Curious if any of our rural comrades have ever heard this phenomenon? It's alleged that Biggie communicates with one another via these knocks over miles of wooded terrain. I've heard weird noises before at night but never any knocks, go figure according to the internet there was a Bigtoe sighting near where I live.
Pic related is an official Sasquatch tree knocker from Etsy.
As apes ourselves, "large ape" is a pretty simple basis for a myth—like how dragons are common cross-culturally because we're afraid of snakes.