bdixon1989's Journal, 27 Dec 21

Bear?? 

No they're sleeping :D it's someone much smaller 

Looks dog-like? or maybe it's a bobcat? 

Cub? 

Raccoons have 5 digits. Abbadabba is warmest. Bobcats probably have 20lbs on our little friend and have much larger paws. I should have put something for scale in the picture. It is a wild animal native to North America.  

small size would be a fox 

Gray or red fox ? .... or could be coyote. 

no way I can tell that from prints in the snow and not knowing location or anything else... lol 

although I think coyote would weigh more and prints would sink deeper 

If it was a cat - and not a house cat - maybe a lynx? 

baby bear  

skunk?  

Size? Due to the pad looks coyote. Too round for a skunk, bear would be more spaced and longer claw marks. Not bobcat as has a fluffy -not crisp edges. If smaller could be fox. Racoon are long narrow “fingers” with double print pad. To figure if dog vs coyote - dog prints are in a 4 pad diamond (bigger pad print) coyote in a close line and pad imprints as round or small triangle (speed) Snow is so fun allow us to see things normally hidden. 

I don't know my animal tracts very well 😅 a raccoon or dog? 

Katsolo wins! It's a fox. But for shame how could you not tell it was a red fox by it's prints alone?! 😂 Pretty sure this was the male. There's a pair that lives near the house and they visit when we put out chicken or fish carcass.  

Jergens and Spark get an honorary mention for also getting it right! I'm going to have to start carrying quarters for scale on my walks. We do have wolves but only in hearing distance. I've never seen any near the road or house. Spark did a good job of describing the different paw print shapes. 

Buenita not a baby bear but it reminds of the one time I've ever seen bear prints in snow. I was maybe 6 or 7 and we were up at the cabin and found a very clear bear paw print next to the driveway on our arrival. My grandma and grandpa are all in a tizzy about it. I was really curious and would stop to look at it all the time and eventually tried to mimic it in the snow. I made a pretty good fake by curling my fingers and holding my thumb out of the way and then poking in the claws afterward. They kept thinking the bear came back 😂 I added a new print everyday for maybe three days before someone saw me doing it. I didn't realize I was distressing anyone I just thought it was fun.  

Thanks Bdixon1989 that was fun even though I got it wrong.  

With covid, roads here had low traffic allowing animal corridors into more urban areas. Also the hot summer exploded food sources (wood rats, rabbits, voles, bugs). Our place has ponds, woods etc so see a wide variety of animals (including owks, eagles) and their scat/prints. I carry a paint ball gun, and citrus spray (I add cayenne to comercial cleaner) to harrass animals trying to follow me on my early morning walks. Highly suggest the citrus as animals are smart; quickly learning to leave you alone. Never used it with fox but works well with bobcats and coyote. 

Raccoon?