Animal track ID -- Whatizzit?

RokJok

RokJok

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Anybody recognize the track in the picture? It was in fine cement dust on the floor of a shed. The overhead door of that shed won't shut all the way and is around 4" from the floor (i.e. that's the size gap the critter wiggled/walked through).

It's been colder than normal here (15-20* Farenheit +/- at night) with snow on the ground. So the critter probably saw a roofed enclosed, albeit uninsulated, building as pretty cushy digs. ;)

My guess is that it looks like a racoon or possibly a rat. Racoon wouldn't surprise me because we've got a creek about a half-mile or so from the house.

Does anybody have a solid read on this one?

track_2523.JPG
 
Bigfoot I think, maybe eddie the dog, or Codger. Let me look again-- Yes it is Codger
 
definitely not a raccoon. definitely not a rat there are faint nail marks towards the ends of the toes indicating that it is not a cat as cats (wild ones too) tend to keep there claws retracted when walking wich makes me think it's some type of canine The tracks also seem to slightly overlap this trait is not present in wild canids such as foxes or coyotes there prints follow a pattern known in the tracking book I read as "direct registering" where the front paw falls into exactly the same space as the back paw ther is no overlap this trait however is not present in domestic or feral dogs so that is my guess.....or a bigfoot just my .02
 
It's a full body print of a frog, who hopped over to the right, 1 inch, to let someone else walk by. :thumbup:
 
Looks like a domesticated cat to me. The inner toes of domesticated dogs are usually larger than the outer toes, they also leave claw marks (which may not have shown on the cement).

The disturbance also looks like it was at a walk and a feral cat, bobcat, and fox direct register when they walk, meaning there hind paw would land in thier front track, and this is not the case in the picture.

Are there more tracks? Any claw marks? Were the tracks always side by side?
 
Looks like a domesticated cat to me. The inner toes of domesticated dogs are usually larger than the outer toes, they also leave claw marks (which may not have shown on the cement). Too small for a coyote too.

The disturbance also looks like it was at a walk and a feral cat, bobcat, and fox direct register when they walk, meaning there hind paw would land in thier front track, and this is not the case in the picture.

Are there more tracks? Any claw marks? Were the tracks always side by side?
 
I think it is most likely a small domestic dog, possibly a fox. If you look at the photo, you can see claw marks. This eliminates felines, which retract their claws. Canine prints show the claws.

The pads look too big for fox.

-- FLIX


DANG Riley! You beat me to it.
 
My first thought and the one I keep coming back to although they have 5 toes... maybe the 5th toe print is obliterated in the other track... is opossum.
 
Thank you for all the input so far.

Sorry for the poor clarity of the track. Even in real life, I couldn't definitively say whether or not there are claw marks ahead of the pads. The dust is real fine & pretty fragile. It is leftover from cutting the concrete a day after it was poured a few weeks back. I looked around for more tracks, but this pair were the only clearly-defined ones that I saw.

As far as frequency of sightings around here, roaming cats are pretty common. Dogs in this rural area tend to be larger breeds -- typcially used for security or hunting -- and are usually on leash/chained, although we do occasionally see some roaming. So their tracks would be larger than shown.

I thought the tracks might be from a sitting pose, since there aren't more tracks out ahead of them.... as if this was as far as the critter got, then it turned around & headed off in some other direction.

Possible ID found: Check out http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html for a comparison of dog & cat tracks. From their drawing of a cat's track, I think it is a cat. From the description of a cat's track, "The hind edge of the heel pad has three parts, or lobes. They are aligned with each other."

Clydetz, we do have a LOT of opposums around here, so a good guess on that count.
 
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