A mystery unsolved... mayb not for long.???

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by cluelusshusbund, Jan 11, 2019.

  1. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Yes. Tracks are easily distinguishable.

    Just as those tracks are easily distinguishable from cat tracks.

    What do you mean? I live in a heavily built up area of Toronto the megacity, and I have bunny, fox, weasels, and coyotes regularly - in my tiny, fenced-in bowling alley of a yard.

    OK, the coyotes tend to live in the park ten blocks away, but I just came face-to-face with one in the park, not 20 feet from me, just on Wednesday. I cannot step outside my door on a winter's day without seeing half a dozen bunny tracks. I have seen fox in my driveway and on the road. And a mink ate all my Koi.

    Maybe that's why I consider such critters to be wholly within likelihood. They are as common as cats , even in the backyards of a major city.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2019
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  3. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I live in Saskatchewan and I have never seen a fox, weasel or coyote in the city. As I said, a fox or weasel is barely plausible but I think the tracks look more feline than canine - and I doubt that a weasel would have such a long-legged gait.
     
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  5. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    The One Leged Hopping Sunflower Seed Dropper
    looking better every post

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  7. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Well, Clueless doens;t lvie in Sask, so ...
    Fox is pretty plausible. A (relatively) common site in suburban areas.

    And fox do walk in a single line.

    Cats, not so much:

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    Frankly, I still don't think it's either. The tracks are VERY shallow. And they're only 4.5" apart. And they simply do not look like paws.

    I still think a hopping bird is as plausible - like a chickadee - short legs, sitting on its belly.
     
  8. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    Does he live in Toronto? It would be useful to know if he has ever seen foxes in his area.
    Is that a cat track or a fox track? Because I have tracks exactly like that in my back yard right now.
    It would have to be very light snow.
     
  9. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    A chickadee would certainly make an impression a few mm deep in any snow but hard crust.
     
  10. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    I doubt that. Birds generally don't leave any impression but their feet.
     
  11. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Chickadees do not hop on their bellies. They have long slim phalanges, as do all birds, and these leave clear imprints that can't be mistaken for a mammal. Nor do they hop from foot to foot, but with both feet in two parallel lines - except, they wouldn't hop in a straight line but in a roughly concentric search pattern - and they sure as hell wouldn't walk past a sunflower seed: they would pick it up and fly to the nearest branch to open it.
    Rats, squirrels and mice have human like hands, scaled down. They would stop and eat the sunflower seed on site.
     
  12. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Alright, Chickadee was just an example of a non-four-legged medium sized mammal.

    It's just that those prints do not look like paw prints to me.

    Although, now that I am seeing more and more examples of "registered" gait, my conjecture against 4 legged critters has lost one of its pillars.
     
  13. davewhite04 Valued Senior Member

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    5,233
    Cat.

    Yes, cats have paws.
     
  14. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    I guess if it's a superpolydactyl...

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  15. davewhite04 Valued Senior Member

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    Was that taken on Pluto? The colour rings a bell...
     
  16. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    It's probably the rubber tip of a cane, with an ordinary set of old-people shoe-prints just outside the frame.
    But I'm sticking with a chipmunk retracing its own steps: four toes pointing forward each way, but the palm smudging a bit on the return trip. At least, that's what I'm putting for Question #32 on my Indian Guide certification exam.
     
  17. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    A one-legged chipmunk?

    Ever seen a chipmunk stroll like a mammal?

    They hop like bunnies, and have no registration in their footsteps (you'll see all four prints):

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    Last edited: Jan 14, 2019
  18. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    About 10 years ago i saw a red fox in a field out back a couple of times in one week... an it was beautiful.!!!

    First wild fox i have ever seen... or it coud have been a "pet" that got loose.???
     
  19. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    5,089
    Yes. Since they are mammals, it's not that hard. They run, walk, stroll, scamper, scurry, scramble, climb and leap, as well as hop.
    All four-legged animals are able to place their hind foot directly behind the front foot to make a straight line, just like the cat.
    At least the finger-to-palm ratio is closer than than any of the candidates mentioned, as well as the size and weight.
     
  20. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    Duplicate Deleted.!!!
     
  21. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    You'r measurments are a good match for a cat track.!!!

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    Last edited: Jan 14, 2019
  22. DaveC426913 Valued Senior Member

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    Not with a 4 1/2 inch stride they don't.

    This is a completely unfounded assertion. You made it up.
     
  23. cluelusshusbund + Public Dilemma + Valued Senior Member

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    No other tracks was near these... other than mine when i took the pic.!!!
    The sun was just comin up when i first saw 'em out the kitchen window... then went out an took the pic.!!!

    Below is the full pic... an the tracks go on for about 60 feet.!!!

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