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Are these mountain lion tracks?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:36 pm
by Trailblazr80
I was out hiking this afternoon in the foothills area. There were signs posted at the trailheads advising of recent cougar sightings. Halfway up, I stopped to explore a use trail and came across these tracks. The terrain is dry, loose dirt so I know the tracks may be harder to identify. I'm guessing either bobcat or mountain lion, but I'm pretty sure these are not dog tracks. What does everyone think? Sorry if the pics look huge, I'm just figuring out how to insert images.
Re: Are these mountain lion tracks?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 10:43 pm
by tracker
I'd say dog. Pic 3 is the most definitive.
>There appears to be claw marks at the front of the toes. Only a cheetah can't retract its claws.
>If you draw a line through the outermost toes, that line intersects at the rear of a smallish pad. Cat toes are almost parallel with the direction of travel.
>The toes are big compared to the pad. In a cat, that ratio is reversed. In a cat, the rear of the pad will have 3 lobes like a rounded "UUU".
>Track is heavy looking for the soil type. Cats walk lightly with more feet on the ground at a given time.
>A lion walking normally will place its rear foot in a front track most of the time.
Just a couple things that stood out to me.
Re: Are these mountain lion tracks?
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:46 pm
by Trailblazr80
Thanks for the reply. I'm just starting to learn tracks. It's hard to tell in that loose dirt sometimes, but it always seems to be a dog! Boo! Ha. Maybe next time.