Cat tracks

By Liz on December 20, 2015

Today, Sunday, was sunny and clear. Late yesterday afternoon we had snow, rain, a wintry mix and then some snow. It cooled to just below freezing overnight.

About 9:15, Bear, Auggie and I went out to play and walk in the woods … I was on snowshoes. I kept up a workout pace on my circuit of game trails while Bear and Auggie explored. As I got near home, I suddenly spotted some huge tracks. Feline, not canine.

A big cat.

I went inside for my camera and measuring tape. The tracks are almost 4 inches x 4 inches.

The snow was perfect for capturing tracks. I’ve seen mountain lion tracks before, but wasn’t positive about these. There was no tail drag which I’ve seen with previous sightings. When a mountain lion is walking casually, their long and heavy trail drags in the snow leaving a drag mark between the tracks.

These are Bear’s tracks, i.e. canine: a more oblong shape with nail prints. Bear’s tracks are not quite 3 inches long and a bit over 2 inches wide.

They looked small in comparison to the cat tracks.

After looking at my “Animal Tracks of the Rockies” book and measuring “straddle” … and realizing that the tracks were hind on top of fore print… maybe these were Canada Lynx tracks. The straddle and size of the tracks and no tail drag more closely matches the Lynx information.

So.

Still, a big cat.

And that’s how far away from the motorhome, garage and house the tracks are. The cat walked nearly a diagonal of the property from the state land to the adjacent property near the road. It is the first time I’ve seen big cat tracks on my property.

Fascinating! Yes, a bit scary, but the cats are nocturnal and unless sick or injured, deer are their food. Typically the cats want to avoid us as much as we want to avoid them. Bear and I do walk after sunset and before sunrise – several times a day – in the winter. We are both lighted – Bear wears his search and rescue lighted vest and I carry a large flash. I believe that makes us look strange and not prey-like, plus larger than we are and we are not small. So far, we live in harmony and that’s what I think about when we walk in the dark.