Need Help In Central Texas.........

[SWWASAS]

I would guess EMU tracks.   Found some in the snow in my front yard one winter.     Their stride was over 6 feet.    Walked from the corner of the yard past the front of the house and exited the property on the side    My sisters husband used to grow them.    They would get out of fences all the time and the sheriff would call him and tell him to come corral it.   They are modern day dinosaurs if you ask me    Can be dangerous if you scare them.   Their foot claws can rip your gut open or slice your leg open from crotch to ankle.  They hate dogs.    Be careful with your dogs/wolf  if they are around.  

Edited February 8, 2018 by SWWASAS

[zman1967]

ostrich only has 2 toes on each foot.

 

Emu has 3 toes but I thought the middle toe was much longer than the 2 side toes.  These appear to be side by side.

[SWWASAS]

Wonder if since the ground cover material was loose,  if the emu stick its middle toe into the ground for stability or traction.     An emu farmer would probably know what they do for traction.     I would ask my sisters husband but he has dementia and I am not sure I would trust the answer.    Some biological abnormality or past injury is always possible too.   That kind of ground cover does not result in footprint impressions that tell you much.    Or it could have been some ET running around between cattle mutilations.   

[zman1967]

Tex,

Is the impression by your heel part of the print?

 

if not a cloven-footed animal (deer? hog? cow?) walking, with
the rear feet stepping onto the tracks does happen ????

[SWWASAS]

Any three toed sloths down there?   

[Bigtex]

I looked at Emu & Ostrich tracks for sure, but doesn't seem to be one of those.......also, the impression by my heel is probably my dog or wolf. I find great tracks all the time, then they run through them before I can document, drives me crazy.

[Bigtex]

I should start posting more on a regular basis again, lotta weird stuff going on in some of my areas,,,,,,,I set up a Gift Tree in a location on the edge of a ravine overlooking a creek below, that I believe BF's are using to observe/ambush wildlife. I starting leaving cool rocks and skulls there back in October 2017, and every few weeks similar items would be left for me. It started getting interesting when I hung a basket in there, and started leaving jars of Peanut Butter, with the first jar in early December. Nothing touched the jar for about a month, and now they are being taken within a day or two of putting a new one out there......I'm on jar #8 now. I started with creamy PB, first 2 jars and has a red lid, now I use crunchy, and with a blue lid. I mention the lid color because I have found a few of the lids while hiking, and 2 were miles away. Now I am writing the date on the inside of the lid with a Sharpie, wish I had done that from the beginning:)

 

I have a lot of pics documenting this, but here's an interesting one, and found near the Gift Tree in some brush. Whoever took this one evidently didn't know how to unscrew the lid, and looks like it was bitten off, but no evidence of canine teeth. I collected it in a baggie because there appears to be some dried slobber on it........has anyone ever seen a similar type lid removed in such a way? Also, I found both early red creamy lids and another blue, but they had been unscrewed with no damage.

 

Picture of the bitten blue lid, and one of the better tracks directly under the Gift Tree, another track close by, and appears to be the same individual. 

 

If you guys are interested in hearing more about this, I'll add more pics to the next post.

 

Also, anyone with a similar situation, please chime in!

Here's a pic of the Gift Tree showing the basket, rocks, and skulls that 'we' have collected:)

[zman1967]

very cool  thanks for update

[bighunter43]

Great to see you back! Looking forward to more of your posts!!

[Bigtex]

Thanks zman.......by the way, you asked about the impression near my heal on the 3-Toed track, that WAS part of the track, early reported as a dog print....sorry 'bout that.

 

Peanut butter jar #11 in the gift basket pictured, and added a little fake bird in case they are getting bored:) Also, a few pics of the PB lids I am finding nearby, and the wrapper from the only Twinkie pack I put in the basket.

 

I've ordered a mini GPS tracker that I'm going to put it inside the BF action figure pictured, and see if the juviefoot that's been hanging around takes it. Yeah I know, but might be goofy enough to work, I'll throw $75 bucks at it..

[SWWASAS]

Will be interesting what happens to the BF figurine.      I had a stuffed monkey left for me one time.   Have no idea where it came from but it was left where I park to observe a valley with a spotting scope.    I would bet you are dealing with a juvenile.     They seem to be most interested in messing with us.  

Edited February 27, 2018 by SWWASAS

[mesabe]

Hi Bigtex, and good luck with your gifting. 

We used a gifting station a few yrs. back similar to yours, worked great, At first squirrels got the PB jars, so this investigator made some with holes drilled in the top edges of the jar to ventilate the fumes, and a big bolt going through the lid to hang it from a very strong nylon rope. Both he and I could hang from the jar at the same time without it breaking. We found the rope cleanly broken, like snapped. No gnawing or chewing, and the jar gone.

We also had a stuffed toy teddy bear, and a stuffed bigfoot doll that squeaked (a dog toy). Those 2 were a big hit being taken and replaced many times over a couple yrs. Always taken together, and returned if not in the same place, very close within a few feet. They would go missing for a few days to start, then for longer periods of time. Up to a few months. Always returned in very good shape. After a yr. or so, one day I was on a hike and passed through the area, and found the BF doll. I decided to keep it and brought it home, but my dog got it by accident and destroyed it.   mesabe

[SWWASAS]

Your dog ate bigfoot's homework?    LOL     I bet to your dog it really smelled good.   You have any experience with your dog and BF in the field?    I wonder about dog and BF interactions that happen.    

[mesabe]

I couldn't detect any odor on the BF toy, but my dog went nuts for it. I set it on a counter in the kitchen where stuff is usually safe from him, but he took it within minutes of me turning my back. LOL As far as behavior in the field. None of my dogs ever had any interactions with one when in my presence. But on certain hikes they would crowd into me fore and aft like they were protecting me, when they would normally nose around like they normally do, much like Bigtex's dogs. They never did any whining or acting fearful like some report.  

I don't know how to explain this, but they kind of acted the same way when bears had been in the area. Except they behaved more like they expected to meet up with another human. Exactly like if we were meeting up with some hunters that both the dogs and I knew were out there.

[Bigtex]

Great stuff guys! The PB jars that I use are still sealed, so they don't give off much of a scent. Went out there today, and another jar missing, with the little bird shown above on the ground nearby. 

 

Also, about a month ago, I hid a tiny pocket recorder wrapped in camo tape hidden in the rocks below the gift basket, and was taken. I found the camo tape nearby and looked like it was flicked off with 1 finger, it was tight on there......I couldn't have done it like that, and a pic shown. Now, every time that something takes the PB jar, it is checking under the same rock for another hidden recorder, shown in the pic - bird circled in green & red arrows to moved rock - the Deer skull is moved to one side as well. If it was some type of animal doing this, such as a Raccoon, it wouldn't be looking for another hidden recorder each time. Last 2 pics are how I left it today; new PB jar, bird back on perch, and the rocks & Deer skull moved back.

 

As far as dogs, my 3 don't want to have anything to do with BF or their scent, but my Wolf is the opposite. She seems to know that I am looking, so she is too, and I have suspected for years that she plays some kind of chase game with them, all in fun. In fact, the last BF I saw 3 years ago she found it hiding & spying on me. I never would have seen it.......she went right over to where it was hiding, started yelping & waging her tail, and looking back at me to hurry over, lol.