How often do you think tracks are mistaken?

[NorthWind]

24 minutes ago, Incorrigible1 said:

 

So now your Native American name is "Two Skunks Blanking."

Heh!

Been called worse things. Mostly by my ex. But blanking may have been a part of it.

[SasquatchPA]

9 hours ago, Huntster said:

 

I walked into the trees at work once to do my business and heard a strange grunting sound. I followed the sound until a porcupine fell out of a tree right in front of me, then waddled away. About 10' above me on a branch was another porcupine. I don't know if they were fighting or............what, but I figured either way, it could hurt.

With all those quills either fighting or well whatever would make me grunt as well. 

[BlackRockBigfoot]

11 hours ago, Incorrigible1 said:

 

So now your Native American name is "Two Skunks Blanking."

Heh!

This post is woefully under appreciated in this thread.

[MIB]

Apologies in advance for making an on-topic post.

 

So far as tracks mistaken ... hard to say how often.   I think a lot, but far, far from all, of the tracks reported are .. questionable.   In other words, cannot be reliably identified, either as bigfoot or as not-bigfoot.   From there, wishful thinking plays a roll as does scofticism.    Rather than simply saying "I don't know", people weigh in with a preference of what the truth should be rather than an honest analysis of the track itself.

 

I've found a number of tracks and probable tracks.   Very few that I'd offer as evidence hoping to sway a skeptic or scoftic regarding existence but every one of them I'd show to an openminded person or proponent as reason to take a closer look around to see what else we might find in the way of stronger evidence.  

 

I've detailed this before, but briefly, the one that absolutely stands as rock solid was the track line I found in '74.    It crossed a layer of mud / skunge on top of bedrock which had been underwater 'til the dropping river exposed it the night before.   It was "glazed" .. in other words, the surface tension had not been broken except by the tracks for a good distance to either side.    There is absolutely no way the tracks were made by any means other than something walking to create them, there was no opportunity to do so without leaving unavoidable sign.    Whatever left them left 24-1/2 inch long, 8-1/2 wide tracks 6-1/2 feet apart in that layer of mud over the bedrock then went up the hill .. a steep clay bank I, as a mountain kid with very incredible climbing stuff, had to dig the sides of my shoes into to climb, yet it did it without breaking stride.    Argue all you want about what did it or didn't do it, I can guarantee you that whatever did make those tracks made them by walking them into place.

 

Others have mostly been one-offs and most of those have been partials.    One of the clearest I've found leaves me puzzled because it has some truly unusual characteristics, some point to human, some point very clearly away from human.   It remains in the "huh" file. 

 

MIB

 

 

[7.62]

Probably as many times as there are sightings . Bears are mistaken , natural shadows in the forest  that are cast by sunlight are mistaken . Stumps when it's getting dark.

People who see an impression in moss or pine needles by a bear , There's host of things that can fool someone thinking they have seen a track or a Sasquatch .

 

 

[lonetracker]

i believe there is much track misidentification going on. I have been a member of 4 outdoor related forums (non cryptid) and never pass up reading a thread where someone asks, 'what made this track'. most times it is a picture of 1 track, is blurry, no size reference, no other weather or age related info, no location ect.  Yet with that total lack of info 30 different people will answer with what they think it is. Reading tracks correctly in the absence of perfect conditions takes training plus experience that most people do not have. i am not an expert and have never seen a bigfoot or suspected bigfoot track. When i do it will take more then one track no matter how perfect to convince me to share my findings as i believe there are still people out trying to lay fake tracks. It will take me following the trail for a while in snow so i can get a good read of the tracks and other signs of its passage, and the all around big picture. 

[Twist]

On 3/30/2022 at 10:08 PM, Patterson-Gimlin said:

Those were very easy to identify. Mud and melting snow tracks can be a bit more difficult for most.

 Of course not these experts here. Self not included. 

 

I see what you did there!