Dave writes:

I took these photos on my cell phone so they don't look very good but it's all I had. I came across these footprints a couple of months ago while walking my dogs in Simi Valley, Ca.

I've seen some prints like these around this area before but always dismissed them as dog/coyote tracks that for whatever reason didn't show a full foot print. These are the things I know for sure. I was the first person up this particular trail that morning. There were a series of maybe six or seven prints in a 1.5" deep sand/ gravel bed. The photos don't really show as much as I had hoped. I used my pocket knife as a scale and it's 4.25" closed. That makes the track about the size of my German Shepherd's and she weighs 75/ 80 lbs.

The stride between tracks was about 18" - 20" and whatever made them walked on two legs. There was no identation of prints overlapping which would have to occur with a four-legged animal. My dog had left a couple of prints in this same bed and her whole foot showed up perfectly.

I'm from South Carolina where I grew up hunting, camping and fishing most of my life. I no longer hunt but I hike daily and always seem to see the coolest things. I've studied animals tracks as a kid looking at pictures and always thought I was a pretty heady outdoorsmen. I don't have as much knowledge about the animals in California but I can't think of anything that has three toes and walks on two legs. So take my submittal for what it's worth and I'll plan on getting me a better camera and continuing watching the ground.

Thanks for your time,

Dave

Here we re-sized the images, so that you can see the footprints better.

Dave writes:

I just wanted to follow up with photos I've taken of deer prints in the same area with the same cell phone. One is a single print which is clearly visible and looks nothing like the three-toed prints and the other is a photo of doe tracks which shows one print underneath the other but they don't line up perfectly.

This picture is not very clear though. I've hunted deer on many ocasions and they do not leave a three-toed track. Plus, a deer with a track that measures nearly 4" long would be a world record for what I think are only black-tailed deer. I'm not sure if a mule deer would even get that big and I know that mule deer don't live here. Plus, a deer that size would have a far longer stride between prints than 18" to 20".

Dave

Thanks to Dave for his submission.

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