The Hunting Beast

Hi guys

With all the talk about predator sign and tracks, I just wanted to post a quick way to determine whether you're looking at a canine or feline track. Depending on ground conditions, sometimes you can't see the claw marks in a canine track like you normally do. However, the quickest way to tell if you're looking at a canine or feline track is to see if you can draw an "X" through the track without touching the pad. If you can draw an "X" without touching the pad, then it's canine. If you can't, then it's a feline. Below are a couple of examples.

Canine Example

Feline Example

Wolf Track

Bobcat Track

Thanks man, that’s really cool!

Very NICE Net Guy !! Now that's some useful info !

Dang life hack... Seriously thanks for posting this Net.
Have any advice on deciphering overly large yote tracks from a wolf?

Bedbug wrote:Dang life hack... Seriously thanks for posting this Net.
Have any advice on deciphering overly large yote tracks from a wolf?

There’s probably two ways to help distinguish between a large coyote and a smaller wolf. First, I’d look at their gate. A coyote will have a shorter gate than a wolf even if they are closer in size (weight and body build). A wolf will have longer legs thus longer gate.

Second, look at the lobes (main pad) of the set of tracks. The key here is to have a front track and a hind track for comparison. The lobes of wolf tracks will be the same width. The lobes of coyote tracks will be different. The top portion of the front track lobe will be narrower than the top of the hind track lobe.