ID another track in snow

[Battis]

I wish I found the tracks before the snow began to melt. Southern NH. The tracks weren't spaced very far apart. I saw a coyote here a few days ago and two bears were released last fall about five or so miles away.

[Markopolo]

Surely a K9 of some sort.. a larger dog I would think. Too big for a coyote I think compared to your boot... not enough padding for a wolf, but it is a larger track, over a day old.

[poppy42]

Ah maybe it’s a chupacabra, Or a small werewolf:kidding:

[NyFirefighter357]

It's probably a coywolf. Recently Cornell University has tested the DNA of the coyote's in NY and they have up to 20% wolf DNA which accounts for their larger size, up to 60lbs. But the North East area is being inundated with coyote/wolf hybrids. A mix of the Eastern Wolf and coyotes.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/coywolves-are-taking-over-eastern-north-america-180957141/

https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/08/03/wolf-coyote-coywolf-understanding-wolf-hybrids-just-got-a-bit-easier/

http://www.nhaudubon.org/calendar/becoming-wolf-the-eastern-coyote-in-new-england/

http://www.hashtagmaine.bangordailynews.com/2017/04/16/around-town/theres-a-new-wolf-in-maine/

https://wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/profiles/coyote.html

[Battis]

The prints were very close together, and you could make out claw marks in some of the prints. 3 people with me also saw the claw marks. My dog is approx. 95 lbs, a Shepherd/Rottweiller mix with very big feet but nowhere near the size of these prints.
I actually had a 60 lb, blue eyed wolf hybrid that was found in northern Maine. He lived to be 18. I had to register him with the state (MA). The restrictions were pretty tough.
Last fall, two bears, a mother and a younger bear, were caught in my town, drugged and carted away to a spot in the next town, about 5 miles from my gun club. They're going to show up around here sooner or later.

[bikerbeans]

Keep following the tracks and you will know for sure what made them.

BB

[OS OK]

Don't tracks in snow grow larger as they age and loose definition?

[725]

The one with the laces looks like about a size 9. :) And, yes, as the snow melts, the track does appear to have come from a larger animal. Coydogs abound in northern NY. Seems logical that coywolfs would too if a population of wolf is around.

[trapper9260]

When I live in MA and at the time you could use soft catch traps I did caught a 60lb coyote in it also one trap set in water with a 1 3/4 coil of a northwoods on a drag . When I went to sell the furs to my fur buyer he told me he only caught one in his life. He said that it was really a brush wolf ,but they call them coyote to be able to trap them. I had caught a coydog puppy here in IA on my coyote set and there was another one that stay with him.They where both brothers The vet said they where about 6 1/2 weeks old when I got them. after they grow up one show it was mainly coyote and the other was wolf and they both mix with dog. One live till he was one month short of 12 years old and died due to cancer and the other was 16 and went due to old age and had lyme give him problems from when he had it younger. Now I got one that is coyote and dog that I got form someone form Canada he just turn 5 years old as of the 14th of this month.

[Skipper]

Ah maybe it’s a chupacabra, Or a small werewolf:kidding:

Frumious Bandersnatch

http://www.bandersnatch.com/snatani.gif

[Battis]

My wife also told me to follow the tracks. Then I found a porkchop in my coat pocket and decided against it.

I got the wolf hybrid in 1984 when he was about 2. I had him for a few years, then they passed the anti-wolf hybrid law and my vet had to rat me out. The dog was never fixed and sure enough he got to my yellow lab. She had 2 pups. They told me I had to put the pups down because you can't breed wolf hybrids. Back then, the only way to prove he wasn't a wolf was to have a blood test done (Texas lab) for $800. The vet told me to take the pup that I kept to another vet and don't mention its father. That dog lived to be 16.
People either loved that wolf hybrid or they were scared of it. I think my vet was wary of it.

[Beerd]

My wife also told me to follow the tracks. Then I found a porkchop in my coat pocket and decided against it.

Thanks for the laugh!
..

[Battis]

The tracks were on my gun club property in southern NH. I was kinda hoping they were bear tracks. Like I said, a mother and cub were caught and released not too far away. If they're on the gun club property, they'll be OK. I know, wishful thinking -the gunfire will scare them away, and sooner or later those two bears will come in contact with locals again and it won't end well for the bears. Someone will try to pat them or feed them, or little Missy the Cat will disappear and good bye bears.
A few winters ago, not too far from the club, 2 groups of 6 deer, 12 deer in all, were found dead in the woods due to people feeding them people food. Sure, the feeders had good intentions but deer can't eat whatever people food they were fed. It was a shame.

https://www.wmur.com/article/12-deer-found-dead-in-south-hampton-after-being-fed-by-residents/5198718

[MaryB]

Definitely dog of some sort... my 120 pound black lab had huge paws and left prints like that.

[jonp]

Domestic dog or Dog/coyote hybrid. A pure coyote would have a much narrower center pad on the front with a broad on the rear like that one but would be much smaller and narrower overall. Dogs and wolves have a broad pad. It's hard to tell as the track has degraded due to melt. If I would take a guess I'd say a large dog.

[MT Gianni]

Coyotes and wolves run in a straight line, IOW, their tracks are not side by side. All dogs run offset with left and right side paws printing on each respective side. Wolves have a long paw, no ideas on a wolf/dog cross.

[Battis]

Learned something new...
A few posters said that as snow melts, tracks grow in size. I went back to where the tracks were, and looked at my dog's tracks - sure enough, they had doubled (or more) in size. My tracks looked like Andre the Giant's, or...Bigfoot's (if he wore boots).
So, I'm thinking those tracks in the pics were from the coyote I had seen a few days earlier.