Are They Dangerous?
Eyewitnesses have reported bigfoot/sasquatch behavior that ranges from benign to spooky to seemingly violent.
Examples of benign behavior include looking into windows of lighted rooms and merely observing human activity from a vantage point. When spotted, the sasquatch usually moves on.
Spooky behavior includes disturbing campsites, throwing pebbles at people, parallelling hikers in the woods, and, on occasion, trying to enter a house.
Sasquatches have also been known to crash loudly and violently through the woods, shaking and sometimes breaking trees. They have thrown large rocks and have pounded on cars and camper trailers. This type of behavior seems to accomplish its goal -- the humans to whom this behavior is directed generally make a hasty retreat.
According to John Green, "There is no modern story that describes the killing or injuring of a human by one of these creatures, deliberately or otherwise" (Sasquatch: The Apes Among Us, page 34.)
For the sole account of what must have been a sasquatch killing a human, see the account related to Teddy Roosevelt by a trapper named Bauman. In his fascinating book, North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch, wildlife biologist John Bindernagel reveals some amazing parallels between the behavior of the creature in the Bauman account and the behavior of known great apes. Dr. Bindernagel states that the destruction of Bauman's lean-to by a sasquatch "...may also be comparable to the destruction of chimpanzee nests by other chimpanzees.... If the comparison with great ape behavior is valid, the reported actions of this sasquatch before resorting to physical attack on a human are consistent with behavior reported above for African and Asian great apes, especially chimpanzees" (North America's Great Ape: the Sasquatch, page 205).
Dr. Bindernagel also points out on page 144, "The fact that only one such attack has been recorded attests to the exceptionally benign temperament of the sasquatch." Sasquatch has been described as a "gentle giant" and correctly so. However, it is important to note that bigfoot are wild animals and, as with all wild animals, may at times act and react in an unpredictable manner. As very large and very strong wild animals, bigfoot should be accorded a great deal of respect.
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