Help ID this track

A

arky65

Member
Found this track down by the river on my property
PICT0005-1.jpg


thanks

arky65
 
Pine cone, it is too large for a coon I think, and coons have 5 long toes this shows only 4 toes. Dogwood, the track measures appx 4" long 3.5" wide. The pictures were taken along the Caddo River in SW Arkansas in the Ouachita Moutains. We will be gone out to the till Monday I will look for more tracks and try to get better pics to post.

arky65
 
The large heel pad makes me think it is the hind track of a coon. Tracks made in mud are often distorted due to sliding, or matting of mud/dirt on the feet.

Not much else could have a long pad like that.
 
Coon was my first thought also. Being near water and all. But, there is a toe missing, and they aren't as slender as the toes of a coon. They have something of a canine shape to them. If you look a third of the way back the pad part of the print, there is an outline. It looks to me to be the pad of a domestic canine of some sort. The track doesn't appear to be sliding, but I can't find a four toed print in a Google search with a pad that long, and toes placed that way. I will have to guess canine for a lack of any other reasonable explanation. Unless, you have a good crop of some sort of Hare. 4" long is about right for a Jack or Hare. I am just guessing of course. Gotta love critter tracks.
 
I checked my field guide and it's not a swamp rabbit. Looking really close it is obviously a dog print that fell on an old deer track. Four toes, nail marks, the heel pad and the overall size confirm it to be a canine. Look closely at the heel and you can make the outline of it. I would imagine if you went back to that place you would find a set of old deer prints and dog prints running over the same stretch they just happened to match up to create a double print. This is not that far fetched because the fact that there are seven different tracks in the picture indicates that it is a highly traveled area.
 
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Looking really close it is obviously a dog print that fell on an old deer track.



It may be obvious to you, but it isn't to me. There isn't anything "obvious" about that track, and nothing that looks anything like a deer track to me.

It is difficult to tell anything for sure from the picture, but it could be the hind track of a river otter.

TR-3211.jpg


or again possibly a hind coon track

TR-3207.jpg


or maybe a hind track of a skunk

TR-3202.jpg


Again, it is hard to tell from that picture.
 
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Identifying tracks would be much easier if more than one picture were posted. There are so many things to consider like size, stride, depth, etc. An animal isn't likely to leave one track and no other sign. Come on, throw the dogs a bone, will ya?
 
Yellowhammer: I didn't mean for my last post to sound so cocky. I'm sorry if you were offended.
I hadn't thought of a river otter, never seen one. I think you may be right, it does look like there could be an extra toe smudged on the left. Coon tracks have a slender profile and The track looks too uniform to be distorted except for the one on the left. Also, coons are wide bodied pacers which means that they generally walk by moving first their left front and rear feet and then their right front and rear which produces a track pattern that usually registers with front beside rear foot. With a shoulder width of about 8 inches, a portion of the right front track should be in the bottom right hand corner assuming that the track is a left print because of the smudge where the extra toe should be but that's a lot of speculation.
 
Varmint- I wasn't offended. Sorry if it came across that way. My point was that the picture doesn't make it obvious what it is, as is usually the case. Tracks are seldom perfect, and as you say, may be overlapped by other tracks. However, I can't find a deer track in there anywhere.
 
My computer screen isn't the best but the rear "extension" of the heel does resemble a very old deer track and I can see the heel mark that is similar to a dog's in the upper third of the of the heel. If you cover up the toes and look at what is left you'll see what I mean. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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Thanks for everyones input I am going with the dog overprint of something else. We have coyote, and domestic pet dogs that use this trail, along with all the other creatures such as: armadillo, skunk, possum, coon, mink, otter, deer, bobcat, beaver, black bear and domestic cats.

arky65
 
ehhh. i just so happened to read a post about a mangled deer, and the answer to this is obvious.

What ya go there, no doubt, it an immature sasquatch. id say 3'9" 80 pounds, traveling S SW at a leisurely gait. He had moss for breakfast, and is currently shooting hoops with elvis.
 
Justin, I just got a call and the neighbors saw small hairy creature, strolling through the pasture towards the river this morning. Splain everthing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
 
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