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Bedivere
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PostFri Dec 06, 2019 12:34 am 
This print looks larger than the one in your picture and it's from my 90 lb Shepherd.

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moonspots
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PostFri Dec 06, 2019 8:26 am 
Bedivere wrote:
This print looks larger than the one in your picture and it's from my 90 lb Shepherd.
Awrite! Good reference. The only wild animal tracks I've personally seen are deer, moose, cat (with a paw size about the same as your example), and various little animals. Thanks for that. Cat track, seen in ONP, September 2019.
Cat print - staircase trail
Cat print - staircase trail
I followed the tracks along the river for maybe 100' (until they went into the underbrush), looking for any claw marks. Saw none so decided they were from a cat.

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Bedivere
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Bedivere
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PostFri Dec 06, 2019 6:19 pm 
moonspots wrote:
Awrite! Good reference. The only wild animal tracks I've personally seen are deer, moose, cat (with a paw size about the same as your example), and various little animals. Thanks for that. Cat track, seen in ONP, September 2019.
Cat print - staircase trail
Cat print - staircase trail
I followed the tracks along the river for maybe 100' (until they went into the underbrush), looking for any claw marks. Saw none so decided they were from a cat.
You're welcome, and you're right! Compare your cat track to the canine tracks based also on shape. Notice that the overall outline of the cat track is more oval than the canines. Also, notice that the central pad is considerably wider relative to it's length than the canines and it is also more oval shaped. These are some characteristics of feline vs canine tracks that can help you identify them without relying on claw marks.

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BarbE
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 10:10 am 
On a Teanaway hike last Monday we came across these 4"+ tracks at approximately 4500'. They were frozen hard and a large group of tracks had congregated on a rock outcropping, a seemingly perfect lookout for prey. A very remote place with no signs of other humans or dogs. Our group was pretty certain they were wolf tracks.

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gb
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 1:13 pm 
BarbE wrote:
On the south ridge route to **** last Monday when we came across these 4"+ tracks at approximately 4500'. They were frozen hard and a large group of tracks had congregated on a rock outcropping high above ****, a seemingly perfect lookout for prey. A very remote place with no signs of other humans or dogs. Our group was pretty certain they were wolf tracks.
Barb, better not to divulge a location specifically. Just attracts poachers.

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BarbE
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 2:48 pm 
OK! up.gif

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Sky Hiker
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PostThu Dec 12, 2019 4:44 pm 
That pack has already been collared and being tracked by WDFW.

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glenoid
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PostFri Dec 20, 2019 10:29 am 
A set of tracks crossing the road then doubling back, disappearing into the woods again. No other tracks around.( Have seen a wolf 15 miles south of here, but never along on the Tucannon river.)

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Sky Hiker
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PostFri Dec 20, 2019 10:36 am 
Friend of mine saw a wolf up Dickey creek this past September.

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pcg
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PostFri Dec 20, 2019 1:44 pm 
Yes, beautiful cougar track. As the previous post stated, there are better and more reliable indicators than the absence of claw marks. It is not uncommon for claw marks to show in cat tracks if the substrate is slippery or if the animal is accelerating. In the latter case, deep claw marks can show in hind tracks (see photo below). And conversely, the above characteristics are useful for ID in those cases where canine tracks may not show claw marks, which is also not all that uncommon. Here is a right hind print of a female cougar that was accelerating, hence she extended her claws for traction. The person who took the pic surprised three cougars on a dirt road. If you draw a horizontal line across the base of the heel pad and then draw a vertical line up perpendicular from it, you can see the asymmetry that is present in feline tracks, and clues you in that this is feline, despite the claw marks. Another telling feline characteristic is the triple lobe at the base of the heel pad. The heel pad in this print is smaller and narrower than the above cougar print because this is from a female (smaller heel pad than male) and is a hind track (narrower heel pad than front). The cougar print posted above is probably (I think) a right front track from a tom, based on the size of the heel pad.
Untitled
Untitled

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ale_capone
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PostSun Feb 23, 2020 8:48 am 
Not my photo. From a few days ago where there are no confirmed packs, trails, and rarely a person. Probably an area capable of being inhabited. Wolf or cat?

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gb
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PostSun Feb 23, 2020 9:20 am 

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timberghost
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PostMon Feb 24, 2020 6:28 am 
There was a time when cougar and wolf tracks were rarely seen. Now they are more common than ungulate tracks.

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Brushbuffalo
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PostMon Feb 24, 2020 10:14 pm 
treeswarper wrote:
Wolf tracks have been seen south of Packwood,
I saw a lone wolf along a logging road SW of Packwood about ten years ago. Only the second one I've seen, the first near Whitehorse in Yukon Territory. Exciting! Wolves are to coyotes as ravens are to crows, or grizz are to blacks. Extraordinary vs. ordinary.

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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General ****
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PostSat Apr 04, 2020 6:27 pm 
Now that the Washington State Forest Caribou are all but gone, isn't it time those pesky moose went too? The Columbian September 18, 2019, 6:56pm Wolf Packs Dale Denny of Bearpaw Outfitters has guided hunts in northeast Washington for decades. “In the last 10 to 12 years we have had packs, and the biggest change is that there is half as much game,” said Denny. “There has been a huge impact.” “The moose have been hit hardest,” he said. “They’ve reduced the moose herd by 30 to 40 percent. When I guided hunters, we expected to see five bulls a day. Now if I can see a bull every three days, I’m doing good.”

The General primarily backpacks solo.
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