Bigtex Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 I'm out of PB jars, need to re-stock, and will measure one. If teeth made those indentations at the bottom, they would have to be huge teeth, and if a canine tooth, the pressure needed to make the dent would push it through the plastic. I've got another gift area several miles away at a natural Spring, beautiful place, and have had 2 jars go missing over there this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTreeWalker Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Do you still have that jar? Could you measure the width of an individual mark? They aren't canine marks, too flat. You are right a canine would have punched through. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 I have the jars & some pics of those, didn't measure, but you get a close approximation with my hand, and my fingers sorta fit into the grooves. IMO, it's the teenage juvie that was doing this, as I have found his prints all around the area, and for many years, I've literally watched his foot grow, all of this IMO of course:) I also included a Babyfoot of this same individual back in 2003, and a recent muddy print of him, and is now about a mans size 10EE now. And the Babyfoot pic with keys for approximate size. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTreeWalker Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 You are probably right. Now I see what I thought were tooth marks were actually ridges in the bottom of the jar. Those photo angles showed it better. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigantor Posted October 24, 2018 Admin Share Posted October 24, 2018 I missed you BigTex, I'm glad you're back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Thanks Gigantor, missed you too bro! Back to the jars, if you put your hand in the dents on the bottom and imagine twisting it, the actual tears are where they should be. Of course, I can't even begin to duplicate this, and just an educated guess where the tear would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTreeWalker Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Definitely take a lot of strength to rip one of them in half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 24, 2018 Author Share Posted October 24, 2018 Yeah....for sure. I found the 3 jars recently, one in August, and two in September, so they've been out there for 5 or 6 months and are a bit aged, plus a lotta chewy critters had a lick or nip while out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTreeWalker Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Around where I live the chewing after the fact would be raccoon most likely or squirrel. But they each leave entirely different bite patterns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 OK......the next weird thing that happened at the Gift Tree was a few weeks after the audio recorder theft, it's like they got mad and quit taking the PB jars. So I decided to put one of my Bushnell's out there pointing at the basket knowing full well that they will see it and react in some negative way. Wow, did they.......the 1st thing I noticed was at the head of the trail leading down to the G-Tree, a nice neat pile of freshly consumed Sotol leaves (mentioned before, they scrape the white meat off with their teeth). As a note, I have over a 100 pictures of these Sotol piles all over Central Texas. Also, they must have observed me over the years taking pictures of their chewed Sotol piles, and now they tease me with it in several different intentional ways......more on this in another post. The next thing I noticed was by the entrance to my Boma (which has the G-Tree inside), there were 2 large foot scrapes in the dirt, with a large fresh turd pile. So I'm a bit freaked but excited because I have the Game-Cam out there, but no.....it's down on the ground. It took 4 short videos; first 2 were eye shine looking through the basket (nothing shinny on it), then a split second of what I initially thought was a hand, still pic of that attached, but doesn't look like a hand, and my final verdict is it waved a handful of Sotol leaves across the screen. The next video is the camera being wrestled to the ground.......do ya think these guys could be messin' with me, lol. Also, a pic below of a medium & large print side by side near the scrape & turd pile. Gift_Tree_Eye_Shine_1_5-18.AVI Gift_Tree_Eye_Shine_2_5-18.AVI Bushnell_-_Sotal_5-18.AVI Gift Tree Camera Shake 5-18.AVI Hmmm......guess I need instruction on how to get the short videos to post, any help would be appreciated:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Well maybe it worked, I put 4 on there......let me know if I missed one, also, I always forget to change the date & time on the video, this was last Spring 2018, not 2012, sorry:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted October 25, 2018 BFF Patron Share Posted October 25, 2018 Welcome back Bigtex. I am assuming that the scat in the picture you assume to be BF scat. It certainly looks human form but large. Have you considered DNA sampling? You have to find it pretty fresh to get good results due to bacterial degradation. With your warm weather that is likely in just a few hours. I had an event where I think the BF left it for me to find. It looked very similar to your picture. You think that might be going on in your case? The real problem might be the cost of testing samples that turn out to be too degraded to yield any results. From my research the end to test is the first end out and you have to freeze or refrigerate the sample to stop degradation before testing. It would be a real crap shoot (pardon the intentional pun) to get a viable sample. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Hey SWW.......great to be back, and always good to hear from you! Yeah, I thought about gathering some, but don't carry a collection kit.......I did get some sticks and went through it, it looked large human for sure in form. It had green leafy material, some kind of berry or nut, small bone fragments, and a little hair. Contents were omnivore for sure, and very Bear like, but none of those around here.....yet. I went the next day to collect some, and it was gone, not a trace of it anywhere. And yes, all of these events took place in one night, the white part of the Sotol gets pretty brown within 12 hours, and was still white, poop was fresh......all things considered, I'm guessing this happened between 3-6:00 AM, and I got there around noon as I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted October 25, 2018 BFF Patron Share Posted October 25, 2018 (edited) Well certainly if it had fur in it, it is unlikely to be human. I think even with good protocol the chance of getting good DNA in temperatures much above freezing is pretty unlikely just because of bacterial degradation. Now if you find a steaming pile with freezing temperatures that is a different story. Lab selection, collection protocols, transportation etc all need to be worked out in advance and most labs are likely unwilling to do it if they know what you are looking for. All of that is daunting for us amateurs. I guess with the lab you could play dumb, say something is leaving large scat, and for safety's sake you want to know what it is since it is a meat eater. Mention BF and they likely will refuse to test it. Edited October 25, 2018 by SWWASAS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 The hair looked piggy, and unfortunately there are plenty of those, some real monsters too.......rattlesnakes & hogs worry me the most when hiking in this area. As far as the DNA deal, I used to, but have no desire to do anything like that or cast prints......I'm in a different place with this Bigfootery, which started at age 5 in the Fall of 1959.......the dang Boogyman, as they called them in North Texas, has pretty much haunted my thoughts way too long, but I'm cool with 'em now, have a little fun with them, plus it's about enjoying the outdoors.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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