Thats pretty much exactly what they looked like, it was the lack of the front paw prints and the size of the rear ones that was so unusual. Must have been a big beaver.
Posted on 12/20/2009 8:38:41 PM PST by PA Engineer
I think it is just the deer running, not big enough to be elk.
When the deer run they step in their footprints. If you look at the track, the rear foot is stepping on the front print slightly to the rear of the front.
Where you see it following the deer tracks, this is likely because this deer is tracking the other.
Buck tracking Doe?
If it wasn't for the fence being broken I would have thought it may be an oo oo bird taking off.
Well, we didn’t see the fence, it might be a rusty old barbwire fence which an animal can break leaning against it.
Most of the run of the mill fences in PA can be broken by a buck. I have seen them go to jump it and drag their rear legs through the fence. The weight of their bodies on it is often enough to break it.
I was not anywhere near Pittsburgh this past weekend; possibly a distant relative?
Oh, you mean Aunt Esthers younger sister. Washit succka!
Could they have been beaver tracks?
Possibly cousin Susquatch?
if it’s a cougar, they usually leave a tail track. Might be bobcat or lynx too
I wouldn't have believed it if i hadn’t seen them myself a couple years ago in a cow pasture ..
It’s a Democrat running for the hills when he tried to go home for Christmas.
the hind foot of the beaver will often cover the front ones, making the footprints appear larger and bi-pedal. Let us know if you see it! There should be some tail drag though
http://highway8a.blogspot.com/2009/01/update-from-lake-tracks.html
http://highway8a.blogspot.com/2009/01/geologists-and-engineers.html
There is no indication of claw markings in the print depressions so that likely rules out a coyote (members of the canine family cannot retract their claws, while cats can and do).
Those are not cougar tracks - I have trailed cougar tracks through the snow before, and little or nothing about the images in the photos suggests cougar.
They are too small, and disturb too little snow in most of the visible prints (there is one area visible where a larger swath is displaced; if all the prints looked like that, I would say a juvenile cougar is a possibility)
Highest probability therefore, is another species or subspecies of wild cat which is known to range in your region.
Best bets are Bobcat or Lynx, IMO...
If the snapped wire fencing was animal-caused, you should be able to retrieve at least some small sample tuft of fur/hair from among the broken ends of the wire.
A.A.C.
A beaver? I’ll have to track it down, there is a pond nearby, thanks.
Thats pretty much exactly what they looked like, it was the lack of the front paw prints and the size of the rear ones that was so unusual. Must have been a big beaver.
SW 189th off Farmington Road, Aloha, Oregon, in the summer of 1969. The Beaverton Mall didn’t exist then; it was a small municipal airport.
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