Identify This Animal

[truck driver]

I only have pics of it's tracks but figure one of the experts here can make a qualified guess. I'm thinking Black Bear. (click on picture to enlarge) This animal has very long claws. The ground is hard packed and I weigh 250# and didn't leave any tracks. These are also fresh made with in 10 minutes of the photo. Also think the single track is made by a different animal.

 

[shoots_5]

What part of the country is this....that will help in narrowing a species.


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[Kodiak]

I have taken a badger that had only 3 toes on a front foot. He has claws.

 

[truck driver]

Eastern US, Maryland. I'm still thinking a small back bear maybe a cub. There is around 50 in the Mountains around Frederick, MD where I hunt. Also bobcats,coyotes and an occasional Mountain Lion will pass threw which I have seen and she scared the Sh$t out of me when I was sitting in a pick up truck. I was glad to have the sheet metal around me even though I was armed.

 

[Thebear_78]

I don't think it's a bear, I'd guess dog


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[truck driver]

I thought about that also but the ground is hard packed where the 2 prints are and you can usually see all four toes on a dog even though the center 2 are close together and the nails would be worn down running around in this granite rock and sand.

 

[DrMike]

From the size (comparing to the leaf in the first photo), I'm confident it is a dog sized animal. It is not a black bear. It looks more like a coyote. That it made an imprint on hard soil is not particular surprising. They tend to drop surprisingly hard when they are trotting.

 

[salmonchaser]

I agree with the good Dr.

 

[DrMike]

To add to my reasoning in this instance, I note that the elongated toe pads and lack of splaying between the toes are consistent with a coyote track rather than dog.

 

[JD338]

I too think its a coyote.

JD338

 

[truck driver]

Thanks guys I think your right since we do have a population in the state. What's funny is he only left one set of front paw tracks or back paw which everit may be since it leaped into the bushes up a bank and there was no other tracks left the single print is in a different location headed the other way up a draw along a stream.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah- I'd have to go with dog, possibly coyote but it look like somebody's big dog. Wild canids tend to run with splayed out toes-domestics tend run with toes together.

The bottom pic looks like hind claws digging in when loping.

Definitely not a bear.

 

[Thankful Otter]

Whew ! I thought for sure everyone would start shouting wolf, wolf, wolf. Everybody on this forum hates one of my favorite animals )-:

Thanks Dr Mike for pointing everyone in the right direction and away from the big bad wolf LOL

 

[Guy Miner]

For comparison - here are some bear tracks, big & little, front and back paws:



Guy

 

[truck driver]

Whew ! I thought for sure everyone would start shouting wolf, wolf, wolf. Everybody on this forum hates one of my favorite animals )-:

Thanks Dr Mike for pointing everyone in the right direction and away from the big bad wolf LOL

YH, if we had wolves here (the 4 legged type} the tree huggers would be ecstatic and the deer population would be zero.
I don't think everyone here hates wolves but feel they need to be kept under control since they are so dangerous and have a tendency to eradicate the wildlife (Elk) in the area they have established as their territory meaning less game for us to hunt. It is bad enough that man has driven quite a few species to extinction by over hunting and destroying their habitat and now try to preserve or manage what is left. Greed has done more harm than any wolf ever will.

 

[truck driver]

I only have pics of it's tracks but figure one of the experts here can make a qualified guess. I'm thinking Black Bear. (click on picture to enlarge) This animal has very long claws. The ground is hard packed and I weigh 250# and didn't leave any tracks. These are also fresh made with in 10 minutes of the photo. Also think the single track is made by a different animal.

Thanks Guy, I think I have seen those in the area I hunt also but not sure, I do know there is a population of both bear and yote in the area.

 

[Anonymous]

Here is a wolf track- I forget to put something for size down, but size of XL man's palm. The other photo is a medium grizzly track in the snow.

 

[DrMike]

Another series of wolf prints photographed while hunting one fall.











We are finding these every time we go out any more.