I saw this creature yesterday, took these pics this morning. The knife is 6 1/4" exactly, for scale. Tell me what you think...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1218.jpg)
Circled it for a better idea...
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1219.jpg)
Back foot
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w29/ishiwannabe/100_1220.jpg)
I can't see it well enough to even have much of a clue. I'm not much of a tracker!
I looked for almost a half hour, these were the two best tracks. The animal was walking very slowly along the roadside in front of my house.
Sorry the pics arent a bit better...
Is it an Ishi used to be?
:biglaugh:
It's a CRKT M-16. Print? No clue. :D
I've got it...yep no doubt a yeti looking for a mate after hybernating for the winter. I wouldn't wear a gilli suit around those parts until he's found a mate if you know what I mean;)
Seriously, bear? moose? can't tell from the pic. THANKS! Mike
Yeah, really could be the Yeti, on it's way to Climax - west of Coxsackie :D ;)
[Man, I like Google Earth! Funny names you have in your vicinity!]
I see a bear in the third pic. But the upper two look like two front feet, comming to a full stop side by side, going from left to right, and are way to small to be from the same critter!?
Maybe you could at least point out the direction of travel in the first two pics?
The pics are not great, but it is a bear...a large one. He came into my back yard yesterday around 7 pm. Then he hit the neighbors and made short work of their bird feeders. Then he circled around to my front yard, walked down the driveway, and then down the road out of sight.
My wife decided we needed to get the cats in, so we were out there trying our best to get them. I looked up and there he was again....30 yards away staring at us. He circled around the other way and came up on our six. That pushed us back inside, and he took that as his que to move towards our bird feeders. I got the ten million candle power spot light out, and hit him with a few shots...he ran away. I quickly collected the feeders(being scared to death by a very large, black, ominous garden cart in the process)and retreated inside.
This bear showed no fear really. He didnt come back that I know of, but he was not concerned in the least when my neighbors or I yelled...made noise.
Like I said, the pics dont show the tracks well, but his front paw was about a half inch smaller than my 6 1/4" knife.
Anyone have an idea as to what he would weigh?
Rob, it is a Gerber.
The first two pics are the same track...I just circled it in the second. The DOT is kinda half-left of center. NW if you will. The track quality was poor, it was the side of the road, and the sweepers came through just the other day.
I get that alot about the names around here...there is even Surprise, and a mile down the road....Surprise Result...LOL.
Got a visual in my imagination of you being caught off guard by the "very large, black, ominous garden cart". LMBO!!!
As I looked at the tracks more I thought I started to see a dog or cat kind of track, then I saw where you live and thought maybe bear. Really, I did!
:goldtooth:
So, did you need to use the cart the next morning to clean up after yourself from your encounter? :biglaugh:
I was going to say bear..
Aggghhhhh!!!!! Dang Jamie.....Ya beat me to it!!!!! :banghead:
(I read your post about yesterday) ;)
Well it wasnt that bad BobW...close though. I am guessing the bear was in the immediate area for well over an hour, during which it got pretty dark....I didnt know the wife moved the yard cart. It made me skip a beat...or ten.
Chuck I was hoping Shawn would pull in and see him. No such luck though.
Go figure, I have seen only two bears from treestands. I have seen over ten in my yard...
You wouldn't happen to have a big tree in your yard do ya????? ;)
If his front pad is close to 6" across he is over 300lbs this time of year. Did he have sway to the back end? Lots of other ways to tell a big bear. Maybe he will be around for the bow season in October.
SO put a stand in your yard already.
You might be able to convince the DEC that it really is a playhouse, and not a ground blind...... just do a good job of hiding the gut pile
This bear had a good sway...kinda appeared to shuffle instead of walk. Ears looked way too small.
I wish I could have taken pics of him, because Im sure he would have impressed most of you.
I have two stands within 200 yards of my house, one where he came from and one where he ran to...not to mention the three apple trees between my house and the pool. :goldtooth:
When does season open? I better come down and help you protect the homestead. ;)
Man, My everyday Dream hunt is to take a bigger Bear then My First one. I took a bear in Maine w/.54 Cal Side Lock T/C Renegade... Bear was 2.5 year old Male 5' Sq 94#... TenderViddels :D
Bear! It's a bear, I'm sure...
Awww you said that already... :(
Sounds like a fun game but give us a day to answer. :)
Look out for him, he'll be back. In my area they usually hang around for a couple of weeks then move on. Not too far I suppose but every year we see them daily for a couple of weeks then they disappear.
How about this one:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/Oarceas/nature/P2140099.jpg)
And a detail:
(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d60/Oarceas/nature/P2140102.jpg)
Fisher Aram? Or another bear?
I hope to get a shot at this guy. Season opens the same day as deer for archery....
Ten years ago, people would look at you funny around here if you mentioned a bear. Now we have them visit on a weekly and sometimes daily time frame.
Fishers showed up about the same time...now all we need are some more moose and some elk. LOL.
Bobcat?
Brian
I'd be putting out a few more "bird feeders" along with a blind or three before season to keep the songbirds happy of coarse and to aid in their "protection" :)
Good guesses.
Fisher it is. Could be bobcat except for the claws showing and number of toes (bobcat would show four and no claws.) I don't know but I suspect a bobcat would also direct register.
This week - way back in...that is a quarter in the photo for size comparison.....
(http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj251/gundogsnbows2/PICT0059_edited.jpg)
this was the largest track; again a quarter in the photo.... (http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj251/gundogsnbows2/PICT0050_edited-1.jpg)
On my screen a quarter fits perfectly on the image. That makes the track 5 1/2 inches long and 4 3/4 wide.....
Brian,
... Wolf trailing a Cat ...?!
BTW: I have no idea of which size a quarter is.
... Or cat trailing a pooch! :scared: LOL! I know in Idaho you have some big cats too.
I'll vote for wolf though. I have not seen one of those since I was a child.
Falk, the track is 14cm X 12cm.
Thanks Aram :wavey:
I knew though, because Brian gave the measurements already above. All I wanted to say was: Coins don't work well for comparison, if any borders are involved ...
And maybe I did not use the correct term to express what I wanted to suggest?! My intention was to say => BIG Wolf was following a Cat. Isn't "trailing" used in such a meaning too?!
I would vote for wolf too. Cats can retract their claws, canines cant.
No more bear encounters here, I guess he may have moved on for a while....
WOLF OR ONE LARGE COYOTE!!!
It was wolves. I don't know what that single little track in the first photo is though; looks like a domestic cat; but there shouldn't be any as far from homes as I saw this.
Bear season is open here; saw the tracks on the way up to set a bait.
That and a lot of dead deer and elk...
Aram- the way our money here is shrinking in value; your right- I should have used the fletch end of an arrow :)
Falk, funny thing is Climax is right next to Surprise. I know what it is!1 Shawn
QuoteOriginally posted by Falk:
... maybe I did not use the correct term to express what I wanted to suggest?! My intention was to say => BIG Wolf was following a Cat. Isn't "trailing" used in such a meaning too?!
You said it right Falk. Your English is really good. :thumbsup: What I meant by cat=mountain lion (or cougar, which they have in Idaho) and pooch= very little dog. To play with words I reversed the families of animals you mentioned. (Of course, cougar is a cat and, as mentioned above, has fully retractable claws.)
A 5 1/2 inch long dog print would stop me in my tracks too. Maybe more than just to take a picture. Good one!
Jamie, do you have a trailcam?
;)
Not yet Aram. I need to start seriously looking into one though. Between the bobcats, bears, fishers and even a rumor of cougars, I can only imagine what I would get on one of those.
Shawn, so you can get to Climax by Surprise, right? :D :knothead:
Thanks for your explanation Aram! And a little encouragement, once a year, will not harm :o
Have to come back to the ?cat track though. The bobcat is your smallest cat species, am I correct?
We have also the Wildcat (Felis sylvestris) which is little bigger then a house cat and who would leave a track like pictured by Brian.
To tell domestic from wild is done the same way as with wolf and dog: if you can draw a (lateral) line between the imprints of the toes it is either wolf or wildcat. If the line touches the front of the outer toes but goes through the imprints of the inner toes, it is dog or domestic cat.
Now what? Looks like a wildcat in the picture, but you don't have them, and it is to small for a bobcat. Can it be a young bobcat this time of year, or is there something missing in a zoo near by?! I would have said Fox, but then where are the claw marks?
It could have been a bobcat kitten? Maybe even a wolf pup?
For the record....Coxsackie is the indian name for land of the owls... :rolleyes: