Prints In The Snow By Valley View Lookout

[avroair]

What?!!

  fisher marten

 

You know Fisher Marten - it a small British car, just for kids put out by Fisher Price.

 

BTW I thought this print was very large. Marten's are small, feisty little fellas.

[+Team Rampant Lion]

Hey there,

 

Wolf tracks would be my best guess!!

I also own a 100lb bernese mt. dog and recently came across animal tracks in the bush.

What I saw were definitely canine, and slightly larger than my dogs. I had my dog walk beside the animal tracks so I could compare. What I saw were slightly more rounded & slightly larger than my dogs. Possibly due to more fur between toes, as an adaptation to cold weather in the wolf.

I assume the tracks I saw were wolf or large coyote as both do live here in northern Ontario.

I have noticed on my walks lately the abundance of animal tracks as if animals are more on the move now.

 

The pic' you posted does not look feline, since the claw marks show.

The pic' is of two prints overlapping somewhat, right?

Doesn't look like bear either. I am familar with bear tracks and they are quite different.

Did you see an single tracks with out the overlapping of another track?

If yes, you might have been able to detect a front and rear print. The rear being slightly smaller and more oval than the front paw print.

 

Hope you figure these out.

Joan

Here's a second reply from the Beartracker's forum. Another vote for a wolf from someone who lives in Canada. Gotta love the "Hey There" greeting - memories of Bob and Doug MacKenzie came flooding back. G'Day Eh!

 

Still don't have a clue what a "Pekan" is. Anyone have a picture?

 

Of course, my wife is running around laughing and saying "I told you so" as she has been saying this sport would cause me to cross paths with a nut in the woods.

[avroair]

Hey there,

 

Wolf tracks would be my best guess!!

I also own a 100lb bernese mt. dog and recently came across animal tracks in the bush.

What I saw were definitely canine, and slightly larger than my dogs. I had my dog walk beside the animal tracks so I could compare. What I saw were slightly more rounded & slightly larger than my dogs. Possibly due to more fur between toes, as an adaptation to cold weather in the wolf.

I assume the tracks I saw were wolf or large coyote as both do live here in northern Ontario.

I have noticed on my walks lately the abundance of animal tracks as if animals are more on the move now.

 

The pic' you posted does not look feline, since the claw marks show.

The pic' is of two prints overlapping somewhat, right?

Doesn't look like bear either. I am familar with bear tracks and they are quite different.

Did you see an single tracks with out the overlapping of another track?

If yes, you might have been able to detect a front and rear print. The rear being slightly smaller and more oval than the front paw print.

 

Hope you figure these out.

Joan

Here's a second reply from the Beartracker's forum. Another vote for a wolf from someone who lives in Canada. Gotta love the "Hey There" greeting - memories of Bob and Doug MacKenzie came flooding back. G'Day Eh!

 

Still don't have a clue what a "Pekan" is. Anyone have a picture?

 

Of course, my wife is running around laughing and saying "I told you so" as she has been saying this sport would cause me to cross paths with a nut in the woods.

Wadda ya mean 'Hey there"

 

I say 'Hey there' in my e-mails! And I ain't Canadian.

[+lakelady]

I do have a picture of a Fisher Marten but I cannot figure out how to post it.

[+trail hound]

Fisher and Marten are two different animals...Niether live around here, Fisher are bigger then the Pine Marten.

[+Team Rampant Lion]

Wadda ya mean 'Hey there"

 

I say 'Hey there' in my e-mails! And I ain't Canadian.

Then where did you get that ridiculous accent?

 

 

 

[said the Scotsman to the Englishman]

[avroair]

  Then where did you get that ridiculous accent?

 

California, DUDE!

 

And it isn't an accent, it's classified as a speech impediment since I am taking payments from the state for it.

[+Packanack]

On second thought the track looks like where an oak leaf landed on the snow and was heated by the sun and melted a pattern. or perhaps it was a sugar maple leaf.

[+Alan2]

Ok so maybe I was wrong about me calloing it from a bobcat. A leaf. That's it, a leaf. An oak leaf.

[+Team Rampant Lion]

That is looking very bobcat. Out of my bioregion, you may have similar sized cats that I don't, but I'm going bobcat with small cougar as a strong runner-up. The snow makes the track look larger than the true track, so I'm really leaning toward bobcat as my final answer.

Thanks for the pics!

 

Pekan, Algonquian for what we call a Fisher-cat, Martes penante. Sometimes that fifth digit doesn't show up, and the tracks can be very feline. This heel-pad, however, appears too "fat," not long and "boomerangy" enough for pekan.

Another quote from the Beartrackers Forum which backs up Alan2's bobcat opinion.

[+rjw661]

As you can see the claws in the prints that rules out any cats and after seeing your from N.J. my bet would be a coyote. When was the last time you have heard of a wolf in N.J.

I know here in upstate N.Y. coyotes are quite common.

[+Airsafety]

Man, I wish I lived near enough to root around for those tracks!

 

I saw that the thread wandered to Fishers and such - I have seen a Fisher, when I was living in Vermont. We spotted it in the Northeast Kingdom, near Island Pond. They are quite nasty, according to lore, but the one that we spotted moved like a shadow and swiftly eluded us. Very smooth gait, like it was floating. It was low to the ground, although it could have held itself higher. This encounter was in summer, in late afternoon and we got a picture, although this was in the late 80's, long before digital cameras and the photo is no longer my collection (the ex might have it still.)

 

I spotted a coyote just last month with my crew while on the way to the airport in Fayetteville, AR and although it wasn't my first coyote sighting it was definitely my biggest. It was very large, shockingly so... appearing to be in the 75+ pound range. If I could have stopped the hotel van to pursue a better look and maybe some tracks, I would have... but alas, the needs of the airline came first.

 

Good luck making your ID... please post back if you find something definitive )

[+Team Rampant Lion]

Good luck making your ID... please post back if you find something definitive )

I'm holding my vote for a coyote. I still base it on the paw pad shape. It was more triangular than the prints posted for a bobcat. Also just don't believe a bobcat is tall enough not to leave a drag type trail in that deep of snow. Will keep the camera handy and hopefully get enough of a cameo to get a shot.

 

Thanks everyone for all the comments and discussion. I learned a lot.

[+Team Rampant Lion]

I placed two special caches in the area to commemorate this thread and all the great speculation.

 

Cuguacuarana

 

Mikasi

 

Re-reading the thread might provide a clue or two. Get out and find these, bring your camera in case you get the chance to take a photograph to put this debate to rest.

 

Oh yeah, bring your good knees!