- Wonder what Bigfoot would think if it knew what drama it indirectly caused.
It’s good to have a hobby. That said, it shouldn’t consume your life to such a degree that it leads to divorce.
Or getting your request for alimony struck down by the courts.
One Canadian man has been obsessively hunting Bigfoot for years and years. However, his quest for the mythical beast cost him his spousal support payments.
The 57-year-old man’s wife recently filed for divorce after he made one too many Sasquatch-hunting trips. Well, his sneakily bringing another woman along probably contributed to the wife’s decision as well.
At the divorce hearing, the man requested the judge to order his (now ex) wife to pay him spousal support. According to him, he was disabled and unable to work — due to injuries sustained on a previous Bigfoot-chasing expedition.
The judge, however, denied the man’s request. He ruled that if the man was able to constantly search the backwoods of British Columbia for Bigfoot with his girlfriend, he couldn’t claim to be “totally disabled” and unfit for work.
So, the judge approved the divorce, without alimony. The man will now have to find another way to fund his endless quest.
Unannounced Guests
The unnamed couple of our story had been married for a long time. For the entirety of their marriage, the man had regularly ventured out into the forests of British Columbia to hunt for Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch).
The court documents about the case don’t mention why the man is so hellbent on catching the legendary ape of the woods. But hey, a hobby is a hobby.
Then came August 2020. The man once again left for a romp through the wilderness to look for Bigfoot — but this time, he didn’t go alone.
According to her testimony at a divorce court session, the wife found out that her husband had taken his ex-girlfriend with him on the trip. However, he had failed to mention that little detail to his wife.
“The respondent was extremely upset by this,” Justice Rob Baird wrote in his decision.
The wife wasn’t about to wait for her husband to come home and explain himself. While he was still in the woods, she texted him, telling him that their marriage was over.
We’re sure the language of the original message was more colorful than our summary.
Debilitating Injuries
The man and his wife separated immediately following the 2020 trip. Perhaps they tried to see if they could patch up their relationship, but to no avail.
So, on January 17, they met in divorce court. During the hearing, the man claimed that he should be entitled to spousal support payments.
After all, he is unable to work. The man claimed he received debilitating injuries in January 2016, ironically during another Sasquatch outing.
At the time, he was staying at a hotel in Sayward, a small village on Vancouver Island, when he slipped on a frozen staircase. According to the man, he came out of the accident with a broken ankle and vertebra, among other injuries.
To this day, he stated, he suffers bouts of chronic and often severe pain that has left him incapable of having a job. Consequently, he felt his soon-to-be ex-wife should support him with recurring payments.
Too Smart to be Jobless
Justice Baird, however, did not buy the man’s story. He ruled that the man cannot be so disabled that he can’t do any kind of work — partially due to his ongoing Bigfoot-hunting activities.
“The claimant continues to enjoy camping, fishing, hunting, riding ‘quad’ motorcycles, and exploring remote areas of B.C. in search of Sasquatch,” Justice Baird wrote.
He also noted that the man had described his “intellectual abilities to be far above average.” As such, Justice Baird believed he would be able to find employment if he wanted to.
“I accept that he is no longer suited to work requiring a lot of physical strength or stamina,” the judge conceded.
“But he told me himself that he has made no effort since 2016 to seek or secure employment in lighter or more sedentary occupations, or to retrain for better paying low-impact jobs in keeping with his superior intellect and aptitudes.”
Additionally, Justice Baird noted that the man had applied for and received a federal disability pension in 2018. Add in the $350,000 he received in a settlement from the 2016 accident, and the judge ruled the man couldn’t be penniless.
As such, he approved the divorce — but not the alimony. He also ruled that each spouse would be responsible for their own legal costs.
With that, the man is now free to search for Bigfoot with whomever he wants. He’ll have to foot the bill himself, though.