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I'd be worried about a rabid skunk, fox, racoon, etc. BF & Big Cat are just big ol' Teddy Bears compared to that.

I don't think they are more intelligent but could be smarter about things humans once knew and have forgotten in modern society. BF has had millennia to develop human avoidance skills which seem to be their primary directive when around humans. Humans on the other hand have become civilized, in most cases lost our woodaman skills, lost our sense of smell, and are pretty much clueless about things around us most of the time when we are in the woods. Ask any deer hunter how important scent is when they hunt. BF probably can smell other animals like we could at one time. So looking at known animals like cougar, bear, wolverines, etc, humans rarely encounter them. Because even though they are not particularly intelligent, those known animals have adapted to avoiding humans and use scent, sound, and other abilities to avoid us. Throw in the fact that BF may be nearly intelligent as humans, and that just makes it more difficult for humans to hunt, track, or trick BF. What works? Moving quietly, not talking, not smelling like a perfume counter, being unpredictable, being interesting enough to watch, paying attention to what is going on around you, and a great deal of intuition and luck.

The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west But I think the chance of this happening is as likely as the sun rising in the west

You just don't know what you are missingEmbrace the woods day and night, you won't regret it

Plussed Chele. I don't worry about personal encounter stories, I believe some (many) and some I don't. And yes, those that evolve can be irritating but there may be truth at the source. Attack mode is best left for those who present false evidence for personal gain of some kind (fame, notoriety, money, ego, influence...). All that is separate from the issue of presenting evidence here and then getting a flood of opinions on it, a mix of purely armchair to very well researched. That is a core function of this forum and will not go away. The evidence will go into the maybe pile or the most likely not pile, and hoaxing never needs to come up.