I've never seen anything like this, it stood out right away. There was enough traffic on that trail (an my tracking skills are amateur enough) that I couldn't tell what track the rest of the critter was making (to many sets for me to define one). It was a definite trail, this print was repeated many times in a definite spaced pattern. I dont believe the indentation between the cartridge and the track are from the same time or are related. That was simply the best one I could get a picture of.
We mainly have cotton tail rabbits out there (occasionally you'll find a jack rabbit) but they are very seldom seen this far out from anything. Ours mainly live around cattle guards or post piles.
We haven't had rain in several weeks and I've not seen any dew in nearly that length of time. There were also tracks both fresher and older that didnt have this pattern so that leads me to think it's not from any sort of precipitation or weather related.
The track was as deep as the other tracks left by the deer on that trail so I assume it was something heavier than say a coyote with messed up pads on his feet.
