Help in ID this track.
Dog, they do leave claw marks, nothing to worry about.
PaulG
Loc: Western Australia
Whatever it is, lock the doors! And.... good luck
I want to thank everyone for their input. I will post again if I have an answer to this mystery. Our ground has refrozen so new tracks won’t show for awhile. I will say that the possibility of it being a dog is remote we own six acres of forest in the middle of hundreds of acres of protected forest. The nearest neighbors are a mile away and they have a chihuahua. These tracks were not there at dusk when I left the building site but were there when I arrived at 6:45 am to wait for the plumbers. I’ve moved the cameras so maybe we’ll get lucky. Thx everyone for your help.
olemikey
Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida
Looks Canine, agree with aforementioned foot/paw/toe structure info. I do like the "boots" in Watosh's photo, interesting.....
Cykdelic
Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM
cmc65 wrote:
I tried to photograph this track in the mud that I found at the new house we are building. There were many in this area but this was the one that was isolated. I still had a difficult time getting a shot that showed the feature clearly. Any tips would be appreciated. Also I’d help would be helpful. My glove is to the left. I found a tape measure in the jeep later and the track measured almost 5 inches in both directions.
Based on the limited info, it could be a cougar or a black bear.
Bears tend to walk on their toes often which “hides” the second, lower foot pad and one toe often doesn’t register. The shape and size does lean toward a cougar.
cmc65 wrote:
My bad. Not enough info. This is southern Rhode Island. The area is surrounded by thick Forrest. I have definitely had bear through here. This track was not the same. There was another track intermingled with these larger ones. (There are no wolves here, just coyote and even the largest don’t track like this ). It was round overal, thought maybe a bobcat but it was too big. Mountain Lion attacking something else was a thought which would explain the claw being extended. Time to get a second trail camera. The workers at the house are a bit concerned.
My bad. Not enough info. This is southern Rhode Is... (
show quote)
Not a cat because cats retract their claws.
Dennis
dennis2146 wrote:
Not a cat because cats retract their claws.
Dennis
Not when they are attacking something else and these prints were intermingled with smaller prints that I didn’t recognize.
i can only hope
Now THAT would be a picture of the week to post.
Canine. I have two big dogs, a German Shepherd and a Malamute. The Malamute is a bigger dog, but the Shepherd leaves a bigger footprint in the snow. They leave big prints, but not quite five inches across. If your estimate is correct, that's a pretty big dog.
Cykdelic
Loc: Now outside of Chiraq & Santa Fe, NM
Bultaco wrote:
Dog, they do leave claw marks, nothing to worry about.
Of all things it might be, dog ain’t one of them.
You are right KT. I am a retired NC Wildlife Officer and with the information given, I believe it is canine.
A picture does not do tracks justice sometimes, especially if the track is made in mud then frozen and thaws. Upon thawing it will usually appear larger. I sent the pic to a friend of mine who is a retired wildlife biologist and he said dog. The 5 in measurement compounds things some but certainly does not rule out some breeds of large dogs or a wolf. Wolf is unlikely.
http://westernwildlife.org/gray-wolf-outreach-project/signs-of-wolves/
cmc65 wrote:
Not when they are attacking something else and these prints were intermingled with smaller prints that I didn’t recognize.
Was there evidence that the animal was attacking anything. Of course cats extend their claws when on the attack but that hasn't been brought up in this discussion has it? I am only going by the photo but if you have other evidence to share then I, and others, would be happy to see it.
Dennis
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