Guest lightheart Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Branco, I have been out in the woods every weekend for the last two months. Several times I have found tracks. One morning after an early rain I found some small tracks in some muddy holes on the trail. This is an area where I have found many deer tracks and it appears that there is a game trail right there in the general area, These tracks were regular shaped tracks with nice definition of the toes.... about seven inches....small. No mother in her right mind would allow a child to walk in swamp mud in Florida ..... It looks like the bark on some nearby fallen trees is being stripped systematically/ Then I hiked way out to an area that had a tower that was newly repaired.....I found three different tracks.... medium-sized ....smaller... and banana shaped/ ...It was like they all trooped out to the new tower to see it. On the way out I found two sawed off ends of the flooring about 100 yards away like they had been carried out there under a tree to play with. When hit together they made a rock clacking sound. The thing that I am surprised at is that so far most of the tracks I have found have been small to medium sized. Once I think I found a large track but it was left in shallow sugar sand and was not conclusive in any way. Either the larger adults are super careful not to leave tracks or Littlefoot lives in North Florida. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branco Posted February 23, 2014 Author Share Posted February 23, 2014 Branco, I have been out in the woods every weekend for the last two months. Several times I have found tracks. One morning after an early rain I found some small tracks in some muddy holes on the trail. This is an area where I have found many deer tracks and it appears that there is a game trail right there in the general area, These tracks were regular shaped tracks with nice definition of the toes.... about seven inches....small. No mother in her right mind would allow a child to walk in swamp mud in Florida ..... The short, squat, black type with short curly hair doesn't have an unusually large foot like the larger reds. For the life of me I can't figure out what folks down in FL call the skunk ape. Don't know if they haven't tied the three types into "BF". I've done some field work in northern FL, but not in the southern part. Just as a crude bench mark. the teenage "red" (although his hair was dark brown with a black streak done his spine) that I got a good look at in 2010 had a foot about 8" long. So I suspect a 7" track could be made by either a young red or the black squat one that was a bit older. I do think that south FL has all three types, as does AL, MS and LA. (Have never seen sign of the "banana footed" one any further north than the very southern border of AR. and not sure that one was not a hoax.) It looks like the bark on some nearby fallen trees is being stripped systematically/ Several birds and animals, including BF, strip the bark off downed timber and standing dead timber looking for grubs. You can usually tell which critter did it by looking carefully at the exposed trunk. Then I hiked way out to an area that had a tower that was newly repaired.....I found three different tracks.... medium-sized ....smaller... and banana shaped/ ...It was like they all trooped out to the new tower to see it. On the way out I found two sawed off ends of the flooring about 100 yards away like they had been carried out there under a tree to play with. When hit together they made a rock clacking sound. The thing that I am surprised at is that so far most of the tracks I have found have been small to medium sized. Once I think I found a large track but it was left in shallow sugar sand and was not conclusive in any way. Either the larger adults are super careful not to leave tracks or Littlefoot lives in North Florida. What do you think? The big reds manage their tracks as you mentioned. The short stocky type and the "banana footed" ones are not as particular. Their tracks are often seen in corn fields along rivers and low-lands. They love "roasting ear" stage corn. (Good place to look for tracks at that time of year.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 (edited) Hey Branco, I'm in North Florida. When you were talking about the banana shaped tracks I just could not imagine what that could look like but then twice now i have found tracks that were narrow and curved like a banana but with really good definition of toes. I don't think this could be a hoax .......almost no one even goes back in there it is such a long hike to get there. I had not seen any tracks since summer until the last six weeks or so. They may not leave the area completely just move to other sections for a time. This is a vast tract of land adjacent to vast tracks of private land so they have plenty of space and resources. I am thinking that the ones near the tower were young ones. I found two sawed off ends of the flooring for the tower about 100 yards away from the actual site. No other sign of construction materials this far away. I think they were hitting them together like they might do rock clacking somewhere else. When I am out in the woods even though i have not been taught to track, when I find something I stop, look around the area and ask myself "Ok what is this telling me?" Using this method I can usually observe a game trail, a food source, a water source, or a curiosity. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I find it really helpful having someone to run this by. Lightheart Edited February 23, 2014 by lightheart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the parkie Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Why haven't you taken any pictures of the tracks, out of interest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painthorse Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 @Lightheart, the first track I ever found was in Marion county Florida back in 99 and it was 7" and "banana shaped". Leaf littered area and the only reason I found it was because it was left "on top" of a newly dug gopher tortoise dug out hole area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Thanks Painthorse. This kind of track looks really weird I will say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branco Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 The tracks look somewhat like a cross between a baboon's and a chimpanzee's, but distinctly different because of the "banana" curve in the foot. I posted copies of some photos on the old AL BF website, but can't find them on my computer, may be on one of my old discs, still looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WV FOOTER Posted February 24, 2014 Admin Share Posted February 24, 2014 I would love to see some pics. of the tracks. Have you heard any vocalizations as of late on you research outings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Hey WV I didn't get pics of the banana looking ones but I did take a few shots of some small tracks I found about three weeks ago. I will try to upload them today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 That Black Thing report Branco....wow, it sure would take some stones to follow that trail! These people are not easily intimidated, obviously. The nest bottom. Really interesting detail of the report. One of the enduring mysteries to me is why the almost (apparent) complete lack of interest in technology? As a species, they always seems to me like they deliberately avoid or eschew tools and man-made objects. No stimulation of that region of the brain, apparently, whereas we humans just can't get enough of that stuff. This, to me, makes them so completely "other" that I wonder if the gulf is just too wide for comprehension on either side. Here there was at least some curiosity, but then...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branco Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 I would love to see some pics. of the tracks. Have you heard any vocalizations as of late on you research outings? Been so much ice and snow in the mountains I couldn't get back up there. After the thaw, sections of the roads were bad. Have received phone calls from folks who were in the area recently, and they heard two of the Boogers where I had figured they moved to when the leaves fell. Planning to go there Sat and set out a Black-out Game cam on an old woods trail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightheart Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I have found tracks now three different times in the same general area (within a mile or two). They are definitely not the ape variety and have a very human shape to them. There have been small (6-7) inches, medium ( around 9 or so but slightly curved like a banana) and today at least 11 or 12 inches. There is no one in their right mind that would be walking around in Florida swamp mud barefoot. You can get diseases.....So they are definitely back in my area for sure. .I got hit in the cheek with a hazel nut shell but could not determine the source. I go really far back in there by myself so I just start singing It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood form Mr. Rodgers just to let them know i mean no harm. I mean it's not like I could possibly sneak up on them any way. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunflower Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Branco, I hope you postponed your trip, the weather is horrible. It's warming up in a few days, take care. Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branco Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Strange weather for this time of year to say the least. Sunday we drove down to Pine Bluff (about 50 miles) in the rain to attend visitation services for my aunt. Was there from 2 PM to 4 PM. All the way back it was pouring down. Before we went to bed about 11 PM, I looked outside and everything was covered with a hard shell of snow, sleet and frozen rain. The roads were so bad we couldn't get back for the funeral Monday afternoon. The stuff has melted a little on the underside because the ground had been warmed with a few days of sunshine, but it's still here. Can't complain; the folks in the Ozarks and the Ouachitas really got a dose of this stuff. Good thing I had just restocked with about seventy five pounds of bird (aka squirrel) feed. (So if you're missing some of your birds; I'll send them home when this stuff melts.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunflower Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Glad you're OK. If your birds are like my birds....they eat like little pigs LOL. I did hear a new bird yesterday when the sun came out. Hubby said he thought it might be a cardinal making a different type sound. Instead of twit, twit, it was actually a couple notes of singing. I'll look for it again. Titan has been quite the storm around here but it's getting better today. Maybe we'll have less bugs this year, especially ticks and chiggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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