Bigfoot Stalking People

[georgerm]

Leaftalker 

 

If you are walking in the woods, and you meet with what appears to be aggressive behavior, it is a brilliant, brilliant move to stop moving and speak aloud, calmly, saying that you intend no harm and would like to continue on your way, if that's alright with them. If the sounds you hear after that change, in a good way -- if they either cease altogether, or cease to sound as aggressive -- you know you can keep going. If the sounds you hear remain aggressive, or seem to indicate increasing agitation, you apologize and turn around. Simple as that. 

 

That's genuine and respectful communication. 

 

And it works. A majorly significant amount of the time, you will be allowed to pass. And if you continue to show that kind of flexibility and respect, you may -- at some point -- be allowed much more than just safe passage from one spot to another. 

 

If someone needs to hike from point A to B and BF tries to prevent this, then who has the right-of-way? Does BF have the right to break our bones to prove this point?  Does this change if one is well armed? 

 

If a bear wants to eat your leg while you watch, do you withhold your fire?   

[LeafTalker]

Georgerm, I'm not sure what a "need" to hike somewhere looks like. You mean, you have a friend at a campsite up ahead, and you want to meet them there, and a BF seems to be indicating he doesn't want you to pass? Something like that? You would just say, "My friend is at that campsite up ahead there, and I'd like to join them there. I didn't mean to put you out in any way. I'm just passing through here, and have no desire to harm you or anyone else." And then you would wait quietly to see what the response was. 

 

There's nothing to worry about, and this is not rocket science. There are no special, arcane rules of engagement for BF. If you understand what common courtesy is, and demonstrate to them that you understand what it is, you'll be good.

 

And if someone continues to show a high level of upset, and you don't have a great "need" to be hiking in that direction, you just turn around. 

 

Not sure why you think a BF would be interested in breaking your bones. They're just interested in making sure you don't accidentally step on one of their children, stumble into a bedding area, or interrupt a hunt. So, be respectful and acknowledge their distress and at least try to fake an interest in not distressing them. Most things can be negotiated most of the time. But you have to act adult enough to be taken seriously as a negotiation partner -- and in this case, "adult" means cool, calm, and collected. Waving and firing guns and shouting are not good strategies here. 

 

As for bears, I don't know anything about them. You'll have to ask someone else about that. 

 

Randy, sounds like you're having a blast. And I do think they understand most, if not all, of what we say. I don't think the camera thing is a good idea, but the worst it will do is set you back a little. And maybe that's fine. Things happen when they need to.  

[Incorrigible1]

Bigfoot whispering 101.

[georgerm]

Georgerm, I'm not sure what a "need" to hike somewhere looks like. You mean, you have a friend at a campsite up ahead, and you want to meet them there, and a BF seems to be indicating he doesn't want you to pass? Something like that? You would just say, "My friend is at that campsite up ahead there, and I'd like to join them there. I didn't mean to put you out in any way. I'm just passing through here, and have no desire to harm you or anyone else." And then you would wait quietly to see what the response was. .........................................................................................................................................

 

 

 

Not sure why you think a BF would be interested in breaking your bones. They're just interested in making sure you don't accidentally step on one of their children, stumble into a bedding area, or interrupt a hunt. So, be respectful and acknowledge their distress and at least try to fake an interest in not distressing them. Most things can be negotiated most of the time. But you have to act adult enough to be taken seriously as a negotiation partner -- and in this case, "adult" means cool, calm, and collected. Waving and firing guns and shouting are not good strategies here. 

 

 

 

Your comments are well stated and you have my attention. Respect, stand your ground, and communication seem to be your points. At this point, I don't know how your method of dealing with BF on a trail is factual or conjecture.  

 

So you believe BF will understand your dialogue. Have you come face to face with BF on a trail.

 

Waving guns around is not what woodsmen do and is naïve for those who believe this.

 

Do you think all BFs are going to be respectful or are their homicidal ones out there that could care less about respectful chatter?  This my friend is the real question.  

Edited June 14, 2014 by georgerm

[SWWASAS]

A lot of guidance related to interaction with BF has been put out on this thread including from myself.     I realize and I do not think some would put themseff in the same category, that I know so little about BF behavior, what I do is based more on intuition at times than science.    It is an experiment to find out what seems to work and what does not for me in my area with my group of resident BF.   At this point I have not learned enough or make no claim for any expertise.    My way is just that my way at this point in time, and nothing more.   Even that changes as I go.    Anything I put out is just how I do things at this point in time or suggestions I have not had the opportunity to try, rather that guidance for others to follow.    I hope that is clear.    Those that wear the mantle of BF expert are fooling themselves,  and at times it is very evident.        On the other hand,   I have butted heads with what I call the experiencers before.    There seem to be some on BFF.     These are the people who do not experiment, do not have cameras with them, and do not document what they experience.   They are satisfied just going out and having some interaction with BF.   Some of them, if you can believe what they say, are quite successful.    But without cameras, tape measures, recorders, and other methods to document what little data is available from experience, to me it is recreation akin to a thrill sport like sky diving.    And without such things as pictures and recordings to document their experiences, it is all antidotal with no means of validation.    Sorry that is not my thing as the experiencers will take what they know to their grave.   We are in a moment in time, living with an unrecognized species,  which for all we know, will be extinct in a few generations.     That is an opportunity I cannot pass up to study.    But that is just me.    Randy 

[LeafTalker]

Thanks for your respectful response, Georgerm. I will answer your questions in reverse order. 

 

"Do you think all BFs are going to be respectful or are their homicidal ones out there that could care less about respectful chatter?  This my friend is the real question."

 

I will say as respectfully as I can that that actually is not the real question, but I will answer it anyway. BF are like us. The human race produced both Mother Theresa and John Wayne Gacy. What meaningful conclusions about humans -- and therefore, how you should behave around them -- have you drawn from that? If you have a good formula that's been working for you with humans, I would try that with the BF, too. 

 

I have no doubt there are some John Wayne Gacys among the BF. But on a day-to-day basis, that isn't important information. Every time you get up in the morning, you are risking your life. Do you drive a car? Every time you get into a car, you are risking your life. But you still get up and drive cars and live your life, because the majority of the time, it all works out fine. All those poor people who have come on here to say, "I've been in the woods all my life and I've never seen a BF, so therefore they don't exist" -- well, they are not good logicians, but they are telling the truth: They have been in the woods all their lives and never seen a BF. What does that suggest about your chances of going about your business and never encountering any kind of BF, much less a "homicidal" one? It suggests your chance are very, very good you will never have to deal with what you're afraid of dealing with. 

 

But let's say you do have the weird misfortune to draw the one short straw out of a billion trillion, and you come across what you believe to be a homicidal BF. If an 8-foot tall, 600-to-1,000-pound individual who chases bears and big cats out of his territory wants to put you on the menu, it's probably over. Oh well. You probably had no warning that John Q Public would be hitting the sauce in the middle of the afternoon just before he came around that blind curve on the road you were traveling to go pick up your sister, either.  

 

But if you're wrong, and the BF doesn't want to put you on the menu -- he's just scared and uncertain and bluffing, or sees that you're right next to his kid or his wife, or can no longer get that deer because you spooked it -- then you have options. You can just talk soothingly, explain yourself, put out your request respectfully, and give them time to think about it and respond. 

 

Why do we spend all our energy worrying about, and trying to imagine, what we would do in a situation where there's likely nothing we can do, but spend no time practicing -- or even considering -- the very real, very useful strategies that ARE available to us, and that work 99.99% of the time when we encounter situations that seem tense, but are easily resolved? Why do we fret about the things we can't change, instead of sharpening our abilities to change what we can? And sometimes you won't know which situation you're in. But to act like you know -- to act like a particular situation is the worst (and rarest!) kind, where you might die whatever you did, instead of acting like the situation is the better (and much more likely!) one, where a simple act of kindness and thoughtfulness could diffuse all the tension -- is a little bit, um, odd. At least try the sensible thing first. Then you can worry, if that doesn't work. 

 

This is why I say the question you posed as the "real" question is not the real question. We know the answer to the question you say is the "real" question. The answer is, yes, of course, sometimes there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves. Yes, there is real danger in the world. But by far the greatest amount of danger there is in the world is the danger we create by adding fuel to a tiny fire that would have gone out quickly and easily, if we hadn't opened our big mouths to yell in terror or anger, or fired a gun.

 

When you get into a car, you put on a seatbelt, and most every time, you'll be fine. When you go out into the woods, put on your awareness that BF are just like us, and that a soft answer turneth away wrath, and you'll be fine there, too. 

 

I will answer your other question, too, although I have a pet peeve about that one, too. Yes, twice I've had encounters in the woods where I heard a sound that I had never heard before in my life, and therefore slotted into the category of "growl". I was quite scared, so I said that. "I'm a little scared. I'm not certain what you're trying to say to me. I would like to keep going on this trail. If you'd like me to stop, though, I will. Can you give me some confirmation that you mean for me to stop and turn around?" Then I stood there for a moment and waited. Nothing happened. I heard no sound, no twigs snapping, no growling, no breaking of branches, no nothin'. So I thought, cool -- I'm movin' on. And I did. And nobody came after me. And in fact, the next week, when the "growl" (which I no longer think was a growl, but just a hello type of vocalization) happened again, at the exact same spot in the trail, it was softer and closer to me. I understood that to mean that they had understood me perfectly the week before. They knew I'd been frightened the week before, but they really wanted to make contact anyway, so they did it in such a way as to honor both my fear and their desire, by making a quieter noise.

 

So yes, I've had some experience with this. But I didn't have the experience until I went into the woods and tried out what I had read about and studied for many months, almost non-stop, almost 24/7. I knew, before I ever stepped into those woods, that these strategies would work, because I listened to others who made sense to me. When things make sense, you know that intuitively. You don't need to demand proof of things, because, as we all know, "proof" is in the eye of the beholder. In the end, it is you who decides what is true or not, based on how the information strikes you. Nobody decides but you. 

 

It would be nice if we could all finally acknowledge that the final responsibility for deciding what is true or not rests with ourselves. And if we've made a mistake, who cares? You just refine your listening skills. You don't stop going about your life because you made a mistake. 

 

Thanks, Georgerm, for the opportunity to answer these questions. Hope this helps. 

Edited June 14, 2014 by LeafTalker

[Sasfooty]

Plussed, LeafTalker!!!

 

That was a very wise & judicious answer.

 

It sounds like you know what you're talking about.

[MIB]

Another plus.   That is a well thought out and well laid out response, LeafTalker. 

 

MIB

[LeafTalker]

Thanks, guys. I was going to say this to Sasfooty, but it's true of you, too, MIB: I know only a tiny fraction of what you both know. But you're both alive, well, and kicking -- so I know everything will be fine!!!!!    

[Rockape]

 

I have no doubt there are some John Wayne Gacys among the BF.

 

 

So, there are bigfoots that will kill you and bury you under the crawlspace below their house?

[SWWASAS]

Rockape that is highly likely figuratively speaking.   They might even be sharp enough to hide a human body.    I think they might bury their own under piles of rocks.     If I was a BF that had just been shot at, had a relative shot at or shot,  I would not be inclined to be the gentle giant of the forest either.   While I think procurement of a body somehow is necessary,  I really do not want to be the next human along after someone has been shooting.    That Granit Falls area in Northern Washington has something going on there.      The frequent hostility towards humans is very evident in reports.     Reports of someone being chased out of the woods are almost a weekly event.   Either there are some very grumpy males or something has happened there.   It is very unlike SW WA.     Not sure anyone will ever know the difference unless someone shoots one of the aggressive males and finds bullet wound scars.    That might explain it.     Randy       

Edited June 14, 2014 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[Rockape]

Rockape that is highly likely figuratively speaking.  

 

 

 

I got that, but thanks anyway. My post was just a joke. I like ribbing Leaftalker occasionally. I mean no harm.

[georgerm]

 

 

 

But if you're wrong, and the BF doesn't want to put you on the menu -- he's just scared and uncertain and bluffing, or sees that you're right next to his kid or his wife, or can no longer get that deer because you spooked it -- then you have options. You can just talk soothingly, explain yourself, put out your request respectfully, and give them time to think about it and respond. 

 

Why do we spend all our energy worrying about, and trying to imagine, what we would do in a situation where there's likely nothing we can do, but spend no time practicing -- or even considering -- the very real, very useful strategies that ARE available to us, and that work 99.99% of the time when we encounter situations that seem tense, but are easily resolved? Why do we fret about the things we can't change, instead of sharpening our abilities to change what we can? And sometimes you won't know which situation you're in. But to act like you know -- to act like a particular situation is the worst (and rarest!) kind, where you might die whatever you did, instead of acting like the situation is the better (and much more likely!) one, where a simple act of kindness and thoughtfulness could diffuse all the tension -- is a little bit, um, odd. At least try the sensible thing first. Then you can worry, if that doesn't work. 

 

This is why I say the question you posed as the "real" question is not the real question. We know the answer to the question you say is the "real" question. The answer is, yes, of course, sometimes there is nothing we can do to protect ourselves. Yes, there is real danger in the world. But by far the greatest amount of danger there is in the world is the danger we create by adding fuel to a tiny fire that would have gone out quickly and easily, if we hadn't opened our big mouths to yell in terror or anger, or fired a gun.

 

When you get into a car, you put on a seatbelt, and most every time, you'll be fine. When you go out into the woods, put on your awareness that BF are just like us, and that a soft answer turneth away wrath, and you'll be fine there, too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You make good sense.  The bold parts are especially true and a good code of conduct when dealing with BF imho.

 

" With the faith of a mustard seed, one can move mountains."

[LeafTalker]

Didn't know that was a joke, Rockape. Thanks for that clarification. And Randy, thanks for yours, too. And Georgerm, I love that mustard seed quote, too.

[Guest]

no jokes please

Edited June 15, 2014 by mbh