First, I'm new to the boards and this topic may have been beat dead and buried along time ago but I'm very curious about this subject.

Quesion: Why do people react immediately with fear in an encounter with BF?

From reading almost every encounter listed on BFRO, I don't think our immediate reaction is strictly a learned response to an unknown creature. Otherwise, zoos would be places to terrify children instead of entertain them. It seems to be something more instinctual.

There are topics on this board now that speculate on the carnivorous feeding habits and the aggressiveness of BF; could early human ancestors have had enough contact with aggressive, omnivorous BF to create a genetic behavioral response? Was Giganto more bear-like than panda-like in his choice of menu?

In that case, those of our ancestors that ran screaming in fear survived; those who didn't were beaten to a pulp or worse, ripped limb from limb and eaten. Pretty strong natural selection going on there.

Please, I am very curious of your thoughts, particularly those who have had multiple encounters or have even sought out an encounter successfully.

Welcome to BFF, Enkidu!


Edit because I posted the wrong link. I'll get back to you.

OK, here's one from last year that talks about some of the feeling on the fear factor.

http://www.bigfootforums.com/index.php?showtopic=60&hl=

Slight difference from seeing an animal behind a cage in a controlled environment than seeing a big hairy smell creature romping through the woods...a bear wouldnt scare me in a zoo but when i run into one in the woods its a whole new ball game. But personally, i think its a basic fight or flight argument...you hear some thumps on the ground in the woods and it gets your blood going. And ofcourse the reaction can and does differ between people.

Size must have a lot to do with it. People don't freak out when they encounter the small orang pendek. Another small critter that isn't immediately frightening is the rare (non-existent?) Australian Brown Jack.

Hello Enkidu, welcome to the forum!

Well, the human psyche leads us to feel safe when we see an animal in a cage. We are in control of the situation and basically the fight-or-flight instinct is sequestered. However, you're in the woods and a seven-foot tall Ape-like creature suddenly appears staring you in the face. At that moment, your instinct, tells you "his domain, no cage, uh-oh!". Add to this the fact that we do not know how a BF will actually react to us, will he attack, fight? I just think it's all in the wiring. Some of the stories I've read involved BF researcher/hunters with countless hours in the wilderness. No doubt they've encountered dangerous animals. But, when it comes to large Bi-pedal Ape-like creature that exhibits a high degree of intelligence, who knows?

I think its mainly due to the unknown aspect of it. *Is that REALLY one of those things?* I think its also due to the massive size, as someone else has stated, and the upright, humanlike posture and humanlike face......

i think the reason that we do get scared is because for one is that where in there domain and that we never know where theses animals are going to pop up its away a surpise when we do see them. your body aways react to something that surpise you and most of the time its fright then fear.

I forgot something I said 2 months ago about this same question: What we "see" is the external form that a naked human "id" would take, so we get scared.

I think another aspect for the overwhelming fear some witnesses express might have to do with our cultural upbringing as well.

Remember as a child when you just knew there was something under the bed or in the closet? (C'mon, be honest. You know you did.)

Well, I think for some people seeing a sasquatch might strike a nerve as being a physical manifestation of that unknown "boogie man" that kept them hiding under the covers as a child.

Another thing that comes to mind could be religious upbringing. How many people do you suppose may have seen a sasquatch and convinced themselves that what they'd really seen was a demon? It's not a farfetched idea if you were brought up from a young age to believe that demons are very real.

I know if it was me I would be freaked because I don't know how to take the BF down if nessicary. You don't know what its going to do and your in his yard. No one has ever killed one and if you think about it BFs been shot by small guns, large guns, bows, Paintball guns and still nothing. So you pray for it to take off and not stand its ground. But I would be in aww of the mighty beast. It would be hard for me to take my eyes off it because I think that its a big honor to actually see one.

It is just a natural instinct to fear anything that is bigger and stronger than you. That is pure survival instincts. I would be freaked if I ran into an 8 foot tall, 700lb man at the mall. Big = intimidating. Big, hairy, and unpredictable? Frickin' scary!

To a certain extent I agree that encountering a large creature in the woods is un-nerving but when it's a herbivore (as BF is proported to be), few people beat feet. Where I grew up (way northern New England), it was not uncommon to run across cows, horses, or moose in the woods; seldom did I panic at the sight of these 1000lb+ herbivorous creatures. Now when I've run across bear, the flight response is immediate and overrides any sense of curiousity (atleast until I get a good distance away).

As for my zoo analogy, children seem to instinctually know what animals pose little or no danger to them. They will stick their face against the glass of a racoon or tropical bird enclosure but when it comes to the tiger cage or other predator, their body language immediately says "distress" and they only approach when confident that there is no way the animal can get out. This reaction is even better at an aquarium, which seems odd unless you hold to the aquatic hominid theory. I challenge anyone to go to a zoo and observe this behaviour for themselves.

I will agree also that BF fits the boogey man image extremely well (which may not be coincidental) and strikes that common nerve when sighted. Again, is this cultural or deeper? Is it a reaction that was cultivated long ago during encounters between proto-humans and Gigantos? I've read some speculation that proto-humans may have hunted Gigantos into extinction, like so many other species of that age. Might there have been good reason for proto-humans to hunt Gigantos down? Maybe for the same reason cave bear and other competitors were systematically wiped out.

Again, this is all speculation and my thoughts on a phenomenon that seems to permiate BF encounters across the board. Thanks for the responses!

I think this might have a lot to do with the human-like aspects of bigfoot.
I think it's not bigfoots that we're genetically conditioned to fear, but humans.
Even prehistorically, the most dangerous animal you could encounter would be an unknown human.
Concrete illustration: You're sitting in your house typing on the computer, and you happen to glance out the window and there's a bear out there! That's startling, but you quickly gather your wits and deal with it rationally.
Instead, imagine you're sitting at home typing on the computer and you glance out the window and there's a person standing there. That's scary. And in this situation the fight or flight response is hard to overcome and doesn't just disipate.
Or say you're walking outside somewhere in a strange environment and you see someone walking towards you. You immediately, instinctively, start trying to evaluate who they are and what their intentions are. If that person is acting strangely, then the concerns are greatly increased. If the person is very large, you feel even more concern. And if this person is very close when you first notice them there is an even greater response.
The normal means to allay fear in any situation is to use reasoning. After the initial shot of adrenaline from that ancient fight-or-flight response, the brain quickly tries to assess the situation. When we're kids, just about everything is frightening. We hear a strange noise or see a strange sight, and we run and hide behind our parents. Over time, we learn what is actually a threat and what is not. As our catalog of information and experience grows we develop much more confidence, and when confronted with a new stimulus, our reasoning kicks in and tries to figure out 'what is happening/what is the threat?' 'what can I expect to happen next?' and 'how should I respond?' In most situations, reason overcomes the pure instinctive fight-or-flight reaction. But if you suddenly notice a very large, strange human that is quite close to you in an unfamiliar environment, and then find that your brain is unable to answer the questions about what this person is, and what this person is doing, and you lack any experience to draw on when it comes to predicting this situation, then all you are left with is the fight-or-flight instinct. Your brain is unable to control and reduce the fear reaction, which in itself is a frightening experience, and all you are left with is panic.
I think the immediate fright upon seeing a bigfoot is particularly strong because of the 'stranger' reaction we have when seeing another person, but the fact that we don't have any knowledge or experience to draw on to allay these fears is what causes the feeling of terror to be so overwhelming.

I'll tell you what freaked me out. It was over a half mile away, looking right at me, and knew I was looking at it. Then I started to get this metal message like it was talking to me and telling me to stayoff it's mountain. This area has tons of large Alaskan Brown bears, we see them all the time, out the window, on the way to the outhouse, etc etc. They can make you pay attention when their less than fifty feet away, which happens occasionally. But bigfoot is a whole different deal. I think it's a kind of mental intimidation. I mean it takes a lot to rattle this old veteran. I compare them to rattlesnakes, keep an eye on them and be very cautious! I also believe you won't see one unless it wants you to, There may be exceptions to that, it's just a feeling I got with my sighting.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I think Bigfoots neatly combine the scary aspects of humans with the scary aspects of bears and the scary aspects of the supernatural ("that thing isn't supposed to exist !"). But most scary of all is just the fact that they have faces, eyes, expressions.

Think of horror movies - the scariest monsters are always man like - or even just plain men !

That's what does it for me! Fear of the unknown! If I saw one walking up to me I would have two choices..wait for him to reach me and see what happens...or get out of there fast.
Now, if you are looking, eye to chest, at something, at least, a foot taller then you, and twice your body weight..but you cannot figure out of it is human or animal, then that is a very scary proposition. It looks humanlike..but it has the unexpressive eyes of an animal. You do not have a common ground..yet you feel that you should.
We know what our animal side is capable of if let go unchecked....so what might this creature be capable of doing to us..on a whim?

I think the fear response has to do with the "boogie man" aspect. Bigfoot is part reality/part fiction. As such it resides in the same quasi-existence X-category as ghosts and aliens. And if it is real, is it just a primate, or is it a monster? The general feeling is that bigfoot is an unnatural entity. Dogs and other animals react with fear, other wildlife seems to avoid it, and man's inability to catch one indicates how mysterious it really is. And the fact that it resides in the deep dark forests, lends it a powerful element of basic childhood fears. Forests were spooky places in western culture long before Bigfoot entered the picture. In Germany, the black forest was the setting for children's horror stories.

What makes a forest scary? I think it has to do with the physical construction. A forest is like a bedroom with a million dark closets. Every tree casts a shadow. And behind every tree something can hide. And there are a thousand sounds, but we can not see the source of those sounds. That opens up the fear of the unknown to the cruelty of the human imagination.

And now we are told that within the great forests of North America, lurks a 7-foot tall hairy beast which may or may not be a real monster - the very thing our parents told us, as children, does not exist - but which a color film shot in 1967 seems to prove does. That's pretty scary. It's all about the unknown.