strange footprints in my woods

i own quite a bit of land and live in the country. I was looking around my yard and i noticed that everytime it snows i get the same unusual footprints left in the snow. I do not recognize the shape of the prints and there is about 6 feet or more spacing between each "step". An average size man would have to really jump to get to the next print. I have attached some pictures. Also the steps appear to just vanish at the end of the trail. Are these made by a qual that is hopping/flying to each next step? The impression does not appear that deep so i dont think alot of weight was behind the animal making them. So its either a tall giant alien with reptillian like feet, or obviously some normal explianation, i was hoping someone here could help me with this as it is puzzeling me each snow fall.










[edit on 20-1-2007 by hiii_98]

Hiii

Where do you live? Not your actuall address but part of the country. Elk and Moose leave pretty big tracks, but Im no expert on them

i live in southern wisconsin. We have ALOT of deer, but those prints are easy to find and i'm a avid hunter. If it is a deer or elk i'd be interested to know!

Those are rabbit tracks. I have hundreds of them around my car and near the trees in the area.

i see rabbit tracks all over my house too. The problem is how is a rabbit going to jump almost six -eight feet per hop? Really i see the rabbit prints all around the yard, these are definatly different.

here are some rabbit prints i found on the net. Similar?







[img]http://pro.corbis.com/images/71310.jpg?size=67&uid=[df5f4ea4-9d85-4249-9fb4-821a70c8e5a2][/img]



footprint examples




[edit on 20-1-2007 by hiii_98]

Squirrels don't seem to enjoy walking in the snow, they usually hop to different spots and dig a bit then hop again. They have no problem hopping six feet.
Does the trail of prints end within about six feet of a tree?
Squirrels hibernate somewhat in the winter, but they wake up occasionally to forage for food.

one side DOES end near trees, the other side ends near a bush and no trees. I dont see any wing or flapping marks near the busy, or any evidence of digging or going down a hole.

maybe its the cotten tail rabbit? Says it can leave prints 1-7 feet. I'd like to know how he vanishes, and the prints look similar but not identical. I also see claw like marks on the front of the prints i took a picture of. Thanks guys for helping me solve this scooby doo mystery LOL.

more pictures of tracks

www.geocities.com...

i'm just not seeing it as any one of these. Maybe i got a mutant running around in the back yard

[edit on 20-1-2007 by hiii_98]

Here are some picks of tracks None seem to fit

www.hopkins.k12.mn.us...

either its something very tall with 2 long legs, something very small with a great ability to leap (likely some sort of rabbit that keeps both its front and rear feet together when leaping, making an abnormal track) or somesort of bird hopping/flying from spot to spot, with its two front claws together, and its rear tail making up the back looking indenture.. Or a two legged deer with a creepy back claw

I dont think its a squirl from the tracks i viewed.
here is the closest one i could find: www.sover.net...

[edit on 20-1-2007 by hiii_98]

Your tracks look the way they do because of the type of snow, it's not hard packed, and the deepness(more than 1-2 inches). I have personally witnessed tracks exactly like that being made by rabbits running(bounding) at full speed. The two front paws land first right next to one another, and the two rear legs come forward around the front legs as they begin to lift, shifting the weight to the hind legs.

i guess you have to be right, i mean that also might explain why they dissapear, because when the animal is done running it walks off leaving normal tracks. There were normal rabbit tracks near the area where they just vanish. The running would also explain why the tracks are so far apart. Not 100% convinced, but it definatly sounds plausible to me!

Damn.. was hoping something unusual would visit my woods, if it ever did i'd tag and bag bigfoot and mount him/her on my wall and post it here on ATS first


given the length of the footprints and the capability of a leaping rabbit while running, i'd have to say this mystery is likely solved Thanks everyone for your time and advice.

If it looks like something else to someone i'd still like to know.

[edit on 20-1-2007 by hiii_98]

Ive posted many many times on ATS about me having to control the rodents around the farm with a .17hmr rifle. Those are definatly 100% rabbit tracks, They dont look the same becasue those ones are in fairly deep loose , snow. the other pics are takin in an inch or two of hard snow. I have seen them litterally hundreds of times.

Looks like the heel of a small childs footprint mixed with something else at the top of it to make it look like its one big footprint.

** You know there's a pretty well known story about a possible werewolf siting in a small community in Wisconsin. I've watched something about it on the National Geographic channel or discovery or something. Though there is not any straight up proof, there alot of people who have seen something big, hairy, and weird up there. I remember a man and wife who were just sitting around watching tv. The wife happened to glance over the husbands shoulder to see what she said was a Wolf that looked like a bear. She screamed the husband nearly broke his chair jumping out of it. Got his gun, but only found a few large footprints. They said the animals in there farm had been acting weirdly all night, they just thought there was some coyote nearby.There's alot of open country for something like that to hide. Plus if he's a farmer out in the middle of no where its easier to hide. I'm not real sure on the real rules about Werewolves, just the ones they have in books, and movies.

** Could be some kind of Yeti like creature.

** Could be just a really big Bear. Every once in a while there that odd duck in all species. Look at Yao Ming.

** Could be a prank by some kids.

But you better be mindfull. Don't go walking around after dark without a big shotgun with extra ammo, and don't ignore when your animals out on your farm start acting strangely. I'm guessing you live on a farm, etc. You should have at least one dog. They are a lot more intune with pretators who might hurt you.

Please tell us more if anything happense. I really like the photo's

I'd actually like to know if there is a track in between the two bottom tracks slightly off to the right just out of the cameras field of view.

Still though, I have no idea because I am a city boy

Hiii_98, hows it going?

Nice photos.

To those that say it is a rabbit... ... since when is a rabbits foot wider and longer than a humans? The 2nd photo in his first post is incredible... look at the size of that impression.

Originally posted by fooffstarr
Hiii_98, hows it going?

Nice photos.

To those that say it is a rabbit... ... since when is a rabbits foot wider and longer than a humans? The 2nd photo in his first post is incredible... look at the size of that impression.

I think they're talking about the entire rabbits impression: P not just a singular foot. Now that they brought it up it does seem like a rabbit.

[edit on 20-1-2007 by masterofpuppets]

Originally posted by masterofpuppets

Originally posted by fooffstarr
Hiii_98, hows it going?

Nice photos.

To those that say it is a rabbit... ... since when is a rabbits foot wider and longer than a humans? The 2nd photo in his first post is incredible... look at the size of that impression.

I think they're talking about the entire rabbits impression: P not just a singular foot. Now that they brought it up it does seem like a rabbit.

[edit on 20-1-2007 by masterofpuppets]

Well if it was a rabbit he is a very clever one, being able to hop from left to right so perfectly that it seems like it is a bipedal creature's footsteps.

** You know there's a pretty well known story about a possible werewolf siting in a small community in Wisconsin. I've watched something about it on the National Geographic channel or discovery or something. Though there is not any straight up proof, there alot of people who have seen something big, hairy, and weird up there. I remember a man and wife who were just sitting around watching tv. The wife happened to glance over the husbands shoulder to see what she said was a Wolf that looked like a bear. She screamed the husband nearly broke his chair jumping out of it. Got his gun, but only found a few large footprints. They said the animals in there farm had been acting weirdly all night, they just thought there was some coyote nearby.There's alot of open country for something like that to hide. Plus if he's a farmer out in the middle of no where its easier to hide. I'm not real sure on the real rules about Werewolves, just the ones they have in books, and movies.

** Could be some kind of Yeti like creature.

** Could be just a really big Bear. Every once in a while there that odd duck in all species. Look at Yao Ming.

I guess thats what interests me so much about the crypto field is that "werewolfs" are the one and only claim to fame my neck of the woods has to offer. I think people are mistaking bigfoot for werewolfs, but those sightings do happen about 15-20 miles from my house. I think the most recent sighting was in October. Over the summer i went out one night to smoke around 4am and i heard trees literally being knocked over in my woods, scared the hell out of me. A friend told me it was likely deer in rut, rubbing antlers on the bark, but i heard trees being pushed out of the ground (and confirmed the next day). That did scare me and haha i fired off some shots in there just to see if i'd get lucky and bag whatever it was. (no luck).

Regarding these foot prints they seem more reptile or bird like. I mean bigfoot or a yeti would have... well wide big feet. Also assuming bigfoot weights alot more than a man, i would think the tracks would be deeper (which they are not), leading me to beleive whatever it was, was either flying or extremely light, logic would lean towards light , however its still weird, and i can take more pics tommorow if anyone likes.