Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints mountian lion footprint?

I wish I could figure out how to post a picture of what I saw in the mud. I'm not sure if it's a lion footprint or a dogs. The prints were in a strait line about 3 inches across. The toes were spread but I could see the tips of the claws. Would that be a dog because of the claw marks? Does anyone have a picture I could see. There has been rumurs of cats in central Ks the last few years. I'm pretty sure I saw one a couple years back. Thanks

I have plenty of pics, but none handy on photobucket. Lion tracks are more rounded... approx. three inches across for adults... and do NOT show tips of claws. Bobcats similar but only about 1 1/2 in. across.

Yip, a big kitty track looks just like a little kitty track. Toe pads are larger on the big cat.

Here is a cougar track with a coyote track just behind and beside it in snow. The cougar stepped on its own track so it shows an extra toe from the track below.



Cougar tracks rarely show any claw, but if they are running, scrambling up a steep bank, etc. they might dig in a claw to where it might show, or in deeper mud a claw might show a bit. The three lobes across the back say cat. The coyote track is not as clear but the claws showing at the front say canine immediately when combined with the over all shape, arrangment of toes and pad shape.

I'd really like to see a photo of the track you saw, so post it if you can. Open a Photobucket account, post the photo there and then copy the IMG code under it and paste that in a post here. E-mail it to me if nothing else works. Send me a private message (PM) if you want to go that way.

Here are a couple of cougar paws showing the distinctive shape that makes the distinctive tracks.

Nice tutorial, Okanogan. Thanks.

All feline tracks have a few distinguishing marks. When looking at the rear pads, there are 3 lobes across the back (canine 2), the front of the pad is concave (canine convex). Less reliable but on a canine almost a perfect 'X" can be drawn between the toes, not so much on a cat.

Mountain lion










Big dog

Here is another one for you to look at. I took this outside Socorro, New Mexico while calling coyotes. That is a quarter inside the track.

Bob

Yeah there are cats in Kansas, but if you can see claws it's almost definetly a dog. Hope to see and hear most about this though.