Animal track ID -- Whatizzit?

Fox direct register when they walk. They also have fur around their pads which should have disturbed more of the dust. I still think it is a domesticated cat, but I have been wrong before.
 
Definately not Raccoon,these are Raccoon that I took the other day,
PICT1025.jpg

I would say Cat !!!
 
Interesting, While claw marks appear present there is the third lobe on the back of the ball. My guess is domesticated Cat.
 
Is there any fur stuck under the door where the animal may or may not have had to squeeze under to get inside??
 
Farnsrocket, no fur on the door. Sorry I couldn't give you folks more to work with. Given the frequent sightings of cats roaming around here, including a couple from our nextdoor neighbor, I'm inclinded to think at this point that's who made the track.

Blue Sky, While the bobcat foot you linked looks real close to the one in the pic, I have a couple of reservations about it. First, I think bobcat tracks are bigger than the one pictured. I think we are at the wrong time of year for bobcat kittens that small (springtime birth IIRC).

Secondly, we live on a section of fairly open prairie that is pretty heavily developed & populated (houses sit on plots from around 5 acres down to city lot size plots). IIRC bobcats are forest inhabitants who are reclusive & shy. I'd guess they wouldn't like this area's concentration of dogs & people.
 
Set a trap baited with a can of mackeral or tuna, then show us what you caught.
 
Feline :rounded toe pattern ,all toes equal distance ,no claw marks as they are used for capturing prey and defense and stay retracted to protect them.

Canine : elongated toe pattern ,two middle toes in front of two outside toes by 1/3 the length of toes,usually claw marks are in print,claws are used for traction,scratching,digging.

Those are feline tracks,probablly a domestic cat.
 
Definitely a cat. The three lobes on the bottom of the pad are a dead giveaway. Claws rarely show on cat tracks, especially if on flat hard ground like that. Prolly domestic but could be Bob.
-Ron
 
No, it looks more like some kind of marten or fur-animal.Any ferrets or mink nearby?
 
It's a cat.

All these marsupial and rodent and civet guesses require VERY different tracks from this. They're all elongated ellipses, whereas this is very round. And a raccoon is basically a little handprint.

That narrows it down to doggie or kitty.

Canine tracks--I can see a potential for a fox--have a heart-shaped (upside down) heel and four roughly equal size pads above. A fox would very likely have dots for the claw tips, which would be long. A domesticated small dog could likely have trimmed nails, and so claw marks are not 100% guaranteed. That's why I'd go by the heart-shaped heel pad.

The heel print here is M-shaped, which is very feline. And a cat could easily squeeze its way through a 4" gap without leaving torso slide-marks on the dirt. A dog would frog-scrabble its way under and leave a helluva mess in the tracks.

Evil Eye called it first.
 
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