This footprint found in Catskill measures more than 15 inches.

THE MYSTERY of the creature commonly referred to as "bigfoot" has sparked the imagination and interest of   millions of people around the world.

Many are skeptical of bigfoot's existence, but others believe in the creature and work tirelessly to provide proof that it's real.

And now the fascination has come to our neck of the woods: Recent local sightings of creatures believed to be members of the bigfoot family have drawn a team of bigfoot trackers to the Greene County town of Catskill.

Tomy ‘T.J.’ Biscardi, director of field security and the live capture team for the company Searching for Bigfoot Inc., holds a biopsy rifle, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes.

TOM Biscardi, founder and chief executive officer of Searching for Bigfoot Inc., said he assembled an eight-member team to investigate reports from a local resident who said she and her family saw creatures believed to be bigfoots on their Tool House Road property. Biscardi said that before the entire team arrived Thursday, he sent some local associates from Glens Falls to do a preliminary investigation. He said they found evidence of a pod where bigfoots might have slept on the property and also heard distinctive footfalls in the woods through the use of a bionic ear. He said the footfalls were not those of a regular woodland animal.

"It's pretty exciting," Williams said. "Very interesting." Williams said she threw a rock near where she believed one of the creatures was and it threw the rock back. She said she also threw a football and that it came back. Williams said her daughter and her mother, both of whom live with her, also have seen the bigfoots.

BISCARDI - who's been tracking bigfoots on and off for 35 years and full time the past four - said his team set up several video and still cameras on Williams' approximately 3.8-acre property. He also said team members are equipped with tasers, night-vision goggles, thermal imagers, tranquilizer guns and a biopsy gun, which shoots a dart to collect skin, hair and blood from whatever it strikes. "I'm here to capture one," Biscardi said.

BISCARDI, who is from Menlo Park, Calif., said most people believe there is only one bigfoot in the world, but, in fact, there are more than 3,500. He said the creatures are nocturnal and travel in family units. "It looks like a primate," Biscardi said of a bigfoot. He said the creatures look like gorillas but stand upright most of the time. He described them as hairy with no visible neck and having human facial features. He said the average foot size for a bigfoot is 16 inches long and that the largest footprint he has seen was over 22 inches. Biscardi said there are photos of bigfoots on his Web site, www.searchingforbigfoot.com.

BOB "JavaBob" Schmalzbach, vice president of Searching for Bigfoot, said the team is trying to assemble intrinsic evidence as well as empirical evidence. He said the organization receives calls "all the time" reporting bigfoot sightings but does not investigate each one.  Statistical evidence based on sightings reported over the past several years shows bigfoots travel along waterways, Schmalzbach said. He said the Searching for Bigfoot team has collected DNA evidence - such as hair and skin - that have been tested and shown to be from an unknown animal. Schmalzbach also said the team has "plenty of footprints."  Schmalzbach said one of the footprints the team has obtained shows dermal ridges and that the creature's toes were splayed as it walked. He said there were additional footprints at the same site, each with a different splaying of the toes, as would happen when the creature walked.

THE TEAM also has the hand of an unidentified creature believed to be a bigfoot, Schmalzbach said. He said the hand was found in a landfill in Montana and was given to local police because it was believed to be human. Testing on the hand showed it was non-human and from an unidentified animal, Schmalzbach said. Schmalzbach said bigfoots are quick, intelligent and do not want to be seen. He also said there have been no verifiable reports of a bigfoot injuring a person and that bigfoots seen during the day usually are adolescent males.

BECKY Sawyer, a researcher from Glens Falls, said she and Steve Kulls arrived at the Tool House Road property in Catskill on June 20 to do the preliminary assessment. She said she saw a place where the grass had been bent overnight in such a way to indicate the bigfoots had slept there. She also said an odor in two or three places on the property suggested the presence of bigfoots. "These creatures have a musky odor to them," Sawyer said, noting the smell is not like that of a bear. Biscardi said he hopes the team is able to see bigfoots on Williams' property, either with a camera or the night-vision goggles. He described the area as a fresh hot spot for the creatures.