Two Bigfoot Encounters Reported Near Bellingham in 2009

Sasquatch Pays Two Visits to a Washington Home — And the Second One Was Terrifying Came across a fascinating video over on the LoveLeigh Adventures YouTube channel where the host reacts to a written encounter account from a man named Steve Pavlik. The story takes place back in 2009 on the Lummi Reservation just outside Bellingham, Washington, and it's the kind of report that really makes you think about what's lurking in those dense Pacific Northwest woods. The first encounter happened in the early morning hours of September 23rd, 2009. Steve was loading up his truck around 3:30 to 4:00 AM, getting ready to catch a flight out of Bellingham International to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado where he had a speaking engagement. It was pitch dark, cold, and crisp — one of those quiet mornings where every little sound seems amplified. That's when he heard it: a loud, piercing cry that shattered the silence. It came from the dense woods behind his house, no more than 50 yards away. The vocalization lasted about five seconds, paused for two or three, then repeated itself identically. Every dog within a mile radius woke up and started howling and barking. Steve turned off his porch lights and sat in the dark for about 15 minutes hoping to hear it again, but whatever made the sound stayed quiet. He described the sound as completely unique — nothing like any local animal or bird he'd ever heard. The closest comparison he could make was to howler monkeys in the jungles of South America, which is actually a comparison that comes up fairly often in Sasquatch reports. Those deep, resonant vocalizations are often described as primate-like, and many researchers believe Sasquatch vocalizations share similarities with known primate species. Less than a week later, on September 27th, Steve had his second encounter. He'd been pheasant hunting at nearby Lake Terrell and returned home around noon with two roosters. He went to a small clearing near his driveway to clean the birds — a spot where he routinely tossed the remains into the woods for raccoons and possums. He had just finished cleaning the first bird when all hell broke loose in the woods less than 20 feet away from him. A large tree — Steve estimated the trunk was about 10 inches in diameter — began swinging violently from side to side like it was a sapling. Branches and leaves came crashing down. Then he heard the loud cracking of wood, like something was breaking branches over its knee and slamming them into the ground. His Labrador retriever, Robin, who had been lying next to him chewing on a pheasant wing, leaped to his feet and started backing toward the house, staring intently into the woods. Steve grabbed his partially cleaned birds and made a hasty retreat. Robin was already on the porch waiting for him. Interestingly, the creature made no vocalizations during this second encounter — just pure destruction and intimidation. Steve believes the first encounter was a vocalization to announce presence, and the second was a deliberate attempt to scare him off and assert dominance. What makes this report stand out is the escalation. The first visit was a vocal announcement from about 50 yards away. The second visit was much closer — less than 20 feet — and involved physical displays of strength. Tree shaking and branch breaking are classic Sasquatch behavior patterns that have been reported across North America for decades. Researchers often note that Sasquatch seem to use these displays as warnings or territorial markers rather than outright aggression. The Lummi Reservation area, with its mix of dense forest and proximity to the water, is exactly the kind of habitat where Sasquatch reports tend to cluster. The Pacific Northwest remains one of the most active regions for sightings, and accounts like this one from someone who lived there for years carry a lot of weight. Steve even mentioned that bear sightings on the reservation are far less frequent than Sasquatch sightings, which lines up with patterns seen in other parts of the country