The Devil's Footprints of Devon

After a heavy snowfall on the night of 8 to 9 February 1855, lines of hoof-like prints were reported at over 30 places across Devon. Explanations offered since include birds, mice, hares, and an escaped kangaroo.

On the night of 8 to 9 February 1855, and on one or two later nights, hoof-like marks in a series showed up in the snow after a heavy fall. Wikipedia records that most were about four inches long and three inches across, set 8 to 16 inches apart and mostly in a single file. They were reported from more than 30 places across Devon and a couple in Dorset. The total distance of the tracks was estimated at between 40 and 100 miles. Accounts say the line of prints went straight over houses, rivers and haystacks.

The only known documents come from the papers of Henry Thomas Ellacombe, who was vicar of Clyst St George at the time. They came to light after the Transactions of the Devonshire Association printed a 1950 article asking readers for more information, and include letters sent to him by friends.

Discovery UK lists the animals people have named as the source: badgers, mice, hares and cats. Donkeys and horses were weighed up too, but cannot account for prints on rooftops. Birds are often proposed because flight would explain the gaps. G. M. Musgrave, a reverend, told worshippers then that a kangaroo had got loose from a zoo kept privately in Exmouth.