Better yet, to ease your concerns about whether or not these animals exist, come down to East Texas. I have a number of areas that you can visit that are rich in activity, and then you can decide for yourself.

For some of us, it is no longer a matter of belief. It is now a matter of ‘what is it?’

Here are my thoughts on the subject, from my dealings with wildlife (I’m not an expert, just been around wildlife growing up, and read alot about wildlife).

You’re correct that animals that have lost their fear of humans, like bears being fed by visitors to parks, are often a source of dangerous human-animal incidents.

However, even animals with a healthy fear of humans, or maybe especially those animals, can become aggressive and attack if they feel overly threatened, can’t run away (feel cornered, or you’re so close they don’t want to turn their back to you to run), or don’t want to run away. Some bear attacks have been the result of a person stumbling across a bear in the woods unexpectedly and startling it, and it attacks out of fear, sort of “pre-emptive self-defense”. Sometimes they see us and run, sometimes they see us and fight, depending on a lot of factors, including how close the person is when the bear finally notices them.

If sasquatch exist, and one encounters a human unexpectedly, it may feel threatened due to unfamiliarity or fear of humans, or it may view us as a potentially hostile intruder into its territory. Either way, the “fight or flight” response could be triggered, and it may run (as many reports describe), but it may also attack.

As Shihan said, running from an animal that has any predatory nature could trigger a chase and potential attack (which is why we always here that we shouldn’t run from a dog showing aggression).

I think it would probably be wise to handle it similarly to encountering a bear, or gorilla, or anything of that nature. As the article says, prolonged eye contact is considered a challenge or threatening gesture by many animals (including apes and dogs), and facing them but staring downward is often a sign of submission (animal may then feel they can safely attack you to show their dominance). Doing things to show you have no interest in the animal, such as ignoring them, foraging for food, making medium-pitched soothing noises, anything to dispel any air of threat would be helpful. If you’re looking to exit the situation, slowly working your way away from the animal (without turning your back on it) can result in the animal turning and leaving once it feels no threat to itself or territory.

I have a theory that one reason they may run when we try to take a picture is that we normally hold the camera up to our face and face them, so to them it feel the same as direct eye contact. They feel they’ve been spotted, challenged, and exit to avoid confrontation.

Just my 2 cents.

I’m not so sure I believe in this mystical beast!!! Does it or doesn’t it exist?

Please give me links to the verified reports of people being killed or injured by a BF.

I didn’t know such verified reports existed??

Harry and the Hendersons… you’re funny.

I would also surmise that the vast majority of wild animals that attack and injure people, are those that have had much human contact and had lost their fear of us, not including sick or old animals which do become disoriented or starving.

I’m not here to debate your beliefs.

I’m here to learn with facts.

This article reminds me of the TV commercials about “Messin’ with Sasquatch”.