its an extra lg glove steve--at least3-1/2-4" across--being in the northeast i lean towards big bobcat--but there are some guys within 5 mls that swear that they have lions--if it was a more secure spot i'd put a trailcam--but this spot is out of the question--biggest cat track i've ever seen!!gotta be brute!!lol---he's off limits in NJ[where i got picture]--even in PA [a few miles away]there is a one cat limit

I would still put my bets on a lion. It is possible for it to be a huge bob though. Certainly possible to be a lynx . If you have lion reports locally then I would tend toward that. It looks like every lion track I have ever seen and that is a lot of them . Used to do a lot of hounding.

God bless you all, Steve

Small lion or big bob or lynx. No claw marks to be a dog or wolf ect.

I blew it up as best I could Mike and I think Trap is right... Looks like a canine to me too. I know where you were though, and finding a cougar track up there wouldn't surprise me one bit.

Ron

http://www.bear-tracker.com/coyote.html
http://www.bear-tracker.com/bobcat.html

heres canine and bobcat tracks--looking at these pictures--i'm again leaning towards cat
while we are at it--heres the cougar page

http://www.bear-tracker.com/cougar.html

Bobcat. Shorter and fatter as opposed to longer and skinnier like a coyote. Retracted claws(cat) vs. clawmarks in snow(dog).

canine. Probably domestic dog, possibly coyote

I'm callin kitty of some variety...

A lot of things happen to tracks as they deteriorate. Claw marks and heel pad definition are the first to go during the freezing and thawing process. Over time the track gets bigger and bigger.

You can tell this track has been through several freezing and thawing cycles. The toes appear to me to be pointed enough to give evidence that originally there were toenails present but over time they have melted away and each toe has taken on a bit of a teardrop shape.

I agree that the track appears too "round" to be a coyote or wolf, but the the way the toes are aligned with the heel pad screams canine to me. Just doesn't look cat-like to me. Domestic dog maybe.

Trap

Definitely a Unicorn!

More often than not, I id a track in the snow more by the length and width of stride, how deep it goes in the snow, etc. because the pads and other details are obscured.

Do you have any pics or remembrance of those traits ?

Interesting track though.  I can't make out the pad details.  I'd have a hard time calling it a lynx though.  The pads are all hair in the winter and don't leave tracks half as defined as this one is.  And the heel pad on a lynx is very small.  Lynx step patterns (one track to the next) are very side-to-side compared to canids, almost look clumsy or half-drunk.

WITH some   melt  i'm sure it could be a BOB CAT . IF it is  Nittany Lion, then it is PROBABLY a large male looking for a small male.

I like Traps explanation of the track. Very logical veiw of it.
We will never know till you go back follow any new tracks like it and get a picture of the last track made because the animal making it will be in the track.

I almost choked after the Nittany lion comment....

The old rule of thumb, and one I always found accurate, is that with a cat track you can draw an "X" with the center two toes between the top of the "X" the outside two toes to either side of the top legs of the "X" and the pad of the track between the bottom legs of the X, without touching the pad, on a canine track the "X" will either cover part of the pad or not lay between the toes - I hope this is clear.  

I still think it's a domestic dog - claws may be short or not show - they don't always show, depending on mud/snow depth or how the animal is moving.

Here's a lion track.

Looks like a wookalore to me!

Canine. TRAP nailed it.

Looks like the tracks my Beagle makes..  

Maybe a small T-Rex!      

Wouldn't a dog leave nail marks? That's why I think cat.....  

looks like a large male bobcat