Dog or Cat?
Many people can readily identify deer tracks and rabbit tracks in the freshly fallen snow of their backyard. It is curious that many people, including experienced hunters, have difficulty telling the difference between canine and feline tracks.
It can be helpful to know whether those paws mean you have a hungry, fearless cougar in your backyard...or whether those prints are from Sammy, the dim-witted Newfoundland from next door. And whether the second set of prints are really a cat’s, or whether you have a fox.
Old-fashioned rules may not work. “Look for claws,” your brother-in-law says, “A dog leaves claw marks, and a cat doesn’t.” This is based on the assumption that when a cat walks, its retractable claws stay in, whereas a dog’s claws can make small dots at the tip of each toe pad. However, the fact is that most urbanized dogs have short claws, either from walking on pavement or from grooming, and a cat’s claws may jut out enough to leave dots as well.
The sketch at the top of the page shows two tracks: the one on the left is a dog, the one on the right is a cat. Note the difference between the heel pads, exaggerated in shape in the gray areas. The canine print is roughly like an upside-down heart; the feline print has an M-shaped blob for a heel pad.
Instead, look at the prints again. Each animal will leave a heel pad print surrounded by four toe pads. A dog’s heel pad is generally heart-shaped. A cat’s heel pad is like a very rounded M. Look at the photograph to the right: this is a large print in the snow. There are clearly claw marks at the tips of the toe pads, so your brother-in-law would suggest this is just a good-sized dog. But look at the heel pad: it has the distinctive M-shape, meaning you have a sharp clawed mountain lion in the vicinity.
If the print is very large, and has five toe pads instead of four, you should be concerned. You have a bear nearby.