tracks from a dog walk

[maverix]

Well Im 99% sure what this is.

I found it on a dog walk this morning and although it looks well dried, so I assume its been there for a few days hence other tracks are obscured by a myriad dog and boot prints. how ever the prints that are left seem to be clean and easy to ID.

Pic 1.
shows the direction of travel emerging from a run through remaining dried bracken on one side of the path across the path and I suspect through a gap in the fence.

Pic 2.
Is a detail of the cleanest print.

Not sure if anyone's interested but Ill look for others next time I'm out with the spotty one

 

[Goose]

Otter?????

 

[maverix]

A little too small for Otter.

Shame cos having them THAT close to home would be a bonus

 

[Goose]

Baby otter then?

 

[British Red]

I'm no expert but on size and shape I'd be tempted to say vole

Red

 

[Justin Time]

my first impression is Brown Rat, unless of course you carry a giant 20p with you....

 

[dommyracer]

to my eyes the toes don't look splayed enough for a vole, the print looks like it has three 'fingers' and a 'thumb', much like a rat as Justin says.

 

[maverix]

well I have been to and froeing between a rat and a hedgehog.

Went back for another look today and I'm going for the prickly option seemed to be a little shorter than my experience of rat tracks

 

[dommyracer]

I thought that they are quite short for rat. But hedgehogs have 5 toes, there's only 4 visible in those prints.

any other sign around? feeding, droppings etc?

 

[Silverback]

The point at which those prints have been photographed is a fairly uneven rutted part of muddy pathway over which a rat would shorten its gait to negotiate and maybe even have a bit of a more detailed sniff at the array of different scents that must be present. I am therefore going for rat. There should also be some evidence of a tail drag in that mud somewhere I would have thought

 

[bear knights]

would be inclined to say that its my hedgehog friend on the prowl again. they do have five toes, but rarely see the fifth, even in mud like this. if it was a rat, you might have seen the hind foot, also with five toes, and they tend to be more splayed, like they'd be great piano players.

 

[Greg]

IMO although hard to tell the prints seem to be about the right size for a Brown Rat.
EDIT: On further investigation, the prints might not be spread apart enough to be a brown rat, but alas I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination!!

 

[weekender]

could it possibly be a weasel or stoat?? im no expert just chucking in an idea??

 

[twisted firestarter]

I'm guessing too here- is it a mink?

 

[moko]

Two different critters? Its the spacing between each individual print which looks a little odd to me. Plus, if this is a well used run more than one animal is likely to use it. Hedgehog is a good bet given its weight and shortish gait...........could the track on the left be a treerat?