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- Dec 8, 2004
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Here's something I don't think we talk much about.
You find a print in the soil or sand... after the initial thrill of it being a mountain lion
p) you realize it is a dog print. Or is it a coyote print?
Two ways to help you tell the difference.
1. Look at the toe pads. On a dog print, they are all about the same size. On a coyote print, the outer two pads are quite a bit *larger* than the inner two. Not every print will show this, so try to look at as many prints as you can.
You might need to squint a bit to see it, or just move back a ways from your screen, but you can see the outer pads are quite a bit bigger than the top two inner pads.
2. Look at the gait. You've seen 'em: coyotes trot with their backs fairly straight while dogs walk, amble, stop, loiter, and basically do whatever they want. As a result, a coyote's gait (as shown by a series of tracks) will show a fairly straight course of prints, spread out between them.
Remember too that coyotes are fairly compact, efficient animals: the prints won't be gigantic, and will even look quite a bit like a medium-sized dog's.
Finally, a wolf--which can be very tough to distinguish from a dog's when you go by the individual print as opposed to the track--will have a much larger print than a coyote.
Hope this helps. Have fun, and don't forget to look down once in a while!
You find a print in the soil or sand... after the initial thrill of it being a mountain lion
p) you realize it is a dog print. Or is it a coyote print?Two ways to help you tell the difference.
1. Look at the toe pads. On a dog print, they are all about the same size. On a coyote print, the outer two pads are quite a bit *larger* than the inner two. Not every print will show this, so try to look at as many prints as you can.
You might need to squint a bit to see it, or just move back a ways from your screen, but you can see the outer pads are quite a bit bigger than the top two inner pads.
2. Look at the gait. You've seen 'em: coyotes trot with their backs fairly straight while dogs walk, amble, stop, loiter, and basically do whatever they want. As a result, a coyote's gait (as shown by a series of tracks) will show a fairly straight course of prints, spread out between them.
Remember too that coyotes are fairly compact, efficient animals: the prints won't be gigantic, and will even look quite a bit like a medium-sized dog's.
Finally, a wolf--which can be very tough to distinguish from a dog's when you go by the individual print as opposed to the track--will have a much larger print than a coyote.
Hope this helps. Have fun, and don't forget to look down once in a while!
), I've found it useful to pick up samples of scat in a baggie or bottle of water and shake them to dissolve them. I let them settle then can identify a large part of the diet (mostly used for deer). That gives me a good handle on what food sources are being utilized throughout the year which in turn tells me where they can be found.