniles have to hide in trees to survive.)

 

LOCATION: Future Generations University US Organization. Sister Organizations also located in Afghanistan, Haiti and Peru

BACKGROUND:

Like so many cryptid mysteries, what one realizes is that the deeper you search for the answer of what the creature might be, you find what it represents is so much more than just a singular beast.  Such was the discovery of tonight's guest, Professor Daniel C. Taylor, PhD., author of Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery.  Dr. Taylor has spent 60 years of his life on a quest to solve the mystery of the Yeti, and that process has ultimately led to the foundation of a worldwide network and university dedicated to preserving not only the culture and ecology of the Himalayan region and beyond but it has also become a force for social change and preservation in other sensitive areas of the planet.  But, if you just want to know if the Yeti is real or a legend, then consider the words of Dr. Taylor: "a legend doesn't leave footprints."  The Yeti's prominence in the daily life of the peoples who inhabit the Himalayas makes it very real, and not just in a spiritual and cultural context.  If you believe the Yeti exists, but just want to know what it is, you'll find that the question is lacking and that the answer indeed has more to do with the ecology of a mystery.

Map showing locations of featured Yeti sightings, by ARC member Cody Rice

Reference Links:

• Professor Daniel C. Taylor's 60-year search for the Yeti on National Geographic

• Prof. Daniel C. Taylor, PhD. on Wikipedia

• Prof. Taylor and Future Generations University - https://www.future.edu/

• Prof. Taylor's profile at Future Generations University and a list of his additional published works

• Future Generations - a global network for social change, cultural and environmental preservation

• Future Generations University Himalayan Scholarships

• Future Generations University acquires historic Anderson Home in Pendleton Co., WV

• The juvenile Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)

• The Yeti on Wikipedia

• The Almas or "Wild Man" of Caucasus and Pamir Mountains of central Asia, and the Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia

• Anthony Wooldridge's 'Rock Yeti'

• Christie's auction of Eric Earle Shipton's original Yeti footprints in the Menlung Basin

• Obit of Michael Ward, Mountaineering doctor who was with Shipton at sighting of the footprint

• Destination Truth S02, E01 - The Yeti

• National Geographic's "Bigfoot: The New Evidence – Evidence of the Yeti" video clip

• Nat Geo Image Gallery from: Bigfoot: The New Evidence: Yeti

• "Bigfoot" Unmasked from Nat Geo's Phenomena - A Science Salon

• Nat Geo's "Hunt for the Abominable Snowman - Legends of the Yeti" with Gerry Moffatt

• Foreign Service Despatch 75 from the American Embassy, Kathmandu

• Cryptozoologist Dale A. Drinnon and his article, "More on Yetis and Giant Orangutans"

• Pangboche Hand by Donna Yates from the Trafficking Culture website

• Village of Pangboche in Khumjung VDC of Solukhumbu District, Nepal

• Jimmy Stewart describes meeting "Harvey"

• PDF: THE FRIENDLY YETI by Daniel Capper, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof. of Religion, The U. of S. Mississippi

• PDF: Genetic analysis of hair samples attributed to yeti, bigfoot and other anomalous primates by Bryan C. Sykes, et al.

• PDF: Evolutionary history of enigmatic bears in the Tibetan Plateau-Himalaya Region
  and the identity of the Yeti from the journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

• "Himalayan ‘yeti’ DNA: polar bear or DNA degradation?..." by C. J. Edwards, R. Barnett

• Science solves the mystery of the elusive Yeti from CNN WIRE

• Study Reveals Biological Identities of Bigfoot, Yeti, Bolstering Case Against Them from Nat Geo

• Scientists challenge 'Abominable Snowman DNA' results by Steven McKenzie, BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter

• The 1938 Tibet Yeti account by Captain V. d' Auvergne on bigfootencounters.com

• Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 1 with B. H. Hodgson's account

• The Abominable Snowman or Yeti from Proof-of-Evolution.com

• Dyatlov Pass and Mass Murdering Yeti? A DN Exclusive by Benjamin Radford from Doubtful News

• HOW FORENSIC TECHNIQUES AID ARCHAEOLOGY

• The Pleistocene Epoch

• HOMINID AND HOMININ – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

• "First Ascent" Filmmaker Gerry Moffatt

• Australia's "Yowie" Wildman

Related Books:

Yeti - The Ecology of a Mystery

By Daniel C. Taylor

Buy on Amazon

Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures

By Daniel C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor

Buy on Amazon

Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change

By Daniel C. Taylor, Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor

Buy on Amazon

The Mt. Everest Guide to Off-Road Driving

By Daniel C. Taylor

Buy on Amazon

Suggested Listening:

We want to tell you about our friend Jordan Bonaparte's show, The Night Time Podcast.  Jordan has been a long-time listener of ours and started his own podcast soon after we did.  We're pretty much cut from the same cloth, so if you like the subjects we cover, you're bound to love his fascinating array of topics.  But being our neighbor to the northeast, The Night Time Podcast focuses on "Canadian True Crime, mysteries and the weird," and as Jordan has so aptly shown, Nova Scotia and "The Great White North" has no shortage of its own brand of spell-binding, bizarre stories, and events.  You can find out more about his show at https://www.nighttimepodcast.com/, and stream episodes at audioBoom, iTunes, Stitcher, GooglePlay or wherever you find quality podcasts.

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The Dark Myths Collective  

http://darkmyths.org/

Credits:

Episode 93: The Yeti Part 3.  Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel; Ryan McCullough Sound Design; Research Assistance by Tess Pfeifle and the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2017 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.