The Animal paw print identification thread

Post up pics of animal paw prints you find!

 

I'll start with these. They were not there when I walked down to the river, Cheakamus area, whistler. Patch of snow received sun for several hours after I passed it. Not an area people access easily, if at all, so I ruled out a big dog.

Look like murder floof (big cat) prints to me. They are larger than my hand outstretched.

 

First one is from the woods. Got a few different ones in it. I was specifically aiming for the turkey tracks and got what looks like raccoon & some other birds. Second pic is from a couple weeks ago on my deck & my dog. just another Missouri spring day.

 

I saw these prints last year in Canaan Valley, WV.
Nothing for scale. But I figure it was a Bobcat print.

 

No idea what it was from, but it was fairly good sized. I should have put something down next to it for size comparison:

 

^ looks like three "toes" or claws?

 

I thought it was from some type of water fowl perhaps. It was as big as my hand.

 

Cougar prints are normally as wide (or wider) as they are tall, about 3-4" wide and 3-4" tall, the toes are more roundish rather than more oval, and the overall shape of the print should be round. Unless chasing something (these prints are not indicative of running), their claws wouldn't be extended. With all big cats, there are three lobes on the rear of the heel and two in the front, which are missing here. Also, the overall shape of the heel is completely wrong for a big cat.

Everything I know as a tracker tells me the prints above are Canine. Most probably a Wolf considering your location was remote.


Below are some examples gathered on the web showing some example of Cougar vs Wolf tracks.

The "X" test is also a very reliable way to distinguish between Canine and Feline tracks.

 

the area I was in a while back is well known for wolves. Even as far south as Squamish there have been lots of documented sightings. Whistler / Cheakamus / Pemberton even more so.

 

We have a pack that moves around the mountains I live up against. A friend of mine was telling me a story about his buddy and his dad having traveled up North to hunt, they got an Elk and two deer and brought them back.

They took the heads and placed them in a cage in their back yard one evening to let nature take its course, and not three hours later, their home security cameras caught a wolf circling the cage. Not long after, another wolf appeared, and then another and another. All in, there were 8 wolves circling the cage, trying to get in. They didn't make a sound.

This happened just down the road from me, maybe 2/3 kilometer from me down a forest road into a rural area.

 

Just an old pic of some small deer prints I came across on the trail a few months back.

 

Also came across this one from Haloween eve of '17. Front bear paw.

 

I'm tempted to go see if I can find any tracks from this little dude tomorrow. This was taken about an hour ago.

 

Horse going one way, doggo going the other. Winkler for scale.

 

Just some deer tracks I found while trying to find cat sign.

 

Is that a bear paw print to the right of the deer print, below the rock? 1st pic

 

Nope, part of a mountain bike track that went along that trail. I definitely see what you're looking at though.

 

This was taken on a hike I did on the Johnson Pass trail in Alaska. The trail is located on the northern Kenai Peninsula. The bottom pic is a little hard to see.

 

Bump for a nice thread. This was in Denali National Park