# Unidentified tracks



## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

While Shed hunting i found these tracks? Tuscarawas County Ohio. Well what do u guys think?


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

I think something was hunting you!
Dang, those things look huge next to the deer prints!
I'm no expert, but it looks cat-like...


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2008)

Looks like a really big dog to me..


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## flattiesinohio (Sep 30, 2007)

me and my buddy was out on his property one day and seen some big tracks like that during gun season....we been seeing alot more of them sense it is warming up in the mud!!!i think it is just a big dog but we set snars on the trail it takes all the time to see if we can get it and see what it is,we been thinking about bait piles but we aint sure what to use


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Size and shape say it has to be dog. There seems to be a lack of claws, but I suspect they are there, or it's a house dog that has it's claws trimmed.


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## littleking (Jun 25, 2005)

its a doggy


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## BUSTABB (Mar 18, 2008)

i'm gonna say mature male bobcat they have big paws and cankeep their claws retracted, a good clue wood be to check the trees for scratchin you can look on the internet for their pattern you cant mistake it. we have one where i hunt its tracks are a hair smaller and there are alot of clawed trees. it took us a while to figure out what it was


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Not even close to the right size for bobcat tracks. Those tracks are 4-5" wide.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

The only doggie I ever saw with paws that big was a wolf mix.....


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2008)

I agree for sure, its not a bobcat, the tracks are much to big. Most bobcats are not much bigger then a big house cat. The only thing that has me confused is why there is not claw prints.


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

House Dog in the middle of the woods??? Ive never seen a dog who had a track like that before. Plus There are no HUGH dogs in the area. I contacted the ODNR and they said possible a bobcat. The snow could have melted them a little to make them seem larger..but those trracks were only a couple days old at the most because of the amount of snow that was left when THE ANIMAL went walking through..


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Bigfoot has been known to play tricks like that.....


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

It doesn't take a huge dog to make those tracks. My Springers have feet over 3" wide, and they only weigh 40 lbs. There are many dogs that could make those tracks. However, there are NO bobcats that could. A bobcat track is closer to 2" wide. Plus, the stride is much too long. A bobcat is a short animal. It's simply not possible for the track in that picture to be from a bobcat.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I am definitely not an expert when it comes to track identification but I would certainly say my guess is that it is not a bobcat. The track is about twice the size of the bobcat's. It does have a somewhat round shape like that of a cat. The only option that would seem to come close to a fit in the feline would be a cougar but that track is even at the extreme range of track size for them. I would venture a guess that it is a dog as well. And a pretty good size one at that.


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## Hetfieldinn (May 17, 2004)

creekcrawler said:


> The only doggie I ever saw with paws that big was a wolf mix.....



This 130 pounder does. Half lab, half great dane.


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

claws? i see some claws on that doggie


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Well Basscatcher12, you asked for opinions and you received some good answers. To most of us, it&#8217;s quite clearly a dog. But, you don&#8217;t seem to want to believe it. You seem to want someone to tell you that it&#8217;s some strange or unusually creature. Why don&#8217;t you tell us what YOU think it is? It seemed at first you actually wanted to know what it was, but now it seems that&#8217;s not the case


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

Ur right and i did get some good opinions. and if u think its a dog, then thats what u think. Im not trying to cause any ruckous here magis...i just am curious. Before i saw these tracks i have 3 friends that live in the area. All of them claiming to see some type of BiG black cat. And no ordinary house or alley cat. My one friend has saw it twice, once eating off a deer along side of the road. He said is big as a large dog, with a long tail and black. Another friend saw it one time from his tree stand.They all Swear by this. And i never believed them until now..


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Ahh, the other part of the story. Now I understand where your coming from. That's all I was getting at, it seemed there was something we didn't know. Me personally, I disregard all stories of "big black cats". As far as I know, there has never been a known black mountain lion. Tame, wild, or otherwise. The thought of one being by the road eating a dead animal is beyond far fetched, for me. I still think it's just a dog.


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Leweis and I found the same type tracks where we deer hunted in Summit County. Did some research and identified them as large dog tracks.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Big ol' dog in my opinion, take the snares down....


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## rattletraprex (Sep 1, 2005)

I live in Tusc. Co. could be my ex slipped her chain! Naw she's not that big. My guess is also a dog so I wouldn't snare it.


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

thanks for all your insights! Anyway.. Here are the Sheds i found! The Match set i found 3 feet apart. and the other big one only 50 yards from the set!


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

sorry here are some better pics!


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

Those big black cats are pumas, not a black phase mountian lion.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

A puma is just another name for the mountain lion. I assume you mean black panthers or jaguars, which don't exist in North America.


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## PapawSmith (Feb 13, 2007)

Magis, I do believe that there is a black "cougar" (read that it is not a panther) native to, and still living in south Florida. I have read that they are endangered but surviving primairly in the Glades. As for big cats in the east, Michigan has a limited population in the UP, although there are also occasional confirmed sightings in the Northern Lower Peninsula. They have a very healthy cougar population on Drummand Island. The likelyhood of cats from any of those regions wandering here are nil. However there have many instances, throughout the country and over the years, of unreported escapes of pen raised cats. The owners typically don't report to avoid liability if the cat does damage or harm. Most states do not require licenses or permits to keep these types of animals and there are considerably more that are pen kept than most would imagine.
Just my 2 cents because those photos appeared, to me, to be cat tracks. They were rather large even for a cougar which are generally about 3 1/2 " heel to toe, and 4-4 1/2" overall width. One thing I couldn't tell from the photos was the path pattern. All cats tend to walk with all of their steps occuring in a realitivly straight line. There is very little lateral deviation in their foot path.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Papawsmith, there are native cougars in Florida, but they have never documented a black one. They are still colored like a normal mountain lion.


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## PapawSmith (Feb 13, 2007)

Than as the great orator Roger Clemens would say 'I must have missremembered' what I read.  
One other thing about the tracks. In the middle photo, which is probably best track, the ruler obscures the view. A dog track has two lobes at the back of the heel print and one at the front. A cat has three lobes at the back and two at the front. If there is a good heel print it is a quite obvious difference between a dog and cat. That and the lack of claws. A dog track that size would have clear claw marks unless you know someone that declaws their Greatdane.


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

Here are a couple easy to use guides for positive identification...
Look closely at the pad details...

DOG


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

CAT...again...look at the pad details.


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## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

Cats have 3 radiuses at the rear of the large pad.
Dogs have one inverted radius.
Also with a cat the hind or second toes are not straight across from each other.
Those tracks are from a large dog.


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## krustydawg (Apr 26, 2004)

Interesting website that discusses this topic.....

http://homepages.dordt.edu/~mahaffy/mtlion/print_id/cougar_print_id.html


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## PapawSmith (Feb 13, 2007)

Lewis I think you and I are kind of saying the same thing. Lobes and radii are the same, three on a cat two on a dog (one inverted would be two, one each side). The track pattern you show for the cat has a much more pointed toe than I've seen. Also dog tracks are typically longer than wide, these photos appear to show a track that is wider than long. That would usually indicate a cat. I am not identifying the tracks just trying to provide info to assist. I am saying however, having only seen a couple of weathered track photos, that they look more cat than dog to me.


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

I think i may have a few more pics that i didnt post on the digital camera at home.. When i go home this weekend for break i will check and hopefully post some more pics of those tracks to see if there are any better ones.


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

I meant to say jaguar, I don't know why I said puma. Leopards and jaguars are the only cat's that have been documented in a black color phase.


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## bulafisherman (Apr 11, 2004)

I would have to say those are from a dog, even if it was some kind of exotic cat it would have been spotted by someone on its wanderings.


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## alan farver (Apr 9, 2005)

what part of tusc county?a friend of mine has land near caldwell and he has pics of a bobcat on his deer cam


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## c75 (May 29, 2007)

could be a big cat....remember the strange sheep sightings in Geauga County late fall....then it turned out to be some bighorn sheep that escaped and the owner didn't want people to know about it....


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## Curly (May 15, 2006)

I thought cougar was another name for a mountain lion? Puma, mountain lion...cougar...all the same? And none are black.


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## BassCatcher12 (Jun 24, 2005)

Well i think i found the Answer..! A Friend of mine has pictures of a big ol bobcat on his trail cam. The tracks may have been weathered a bit which made them seem a little larger. The pictures were taken on neighboring land from where i found the tracks.


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