How to tell dog tracks from yote tracks?

C

Cowherder

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I have read so much on this it's crazy -- tracking books, everything, and they contradict each other on how to tell one from the other. In scouting, this means everything.

How in HELL do you tell a small German Shepherd's tracks, for example, from a big coyote's?
 
Every coyote track that I ever saw, the two toes in the middle were set further out front than the two on the side. Also the two toes on the side are mostly splayed(pointed) outwards and are in place almost behind the middle two making for a very narrow track so to speak. A dog's tracks appear more round in shape than a coyotes. Individual animals will vary to an extent. We have coyotes around here that weigh upwards of 50 lbs + (some i believe weigh more than that)and none of the tracks are quite that big. They come close but not quite...James L.
 
Like James indicated, a coyote track is more compact and has a generally neater appearance than a domestic dog has. Also and it becomes more obvious as time goes on, you will find that a coyote track has a compact center mound than a domestic dog. WHAT? .... Center mound ..... Michaels finally gone nuts. What I mean by a center mound is the higher center portion of earth/snow gathered between the back of the toes and in front of the pad area. All dogs have this mound, but on a coyote it is higher and more distinct, almost like a button in the middle. So when looking at a track look at its general compactness and a slightly exaggerated center mound. Don't know if that helps any but it makes sence to me.
 
And theres another sign, coyote's place thehind foot almost perfectly in the track left by the front foot. Dogs walk and trot in a zig zag pattern where none of the tracks come close to touching. Jimmie
 
Good question. Went buy a place with horses and a big german shepard on the porch. Coyote tracks down the road but shep's were patrolling the property and following with the horses on walks. Took pitcures for educational purposes and glad I did. Only one of the shepard's tracks turned out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Anyway I was surfing for internet photos when I found the perfect drawing I was looking for. I'll try to post it, beer with me (beer not misspelled).


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If you play connect the dots with the outside edge points you will notice dog tracks will be very round while coyote tracks are oval.

Also, dogs leave staggered prints while coyotes place paws almost directly in line.
 
Have to agree with all that has been said. Blind pig, great example with those graphics. That pic shows about how different a coyote track will look from even a small German Shepherd. Most domestic tracks of a dog equal or larger in size than a coyote will have the toes spread and appear larger than the coyote track. Coyote tracks are kinda "pointy" compared to domestic, for lack of a better description.

Most of the time coyote and domestic tracks are like night and day. The best way I can think of learning those tracks is by going to a coyote rich area where there are no domestic dogs and check them out.

Most coyote tracks are similar. Get to know their look intimatly and you won't forget. Then go check domestic prints. The difference will be glaringly apparant. There are very few domestic dogs that have tracks similar to a coyote.

Hope this helps.
 
Great illustration, you have any pics or suggestion on a bobcat track, we have a very slect few bobcats in this area? thanks
 
Update? found some tracks today in the snow that looked exactly like the pics above. Then a few more strides ahead they looked exactly like a dog's. The doglike tracks were made when the snow was barely carring its weight, cracking and about to give. It looked like the yote was taking careful steps with its toes spread apart. Big tracks too, shame I was skunked...again /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
A dogs track is somewhat more of a circle then a coyote with the coyote's track being an oval. The two front claw marks are extremely close together and pointed inward. A dogs claw marks are pointed straight out and somewhat wide. Whenever I look at tracks thats the first thing I look at is the claw marks and then the shape of the track. Take your dog out into the snow, and you'll find out.
 
everything said so far is what i go by. another dead giveaway in my part of the country is that on a coyote usually only the front two toes will have toenail marks. not sure about snow or anything but its a pretty good indicator here
 
I also forgot to mention acouple IMPORTANT things.
Coyotes back foot will almost totally land in the front foot track or directly behind it or alittle on top which ever. A dog track well....lets just say they dont step in their tracks.
One more thing is that a coyote's back foot is larger then its front foot. So if you see two different sizes of feet from the canine track, your looking at a coyote.
 


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