Mountain lion or ...?

Hey everyone,

My father and I got a piece of property earlier this year in north east Coleman County. We were out there last weekend walking to camp and saw these tracks within 200 yards of camp. You can see my foot in one of the pics for reference and in another pic there is a shoe print for reference. There are a healthy amount of bobcats on the property (tracks everywhere and one spotting already) - but this one was significantly larger than any tracks we've seen. The area does have some interesting terrain with some small cliffs and rocky hills.

There is a neighbor to the south that has a dog, but they have hog wire surrounding their property so I don't think it was their dog. It's hard to tell if it's a dog track based on the comparison images I've found when searching Google. The heavy amount of rain washed the tracks out even more the following day so

I am wondering if it's a mountain lion. Kind of hoping it's a mountain lion for the hunting opportunity, but wouldn't mind if it isn't as I have a nice deer population and it'd give me the creeps walking around at night.

Look like dog tracks to me.

Claws indicate canine...

Hope this helps.

Yep look like dog tracks

I agree that it is canine. No doubt the tracks look bigger than the animal they represent as they were made in soft/wet ground. That will tend to let the tracks be much bigger and hence give the impression of a much larger animal.

Agreed

Thanks guys. Can't say I'm disappointed. Without evidence of a big cat in the area, I'll feel safer walking around at night.

Now I'm wondering how a dog got onto the property. Definitely too big for the coyotes in the area (I think). I've walked up and down our shared fence to the south and it seems impenetrable.

There were a ton of tracks on that road. Perhaps it's time for a strategically placed game cam.

Canine. Definitely not a lion.
Adios,
Gary

Maybe it is. Who says the canine came in from the south?

Coyote

Actually, now that I think about it... the prints looked like it was coming from the north. Odd because there isn't much north for miles as I border a large ranch.

Decided to put in some game cams this weekend to see. I was shocked how many tracks surfaced after the rain. Now I'm tempted to go out each time it rains just to see what kind of animals are in the area.

Don’t know about today but when I was growing up(on a ranch) there were feral dogs around. Their population was cyclical. There would be a pack killing livestock so a concerted effort was made to kill them and was accomplished. Wouldn’t see any for a few years then they’d start increasing and have to be thinned out again.

for sure a dog

Unless you followed the prints, you really don't know which direction it came from. A dog may walk in a large circle around a large field and end up traveling in 3 or more directions in the process (that I have seen). I have watched one mousing a field that went just about every possible direction and many, several times.

Dog

Turns out it was a dog. Spotted it last weekend off in the distance. Came from the north and was traveling down the east fence line.

Need to figure out who it belongs to. Not too pleased I have a random dog coming onto the property - especially during deer season!