Ugh I wish dh would be more careful

[babyblue]

Last night dh comes in complaining the horse was acting like a big pathetic baby. Snorting loud and sniffing and stomping his feet hard and pretty violently (not at dh, I or a human ever) but like he was trying to scare something else away from himself and dh. Dh could not possible entertain the idea that walking in from the pasture last night something like a dog or coyote was following them.

This morning comes around and there are massive muddy prints all over our front porch, the chicken coop and something big tried to dig into one of the empty horse stalls and made a big mess of the gravel floor. Now this horse is a big guy that’s been around big dogs his whole life. He does not scare easy and has threatened the neighbors herding dogs with the beating of a lifetime if they come into his pasture where his babies are at. To my thinking at least, if the horse can hear, see, smell something and he is afraid of it then we should use a heck of a lot more caution as well.

edit to add a pic of the prints on the porch

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

If it's a massive footprint and your horse was afraid of it, could it have been a wolf? That's a footprint made by K-9, no doubt about it.

 

[Partyfowl]

Research wolf prints!! We are in the pacific N/W and just found out we have a pack of 4 in our area. They got a baby calve about a month ago. Dont underestimate the posibility. They just extended the wolf hunting season because of the over population and lack of hunters actually being able to locate and kill them. They are extermely smart, and if they know you have "food" theyll be back!!

 

[babyblue]

We live on a large farm in the middle of farmland. However a massive state game land and a large military training ground are less than a 5 min drive away. This is actually the second track I have found, it measures about 3 inches across, which is bigger than most dogs. The first track was almost 5 inches across. In the past we have had issues with the neighbor’s dogs; however the neighbors I am on good terms with have said their dogs have been run home scared by some other type of dog. So unless another neighbor has all of the sudden gotten a very large dog and no one has managed to see or hear it I wonder if something else has moved in. are there many known reports of wolves in central pa?

 

[ctjim]

could be a eastern coyote or dog. i wouldn't think there are any wolves in pa. we have some rather large coyotes in my area and my neighbor shot 2 last year that were close to 50lbs, and they were after his calves. w/ a good habitat i'm sure the yotes can get big down there as well.

 

[The Egg Bandit]

I'm in Florida. My neighbor a 1/2 mile away has a bull mastiff that occasionally gets loose. He's not come on our property yet (or even close, that I know of), but that scares the dickens out of me. That bugger has to weigh at least 150 pounds. My chickens, goats, and 100 pound wolf hybrid wouldn't stand a chance if he came this far up the street. He could make a print like that. Maybe you do have a neighbor with a new dog (or a stray). My wolf hybrid (90% wolf) has longer toes than the print you posted, and most pix of wolf prints I've seen online are like hers. I'm betting VERY large dog.

 

[babyblue]

Well after a little research I have read that there have been no confirmed by the state game commission sightings of wild bred wolves in pa. Coyotes/ feral dogs/coyote-dog hybrids/ coyote-wolf hybrids/ dog-wolf hybrids have however been sighted confirmed and killed in the state. Most likely some neighbor thinks there hot stuff and have a massive unruly dog. I already walk around with pepper spray at night; I think bugging dh into doing the same might not be a bad idea. Because really who knows the army base has rumors of everything from aliens to chupacabra to bigfoot, so some overgrown mutts wouldn’t surprise me

 

[Rte.66_chicks]

I can't tell if there are claw marks showing or not. If you see clear tracks in the dirt or mud and there are no claw prints, it's probably some kind of feline. I can't imagine a mountain lion or big bobcat coming on your porch, though.

 

[SilkiesAndSuch]

I agree with it possibly being a mastiff. Definitely a large canine, Could we have a pic of the print next to your hand or something?

 

[babyblue]

if its still there in the morning Im going to start using a standard ruler in the pics to determin size better.