Poacher

A coyote dragging his butt cause he got worms is myguess.

Large turtle. Pushing over loose sand there would not be a distinct foot track. Any tracks either side of the shell would blend in with the other critter tracks. My wife's pet land turtles/tortoise have made similar marks in the sandy area of thier outdoor pen. Is this close to a beachfront or a body of fresh water?

Pond 100 yards away. but track was 10 inches wide minimum and no distinct claws to side. Just talked to foreman who has seen same type tracks a week ago. He's is puzzled. He grew up there and has been on property all his life and had never seen this. Guarantee no poacher. Remote, secure ranch, and poacher would have had to drive past me in trailer Sat nite. Why a poacher would walk backwards dragging something under feeder to obscure his footprints? We are going to put up a game cam to see if we can figure this out.

Meh, I leave trails like that everyday, where my tired A$$ is dragging.

Anaconda

Probably a black panther dragging off a chupacabra and being chased by a Bigfoot.

Or maybe a constipated coyote dragging its butt.

I'm gonna go do this at all the feeders just to get the rumors started


Ren and Stimpy will go crazy

We have a Dachshund that can scoot along on her front feet (dragging her butt on the carpet) that would leave a 'mark' like that.

There would be no tracks present in the drag mark.

I see opposing serpentine edges in that drag. I think it's from a giant Indigo or a gator.

http://www.rwrefuge.com/uploads/4/9/4/2/49423019/farlow_and_elsey_2010_allig_tracks.pdf

Scroll down to about figure E, F and more. Looking at those drags and the fact that the sand on your place is so loose (thus obscuring the gator's actual tracks/claw marks), I'd be checking that pond nearby. I think you have a BIG gator hunting your feeders at night. The one in your photo is called a "belly-dragging alligator trackway."

I ad a dog that would make the same marks in the yard dragging his behind!

Only thing I have against this being a gator is the track doesn't start until it gets close to the feeder. Could be the ground was more firm and the sandy area around the feeder allowed the gator to sink in more, but I would think a gator would have left a track closer to the bottom of the pic in that second picture (the zoomed out one).

I wouldn't be against this being a predator dragging something, but my guess is a gator as well.

Would be interesting to get a camera up and see if that's what it is...

The sand would not obscure the gator's footprints. It didn't in the pics fouzman cited and it won't because the gator's legs are splayed out to the side of the box. This is rather critical. When the gator walks, its feet are out to the side and not underneath it.

DNS, I totally understand that sentiment as well. Just don't know what else could create such a mark. Whatever it is is probably something strange. Game
Cameras would be helpful here.

If it was a gator there would be an additional track going in. Since there is just one mark, I'll go with a predator dragging something out.

DNS, did you scroll down in the link I added? The belly dragging trackways show no footprints to the sides. I know gators do not walk with their feet underneath them. I suspect the tracks in the link were washed away by tides which is why you only see the belly track. The sand in the OP's photo could easily obscure the footprints to the sides of the drag.

As for the trackway in the OP's photo, we can only see what he posted. Not the beginning and not the end of the drag. It certainly could be a predator dragging something. And most likely is. But he's on the Gulf Coast with a freshwater pond close by. Could definitely be a big gator, too.

We had one in one of our tanks in NE Webb Co. A long way from the coast. They come up the creeks during floods. The Briscoe next door to us had a 12+ footer in their 100 acre tank.

Bobcat dragging something bigger than it is, thus covering the cats tracks, that don't widen when dragging anyway. Cats have huge power to weight ratio, but pretty much everyone knows that.

Cool thread!

The specific pictures you references show definite footprints. In fact, EVERY figure in that article (except A, C, D on page 32 which are of the alligator and its feet) you cited show footprints. Even pic of the trail that is partially obscured by tidal washing shows partially washed footprints.

The particular pictures you referenced show definite footprints. I don't know how you missed them.



No. As seen in the OP's photo, the drag line in imprinted over a lot of other tracks that are all dimpled like it has sprinkled/light rained on them, but the drag is NOT dimpled. So if it was an alligator, the drag marks and corresponding lateral alligator footmarks would be fresh over the dimpled ground. Bobc's footprints show up without dimples as well, showing he came after the precipitation. However, there are no fresh alligator footprints on top of the old tracks and dimpled ground.

The sand does not move on its own. If the footprints were to be obscured by some process, like the tidal image in the article you cited, there would be evidence for that process (as with the tidal figure in the article) and it would have also impacted the drag area (as happened in the tidal image). Bobc's drag area is NOT impacted by an such process or are his footprints. So no, the sand didn't just obscure the alleged alligator footprints somehow without impacting the drag itself.

Well since precipitation was brought up, maybe it is a sailing rock...

Wiki Sailing Stone

Unless it was Wally gator and went to the feeder on two feet it's not a gator. He could not have gone to the feeder and also left the feeder without making two drag marks. It's a predator dragging prey that made a very similar drag mark to a gator track.

alligator.....we've seen them around goliad before