# What beastie prowls my yard at night? (Tracks in the snow) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081 "2009-01-06T13:55:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/21 "2009-01-06T19:29:14Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Don’t leave any food or virgins lying around. Always good advice. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/22 "2009-01-06T20:13:18Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Damn, son, you got satyrs. > > Don’t leave any food or virgins lying around. Those things edible at all? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![cuberdon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@cuberdon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuberdon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/23 "2009-01-06T21:27:41Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I’m curious about their gait, though – how do they walk to leave such an absolutely straight track? I can’t seem to picture it… The back feet stepping neatly into the front foot tracks is called registering. Housecats do it too. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/24 "2009-01-06T23:42:37Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Paging **Invisible Wombat** IIRC he knows a bunch about animal tracks / leavings. My expertise is in North American critters, but yes, I’ve written books on tracks and scats. At first glance, I thought of goats, but not with a one-meter stride. Looking at the track more closely, I’d say it’s almost certainly a deer. People have already mentioned that the tracks may look bigger because of melting (and even one a cold day the warm feet can melt the snow back a bit from the edges of the tracks). Another reason is that they tend to “track” the front feet with the back. In other words, the back foot will be placed right where the front foot was, which often looks like one larger print instead of two superimposed prints. The distance between the tracks also indicates that if it’s a satyr, he was either very tall or in quite a hurry. The depth of the tracks shows that he probably wasn’t carrying a virgin at the time, and the fact that they’re neatly lined up shows he wasn’t playing his pan flute (he’d have been hopping around more). No virgin + no pan flute = grumpy satyr, so I’d stay inside for a few days and drink extensively. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/25 "2009-01-06T23:58:01Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > The distance between the tracks also indicates that if it’s a satyr, he was either very tall or in quite a hurry. The depth of the tracks shows that he probably wasn’t carrying a virgin at the time, and the fact that they’re neatly lined up shows he wasn’t playing his pan flute (he’d have been hopping around more). No virgin + no pan flute = grumpy satyr, so I’d stay inside for a few days and drink extensively. Considering it’s shaping up to hit the -20°C mark tonight, I think that’s advice I’ll happily take. Thanks for the answers, all! ---
**Author:** ![terrymiff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@terrymiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terrymiff)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/26 "2009-01-07T00:28:11Z")
Lots of Yetis are holidaying in Europe. The current Euro/Nepalese Rupee exchange rate makes it a good proposition at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/27 "2009-01-07T00:49:04Z")
> [@Omegaman](#): > > Those things edible at all? Just curious. Well, my HS girlfriend and I had oral sex before we had vaginal sex, so I’d have to say yes, virgins are edible. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/28 "2009-01-09T19:38:53Z")
Some more so than others, ifyouknowwhatImean… ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081/29 "2009-01-09T21:53:22Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > They definitely look like hooves. So I’d say either [Satan](http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4031) or a red deer. Hot damn, that was funny! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-beastie-prowls-my-yard-at-night-tracks-in-the-snow/480081.md?page=1)