Guy Spots Strange Creatures On His Trail Camera — And Thinks They Might Be Dinosaurs

"They seemed prehistoric" 😳

Going through footage from his trail camera, Jon Croff did a double take.

There, walking through the Michigan woods, appeared to be prehistoric creatures.

two cranes walking through the woods
Facebook/Jon Croff

“I thought they were dinosaurs at first,” Croff wrote in a Facebook post.

Upon closer inspection, Croff realized what he thought were ancient beasts were actually sandhill cranes, a species of bird native to North America. What had caught Croff off-guard was their presence in the forest — this was a rare occurrence.

“I was really surprised to see them in the woods,” Croff told The Dodo. “I was used to seeing cranes in open fields.”

cranes standing in field
Jon Croff

Croff, who has always been a nature lover and enjoys documenting natural events around his home, had taken photos of these cranes before, out in the meadows around Lake Orion, Michigan.

cranes taking flight above field
Jon Croff

However, in the shadows of the woods, the cranes took on a different quality. The red coloring on their heads combined with their dark, pointed beaks gave them a unique new look.

“They seemed prehistoric,” Croff said.

Croff compared the cranes in the woods to the parasaurolophus, who also had a reddish-colored head and a beaked face.

The birds we know today actually evolved from a group of dinosaurs called theropods. In fact, dinosaurs are more closely related to birds than they are to alligators or lizards.

So, while Croff didn’t actually see a dinosaur that day, it turns out he wasn’t far off.