TRACKS: Who dunnit?
- Thread starter JonathanD
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All I'm saying is I don't know what made those tracks. I've never seen tracks like that within the UK before. There is something canine about the left print, but they lack the claw indents. It's possible it could be a dog that has had a severe claw clipping recently, or that it lacks development in that area. I also agree that upon first glance they appear very feline, especially the print on the right. I need to get back up there earlier tomorrow and spend more time having a mooch about.
they r not dog tracks the shape doesn't look anything like that, it is a member of the cat family or a hoax
surely there had to bee human prints nearby if it was a hoax
or other prints if it wasnt
There are quite a few dog breeds and mongrels that can make prints that appear feline like this. Trouble is, they always have claw marks. The only other sign along that path was a badger which sidled off into brambles and was overridden by this animals track. And of course, the older bike track. No one had walked along that path for a good while. There where plenty of other tracks from this animal (see my other posts), but these were the clearest and most complete. It's a good mile from any well trodden footpaths by dog walkers.
I've seen plenty of hoax cat prints made by people, and exposed a few. These are genuine tracks, that is the only thing I'm 100% sure of.
That's exatly what is happening to the remaining wild cat populations in Scotland.
So....it's about the size of a leopard? Hummm.....
Re: cats...Can anybody spot the 3 lobes clearly which should be visible? I'm not certain.
Re: cats...Can anybody spot the 3 lobes clearly which should be visible? I'm not certain.
Years back a cat was shot near my parent's farm; it had been taking sheep and calves so the farmers got together and hunted it down. Everyone assumed it would turn out to be a puma or somesuch beast (ie a released pet). Turned out to be domestic cat genes - but weighed over 60lb. I had a pet tom that weighed about 24lb - no fat, just muscular.
Domestic cats can get big.
Domestic cats can get big.
It was about a metre high, old wooden fence. No hair, but fresh mud on the top and second from top cross bar.
Which is why dog is still the more probable of the two, even without claw depressions. Another hour and I'm off up there again.
It could be thumbs but it looks like UK big pussycat. Puma of the black coat variety? without a proper look at what is going on around its hard. BUT... The stick and bike track dont add up..The Bike track stops abruptly, the long stick is under the bike track which is older than the cat track. The left toe and the stick aren't quite right.. The toes also see close together.. i think we are looking at a human walking on their thumbs
A domestic cat weighing 30 kilos! assuming it was it was in normal condition it must have been around 60 cm at the shoulder !.........only with DNA tests could we be sure.
The bike track doesn't stop, it carries on but it is harder ground, as do the prints. They certainly aren't thumb prints, someone would have to be on their hands and knees for a few hours making a series of prints like that, and would be pointless around that area on a track hardly used. You can also see the hair marks in between the pads on the raised sections. I've seen more human 'big cat' thumb prints and these don't have any of those charcteristics. The weight distribution across the whole pad is too even, the pads don't conform to the same sizing. They are definately genuine animal tracks, that is one thing I am certain of. Also the way the two centre digitals form closer together also points me more towards dog.. well at least on that left hand print.
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It's a valid point that needed to be brought up and addressed. I've exposed a few big cat prints that have so obviously been made by human thumbs. You can spot them a mile off as it's very difficult to fake even one decent track and make it look natural. Usually these tracks are blurred. That's why I made sure to take crisp clean close-ups of the print so you could see the hair imprint between the toe. The other option is a pre made print that is pressed into the ground. The weight dispersion is more natural with these, but every print is identical and looks wrong as the pads don'e spread naturally or get pressed in when on uneven ground. I wish I had got a good shot of the whole track, but it was a winding path interspersed with these drying puddle/mud patches, so I didn't. In hindsight I should have done so, and I'm off over there now, so hope that they are still intact. Not to mention getting casts.
I couldn't really determine anything from the way it went over the fence. It could be construed as fast and clumsy, or slow and deliberate. The way the track lead up to it certainly point towards the animal walking slowly and methodically. Difficult to say.
Right, I'm off now....
That point about the way dogs jump fences is spot on. Whatever made the tracks didn't stop, but went over the fence as if it was carrying on at teh same spedd without stopping. The way it landed would have told a great story and eliminated many questions, but unfortunately it was on grass and I couldn't really make anything important out. My skills aren't that good by any means.
It's probably an escaped "Big Cat". Lots of evidence in Ayrshire of one(a big black un too).
Seen by 2 local bobbies in Saltcoats/Ardrossan area a few years back, I was also told by reliable witness that he'd found a half a deer one day. He'd then tied it up a tree with a rope with the intent to grab the car and retrieve it later, on returning the deer was gone and parts of the rope that were left behind were snapped rather than cut and this was just outside of Ayr.
And occasionaly you see unexplainable tracks (one recently larger than the size of my fist) was quite hard to get an positive ID as it was atleast a day or 2 old but it had literally jumped out to me as it was so big and measured nearly twice the size of the largest dog print in the area in width and a good bit longer in length, there was also deer tracks in the same area and going in the same direction and very deep as if it had been moving fast and from my limited tracking knowledge, the same age. But my tracking skills as I said are limited and it could of been a coincidence and just a false print I took to be something it was'nt.
Seen by 2 local bobbies in Saltcoats/Ardrossan area a few years back, I was also told by reliable witness that he'd found a half a deer one day. He'd then tied it up a tree with a rope with the intent to grab the car and retrieve it later, on returning the deer was gone and parts of the rope that were left behind were snapped rather than cut and this was just outside of Ayr.
And occasionaly you see unexplainable tracks (one recently larger than the size of my fist) was quite hard to get an positive ID as it was atleast a day or 2 old but it had literally jumped out to me as it was so big and measured nearly twice the size of the largest dog print in the area in width and a good bit longer in length, there was also deer tracks in the same area and going in the same direction and very deep as if it had been moving fast and from my limited tracking knowledge, the same age. But my tracking skills as I said are limited and it could of been a coincidence and just a false print I took to be something it was'nt.
