Investigating the Jersey Devil: Footprints

Investigating the Jersey Devil: Footprints

Trifid Leg

Trifid (Split into 3 parts)…or Drake’s feet, 3 toes. A popular carving technique for the legs of tables or chairs.

Back in 1941 a strange footprint was found in Batsto, New Jersey and many suspected that is was from the Jersey Devil. A cast was promptly made and then a wooden imprint was made of it. Currently this wooden imprint resides at Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, New Jersey. Back in November of 2013 the Courier Post did a front page story with me concerning my Jersey Devil documentary. That’s me with the footprint cast.

chris_print

Chris Chaos and the print.

One thing that got me was that by popular accounts most witnesses stated that the Jersey Devil had cloven hooves… like a goat, or the Devil Himself. The wooden imprint is more that of a dragon, or some sort of 3 toed lizard. There are not many large 3 toed animals. Among their ranks are capybaras, rhinoceroses, crows, turkeys and emus. Many dinosaur era birds had 3 toes, with a 4th toe backwards turned that assisted them with gripping tree branches.

The Wooden cast

The wooden cast

There was a hoaxer, circa 1948, running around the US, and world, leaving fake 3 toed impressions earning him the nickname “Old Three Toes”. Tony Signorini claimed the prints were of a large penguin, tormenting Florida with these false tracks. Several pics emerged of the hoaxer wearing his homemade, three-toed boots. There’s a curious resemblance, although a bit larger, to the prints supposedly left by the Jersey Devil in Batsto.1

The hoaxer with his notorious boots.

The hoaxer with his notorious boots.

There are many explanations for this unique cast: A real, unidentified animal, a hoax, an publicity stunt to bring in tourists,… or the actual Jersey Devil.

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Be sure to let us know what you think on our Facebook page, at Twitter, or in the comments below! And follow the progress of our film at The Search For The Jersey Devil.


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  1. http://orgoneresearch.com/2009/10/19/florida-%E2%80%9Cgiant-penguin%E2%80%9D-hoax-revealed/ 

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