Help with Track ID/confirmation

Todd A

Todd A

Joined
Oct 6, 2007
Messages
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My first new post here :o. I mostly lurk and reply sometimes ,but I'd like to pick your brains.:)

Found some fresh tracks across my backyard today. I think I know what made them, but I'd like some other opinions if possible from my photos.

The best paw shots I could get...as the critter crossed hard packed snow from my son's sled trail. The rest of the snow is two fine for decent tracks.

Front and rear..

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rear alone...

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The critters path across our little pond.

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definintely canine, not a fox (no direct register, at least that I can see with my very amature eyes) size is about right for a coyote or dog..but I'm definitely no expert
 
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Thanks guys. My thought as well.

Never had one that close to the house before. And not in the middle of the afternoon either. Tracks were not there when I stepped out for a smoke three hours before I shot the photos.

Brave little critter.;)
 
Don't know if you are semi-rural or in a city/town, but a coyote is a wary animal that moves pretty much all day and night. Especially when food is hard to come by like right now.
 
after looking more at the size of the rear pad in relation to the rest of the print I'm going to lean more towards coyote than dog
 
Pretty rural. That one had plenty of woods to pass through but chose my side yard.

I'm betting some of the neighbors cats have gone missing lately.
 
Welcome Todd.

Note that Todd did everything right in posting these pictures!!! He posted the foot prints from two different angles, put an object we recognize in there for scale, and photographed the walking pattern.

In this picture, Todd got the right angle. The heel pad is heart-shaped, which is definitely a canine. The inclusion of the knife shows it too big to be a fox, and too small to be a wolf.

Dog or coyote, right?

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Now, look at the rear pad. The two inner toes are clearly larger than the outer toes. On dogs, toes are effectively the same size, but on coyotes, the two inner toes are bigger on the hind foot. You have yourself a coyote.
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Love this shot, because you can see the gait pattern very clearly at this angle.
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Two hind feet close together, front paws separated.

Ready? Male coyote, moving at a loping gait--not walking, not running, but using that intermediate gait they love so much with the back straight and shoulders bouncing--and he's left-paw dominant because that's the one that lands first on both hind and front feet.

Not much kick off the toes, so he wasn't moving too fast--more of a very nervous trout. Moving from the top of the picture toward the bottom.

2-3 years old: feet are too big to be an adolescent, and most coyotes don't live too much longer than that on average due to vehicular death.

Anyone spot any other observations? Everyone's doing damn well on this one!
 
I didn't know the thing about the toes, but was gonna say Coyote based on the narrowness of the paw....Which is perhaps caused by the difference in toe size! Thanks for the knowledge!
 
Todd A said:
Pretty rural. That one had plenty of woods to pass through but chose my side yard.

I'm betting some of the neighbors cats have gone missing lately.
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More than likely he was taking a look see for small critters like chipmunks, squirrels, moles and voles that are found close to homes with birdfeeders.

I agree with Watchful, it is a male. Wider front paw spacing indicates wider chest. A female has a little wider rear paw spacing as their hips are a little wider.

He was looking for a mid-day snack in this cold, snow covered land. Not much out there for food so they are foraging intensely.

No toe drag in the snow. He was at cruising speed!
 
Thanks for your imput guys.

Watchful, thank you for your tutorial.Very informative.:thumbup:
 
Thanks, guys. Happy to help for once. And, for once, I'm happy to say it's not just a dog.

cmdr249 said:
The only thing I could add is that in the top of the third picture it appears as if the gait changes speed...:confused:
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You are absolutely right! Missed that. Yet another thing caught by Todd's excellent photography: he caught the point where he goes from a walk to a lope. That's actually a perfect transition because you can see his paw prints go from very close to classically spaced--his exact acceleration.
 
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