What do you guys think of these prints?

[tgperg]

Hey there. I lost six birds in four days this week. I lost a broody mama dominique on pasture, three of her chicks, a broody muscovy duck on eggs when she slipped off the nest for a bit to bathe and eat, and a 12 lb muscovy drake. Tonight at 6:55 pm. about an hour and a half before sunset I went outside and saw two tawny brown animals near the chicken coop. They moved quickly, catlike, and slipped into the woods back by the creek. I ran out and found this print in the sand where they'd been.

Here's the same picture with the outlines of what I'm seeing enhanced in red.

Here's my question. We do have mountain lions in Oklahoma. They normally are solitary hunters but the male and female will hunt together and sleep beside each other for a period of about two weeks while they're actively mating. Do you guys think it's plausible that these are mountain lion tracks? The track is about 4" across. It's too big to be my standard poodle's print, and I think there's pretty clearly a leading toe, rather than even length toes like you would see on a canine.

Thoughts?


Thanks.

Traci

 

[bobbi-j]

Check out this link: http://www.squidoo.com/mountain-lion-facts

It shows a drawing of mountain lion tracks.

 

[Hoosierchickens]

Looks like a large cat to me. If we can have mountain lions in Indiana (which, believe it or not, we do) then I'm sure you have them in Oklahoma.

 

[philintheblank]

cats have retractable claws, so if you dont see any claw marks in the tracks then my guess would be a cat, dogs and yote tracks will have visible claw imprints infront of each toe...4" inches is a huge track for a bobcat or feral cat, so i think its plausible that its a mountain lion, especially if you have them in the area. Sorry for your loses, I lost 6 out of 8 hens last week from a dog attack.

 

[tgperg]

Phil, I am SOOOOO sorry for your loss. That's a HUGE number gone.

Traci

 

[mstrawn3]

Quote:
X2... It's easy to tell dog tracks from cat tracks...

 

[tgperg]

To me it seems pretty obvious that it's a mountain lion. Game warden isn't going to do anything though unless I produce a clear photo in good lighting of a mountain lion though. He pretty much told me today that we don't have any and it's a coyote, not having seen anything. Wasn't interested in seeing anything either.

Traci

 

[Hoosierchickens]

Yeah, they didn't think we had mountain lions here in Cloverdale, Indiana either. There's been tons of sightings, tracks, carcasses of their kills and now photos. I figure the only place in the US that they don't live is prairie land where there's no place to hide.

 

[Little_Rooster66]

Quote:
Well we live on the prairie in the middle of nowhere in northwest Kansas and Officially there aren't any mountain lions but! WE HAVE THEM HERE I PROMISE YOU! They have been sighted less than a mile from town. If you ask a game warden about them you will be told that they are not here. Mountain lions have roughly a 400-600 mile roaming range, so it is very possible that if you live within that distance of their known habitat (Mountains) you can bet that they are around if there is food. Most are young males searching for territory to call their own.

 

[tgperg]

There are two of these. I understand they only hunt together for two weeks while they're actively mating, otherwise they won't even share territory. I just hope the female doesn't set up her den nearby.