TRACKS: Who dunnit?

[JonathanD]

Here's one for all you track lovers. Found on a well worn badger highway well away from human habitation and walkers. I go there regularly and the only people you see are the occasional serious mountain bikers....

[Bushwhacker]

Something doesn't look right about it.

[Tilia]

don't look like badger to me, looks like a big cat to me

[Shewie]

Something doesn't look right about it.

I think I agree, it looks a bit cat like but I'm just not convinced

It's not one of the "serious" MTBers messing about is it ?

[shaggystu]

no claw marks so i'd have to say some sort of cat, but the print's 2 and a half inches long, that's not someones pet tabby.

stuart

[JonathanD]

Print on the right was 8cm long, left was 7cm toe to heel. Nothing iffy here, these are the tracks as I saw them. They carried on for about 50 yards, then over a fence into a cordoned off area of pine forest where I lost the track. These were the best prints of the whole foot, the other where on drier parts of the path or on short grass, none of the prints had any claw marks with them. The last mountain bike track on there was at least 48 hours old, you can see it running along at the top of the picture. No human prints about at all apart from mine.

[Shewie]

Print on the right was 8cm long, left was 7cm toe to heel. Nothing iffy here, these are the tracks as I saw them. They carried on for about 50 yards, then over a fence into a cordoned off area of pine forest where I lost the track. These were the best prints of the whole foot, the other where on drier parts of the path or on short grass, none of the prints had any claw marks with them. The last mountain bike track on there was at least 48 hours old, you can see it running along at the top of the picture. No human prints about at all apart from mine.

Well if they're kosher then it's big cat all day long for me

[leon-1]

There look like there are some faint claw marks. It may be just me, but it also looks like that part of the track maybe slightly sloping. The track is mainly round in shape so probably not a fox which is born out by the pads and how they align with the distal pad.

Apart from that the track looks like it's a dog, possibly something like a springer spaniel size.

Just a thought, some dogs have worn down claws like the ones you find on a hunt, stray foxhound.

[Snarf]

I would have said serval but wrong country, they are the right shape and size thou hmmm

[blacktimberwolf]

Here's one for all you track lovers. Found on a well worn badger highway well away from human habitation and walkers. I go there regularly and the only people you see are the occasional serious mountain bikers....

Hi, these look like feline prints, round, pads close together & no sign of claws, but being 8 centimetres long & 8cm wide, that would be one big moggie, also the distance between the tracks is only around 15cm which suggests a cat walking slowly. was the ground very soft, if so then the animal was weighing in between 2 to 3 kilos. The tracks are younger than the tyre print (the ground was dryer when the bike passed as they are shallower) since they overlap..... A facsinating enigma, it will be interesting reading other suggestions......Thanks for posting

[JonathanD]

Definately not fox, badger or otter. I track those three every week. I got a cracking cast of the nicest and clearest badger print I've ever seen. It was whil I was waiting for that to set when I wondered off and saw these. Really really narked that I had no more plaster, But I will go back tomorrow as the ground around there has the best substrate I've seen for clear tracks.

[blacktimberwolf]

Do you know if there are any european wild cats ( felis silvestris) in your area ?........

[JonathanD]

Do you know if there are any european wild cats ( felis silvestris) in your area ?........

No, only wild cats in the UK are confined to small areas in Scotland. (felis silvestris grampia)

[leon-1]

No, only wild cats in the UK are confined to small areas in Scotland. (felis silvestris grampia)

And I would be highly surprised to come across a print that size from Felis Silvestris Grampia.

[JonathanD]

Wild cats, like all wild felins, have big paws, & wild cats can weigh up to 8 kilos, & are considerably larger & stockier than an average pet tabby.

Not Felis silvestris grampia, I've seen these tracks, and although similar to domestic cats, certainly get nowhere near the size of these tracks. Usually on my tracking threads I post the tracks up knowing full well what they are. In this case I only know full well what they are not. To quote Holmes and following his doctrin “Once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the solution." My conclusion is, I need to investigate more, because I don't like the answer. I wish someone else had of been present to record these as well.

[nitrambur]

Is that a fifth toe print near where the twigs cross? Maine Coons are sometimes poly-dactyls

[JonathanD]

You're absolutly right not to accept maybe's, shame it's not possible to place a night vision camera......what are the chances he will pass by there again ?...................we may all be pleasantly surprised if we knew what it was, evan if it's just a cat, with paws like that he must be excaptional.

It's remote enough to set up a camera trap. I am relatively free from meetings this week so can get up there a few times to get a good look around and get some casts, hair and follow the tracks back and forward. Unfortunately I won't be able to set up a camera trap as I'm off abroad for a while, but may leave it in the hands of another member on here if I'm able.

[blacktimberwolf]

Then the best bet is a hunky tom cat, possibly feral, with particually big paws..............

[nitrambur]

Someone got a pet bobcat?

[Shewie]

What's your hunch Jon, you going for pussy cat too ?

[JonathanD]

What's your hunch Jon, you going for pussy cat too ?

All I'm saying is I don't know what made those tracks. I've never seen tracks like that within the UK before. There is something canine about the left print, but they lack the claw indents. It's possible it could be a dog that has had a severe claw clipping recently, or that it lacks development in that area. I also agree that upon first glance they appear very feline, especially the print on the right. I need to get back up there earlier tomorrow and spend more time having a mooch about.

[Tilia]

All I'm saying is I don't know what made those tracks. I've never seen tracks like that within the UK before. There is something canine about the left print, but they lack the claw indents. It's possible it could be a dog that has had a severe claw clipping recently, or that it lacks development in that area. I also agree that upon first glance they appear very feline, especially the print on the right. I need to get back up there earlier tomorrow and spend more time having a mooch about.

they r not dog tracks the shape doesn't look anything like that, it is a member of the cat family or a hoax
surely there had to bee human prints nearby if it was a hoax
or other prints if it wasnt

[JonathanD]

they r not dog tracks the shape doesn't look anything like that, it is a member of the cat family or a hoax
surely there had to bee human prints nearby if it was a hoax
or other prints if it wasnt

There are quite a few dog breeds and mongrels that can make prints that appear feline like this. Trouble is, they always have claw marks. The only other sign along that path was a badger which sidled off into brambles and was overridden by this animals track. And of course, the older bike track. No one had walked along that path for a good while. There where plenty of other tracks from this animal (see my other posts), but these were the clearest and most complete. It's a good mile from any well trodden footpaths by dog walkers.

I've seen plenty of hoax cat prints made by people, and exposed a few. These are genuine tracks, that is the only thing I'm 100% sure of.

[Ronnie]

Feral big cat - there are a lot of them about. They get spotted in the Highlands several times a year. Be kind of surprising in Staffordshire though...

[JonathanD]

Yes wild cats readerly mate with domestic cats, here in France, notably in the forests of the north east, wild cat hybrids are fairly common which menaces the species, much like dingo / dog hybrids in Australia, in fact there only a few pockets of pure dingos left ( I know the dingo is technically a domestic dog intrduced by man, but they have evolved & adapted over the last 6,000 years without the intervention of man, & developed into an original & viable sub-species & found an ecological niche.) wild cat hybrids not only have no place in nature, they also genetically diminue an endangered species.

That's exatly what is happening to the remaining wild cat populations in Scotland.

[Ronnie]

No - when I say big cat, I mean that as the genus rather than an adjective:

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

what are bagders? dotn think there in aussi

[Bushwhacker]

What size was the fence it negotiated, could there be hairs left on it?

[Laughoutlouder]

So....it's about the size of a leopard? Hummm.....

Re: cats...Can anybody spot the 3 lobes clearly which should be visible? I'm not certain.

[JonathanD]

what are bagders? dotn think there in aussi

What size was the fence it negotiated, could there be hairs left on it?

It was about a metre high, old wooden fence. No hair, but fresh mud on the top and second from top cross bar.

So....it's about the size of a leopard? Hummm.....

Re: cats...Can anybody spot the 3 lobes clearly which should be visible? I'm not certain.

Which is why dog is still the more probable of the two, even without claw depressions. Another hour and I'm off up there again.