By AARON SAGERS

When it comes to Sasquatch, ignore Mitt Romney. Even though the Republican presidential candidate called him a "hoax" in Monday's GOP primary debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Bigfoot is big business - or at least the search for him is.

     The Jan. 1 second season premiere of Animal Planet's "Finding Bigfoot" drew 1.6 million viewers. This the second-best premiere for the network and a healthy number for a New Year's Day opening, and the ratings for the following two episodes have remained respectable.

     Produced by Ping Pong Productions (the same company behind Syfy's monster-hunting series "Destination Truth"), the Sunday night show follows the Bigfoot Field Researcher's Organization (BFRO) as it chases down leads, examines supposed evidence and attempts to track down the most famous cryptid.     

              "Finding Bigfoot" stars educator Cliff Barackman along with BFRO founder Matt Moneymaker, research biologist Ranae Holland, commercial fisherman James "Bobo" - and a possible cameo each week by the mythical beast.

     Barackman isn't an eccentric monster-hunter type. Originally from Long Beach, Calif., he has taught fourth, fifth and sixth graders. He's also a jazz guitarist and teaches lessons, but has always maintained a passion for science. He says his interest in Bigfoot came more from pop culture than from science, and that he grew up loving monster movies. It wasn't until he saw documentary shows like "In Search Of" in the 1970s that he became excited about the possibility of a "real" monster in the woods. He says it hooked him "pretty deep," and when he was in college he would spend time between classes reading up on the Sasquatch. The research led to Barackman thinking of Bigfoot as not just "fun and quirky and weird," but also as real and believable.

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