Food Containers Disappearing And Need Help With Getting Tracks To Find Out What Is Taking It!

[Xion Comrade]

Ok so here is a common theme in my are I keep experiencing. I leave food(About 4 or 5 apples covered in peanut butter) in one of these containers(About as big as your head)...

 

https://www.glad.com/images/glamour/freezerware_large_2.png

 

So far over the course of my time in this area I have lost atleast 8 of these exact containers, they are simply gone. I looked for 3 hours spanning a mile radius from where I had left one and neither it nor it's lid were anywhere to be found, just poof gone. What on earth does this? I know for certain I have pretty stout bigfoot activity in this area and that they are not afraid to take some food from me, but I wanted to see if anyone had any similar experiences where another animal did something like this. A guy at work thinks maybe deer(Says he has seen them carry things a long ways), and I think a bear COULD do it(Not a deer though), but why? When I picture ANY animal that is even strong enough(Which rules out everything but huge coyotes, deer, or a bear) to pick up one of these and carry it off I cannot see any practical reason for it, because it would have to be carrying just a empty container(It would all fall out)...

 

I have had these same animals eat the food I leave out and when I was 100% sure it was a bear or a deer(Left tracks in mud) they always left the containers where they were. I sometimes have the lids attatched, sometimes just sitting ontop of the container to let the scent out more. Sometimes the lid is left laying and the container is gone but typically it is the whole thing that gets totally gone when this happens. No chewed pieces, no nothing, and never a halfway decent track to tell me what takes it(Sometimes some huge game trails and impressions appear around the area I put the food though)...Don't get me wrong, this doesn't happen every single time I leave food out, but it is a common thing. Maybe half or 1/3 just vanish, the others are almost always totally untouched, with just a few being obviously eaten by typical woodland critters.

 

Which brings me to my next point, guy at work figures I should dump about 50lbs of sand out and place one of the containers in the middle of it, anyone have any experience/advice with this sort of thing? Really really would like to find out what is taking these containers(Probably lost 50 bucks worth of the things so far lol) and am planning to do one spot with the sand trap and another one just plain so as not to be to forceful, a sort of "Please let me see your footprint but it's ok if you don't want to show it also" deal.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Xion Comrade

[Sasfooty]

Sounds like your BF guys want to take the apples with them & since you smear them with peanut butter, they have to take the containers so they don't get peanut butter all in their hair.

 

Maybe you should put them in a Wal Mart bag, to save containers.

[Xion Comrade]

Sounds like your BF guys want to take the apples with them & since you smear them with peanut butter, they have to take the containers so they don't get peanut butter all in their hair.

 

Maybe you should put them in a Wal Mart bag, to save containers.

 

I think it about has to be them doing it, and that they find the actual containers useful for something. Walmart bags smell like toxic crap, are nasty, and just fall apart when caught on twigs and brush leaving alot of litter, definitely don't recommend them!

[Guest UPs]

Black bears will not only take container, but also eat it completely. This happens mostly in the fall when they are trying to put on weight for the winter. If you see any bear scat around the area, look for small pieces of plastic in it. Whatever is taking the food, they will keep coming back to feed in that area. Another possibility is a large bird such as an eagle or another scavenger. They can grab and lift a great deal of weight, but I'm not sure if the food you are leaving is something they would feed on (eagles). UPs

[Sunflower]

Xion,

 

Same thing happened to us.  We never found but one container and we left at least 30 plastic pieces.  We started feeling very guilty about the littering so we switched to plain paper lunch bags and just divide treats up in those.  We have found one bag.  The upside is that there is no litter after a few years because paper does eventually breakdown so it works for us.

 

No prints either, it's in an extremely rocky area.  In fact, we think that they are living under an enormous rock outcropping that's much larger than a two bedroom house.  Items that should have been soaking wet were left out in the open, they were clean and dry when we got back there more than three weeks later...there had been at least three torrential downpours in the area in that time frame.

 

You could try the sand but my guess is they will be watching you anyway and your efforts would be in vain. 

 

Good luck.

[Painthorse]

You could try using a fine layer of flour using a sifter to spread it out. Try and rake the area first and then spread it. If the ground is fine soil, if possible "wet it and make it lightly muddy".Where I'm at the ground is too rocky so I use cams. Raccoons can carry off some pretty heavy containers, the raccoon in the pic carried off a full jar of peanut butter.

Most critters will grab and run with their prize. What we have also done is "wire" the containers to a tree so whatever it is has to "stay there long enough" to get the goods. The longer in that specific area the more chances of achieving prints.

Also if you have a good population of coyotes, don't rule them out. I used to use apples also and they would go poof also. Even set one apple in a jar and that went poof also, never found the jar, lol. Cam finally caught the culprit.

Edited January 9, 2015 by Painthorse

[Guest Coonbo]

LOL!  This reminds me of years ago when a product came out called "Deer Suckers".  They were like a big Sugar Daddy on steroids.  You would poke the stick into the ground and deer would come and lick it like a lollipop.  One of the guys in our hunting club said he was on stand and a deer came by carrying one in his mouth.  We died laughing and gave him fits over that BS story for a whole year - until the next year, another guy (one of the main ones teasing the previous guy) saw the same thing. So, we just gave both of them fits after that.  :tease:

 

We used to put out salt blocks for the deer, but the boogers would tote them off as fast as we put them out.  There sure wasn't anything else in the woods that could carry off 50 pounds.  And NO, it wasn't people doing it.

 

FWIW, we've also always had a hard time ever getting any tracks where we've left food for them.

[Guest JiggyPotamus]

The sand idea was my first thought. I gave someone else in a similar situation the same advice a while back. Prints or tracks will be the best, and easiest, identification method, aside from a trail camera. Honestly though, if you're going to have to buy the sand or dirt, you might be better off spending that money on a trail camera. If you don't wish to spend any money, which is completely understandable, you will have to put in a good deal of work to acquire that much dirt, depending on the tools and manpower you have available. That is assuming you have a place you can dig up. Honestly though, I would bet that it is not a sasquatch you're dealing with. Unless there are other indicators that you have found in the general area to make you think that sasquatch are present of course. There are just so many animals in the woods, and the one thing they all have in common is that they have to eat...and they probably all like peanut butter. Who doesn't? Well, my brother doesn't, but that was more of a rhetorical question.

[Doc Holliday]

corn starch, flour, baking soda.... iow, some light powdery medium that could be spread out  and tracked around if walked through or touched. there is also some glowing tracking powder that's been discussed elsewhere but iirc its not cheap.

 

maybe try the basic stuff when the forecast isn't calling for rain for a few days and see what powdery tracks pop up.

Edited January 10, 2015 by Doc Holliday

[Xion Comrade]

LOL!  This reminds me of years ago when a product came out called "Deer Suckers".  They were like a big Sugar Daddy on steroids.  You would poke the stick into the ground and deer would come and lick it like a lollipop.  One of the guys in our hunting club said he was on stand and a deer came by carrying one in his mouth.  We died laughing and gave him fits over that BS story for a whole year - until the next year, another guy (one of the main ones teasing the previous guy) saw the same thing. So, we just gave both of them fits after that.  :tease:

 

We used to put out salt blocks for the deer, but the boogers would tote them off as fast as we put them out.  There sure wasn't anything else in the woods that could carry off 50 pounds.  And NO, it wasn't people doing it.

 

FWIW, we've also always had a hard time ever getting any tracks where we've left food for them.

 

 

Hahah good stuff! I have thought about taking big blocks like that into the woods, but will wait until hunting season is over. Don't want to disturb or endanger the wildlife any.

 

Xion,

 

Same thing happened to us.  We never found but one container and we left at least 30 plastic pieces.  We started feeling very guilty about the littering so we switched to plain paper lunch bags and just divide treats up in those.  We have found one bag.  The upside is that there is no litter after a few years because paper does eventually breakdown so it works for us.

 

No prints either, it's in an extremely rocky area.  In fact, we think that they are living under an enormous rock outcropping that's much larger than a two bedroom house.  Items that should have been soaking wet were left out in the open, they were clean and dry when we got back there more than three weeks later...there had been at least three torrential downpours in the area in that time frame.

 

You could try the sand but my guess is they will be watching you anyway and your efforts would be in vain. 

 

Good luck.

 

So you left containers out for a while and when you went back to get them they were dry and clean? Now that is some freaky stuff, whenever I leave them out and they are not gone they are always shag nasty, covered in rain and mud, doesn't even really matter it if rained much at all.

 

Black bears will not only take container, but also eat it completely. This happens mostly in the fall when they are trying to put on weight for the winter. If you see any bear scat around the area, look for small pieces of plastic in it. Whatever is taking the food, they will keep coming back to feed in that area. Another possibility is a large bird such as an eagle or another scavenger. They can grab and lift a great deal of weight, but I'm not sure if the food you are leaving is something they would feed on (eagles). UPs

 

Yeah I don't think any birds in this area are going to be interested in the food enough to end up taking it(Definitely not the entire bowl). Good suggestion! I will have to check the bear poop whenever I find it I guess to be sure. So far in my experience all of the bears I have ever had take food from me(Whether in this spot or in others) eat it right on the spot, they don't carry it anywhere and if they mistakenly bite the container(Be it Styrofoam plates or plastic bowls) they spit it out after licking it clean. Typically will find their poo somewhere nearby right after they have eaten the food too, no real big bears here, maybe 100-200lbs range. Raccoon will chew on them a little I have noticed as well.

[Xion Comrade]

The sand idea was my first thought. I gave someone else in a similar situation the same advice a while back. Prints or tracks will be the best, and easiest, identification method, aside from a trail camera. Honestly though, if you're going to have to buy the sand or dirt, you might be better off spending that money on a trail camera. If you don't wish to spend any money, which is completely understandable, you will have to put in a good deal of work to acquire that much dirt, depending on the tools and manpower you have available. That is assuming you have a place you can dig up. Honestly though, I would bet that it is not a sasquatch you're dealing with. Unless there are other indicators that you have found in the general area to make you think that sasquatch are present of course. There are just so many animals in the woods, and the one thing they all have in common is that they have to eat...and they probably all like peanut butter. Who doesn't? Well, my brother doesn't, but that was more of a rhetorical question.

 

Well that is the thing, there is alot of bigfoot activity and that makes it hard to rule out one just carrying the stuff off. This area has a pretty good history of it too! Been some toy gifting, lots of plain ol' tree knocking back and forth between me and them, been approached at night by long bipedal steps(About 5 foot stride), a possible sighting of a pale white one at a distance, rock thrown at me, and went back and forth with one on a pretty odd situation knocking patterns(it would knock a complex pattern, then I would try to clap it back, did it 4 or 5 times in a row). I figure I am real lucky to have found a spot that has (Apparently)continual year round activity, probably not so many left anymore.

[Guest Migrantworkers]

I would think you could get small boxes from your local grocery store that they are just going to throw out...that too should degrade in a few years

I agree with manicuring the area and putting down anything that may be track friendly but I suggest doubling the gift...from reading here it seems as though when things are changed bigfoot are skeptical and may not return...make them an offer that they can't refuse

Game cams (again from reading here) are thought to be detected and avoided by Bigfoot...but it may reveal the identity of other culprits

[Sasfooty]

...from reading here it seems as though when things are changed bigfoot are skeptical and may not return...

 

This is true. I would give it a lot of thought before I did something to trick them. They know your thoughts & feelings & they don't fall for tricks. You need to be sure it's worth losing whatever trust you have from them, for the remote possibility of seeing a track. If they trust you enough, you will eventually see more evidence that they willingly leave for you. 

[Guest Migrantworkers]

This is true. I would give it a lot of thought before I did something to trick them. They know your thoughts & feelings & they don't fall for tricks. You need to be sure it's worth losing whatever trust you have from them, for the remote possibility of seeing a track. If they trust you enough, you will eventually see more evidence that they willingly leave for you.

Perhaps you could try something different

Don't change anything except for adding some double stick tape to the "table" where you leave the gifts

On the top surface and around the sides

[Guest lightheart]

Good point Sasfooty. Is it really worth it just to see a track? If you put in enough time where they are you will see many sets of tracks. I actually look at tracks that I come across to see if I recognize it from one I have seen before and then just scuff them out with my shoe. At first I took pictures with my dumb phone but when I got to more than 30 it just wasn't that big of a deal. I decided that I did't want them to see me taking a picture of their tracks. I tried to put myself into the mindset of a wild hominid that wants to remain unseen and undetected and just decided not to do it anymore. I guess I am just at a different point in my research where it is more important to just. learn about how they live than gather evidence that I am not going to do anything with.

I know they are there and really I will probably just enjoy my hikes and enjoy pondering the little clues about their way of life that I come across for the rest of my life. The exercise and fresh air is good for you and I look forward to getting out there again every week.