>>234750Yeah, not even the most superstitious in the tribe believe it. Oddly, the only people who don't outright laugh at the story are other guys who've been on retreat in the neck of the woods that uncle visited and one retired wise man. None of them have their own accounts of the thing. Or at least they haven't shared it.
But to be clear, it's not particularly intelligent. Probably about like a cat. It doesn't approach without the element of surprise. He said he got by several nights by hanging candles in the boughs of trees near the river bank he was on. He'd never known the thing to cross water so he camped on a rock shelf surrounded on 2 sides by a curve in the river with only one side having many trees. He put candles up in them and it not only didn't enter those trees (until nearly morning, when it supposedly knocked some candles off) but when it got close enough to be in the light and he stared it down it turned quickly and retreated.
Likewise, when he was out on the plains he'd put fire around him best he could without totally circling himself and it'd try to sneak across the grass until he made eye contact.
It didn't lay traps, didn't make vocalizations, didn't ever lead him by more than a few yards. It mostly followed and tried to get the drop on him then and there. No obvious planning or critical thought. It didn't ever knock candles over with sticks or throw water on fires.
Allegedly.
