What are these pug marks?

[Naphtali]

I put my trash out late yesterday afternoon. The path from my back door to where I put trash starts in my backyard as a flat combination of bare dirt with gravel intermixed as a top layer. We have had heavy rain on and off the past ten days. During my return to the back door, I noticed impressions in the dirt-gravel that appeared to be the pad of a large animal with finger-like (claw??) marks forward of the pad. The claw-like marks were 1-1.5 inches long and about the width of my pinkie.

I have no digital camera to photograph the marks. They are not particularly distinct markings. They are probably not new, having been made between thunder storms.

I am no tracker. I have no idea what tracks attach to what animals beyond whitetail, elk, and domestic dogs.

1. What do bear, lion, other?? tracks look like?

2. If bear tracks, what differentiates black from grizzly tracks?

[runfiverun]

black usually are pretty straight and the size of your hand.
grizzly walk with their front feet kind of pointed in [pigeon toed] and their tracks are large.
like a salad plate size,up to the size of your head, and their claws are more curved making a deeper impression on the ends.
lions are able to retract their claws[ike a housecat] so they usually don't leave claw marks when walking.

[frank505]

how many toes, four or five?

[Naphtali]

how many toes, four or five?Don't know. I'll check to see if this is detectable.

[405]

finger like "claws" hmmm? Picture would really help. But, let's see. Finger like toe pads sounds like raccoon. Sure enough long claws sounds like badger if pigeon toed. Really small, fairly narrow long feet sounds like skunk (weasel family). In the size range of the badger or raccoon with some claw marks surrounded by "dragging broom" marks and there are small dimples on foot pads like the surface of a basketball then sounds like porcupine. But I would rule out the elusive chupacabra either :wink:

[Naphtali]

how many toes, four or five? Five toes.

Size of visible pug marks are about an inch wider than the pad knuckles of my hands -- about four inches?? I do not see an entire foot mark. I see no heel prints.

[405]

Without an accurate description, drawing or photo with scale the "20 questions" could go on and on. "Four inch wide track with five toe claws and no heel portion of track showing"??? Youngish black bear front tracks comes to mind but still not enough info to go on. Here's a link to a site that has lots of animal track images. Might poke around in there and see if there is a match.
http://www.bear-tracker.com/mammals.html

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

do they look like anything here??

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bearbums.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/grizzly-bear-track.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.bearbums.net/2008/06/24/bear-hunting-tip-identify-bear-tracks/&h=450&w=300&sz=50&tbnid=fYStRZcjeII-YM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbear%2Btrack%2Bpics&usg=__9UIx9QZPKz7dHldG18bL8H9rIeo=&ei=BE-USranBImwsgOyzozaDw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image

[carpetman]

From the information given, I have reason to believe these are not train tracks.

[Baron von Trollwhack]

These are doubtless the pitiful, scuffling tracks of some weary refugee of kali recently escaped from state citizenship there after a lifelong loss of constitutional Rights, and removal of the permission of libtards to shoot lead boolits in most of the state, smoke a cigar, or otherwise act as an honest American citizen, who forseeing the coming further attacks on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness coming from the aztlan revolutionaries, illegal alien voters, the san francisco crowd, tree huggers, owl lovers, students of peaceful zen, sanctuary cities, and similar fringe elements, packed his thin possibles bag and went walkabout.

Had I seen those tracks here in NC, I would have put out sandwiches & old clothes for the less fortunate, As Ma did after FDR's election. She did it for 8 years and earned a gatepost full of chalk marks and a hobo nickel. I guess I should do it after bozo's too, as the tracks could appear momentarily. There was a strange chalk mark on my gatepost today, perhaps meaning an honest man in distress.

BvT

[dragonrider]

Front paws of raccoon.

[HORNET]

As I recall, the way to tell what kind of bear it is is to climb a tree. If the bear comes up the tree after you, it's a black bear. If thebear pushes the tree over, it's a grizzly. " You skin this one, I'll go see if I can find you another".

[rvpilot76]

Chupacabra!

;-)

[RayinNH]

Bigfoot?

[AZ-Stew]

Rocky Mountain Jackalope. Not to be confused with the Desert Jackalope. The Desert Jackalpoe has much larger paws to keep it from sinking in the sand.

Regards,

Stew

[mooman76]

Just a guess but I think Raccoon. They love to raid trash cans. Do I win?

[wallenba]

Chupacabra!

;-)
Ditto

[Guesser]

Don't know which part of "Big Sky Country" you live in, but if it's hilly country verging to mountainous it could be the dreaded "SIDE HILL GOUGER". On the more serious side, wolverines are not unheard of in some parts of the state, though rarely seen around populated buildings.

[Naphtali]

do they look like anything here??

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bearbums.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/grizzly-bear-track.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.bearbums.net/2008/06/24/bear-hunting-tip-identify-bear-tracks/&h=450&w=300&sz=50&tbnid=fYStRZcjeII-YM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=85&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbear%2Btrack%2Bpics&usg=__9UIx9QZPKz7dHldG18bL8H9rIeo=&ei=BE-USranBImwsgOyzozaDw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image

The marks are not in very good shape. They do resemble pad AND claw pattern of your graphic of black bear's front foot (left foot, I think). The "claw" pattern has marks close to pad and NOT parabola shaped as shown in grizzly front paw track.
***
I have a bear proof, tall-tale resistant trash container, so I'm going to rule out Kali and Bigfoot.

However, When I bought my home, the previous owner had 110V connected to the backyard's perimeter fence, with a sign warning visitors not to touch it. While I disconnected the electricity, I left the sign up to scare bears -- they're too stupid to notice the power's off.

Perhaps I should leave my gates closed?

[Naphtali]

Don't know which part of "Big Sky Country" you live in, but if it's hilly country verging to mountainous it could be the dreaded "SIDE HILL GOUGER". On the more serious side, wolverines are not unheard of in some parts of the state, though rarely seen around populated buildings.
Seeley Lake, about 75 miles east-northeast of Missoula -- and 75 yards from Lolo National Forest.

Hilly? Think of Missouri's Iron County with a bad attitude, or upstate New York, circa 1758. Driving into Missoula is sometimes interesting because two bands of Bighorn Sheep wander along Highway 200, the one more often on display must live close to 200 and Jonsrud Road.

[462]

Naphtali,

I'm betting that's it's Ol' Griz. His migration routes take him right through Seeley Lake.

Used to own land on the Double Arrow. We were going to build there when we got out of California. Unfortunately, we sold it and are still stuck in California.

We explored the Bitterroot up to Missoula, Kalispell, Libby and Troy, Thompson Falls, Superior, Alberton, and ended up in Seeley Lake. I'd settle in any part of Montana that's West of the Divide. Beautiful country.

[frank505]

and you are close to Montour Creek, Mr. Keith spent quite a bit of time there east of Ovando. Nice fly shop in Ovando too. I would guess it is a black bear sniffing around your place, stay armed.

[Guesser]

I left the Bitterroot because there is a house behind every tree and three in between. I still have relatives in the Bitterroot and travel 200 from Great Falls to Missoula with great regularity. The Bitterroot ain't purty no more, just one city from Missoula to Lost Horse Hill south of Hamilton. When I took hunter education there in 1957 a hunting/fishing license cost $3.00 and came with 2 deer tags and an elk tag. Now its a special drawing just to get a mule deer buck tag in the valley.
Rant over!!!!

[Naphtali]

Land prices in the Seeley-Swan area are significantly lower than in the Bitterroot Valley. Many, many fewer people, too. And Montana has an additional method to live in the area, 20- or 25-year infinitely renewable leases on state land. Some leases have buildings, including homes; some are merely undeveloped land. I considered this option, but decided I prefer to own.

I'm way west of Ovando, perhaps 50-60 miles.
***
I'm convinced the marks are not grizzly tracks. Were they grizzly, the thought gives me the willies. Late at night a few months ago, a ruckus in my backyard induced me to quietly creep to the door, turn on my outside lights, and walk outside to the porch in my pajamas. A mountain lion and whitetail were discussing dinner arrangements. When the lion focused attention on me the whitetail declined the dinner offer an attended to urgent business in Manitoba. After a stare-down with the lion -- seemed like an eternity -- I ran back in the house and locked the door. I took no firearm with me during my look-see. Now, I keep a boomer revolver by the back door.

To finish my thought, I don't want to think about that situation were the animal a grizzly rather than lion. Too close, and my door would stop nothing.

[462]

Naphtali,

A 12-gauge with 000 buckshot to the face followed by a magazine full of slugs would be my choice.

Years ago, when I was still getting the Seeley Lake weekly (Pathfinder?), it published a story of a local lady who noticed Ol' Griz in her yard, and her child was playing nearby. She fetched her .22 RF rifle and took a pot-shot at the bear's butt, intending to chase it away. It worked, as he took off. Later, after she called the cops, the bear was found. It had expired due to a severed artery in one of its back legs. The feds were going to arrest her for killing an endangered species. It took her quite a while to convince them that she feared for her child's life and had no intentions of harming the bear.

In another Seeley Lake Griz incident, a hunter became lunch and now rests with Nimrod. Seperated from his hunting partner, he was in the process of cleaning his freshly killed elk when Ol' Griz happened upon the scene. The hunter wasn't carrying a side-arm and his rifle was leaning against a tree, well away from the elk. Don't know if the bear was ever found. The game authorities, at least in that area, have surmised that Ol' Griz knows that a rifle shot means a free meal.

Then there is the case of the man out for a walk, on the Double Arrow, who happened upon a mountain lion. The man's trusty .357 saved him from attack.

Then there was the deer carcass on our property...

Go well armed, Naphtali, and be alert.