Strange footprints outside my bedroom window??

Definitely a Jackalope!

www.museumofhoaxes.com...

or You are a 'Weremoose, like Wood say's

[edit on 2/21/2008 by MountainStar]

reply to post by woodwytch


Dammit Woody you rumbled me! when the moon is full I change into a moose haha! it gets a little embarrassing if it happens during social functions

The more I look, the more it makes sense about rabbit tracks. I did actually look a little closer when I was taking the pictures, but I couldn't see any other prints that would suggest their front 'paws'. Would I be right in assuming that they do use all 4 paws when they are running, and not like a kangaroo that uses 2?

I remember reading about the 'Devils Hoofprints' tale, thats the one where the tracks where found one snowy morning going for miles and traversing some pretty difficult terrain, right?

reply to post by IMAdamnALIEN


Its certainly possible, as we do have a lot of deer in the forest preserves around here, and although they can wander, I would be suprised if one made it to where I live. The other thing that makes me think its not a deer is the actual impression. The picture you showed there shows the indent from where the point of the hooves pushes in and down, which makes for a deeper impression than where the back of the foot rests, whereas the prints in my photos seem to be the reverse of that, suggesting maybe the pressure is concentrated on the back of the foot.

Does that make any sense?

Color me skeptical, but this sounds just like a plot point from Brain Keene's The Rutting Season, recently release in mass-market paperback as Dark Hollow.

I'd have to say deer although if a rabbit were taking off they tend to have their back feet land in the same spot as the front.

Also the size of the print is not always proportional to the size of the paw/hoof/whatever due to the condition of the snow. A dryer snow will make a print appear larger while a wet snow will give a more accurate account. Also when the snow is layered dry/wet/frozen/etc...you get a whole other thing.

Again I would say deer or running/hippityhopping rabbit.

Do you know how far these prints are away from eachother?
Like the width apart, and the leap?

reply to post by Givenmay


Exactly what I was just going to say. It looks like they are 3-4 ft apart at least. I seriously doubt a rabbitt would have a hop stride (i guess?) that far apart.

So whatever it was it seems to have two legs.... either that or it has one helluva jump.

they are easily an animal such as a deer or rabbit, when a deer walks it is nearly a line so you would not see front tracks and rear tracks, the reason the look so big is the same as if you walk in the snow in say 2 inches of snow, your feet drag the snow a little, its not just a perfect stamp into the ground. When I walk in the snow, my footprints are sometimes a foot and a half long.
The same goes with deer, these could be a rabbit track also, they hop with rear legs together and the rear legs fall into the same spot as the front, giving it the appearance of a single footprint.




[edit on 22-2-2008 by ringing]

Hey there, nice post.

I was wondering about the bipedal possibility as well. It seems the strides don't neccesarly 'line' up as were, for an animal on all fours.

I tend to rule out a rabbit. The continued leaping may be plausible, but wouldn't the tracks be more distorted based on landing and take-off, especially if the snow was fresh as it appears.

Is there any reference available for the depth of the prints, as to how heavy the creature was? If it was layer of snow over a frozen layer and the tracks carried through past the thicker stuff underneath, then I think it would definitely rule out a rabbit (except for the one Helmet had in his Avatar that time,lol) .

Also wanted to point out that even though your not directly in deer country, they tend to get around.

I live pretty much in the middle of the city and deer sightings around my place can be frequent at times. Not uncommon.

Lots of forest, just many many miles away.

A few years ago, my son was out in the front yard playing and came running inside all wide-eyed after a deer jolted by him within five feet.

Scared the cr&p out of him, lol.

Maybe it's this.

Not a deer, nor any other cloven hoof animal. Deer and other tracks of that sort will have the toes deeper into the print than the "heel". This is the reverse, with the rear of the track being deeper. Walking deer will carefully set their toes down first, it's a learned mechanism for quietly maneuvering through dry leaves and brush and they do it in snow and ice as well.

Not rabbit, way too big. A rabbits tracks in snow will show at least 3 distinct parts for each bound.

How 'bout, a person hopping like a bunny with their feet close together? Notice how the snow is blown out a bit at what is presumably the back of the track, which is actually the front? That's from the person's feet hitting the snow with some force and ejecting snow forward.

30 years of following critters around in the woods and brush. Those are my credentials.

[edit on 22-2-2008 by MrPenny]

[edit on 22-2-2008 by MrPenny]

Originally posted by Alxandro
Maybe it's this.

We're actually thinking along the same lines. That's actually what the villain in The Rutting Season is.

It's squirrel or rabbit tracks.

Nothing more than a simple squirrel jump or rabbit hop in the snow.

I was hoping you had these big 16 inch 1/2 human 1/2 wolf tracks.

reply to post by MrPenny


You know what Penny, you are right! I didn't look at the last pic until now and I noticed that missing distinction of a deer print.

I'm still not convinced that it couldn't be a rabbit. What we really need is the condition of the snow which is harder to tell from a picture than one would assume. Rabbits do tend to leave the tri print but.....

I too have chased critters around in the woods for 30+

Originally posted by Grailkeeper
Also wanted to point out that even though your not directly in deer country, they tend to get around.

I live pretty much in the middle of the city and deer sightings around my place can be frequent at times. Not uncommon.

Lots of forest, just many many miles away.

A few years ago, my son was out in the front yard playing and came running inside all wide-eyed after a deer jolted by him within five feet.

Scared the cr&p out of him, lol.

Your'e right, of course, just last year a coyote casually strolled into a Quizno's in downtown Chicago and climbed into the refridgerator unit with the drinks and stuff in to cool down from the summer heat. You can imagine the suprise on the lunchtime diner's faces. It was caught on tape too, they showed it on Fox News. Check it www.youtube.com...

I dunno, its all a bit crazy really. We have a lot of squirrels in the trees right there, and I have seen a rabbit, I just thought these looked a little odd! I didn't realise it would get so many replies!




[edit on 2/22/2008 by Genus_Unknown]

Not a rabbit. These are rabbit tracks. 3, distinct marks made in relatively deep snow.

[edit on 22-2-2008 by MrPenny]

we really need to see how far apart the tracks are. I mean how large is a rabbit stride?

If its any help at all, we had just had a fresh snowfall, it was only a couple of hours old, so it hadn't had time to freeze at that point, as it was relatively mild out. We had, though, had snowfall on a few consecutive days (I remember asking it politely to 'just give up for a f*&*%$ while)

reply to post by Genus_Unknown

outside your bedroom window you say?

it must have been a peeping tomcat.