He's baaaack
Long time readers will recall that last winter and through this fall I had something killing and eating deer in my forest.Although I had suspicions I never did find out for sure what it was. It all stopped around the time human hunting season began and I put it out my mind. The only clue I ever had beyond the fact of the kills and the devoured carcasses left behind was this strange paw print.
Today, early this AM I let one of the Toms out. We still have a lot of snow on the ground so he wandered down the driveway, sat there awhile then came back in. Late this afternoon I went out to check my mail box. Down at the bottom of the driveway I observed strange tracks coming out of the forest and very clearly exactly following (as in right alongside of) the paw prints of my cat. Right up to the doorway of the house, then it turned and meandered around the house and disappeared into the woods in back.
Again I have photographed the prints and present them here. I am puzzled by them. I have spent several hours on line attempting to match them to the tracks of known species with no success. I present the imagery to you below. I am open to reasonable suggestions (no, it is not a midget bigfoot). These are, as you can see about twice the size of the paw print of a large domestic cat. No (supposedly) predator species in North America has both 3 pads on the foot and 3 prominent claws. There should be 4 or 5 pads. Just like the thing in the woods, there are 3. Herbivores have two. Anyone have a sane idea what I am dealing with?
A different track
It does not appear to be wolf or coyote and is the wrong shape for a big cat.
Comments (31)
If you don't know what your dealing with,i certainly don't... but maybe LoveRanger might be able to help you out there?
Mind yourself you and do take care
...
Also with Itchy there too
Be safe, Ken
Hans!!! You never say hello to me on the blogs, like you do to Itchy!
checked out the same site you did...it is a mystery...not a cat but what is it?...i just think your cats should be at risk...maybe set up a camera to see if you can capture the image of this creature...
And like Ms. Witch said, now I am worried for you.
And how often? Maybe you can tell the Rangers.
And like Ms. Witch said, now I am worried for you.
And how often? Maybe you can tell the Rangers.
the tracks seem to be in a line.
something like a fox...
And a hi back to you also Hans
Eh" wheres our beloved ken gone
Ken has gone to hunt for the unknown perhaps??
typo error
And perhaps Dreams maybe we should
but no baking today when i'v got dating on my mind
besides, you'd win anyway
cos i couldn't bake a sausage if it were to save me life
Should we be worried about Ken
do wish he would check in
Hans - We both wish for clearer tracks, but what I see is what I got.
It was lightly raining the day before I found the mud prints and rain had damaged them.
It had been about 50 for hours before I emerged from my house and snow had melted away entirely in many places. That there was enough detail left to see weird tracks was useful to know something unusual had been there, but the kind of image detail you seek simply wasn't there to photograph. Yes, if the mail truck had been heard earlier, no doubt better detail would have still existed, but sadly the mailman didn't cooperate with us.
Your questions on gait are indeed relevant. Using the definitions provided at
I would describe it as a mix of diagonal and bounding. I suspect normal walking is probably diagonal, but the snow was probably deeper when the prints were made hence the bounding. I did look for a clear hind track but found only the large holes made by bounding with no detail at all.
Yes I would say each paw creates it's own track, but nothing was a clear rear paw print. I know the reference cited doesn't provide for a bounding diagonal, but there it was in the melting snow. Agreed, had I anticipated your question, I would have gone for a shot of the track line.
Hmm, cultural problem. The objects next to the tracks are very common in America. Most Americans would instantly know them. Many would/do have at least one of the objects themselves.
The pen is a Uni-ball Roller (one of the better disposable ink pens sold here in office supply stores). Although the case colors and design slightly changed in the past two decades, they are all still 5.5 inches long with a cap length of 2 3/8 inches.
The object you suspect may be a beverage can or a battery, is a (very, very common here) Bic disposable lighter of standard size (i.e., not the miniature one). Not only do many Americans have one (often in their pocket or purse), but also here in America almost every goods store sells them. All of them virtually identical except for exterior color or markings (which broadly vary). Fairly cheap they are all of the same size. 3 1/8 inches.
Yes, I agree when fetching the day's mail every person should also bring a ruler or a tape measure. Mea Culpa, I never do. In my arrogance I presumed all of humanity would recognize those items due to their prevalence here in the USA. I did not anticipate a country where those items would be unknown. I thought the embargo to our goods there had been lifted decades ago. The Gods Must Be Crazy. Ironic it is the same place and our staple items are still unrecognized.
Claws are extended which combined with the gait and the fact that only 3 leave marks adds to my confusion. The only good thing about yesterday's observation is I have eliminated Gray Fox and the canines as their feet have 4 or 5 pads (depending on wheter we look at Ursus or Lupus species). For the same reason Bear is eliminated. Likewise I know of nothing with 3 claws.
Well the quarry of the first critter was a full grown deer and the hunt was a success. This calendar year, yesterday's critter seemed to have latched onto the trail of my large house cat as a possible quarry. Incidently, the regular spacing of my cat's paw prints gives no reason to believe he either heard or saw anything disturbing. In the crunchy snow something walking behind him would have been heard I think, so it was following the scent trail sometime after the cat had already gone inside.
This morning the prints are further melted. Indeed I did consider yesterday making a cast, but I have no idea how to do so in snow. Wet plaster doesn't work because the moisture destroys the print.
The cat's (diagonal) trail at the spot the thing came out of the woods to follow it.
The cigarette lighter paw print from a different angle. The marks of the claws are more distinct here.
The only photo showing both front and rear prints. You can see here why I used the phrase bounding diagonal and got no clear rear prints.
I have also asked Farmer's Almanac and some other websites offering track identification assistance for their assistance in species identification.
Be careful.
Night and day, every day.
I remember your blog before about this problem. Keep us updated as things unrevel.
They r beautiful.
I remember this blog too! Maybe it's a winter animal. That comes around winter season time. Have you ask your nearest neighbor's about this? Maybe they have seen this too.
in Tansania people feed hyenas with meat in between teeth.
In the small, northern communities in my province , predators have been known to step into edges of towns after pets for a meal. My old friend cooey has been known to change the eating habits of some of these predators. Catch you later.
Conrad. Count the pads and claws. I am looking for 3 per paw, not 5 toed. But for what it is worth, we do have weasels here and they were considered, but the local ones are smaller than the cat, not twice the size. Although the claw shape seems correct.
BC, I think my cameras could run another 20 years without seeing the critter, unless there was bait to bring it to the camera. Yes, I have already considered putting a trapped rabbit or such in a pen in front of a camera, maybe a pan of deer or chicken blood for scent, etc. But like I wrote attracting additional ones from miles away is not my plan.
1-to-1 Bobcat tracks considered and rejected per the link I posted which shows their tracks. Their claws (all felines actually except Cheetah (and yes, I am pretty sure a Cheetah is not roaming VA's woods in the middle of winter) are retractible. This boys aren't.
Noting also that on the Farmer's Almanac page about animal tracks two others in VA have reported 3 pad/3 claw tracks they can't identify.
...
Around the Potomac the game wardens have seen a pack of coywolves, crossbreeds,
I tried re-doing the photos this AM, but as I feared there has been more melting and many more tracks from other animals too. Deer, rabbits, etc.
I suspect these confuse more than help. This is a pack of cigarettes near the track (sorry, there is still no ruler in my pocket).
From the middle of the above.
Another part of the trail
Disregard worry over the cat. He just came back in all wet from snow. He either had a flash of common sense, or he just hates getting wet. Probably the later.
I am thinking if I can get out there early before the sun's heat comes, I may find some better tracks of whatever it was the cat was yowling at. Clearly it hasn't gone far.
I would swear some of them understand the concept of camera.
In one spot there is a game camera with an IR LED but nearby a second camera with it's IR light deactivated, placed so as to film the first one's field of view. More than once I have recorded deer crawling on their belly so as to evade the lens of the one with the working light. What does this tell us?
It snowed and sleeted here after the cat came in. Many of the visible tracks yesterday seem to be covered. It is still raining but I will go out anyway and see what I see. Dang it.
Should add, when I opened the door to the cat's yowling huddled by the door I noted a very strong musky smell. Whatever it is, it needs a bath.
BTW, I have several NVD items. Both cheap commercial 2nd gen type and also decent one made from PVS 5 goggles. I have been hoping to get (legally) a PVS 14 type, but they still restrict those.