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I don't know enough about foot morphology to make any argument one way or the other, but I do have one explanation for some of these tracks. I'm not an expert tracker, but I've done some here and there. Many times I've walked carefully for a few miles and then backtracked myself to see what sign I left on different substrates so I'd better know what to look for in others. I've spent way too much time walking on the beach, and there are tons of footprints left. Lots of midtarsal breaks exhibited - but they weren't left by bigfoots, and on the way back, I've noted that I even left those types of tracks. If you are casually taking your time, your foot will pretty much put straight downforce in the sand. But if you're stretching your legs out a bit - the heel comes down in a bit of a forward motion, "pushing" a bit of sand up in front of the heel in the direction you're walking. Then when your foot "pushes" off on the ball of the foot and toes, you "push" a bit of sand back, adding to the previous line your heel pushed forward, and you have the clear indication that you have a mid tarsal break - even when you don't. Moisture content of sand will further enhance or minimize this effect. Close to the water, more moisture content, fifty feet back, very little moisture content. As one wanders to and fro, you'll note some areas will show a "midtarsal break" and other areas won't. Patty. Where was she walking? Creek bottom? Sand? I personally don't put much faith in an apparent this midtarsal break routine as an indicator of an ape status - just as it's too easily duplicated inadvertently - with longer gaits.

Or even the genus Homo. Have you two actually seen one up close?

Big Tex seems to be having good interaction of his dogs/wolf and the BF. The dogs apparently keep their distance and have not gotten hurt. I think it is all about training or the individual dogs behavior. Dogs have to be able to follow and find them with their incredible sense of smell. Rather than spend hundreds of thousands on drones, why not do special training for dogs and track them down on the ground? You could probably train a dog to simply freeze and point like a bird dog does when they are close and pick up presence of a BF. Just that would be invaluable because I think we are often close to a BF and have no idea they are nearby. . .

Salubrious Now I am not an expert in tracking, but the problem I find with this is . That this only fits with people who have flat feet and not people with and arch. It would take practice to create this mid tarsal break. The one way I can see it happening with out practice is when walking with tennis shoes with duck tape on the bottom. This might leave that impression but will not leave the toes, or the detail of how even the foot moves through out the walk. The tracks that I find would leave a heavy toe and heel impression, but even with in the step. Other tracks that I have seen impressions off, seem to look like a up and down movement like a stomp. But I am in no way capable of determining this since I am not an expert. But The tracks I have found do seem to show this even break between the toe area and heel area. This is just my opinion, I am sorry that I do not take castings of the tracks I find but I do not want to seem like I am studying them but an active hunter.

To a trained tracker, what this looks like is not knowing really what is being told by the tracks. I'm not disputing that they are real- that's not the point. What is the point is that Meldrum just does not have training in tracking, else he would have recognized what these tracks are saying, which is not 'mid tarsal' break, but instead how fast and how heavy the individual is. If you want to call something dead- stick a fork in it, its the mid tarsal break. It comes out of not understanding tracking and nothing more. If BF has a mid tarsal break, so do we humans, since we leave the same message in the track (although our tracks tend to be smaller). Since we don't have a mid tarsal break, its logical to assume that BF does not either, based on what the tracks have to say. I hate to be the one having to dash the mid tarsal break theory, but its simply evidence that Meldrum had no training in tracking. See below: Plussed.

What do you think speculation is? Then ! spec·u·la·tion /ËŒspekyəˈlÄSH(É™)n/ noun noun: speculation; plural noun: speculations 1. the forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence. "there has been widespread speculation that he plans to quit" You are not going to find evidence with speculation, since we are forming a theory. We all come to a theory so that we can discover evidence that fits this theory, this is how science should work. Not the other way around, evidence is not going to lead you to a theory. If we had encounter and find evidence of that encounter we develop a theory to why we had this encounter. the·o·ry /ˈTHÄ“É™rÄ“/ noun noun: theory; plural noun: theories a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained. "Darwin's theory of evolution" synonyms: hypothesis, thesis, conjecture, supposition, speculation, postulation, postulate, proposition, premise, surmise, assumption, presupposition; More opinion, view, belief, contention "I reckon that confirms my theory" •principles, ideas, concepts; philosophy, ideology, system of ideas, science "modern economic theory" •a set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based. "a theory of education" •an idea used to account for a situation or justify a course of action. "my theory would be that the place has been seriously mismanaged" Once we develop our theory we go out into the field and test this theory and see if it fits the evidence. ev·i·dence /ˈevÉ™dÉ™ns/ noun noun: evidence 1. the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid. "the study finds little evidence of overt discrimination" synonyms: proof, confirmation, verification, substantiation, corroboration, affirmation, attestation "they found evidence of his plotting" There is data of the hybrid Hypothesis as I will show you and you can search this out your self . http://www.macroevolution.net/hybrid-hypothesis-contents.html but this is just a fraction of what is out there. But Hypothesis in it's definition is : hy·poth·e·sis /hīˈpäTHÉ™sÉ™s/ noun noun: hypothesis; plural noun: hypotheses a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. "professional astronomers attacked him for popularizing an unconfirmed hypothesis" synonyms: theory, theorem, thesis, conjecture, supposition, postulation, postulate, proposition, premise, assumption; More notion, concept, idea, possibility "his “steady state†hypothesis of the origin of the universe" •Philosophy a proposition made as a basis for reasoning, without any assumption of its truth. So in a way hypothesis is based on unproven facts or theory. So is this what Norseman meant by asking or should I say stating " Hybrid Hypothesis Dead, Done, Stick A Fork In It.... " I am not sure. I cannot agree since I am not on a side of a skeptic but more on the side of the proponent. My sightings do not agree with what is being said and yet there are things in what others have experience I have my self. But I have to stay critical and as hard as it is to stay skeptical it is not getting any easier.

Yowie See Crow is not here to solve this mystery otherwise he be contributing more then what he is doing. No on the contrary, what he is doing is either harassing those who have had sightings for the satisfaction of saying how false our sightings are. Lets just a self importance and that's fine since this does light a fire in most of us to do some thing about this. Since it has fired you up, but you know that you have to be care full. We are not dealing some thing that is normal and some one like this can lead people like us in dangerous situations with these creatures. I say this since this can lead most ( or motivate most of us) of us to a comfortable situation trying to prove them to naysayers. Maybe his intentions are good , but we also have to believe that he never encountered these creatures either. His experience with these creatures is zero yet , here we are arguing trying to prove a point who maybe has no interest . Yet one does wonder why he does try so hard, so maybe he really wants to understand this phenomenon. I know that if I was so skeptical in which at one time I was I be looking for the truth. It would not be on a forum but out in the field with the most updated report where I would spend nights in that area trying my best to have a sighting of my own. Just my opinion.

I read the reports out of personal interest. Don't put much weight on them one way or the other. But saying all reports are bad is the same as saying all reports are good. There's information to be had no matter which they are. Some about human nature. Some about bigfoot. But it's the reason I don't base the existence of sasquatch on reports.

So did you sort of put together a library of audio signatures to identify what was making what sound and translate that into the spectrographic? I am inspired and am recording a bit tonight, only a window drop, but hey, I heard them communicating in my back yard. Interesting antidote, my wife routinely puts the kitty litter into a black heavy trash bag, sets it on the porch out front to let me haul it the rest of the way to the trash, the bags weigh pretty near 30 lbs. Yesterday she discovered an unmolested bag just on the end of the marsh, begs the question of what hauled it there? I thought to myself, could I have put it there to see what would happen to it? I think either way I would remember something so odd, so what hauls something of that weight and size around without hands to grasp it. Well since I am growing old and senile I will keep on wondering? Although I have some suspicions...

Norseman What did not help Byrne in his search ? Norseman ! So far nothing is helping in this search as far as looking for a specimen. I see how mad you get about tracks. Yes I know tracks do not mean nothing. Unless they are fresh and you are following them, this is when they matter. DNA is the same thing where it will only lead to more questions with these creatures. I have my reason why I never shot one and believe me, I would have no problem doing it with my bow. But if you know the truth then you know that they are that split between man and beast or should I say where the two became one. They are those beast that we have been warned about to leave alone and this is done with out stepping on toes on the forum rules. If they have a curse on them and this curse goes on who ever kills one I want no part of that. What I would like to see is what happen to those who have killed one? the ones who have hid the body and walked out of the bush. Have they been punished by this curse? there should be record of these burials? since back then most people were religious, so these creatures must have effected them in some way? I do not know, I just do not like to see this thread go way off the subject of " Hybrid Hypothesis Dead, Done, Stick A Fork In It...." since there is a lot that can be debated on this.

I'm a bit mystified by this "midtarsal break" baloney. Now I'm not saying that some of these critters don't show up with some footprints that look like a midtarsal break, but I don't see it in every footprint - and one would think if this is a physical characteristic, we'd see it consistently. But we don't. I'm highly skeptical that there is a mid tarsal break.

If there is anything left to get right.

With so few Heidelbergensis fossils to date all we can really say is "could be".

Nope. Not gonna happen. I'm after the answer, whatever it is, and I'm not going to ignore parts just because they make you uncomfortable. Follow the facts wherever they go. You will find the truth whatever it is. Refusing to follow the trail is the one sure way to fail in the search. MIB