[harrygunner]

I photographed these tracks near a lake in the Eldorado NF (west of Lake Tahoe in California). However, I don't have a guess of what animal made them.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/harrygunner/hiking/unknown_track1a.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/harrygunner/hiking/unknown_track1b.jpg

The print is about four or five inches long. The heel indentation is pronounced. At the time, I was further confused by the lack of a trail of tracks, but it was on the shore of a lake and it had rained that morning.

Thanks.

BTW, there are other scenic photos in that album if you are interested in the area.

[cliffy]

A werewolf track to me, but I could be wrong. cliffy

[harrygunner]

No, it's a real track. This a photo of the lake it was near.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/harrygunner/hiking/loon_lake4.jpg

[Shawnee]

My guess is they are from a large domestic dog.

Is it possible the track in the second photo is actually the track of a front foot overlaid with the track of the hind foot (as in trotting) ?

4" or 5" long just about guarantees a domestic dog although the track size could be exagerated a little by wet mud and a fast gait. Can't really tell the width of the line (left-right space between tracks) from the photos but if it was very wide at all that would be more indicative of a domestic dog.

The absence of a line of tracks might be explained by difference in soil moisture when the animal passed - eg. the spot where you found the tracks may have simply been wetter than the rest of the area. But, agreed - that is a bit of an oddity.:confused:

Local opinion may vary. :)

[rondog]

It's a Sasquatch!

[Jst1mr]

Here I thought I would be guessing which artist painted a deer picture...

[harrygunner]

Dog tracks. Thanks.

I camp on weekdays and hike in for miles to avoid crowds. I saw a large number of tracks within fifty miles of hiking/driving within the forest over the week. Most were identified as dog tracks.

Didn't see a single dog (or person) on the trail in four days. Oh well - as far as encountering something interesting.

I'm going to give the Modoc National Forest a shot. Think I've got to get deeper into the forest. :D

[Shawnee]

Hi Harry...

The tracks of a wolf are nearly impossible to distinguish from the tracks of a large domestic dog - especially dogs like the Malamute. Usually an ID is made from external clues such as the terrain and the route etc.

Finding them in really, really remote country would favor the wolf ID though I don't think the Tahoe area is verified as having wolves (though that doesn't mean its' impossible).

Both large dogs and wolves will leave a track between 4" and 5" long. A tip off can be length of stride. A wolf can leave tracks 24"-28", or more apart - a large dog's stride (mythical "average") will usually be slightly shorter. In general, a domestic dog will leave a trail with left/right spacing a slightly wider than a wolf.

The route can be a clue too as domestic dogs often utilize cover less and are less "round-about" in approaching objects that are associated with humans.

The only place I've seen wolf tracks is in Michigan's Upper Penninsula and, in fact, I thought they were dog tracks but hunting friends who live there took the time to give me some "Wolf Tracks for Dummies" education. They said about the only way to tell a wolf track for sure is to watch the animal make it. :D

It's a shame there wasn't a longer line of tracks for you to get more clues from.

:cool:

[harrygunner]

I appreciate your opinion on this. No wolves here, perhaps it was a coyote. We have plenty of those. The UP is on my list of great places to visit. Have any photos?

That trip challenged my woodcraft-fu. Maybe the rain and staying near lakes gave me large and distorted prints to photograph.

I normally don't photograph prints at all. But, before entering the wilder parts of the forest, I visited Jenkinson Lake and saw prints embedded in beautiful earth tones. So, I kept taking pictures.

I'm actually going to Modoc because I've never been there and it is more isolated. All the fires over the summer kept a lot of people out of the woods.

Here's a couple of the tracks that caused that spurt of photography.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/harrygunner/hiking/jenkinson_tracks2.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/harrygunner/hiking/jenkinson_tracks4.jpg

The bottom one is definitely a dog. The top one is canine, maybe a fox.

[Shawnee]

Another fun aspect of studying tracks is trying to figure out what the animal was doing while making the tracks.

Good luck !
:cool:

[koja48]

Big dog . . . too large for a coyote, too rounded at the back of the pad & claws are too blunt for a wolf (or giant coyote, for that matter). Size-wise, these are large enough for a young wolf, but a wolf's claws would appear much sharper & all toes would register approximately the same.

[rcmodel]

Most definately Chupcabra tracks.

Seriously, looks like a dog, but I can't explane the extra pad mark at the rear of the track. They don't look deep enough for it to be caused by the soft pad further up the dogs front leg.

rcmodel

[koja48]

Here's the bottom line . . . many years ago (I was 10 . . . that makes it 50-years past) I came home & told my Dad I saw Grizzly tracks in the upper pasture. He chuckled and asked how I knew they were Grizz tracks. "Because the Grizz was standing in some of them, Dad." He grabbed his '06 and saddled a horse to go looking . . . we lost a calf that day. Tracked my whole life . . . most times you can be spot-on, but not always quite 100% sure . . . terrain, ground conditions, and the very movement of the critter at the time can throw a variety of curves at you. The ONLY time you know for sure is when you see the tracks being made.

[harrygunner]

Thanks everyone.

koja48, that was funny. Hard to refute when you actually see the animal.

I've seen tracks of a mountain lion in snow in northwest Arizona that were text book examples. And have seen two mountain lions themselves within a decade. Here, where I live is surrounded by coyotes. Scat with embedded rabbit fur is all over the place. I have sighted mule deer and their tracks. Deer tracks are easier to identify. We have recorded visits from black bears but I've never seen a sign of them.

I carry either a Glock 29 in 10mm or a Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag. Just picked up a Marlin 1895 45-70 for my trip to eastern Arizona.

A man has got to know his limitations. If I can't identify dog tracks, I'm definitely avoiding picking mushrooms in the forest. :uhoh:

[koja48]

Canine scat on roads or trails is almost always from 'yotes (either their primary path of travel or hard surfaces trigger a sphincter muscle
reaction . . . ). More cougs and bobcats have seen you than you have seen them . . . masters of patience and of "not moving prematurely." Track bugs sometime . . . good practice. Critters unstressed most always take the easiest route. Enjoy!

[Guillermo]

looking at the ground around your tracks, it appears as though it has drizzled.

As you undoubtedly know, that can not only increase the size, but slew the shape in some strange ways.

My best guess is a wolf, with the size of the track increased by the moisture.

[texfed]

Holy smokes.....now I know where my girl friend ran off too!

[ronwill]

Definitely canine, possibly coyote. It's really hard to tell the difference from dog, wolf and coyote prints from photos.

[Guillermo]

Holy smokes.....now I know where my girl friend ran off too!


Well! What is she?