Lil’ devil’s footprints

In February 1855 in Devon, England, tiny curved tracks, like horse-shoes or donkey prints, appeared in the snow overnight. The tracks, which reportedly extended some 40 miles, caused quite a stir. Someone suggested that they were made by the devil himself. The tale grew and became a well-known Fortean incident, mentioned to this day.

This story was one of my favorites, not because I thought of it as a real and perplexing mystery, but because it made such a lasting impact. Skeptics will immediately note that the tracks melted and what was left resembled a hoof print. Yet, I hadn’t seen any actual demonstration of this. There probably was a demonstration, but the mundane answers to the world’s mysteries are not very popular. People prefer the more dramatic and exciting “unexplained” framing. However, on December 14, 2025, my grand-dog and I inadvertently made the devil prints ourselves.

Devon: Winter, 1855

The weather reported in Devon on the day of the 1855 tracks was cold and windy, another day of the severe winter that froze parts of the nearby rivers. A half inch to 4 inches of snow had fallen overnight. Then came a bit of rain before another hard freeze. The next day, someone noticed the hoof-like tracks. Framed as a mystery, the news spread. Many people found similar tracks.

According to the collected information by Mike Dash (my favorite Fortean historian) in Fortean Studies, Volume 1, no one actually did any careful logging of the tracks. Some reports had the tracks going across rooftops or high walls. It’s unclear how someone could be certain of the rooftop claim. Later, the story evolved into miles of continuous trackways that were from the same creature, and happened simultaneously. This was untrue as the story unfolded over more than one day. Dash cites sources noting that the trackway wasn’t a direct line but meandered “like an animal looking for food”.

The tracks were not a hoax (but subsequent tracks in the following days could have been). The contemporary sources were sometimes anonymous and unreliable, with questionable details. Extra exaggerated elements were likely added to the tale later on. Speculation about the origin included reference to all sorts of animals to blame, including a kangaroo(?!). There were a myriad of creative explanations volunteered by serious investigators. Dash concluded that it is unlikely the mystery can ever be thoroughly solved.

The unknown culprit led to some people throwing up their hands and declaring the devil had traversed the land. This was a grievous insult to the local bishop!

The making of the devil tracks

Additional accounts of mysterious “hoof prints” similar to the Devon mystery are reported up to modern day. Even more examples were noted in the UK that same winter. Certainly, there were more incidents that are never reported.

I’m reporting an incident right now. And I know how they were made.

On Sunday morning, Tito, the long-legged, long-haired Chihuahua, had to go on a walk to do his business because that’s the way he rolls. I was not keen on walking outside that blustery suburban morning, but I am his temporary keeper and I do his bidding. The sidewalk was mostly snow-covered with about an inch of powder. It was brutally cold, well below freezing. Our prints in both directions were the only markings in the windswept snow. No other sane people were walking, or cleaning their sidewalks.

Later that afternoon, we were off on our second trip. The winds had blown most of the snow clear off the smooth concrete sidewalks, leaving only the icy traces of our morning walk. I was amused to see my shoe prints enlarged, but Tito’s had formed into adorable little horse-shoe shapes. The prints remained the following day as the temps stayed in low double digits.

The Explanation

The original prints from Tito, the lil’ devil, pushed the snow into little ridges in the direction of travel. The tiny outer ridge remained as the wind blew away the loose snow and the sun melted the paw prints that were originally obvious.

As for the Devon prints, the single track indicated an animal that either hopped (like a rabbit, squirrel, etc.), making a single indentation in the snow, or a two-legged animal (a bird) tracked a linear path, unlike a dog that shows a parallel track.

This is no mystery. But we still want it to be. No matter how many times we show how a mystery was solved, a monster made, or a mistake revealed, the fun story will live on.

Tito was unimpressed with his Fortean accomplishment. He would rather lounge, careless, on the couch. I recognized that a mystery is mostly about context and culture, with a heavy dose of slow news day reaction.