The rest of us take them for granted, but to the wrong man, they are a harsh adversary. Criminals running in snow, Bigfoot, rabid wolves: all of these have one thing in common other than a lack of bathing - they are all afraid of their own footprints.

Northumberland, England (Metro.co.uk) — A dim-witted teenage burglar left footprints in fresh snow this morning, which helped police track him down, a force spokesman said.

A homeowner from Ashington, Northumberland, rang police at 1.30am to report that two bikes had been stolen.

The thief climbed over a fence in Hindmarsh Avenue, broke into a shed and wheeled the bikes away, said a spokesman from the Northumbria Police.

Unfortunately, he forgot he left behind a trail of footprints that led all the way to his house. It also didn’t help that he stopped to “write his name” along the way.

How can you run in the snow and not have the common sense to get rid of your footprints? I’ll be this guy was actually thinking, “You know if I took my shoes, I’ll bet I won’t leave any footprints.”

Fortunately, the bikes were found and returned to their rightful owners. Unfortunately, the culprit’s shame is lost and presumed dead.