TRACKS: Who dunnit?

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
easy one, typical animal of fields and forests... notice "Y" formation of tracks:

IMAG0344_zpsjrxxj9se.jpg

Easy. The gps is the giveaway. That's a three-legged orienteerer.

Or possibly a lynx?
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Hi BushrangerCZ
Hard to tell the size of the top two tracks in the image but the Y shape gait and forest and field was a big clue, combined that with the asymmetrical foot print at the bottom of the pic which is characteristic of lagomorph , I'm fairly sure its a Hare (front left ?) though not %100 on this one, its got a bit of a otter look about it with the size and the toes spread-out because of the snow but I cant see a fifth toe, otter to can leave a y shape gait trail to when bounding, I would need to follow the trail a bit.

Just as a side note,
Cats can, but only very rarely show any sign of claw marks. here's the only picture I have ever taken of a cat showing claw marks in a track. The Cat was stalking the crow across a drying out stream bed over some very fine wet clay silt.
I have other pics of cat tracks in mud but this stuff was exceptionally fine ,you can see the cat's toe pads have opened up a bit and some sign of slipping in the track with movement in the claw marks, as to whether the cat was ether trying to spread its weight or gain extra grip with its claws , I don't know, probably both.

.

photo hosting
 
Last edited:
Here's one for all you track lovers. Found on a well worn badger highway well away from human habitation and walkers. I go there regularly and the only people you see are the occasional serious mountain bikers....

16Feb201123.jpg


16Feb201124.jpg

Hi guys. I realise I may be a bit late to the party but this looks to me like domestic cat tracks. A large cat but nothing too large. Regular domestic cat tracks are usually up to 4 cm long. These seem a bit longer than that. Footprints size is often exaggerated in soft wet ground and melting snow. These tracks were left in mud and are a bit smeared too.
 

BushrangerCZ

Nomad
Dec 23, 2010
258
0
in the woods
Hi, yes it´s a cat, badger got more bear-like shape of print and VERY distinct claws, always visible
To 21st cent. - you are exactly right, it´s hare, and also is true that on some occasions you can get claw marks even from cats, just like you posted
;)
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE