Will Gadd – Athlete, Speaker, Guide     Athlete   •   Speaker   •   Guide    
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Things you see in the woods, Ice

Date: 31st October 2009

I was out for a hike in the mountains yesterday and saw these tracks. Five or six animals, lots of deer in the area, hmmm… I’m going with wolf.

The temperatures around here have absolutely spiked, all the way to the summits. When the big melt ends we’ll have the big freeze, and things are likely to be very, very good for icicle hunters in the Canadian Rockies. Until then it’s rock climbing season again…
The Gravsports Ice pages are up and running again too, lots of people out and about!
Happy Winter,
WG

Posted in: Blog

Comments

  1. Kim Graves   October 31, 2009 10:27 pm

    Now that's a big one!

    Wolf: http://www.gilawilderness.com/Photos/wolfsign.jpg

    vs Bear:
    http://www.prestogallery.com/store20/graphics/1555_pd883503_1.jpg

  2. Will Gadd   November 1, 2009 3:37 pm

    Apparently wolves and other wild canines walk with their back feet tracking their front feet. So what we're seeing is a back foot track on top of a front foot track. Too many toes for a bear I think, no front claw marks either, and there were no heel-strike prints from bears, which are pretty obvious normally. There were a LOT of these sorts of tracks around, I picked the "clearest" one.

    But I'm no tracker, and it could definitely be a bear. That would be sorta odd, as that bear would have to be running around with a few other bears and acting a lot like a dog would. But definitely possible!

  3. Kim Graves   November 2, 2009 1:41 pm

    Will,

    I'm smiling from ear-to-ear. You're right. I looked at the enlarged picture and you can clearly see the two prints one on top of the other. And once you see that, it's clearly canine. That's really neat!

    AND it's really neat to be living with wolfs in your neighborhood. It's wild out there.

    Best, Kim

  4. Will Gadd   November 2, 2009 4:18 pm

    Actually, after further research, I'm convinced there's only one explanation: Sasquatch!

    This has been interesting, I've received a ton of email on this photo. I'll try to take some more pics of tracks in the woods. Lately I've seen what I think are lynx, cougar, wolf, and coyote, along with the usual sets of deer, elk, bear and moose tracks.

  5. Anonymous   November 8, 2009 2:31 am

    hey Will,

    Those are cougar tracks. No claws + 3 lobes on the interdigital pad (heel) = cat.

  6. John Box   November 28, 2009 6:59 am

    Cougar. The three bumps on the back of the heel pad happen with cats. Dogs have two lobes. Cats also walk where their back feet step where their front feet do. I wonder if it was a family or something, or just one cougar wandering around. Cool picture though

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