CSEMARTIN Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) My wife found these prints in fresh snow, in my driveway on the 15th. We live in town, but it's a wooded area with resident deer that feed at my neighbors house every morning. He pours a big pile of corn on his driveway every morning for the local critters to eat. At first, I thought these were dog prints. Then I convinced myself they were too large to be a dog. We sent copies to the DNR, but they haven't been very helpful. A friend of my wife's is a forrest ranger, and she believes they could be from a mountain lion. Since there are no "claw" marks, we are pretty certain it's a big cat. Since we have small kids, we're a little freaked out. Thanks. Edited December 17, 2008 by CSEMARTIN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Definitely a large cat. Are you in "cat" country? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I live in Eastern Iowa. We have a large deer population, and several years ago, the DNR released mountain lions (so I've been told) into the wild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 (edited) Here are some more prints. After looking at these photos some more, could the annotated photo below have evidence of a tail mark? Edited: to increase size of photos. Edited December 17, 2008 by CSEMARTIN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 I'm going to set a trap. I came across this and thought it was funny....clearly a joke. http://www.wildlife-traps.com/godzilla.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Looks like feline to me. The best way to make sure is wait up and kill it! Two birds one giant rock. Glad I could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Friday Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Those are the tracks of a large dog that's had it's claws clipped. http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeltier Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Rest easy, it is most likely a dog track. In loose snow like that it is sometimes impossible to see the print from each nail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpops Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 One big Chihuahua.....don't feed him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 The track with the penny next to it, is a double track. The one in front of it is a better size to compare with something. Tail drag no, foot drag yes. I would lean towards a canine, big cats bobcat and mtn lion need heavy cover. We've had several people locally claim to have seen a mtn lion for over 4 years now, with no pictures. Anything is possible, a couple of years ago if somebody said they saw a wolf it would be dismissed as a large coyote. A wild strain wolf was shot, now wolves are protected in Illinois. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganShootist Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Chris I'd bet on canine too. I checked all my "tracking" books and the tracks aren't really shaped right to be a big cat. Secondly...unless they are running.... cats will put their rear foot in the front track the majority of the time.... where as canines rarely do that. Regarding the DNR releasing big cats..... That one is far less likely than the black "chopper" story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Moore Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 i'm saying dog too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Orr Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Definitely from the loup-garou...! Stay Indoors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmccrock Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 The smaller print in the 1st photo is more canine. The gap between the toes forms an X with the sides of the big pad. The larger print looks like cat, but the double track makes sense. I have coyotes and bobcats on my property, so I schooled myself on the tracks. Just saw some huge cat tracks by our back pond, about as wide as my hand. A neighbor saw a cougar cross a road about 1/2 mile away, so that is likely. At least the back pond is about 700 yards back from the house. We saw a coyote which is roughly wolf-sized; must be a coyote, not a wolf. TAMU says there are no wolves or natural crosses around here. If the Aggies say it, it must be true, right? I am thinking about getting a trail/game camera to watch over things. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFoley Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 My God man! It looks like Sasquatch or Yeti to me, better hold a press conference quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 The Bossier City Police Department had to kill a mountain lion within the city limits a few weeks ago. Tranq dart didn't get the job done. Link to article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 What about a Game Camera set-up to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 No one has suggested a Liger? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 17, 2008 Author Share Posted December 17, 2008 Definitely from the loup-garou...! Stay Indoors! I'll stay indoors for the next 99 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFoley Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 No one has suggested a Liger?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger It's only like the best animal ever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganShootist Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Per Chris I'll stay indoors for the next 99 days. At 6' 6" and 292...... You can go out anytime you want. I think the only North American critters that would give you a tough time are polar and brown bears. Your kids..... maybe not so much. This morning we had fresh snow (again--- we've had 33" so far this year) and there was a single deer track (trail) across my yard less than 15 feet from my back door. I measured the individual tracks on the paved driveway....and they were well over 3".... which means there's about a 90% it was a lone buck.. I should have been hunting from my kitchen window this morning. I'm guessing firing my black powder rifle in the kitchen might receive negative reviews from the spouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 That is definitely a copperhead. I saw one just like it the other day. http://flickr.com/photos/hither_n_yarn/2152532092/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 That is definitely a copperhead. Is it dangerous? I'm going to send these photos to the U.S. Treasury and get an official opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 I'm guessing firing my black powder rifle in the kitchen might receive negative reviews from the spouse. I think it's a good idea. Just tell her I put you up to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonT Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 no doubt... chupacabra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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