Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Coyote, Small Game, Varmints => Topic started by: Kain on January 06, 2013, 08:28:02 PM

Title: Track ID...help.
Post by: Kain on January 06, 2013, 08:28:02 PM: Found these tracks today. Its hard to see in the picture but there is little thumb fingers and heel prints. The track stride is close to 24". They are pretty big. As far as I know there are no fisher cats down here but that is my guess based on how big they are.

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi406.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fpp150%2FNaithankain%2FFishertrack_zps53480ddd.jpg&hash=3175b643ec625e963e795b31a4618abb53ab0cb0)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi406.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fpp150%2FNaithankain%2Ffishertrackstride_zpsef0edfec.jpg&hash=88d7109156931cf9ab30315038ce1d69b57e102e)
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: JLS on January 06, 2013, 08:29:07 PM: Otter?
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: JimmyHoffa on January 06, 2013, 08:32:26 PM: Otters might leave tail trails especially in snow.
It is possible that they are Fishers. Those things cover ground really quickly, especially through river valleys.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: Kain on January 06, 2013, 08:36:53 PM: I dont think there is any webbed feet (not the freshest tracks though) and this was up in the mountains. A few small creeks but no river or large water near by.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: JimmyHoffa on January 06, 2013, 08:42:42 PM: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/updates.html (http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/updates.html)
Here's some info on the WA fishers. The radio collars show how much they can move around. Do you have a trailcam you could set or check in the area?
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: Kain on January 06, 2013, 08:50:44 PM: Quote from: JimmyHoffa on January 06, 2013, 08:42:42 PM
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/updates.html (http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/fisher/updates.html)
Here's some info on the WA fishers. The radio collars show how much they can move around. Do you have a trailcam you could set or check in the area?

Thanks that is really interesting.

Looks like almost every one of them left the park as fast as they could. LOL
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwdfw.wa.gov%2Fconservation%2Ffisher%2Fgraphics%2Fapr27_2011a.jpg&hash=464aabdbc9bddfefc1dcd3454853b97855f1882b)
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: BiggLuke on January 07, 2013, 10:06:19 AM: They look feline to me. Maybe a young cougar, or bobcat. looks like bobcat to me, the track spreads look like it hit the road at a faster pace. thus the hind tracks in the front tracks at the same spots.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on January 07, 2013, 12:31:34 PM: Quote from: JLS on January 06, 2013, 08:29:07 PM
Otter?

Otter was my first guess too. Never saw a bobcat track look like it was "Hopping". Tracks are fairly old, and get bigger as the snow melts.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on January 07, 2013, 12:47:14 PM: Quote from: Heredoggydoggy on January 07, 2013, 12:31:34 PM
Quote from: JLS on January 06, 2013, 08:29:07 PM
Otter?

Otter was my first guess too. Never saw a bobcat track look like it was "Hopping". Tracks are fairly old, and get bigger as the snow melts.
that was my first guess... especially in low country.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: JimmyHoffa on January 07, 2013, 12:51:07 PM: One thing that stands out for the tracks is the alignment, and that would be consistent with fishers. The tracks are bounding tracks. But there are all kinds of animals that bound. However, things that spend lots of time on the ground, usually place one paw forward of the other. The result would be that you would see a track offset (diagonal). The animals that spend lots of time in trees bound with their paws almost exactly next to each other (think jumping to branches). In your pics, it looks like an animal that spends a good deal of time in trees. Fishers like to climb trees. They especially like to sleep up in snags that have a hollowed area.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: BiggLuke on January 07, 2013, 02:08:50 PM: hmm... maybe they are fisher prints
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on January 08, 2013, 06:07:52 AM: Do you have many martens in the area? Fisher and marten tracks are tough to distinguish. Martens are smaller, but have the same paw/stride.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: Kain on January 08, 2013, 09:13:05 AM: Quote from: WAcoyotehunter on January 08, 2013, 06:07:52 AM
Do you have many martens in the area? Fisher and marten tracks are tough to distinguish. Martens are smaller, but have the same paw/stride.

I have never seen either animal but could be a marten. They just seemed too big to be one. According to my book they say the track are nearly identical and there is overlap in size between large marten and smaller fisher.
Title: Re: Track ID...help.
Post by: JLS on January 08, 2013, 09:22:25 AM: Seems awfully big for a marten track. If they were that melted out there wouldn't be the sharp imprint of the claws/toes.