In-Line Trackways

[Guest ajciani]

Nah, we're still about the same size as ancient Egyptians, and other peoples over the last several thousand years.

30% smaller would mean that humans at the end of the Pleistocene would have been something like 2.3 meters, but in the trackway finds that article talks about, the largest person was 1.98 meters (6' 6"). Now, the Susquehannock Indians were reported as averaging 7 feet by the European explorers and settlers.

@southeryahoo: The real key characteristic to supporting that trackway as BF related, would not be the amount of straddle, but the amount of camber. Domesticated people usually walk with their toes pointing toward the outside, even when they are being active in some sport. It is not a perfect gauge though.

Considering how close BF seems to be to human, finding a barefoot trackway, or a stick structure, or almost any evidence of manipulation of nature out in the woods, will be nothing more than proof that someone was out in the woods, barefoot, big and powerful.

[Guest]

Well, not that I have actually been hunted as Bigfoot has been, but I think I might be a little puckered up as well, and my tracks would probably show it, if I was being hunted.

[Guest parnassus]

Here's what the Beefro says about in line trackways -

"Q: Why do bigfoots step in a line (unlike humans which tend to step in a staggered pattern)?

A: Because bigfoots walk along narrow "coyote trails" most of the time.

If you don't want to fall down or snag your foot along coyote trails, you must walk in a line.

Even on brushy trails in flat terrain, stepping only on the trail helps you move along more quietly."

The tracks I saw were slightly bipedal,,,,

where does the expression coyote trail come from? and what does slightly bipedal mean? 1.23 legs?

p.

[southernyahoo]

Considering how close BF seems to be to human, finding a barefoot trackway, or a stick structure, or almost any evidence of manipulation of nature out in the woods, will be nothing more than proof that someone was out in the woods, barefoot, big and powerful.

Yep, those darned Yahoos are always screwing up my research.......

[Guest COGrizzly]

where does the expression coyote trail come from? and what does slightly bipedal mean? 1.23 legs?

p.

Good question. Coyote trail? Meaning ONLY coyotes use it? Probably not. I'm hoping they meant to say "Game Trail". Perhaps that is what a game trail is called in their neck of the woods? Surely noone would actually think that ONLY coyotes use a game trail.

And to be clear, I just posted what the BFRO had on their site. In no way am I saying I agree with their theory.

Slightly bipedal - halfway between "inline" or a "straight" trackway and a typical "bipedal" trackway. But I thought the comment of "1.23 legs" was funny, funny stuff parn.

[Guest parnassus]

Looks like this hoaxer didn't get the memo:

[Guest]

Native Americans walk in line more so than other humans... think it is a way to quite the footsteps to sneak up on game.

[Guest]

Yes, Fox Walking. This is very quiet walking. I practice fox walking (as best as possible, much to learn) and when you do it you can actually avoid breaking twigs under foot (no snapping sound ringing out for all to hear).

I have come across two yowie prints in my life (others a maybe these absolutely and unlikely to be a hoax due to area and [in the first instance in the 80's] no mass yowie fad going on ) and each time I wondered why there wasnt a foot print to the side, why just one. With fox walking I undersood the possibility of single line walking with massive gaps one to the other in the case of a really tall long legged biped. Also I thought it likely that the single footprint came about as for some reason the yowie had to land powerfully at that point, springing from somewhere.

Ive just seen those two fully formed footprints each by themselves, almost double my foot size, four toed and twenty years apart.

[Guest]

This video discusses a bit about fox walking, really its in conjunction with other skills of awareness in nature. Here he shows the feet close together in a single line, eventually though there can be a large gap from foot placement to foot placement. Think on the skills of BF and tracks when looking into fox walking. Also think on how being bare foot allows BF to pick up so much more about the environment, and to have deeper awareness. BF seems to be able to be amazingingly quiet and only heard thrashing through the bush when i think it wants to be heard or doesnt care that it is heard. Heres the video

and this which shows fox walking tracks in sand (human )

Edited February 28, 2012 by Encounter

[Guest]

Looks like this hoaxer didn't get the memo:

Hey Parn,

Just wondering why you almost instantly dismissed what Cliff Barackman calls, "the most significant footprint find in the last 40 years" as a hoax? Does it just boil down to that since there are no Bigfoots, these can not be real tracks? Not saying you're wrong, just would like to know your thoughts on it. Thanks.

[Cotter]

Fox Walking - goes by many names. This is the exact technique I was taught on how to stalk game.

It is amazing what you can feel even through boots and how quiet you can truly walk (albeit slow) through brush/forest litter.

I can only imagine how good one could get at this if given an opportunity to utilize it in day-to-day life.

[Guest BFSleuth]

I suspect the author of this spoof (Albert Ostman?) reads this forum.

If it is Albert Ostman, then I guess they finally got internet in heaven...

Interesting. It looks flat, as though made by a, dare I say it? - wooden foot. The toes look to be at the wrong angle too. Thanks for the article, SY.

http://news.national...-footprint.html

I've spent time among populations of humans that rarely if ever use shoes. Their toes spread out like fingers, much like the print you see here. Their toes are also much more muscled than the shod population, like "little sausages". Burning hot pavement, crushed gravel, it didn't matter what terrain they walked or ran on, they had no problems.

[Guest ajciani]

Yeah, my fox walking is self-taught, and it is very silent.

I may have once almost snuck up on a BF that was below a cliff. As I got near the edge of the cliff, a dove sitting in a tree (almost at the same level as I) gave a warning coo, and something below the cliff became startled. It did not stick around to find out if the dove was telling the truth. Whatever it was, it left very quietly as well.

[HOLDMYBEER]

This morning I went for a run in a half inch of snow and got to observe my prints (which were surprisingly in-line) and the prints of a number of other runners and walkers. Somehow it hit me that, just like there there seems to be a lot of variation in the track-lines left by humans, there is probably a good amount of natural variation in track-lines left by something like sasquatches. Velocity over the ground, terrain characteristics, level of fitness and perhaps congenital attributes that determine agility from an early age could all be factors as to the amount of straddle that appears in a trackway. I am suspecting that individual footprint dynamics are probably a better determinant of authenticity than any degree of linearity to a trackway.

[Guest]

Yeah, my fox walking is self-taught, and it is very silent.

I may have once almost snuck up on a BF that was below a cliff. As I got near the edge of the cliff, a dove sitting in a tree (almost at the same level as I) gave a warning coo, and something below the cliff became startled. It did not stick around to find out if the dove was telling the truth. Whatever it was, it left very quietly as well.

Wow, you're mastering it.Whatever you do though, there are going to be signs in this case a dove heralded your aproach. Reading that I feel bad I havent practiced enough, still the difference when your walking normally in the bush and then switching to fox walking is immence , and I think on many levels, You switch from being a sort of unaware traveller that all can hear, to something that has some skill, some focus and you can hear other creatures also change their levels in their calls etc when you do it.

I think BF would be able to do this switch in approach. I also think they are very aware of their tracks like all creatures in the bush are aware of the trail they are leaving, and their entrance to certain areas.

@ Holdymybeer (are you Aussie ?) What you have written is interesting.

When I see tracks after rain or in snow I wonder whether people get how they change. You can walk an area and after a day if there is rain your tracks can look super enlarged. I am not talking as a non believer as I have encountered Yowie signs, visual and aural, but, looking as objectively as possible it should be noted that our human tracks actually enlarge with water in mud and snow.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Encounter