Mystery Print??

[stone]

I had a nice hike with my wife last weekend up on the other side of Banff in a place called Johnson Canyon. We came across this pawprint, but have no idea what it may be. It is about 3-4 inches across, and at first we thought it might be a cougar, as the claws were well defined in the print. When I googled it, it seemed more likely to be a coyote track, but then the size doesn't make sense...I'm sorry the picture quality isn't any better than this.

Any ideas?

Here's a link to the area in question. It is above the upper falls towards the "inkpots".
Johnson Canyon (Warning--has a built in movie, but very nice to see)

 

[Galemys]

at first we thought it might be a cougar, as the claws were well defined in the print. Any ideas?

Stone,
I didn't know that cougars claws showed up in their prints. As the print is too large for a coyote could it be a wolf or are they not living in this particular area?

Tom

 

[stone]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm not sure why I thought it was a cat track. It sort of looked like the size I would expect and the claws were tucked inside the track outline, as if they were retracted. At least that was my theory...lol

On further googling it looks like it could be a wolf track. There were a few pictures that look similar to mine. The snow was starting to melt and get soft, so maybe the outline was starting to fade a bit too. I was just curious as I haven't really done much animal tracking yet, but I would like to start learning more

Many thanks Tom!
~mike

 

[HuBBa]

Do not immediately disregard it as a cat based track because there are claws because it's not 100% sure they retract the claws. You can see lynx tracks here in Sweden with very visible claw marks for example from time to time.

Generally it's almost impossible (or at least very hard) to determine from just one print. You didn't find any more by any chance?

 

[eraaij]

The picture is not very clear, but It looks like there are 5 indentations for the nails. Cats and dogs show 4 nails (if visible). So my quess would be a family member of the weasel, perhaps wolverine, given the size? - the right back leg.

-Emile

 

[Rhoda]

The compression shape appears to be more round than oval which would indicate cat to me. It is possible that it could be a cougar which has difficulty retracting its claws, some cats can't fully retract (my domestic cat permanently has claws out). It's hard to tell from the picture whether there are 5 claws or the 5th is just a ridge in the snow. Could you tell at the time? If there were 5 then it wouldn't be cougar, its a shame that photos never do tracks justice!

 

[amott69]

My money is on a cougar because of the round shape. The toes are a bit misleading, however as it is in snow I would not rule out the possibility of them showing up.The depth of the track appears to be shallow which would be a good indicator, the front toes appear to be spread where as in wolf and coyote they would be closer together and the track deeper.I reckon its a front left foot for the size(cougar 3.5 to 4 inches) and the inner toe is furthest forward.
Did you see any tail tracks as this can be a give away in snow?

 

[stone]

Generally it's almost impossible (or at least very hard) to determine from just one print. You didn't find any more by any chance?

There weren't any other decent ones to photograph unfortunately, and I need more pratice taking these shots with different lighting techniques!

So my quess would be a family member of the weasel, perhaps wolverine, given the size? - the right back leg.

This was actually suggested to me by a local friend/guide I chatted with last night. He seemed to think this was actually a wolverine ??!!

It's hard to tell from the picture whether there are 5 claws or the 5th is just a ridge in the snow. Could you tell at the time? If there were 5 then it wouldn't be cougar, its a shame that photos never do tracks justice!

It really was hard to tell due to the snow melt at the time, but that's good info to think about next time I go tracking during a hike! You're right about the photos. I actually thought it had the right shadowing before taking the snap, but looking at it now....well....

Did you see any tail tracks as this can be a give away in snow?

There were quite a few other older human tracks about on the path, but the freshest ones were this one and a few squirrel tracks. I never thought to look for a tail drag though, good point!


Around this area, Grizzly/Black bears are just coming out of the dens. Cougars are usually in the area too, but the usual touristy signs on the trails never mentioned anything about them, just the cute cuddly martens and such. Can't panic the tourists heh!

I will endeavour to take better notes and many more pics of the next unknown tracks and then I be better prepared! Sorry to offer such little info, but it's a learning curve for me

Thanks All :You_Rock_

 

[pierre girard]

I had a nice hike with my wife last weekend up on the other side of Banff in a place called Johnson Canyon. We came across this pawprint, but have no idea what it may be. It is about 3-4 inches across, and at first we thought it might be a cougar, as the claws were well defined in the print. When I googled it, it seemed more likely to be a coyote track, but then the size doesn't make sense...I'm sorry the picture quality isn't any better than this.

Any ideas?

Here's a link to the area in question. It is above the upper falls towards the "inkpots".
Johnson Canyon (Warning--has a built in movie, but very nice to see)

No claw print on a cougar. Possible dog or wolf.

PG

 

[stone]

Well the mystery might be solved!

I was lucky to be at a Bear and Cat awareness course at a local park last night, and the Conservation Officer that was teaching it looked at the image I took, and thought it was very similar to Lynx and/or Bobcat. She thought it didn't seem like the right size for a Cougar, and a wolf would show the claws on the outside of the print. The lynx apparently have a fairly rounded foot and the claws would be showing inside the fur outline. It may be that the Lynx needed to get better traction by bringing out the claws a bit.

She also mentioned that the picture really sucked, an I need some more practice

All in all it is really interesting following animal tracks!

Thanks all!!
~mike