A surveyor and trader for the Northwest Company comes across tracks of an unusually large, unidentified animal
Account
A surveying party traveling through the Rocky Mountains in winter came upon a large, well-defined track in shallow snow on ice. The track was measured at about fourteen inches long by eight inches wide with four toe marks and was seen extending about a hundred yards from north to south. The party chose not to follow it, with companions unwilling to pursue such a large animal with small guns, and the party leader recorded uncertainty whether it was an unusually large bear or something else.
What was reported
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Physical traces
Described appearance
In the source's own words, field by field. Hover a field's marker to see where it was read.
- Feet src
- about 14 inches long by 8 inches wide, four large toes about 3 or 4 inches long with small nail/short claw, ball sunk about 3 inches deeper than toes, hinder part did not mark well
Facts & provenance
Each value names where it came from.
| Date |
7 January 1811
|
|---|---|
| Time of day |
afternoon
|
| Place |
Alberta
|
| Account type |
Third-hand
|
| Figures reported |
1
|
| Witness was |
traveling through the mountains on a surveying journey
|
| Witness's word for it |
a large Animal
|
| Source classification |
Class C
|
Evidence & investigation
What the source says was found or done. Claimed evidence is listed as claimed; the Anomadex has not examined it.
Large four-toed track in about six inches of snow on ice in a rivulet, seen extending about one hundred yards from north to south
Measurements: about 14 inches long by 8 inches wide; toes about 3 or 4 inches long; ball sunk about 3 inches deeper than toes; snow about 6 inches deep
Track dimensions taken with a tape line
Measurements: fourteen inches in length by eight inches in breadth
Source timeline
Every record this entry is built from, earliest known first. Records are versioned and never edited in place.
-
BFRO report #1399 Primary
The report refers to
- “Report from old times ... abode of one, or more, very large animals”Not in the Anomadex yet