Dog track or coyote? Added bobcat and now bear oh my

Pbj ak

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28280F9C-93FA-4366-8F07-6572EB95C671.jpeg BA8D9ED6-BD98-42F7-9FC6-85DA88AD9825.jpeg Found a few tracks within 50 yards of the house yesterday and was wondering if you guys could tell if this was from a dog or coyote? We don’t have a dog yet, being we just have moved here but want to get one eventually. Also I haven’t seen any dogs around our house. As always any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Zack
 

In that pic notice that the coyote track lets you draw an X through the track without touching the lower pad. The dog track the pad is in the way and you cannot draw the X. That’s the deciding factor.

And I can’t see your pic well enough on my phone to tell.


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Is there any scat around? That might help identify. If you're in Elkin could be a black bear. Those front claws look pretty stout.
 
In that pic notice that the coyote track lets you draw an X through the track without touching the lower pad. The dog track the pad is in the way and you cannot draw the X. That’s the deciding factor.

And I can’t see your pic well enough on my phone to tell.


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The x is the reason. I looked the pic up and posted it. Looks coyote to me
 
I say yote.

I saw some trail cam pics from a guy in Yadkinville taken about two years ago. At first glance, I thought a German Shepherd had wandered onto his property.
Nope. Coyote. Maybe a coydog. They're out there.
 
I say yote.

I saw some trail cam pics from a guy in Yadkinville taken about two years ago. At first glance, I thought a German Shepherd had wandered onto his property.
Nope. Coyote. Maybe a coydog. They're out there.
I have seen this coydog you speak of. I thought the guy was full of it, but they are real. The one he shot wasbalso similar in appearance to a German Shepherd, but definetely coydog.......70+ pounds easy.
 
Looks like a yote to me. Look for hairy poop around too that’ll let you know too.


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The x is the reason. I looked the pic up and posted it. Looks coyote to me

The pic didn't mention the X so I wanted to add that. It's what I always look for. Saw several in the Smokies a few days back. And I'm leaning toward coyote but even on the desktop I can't make out the toes and pad clear enough to be 100%.

I say yote.

I saw some trail cam pics from a guy in Yadkinville taken about two years ago. At first glance, I thought a German Shepherd had wandered onto his property.
Nope. Coyote. Maybe a coydog. They're out there.

Coydogs are legit. And they do sometimes look like a regular dog. When I'm in the woods my deciding factors are overall look, tail size, and demeanor. If it's screwing around, it's domestic. If it's hunting and slinking along, it's a coyote.


Is there any scat around? That might help identify. If you're in Elkin could be a black bear. Those front claws look pretty stout.


Nah, this is a bear track from Sundays hike.


z9dZOzm.jpg
 
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Looks like a big yote and if you are thinking about a getting a dog I’d be thinking a good sized one (or pair) that can handle himself ... Great Pyrenees has been in my mind lately or a maybe Turk Kangal. I’ve never had any Kangul experience but I’ve heard they can handle predators way larger than yotes.

Bonus to the GP or Kangal thing is 2 leggers will be just if not more wary as 4 leggers of them.
 
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Thanks for the info guys. Those pictures are from traphill. I mentioned in another thread about moving, I just haven’t changed my location on here. It’s 20/30 minutes from elkin so not too far of a move, just back to the land I grew up on. Anyways I’d be happy if it’s a dog, we’ve got 3 girls (2 toddlers) and I don’t like the thought of them playing outside with predators around. Maybe I’m a little paranoid though.

I’ll see if I can’t get a few more pictures of the prints and post soo, still waiting on the internet guys to come out and run the lines. Also I have zero cell signal. Those are just a couple tracks and the picture doesn’t look near as clear as in person. There’s also a bunch of turkey and deer tracks. It’s a big muddy area and every time it rains I go check it out the next day. When I get off work and get home I’m going to go look for poop and see what I can find.

Wanted to add, I’m going to try to find a couple trail cameras to set out so if anyone has any they’d like to sale, sell, sail, let me know. Just looking for something cheap for now though.

Thanks again fellas
 
Thanks for the info guys. Those pictures are from traphill. I mentioned in another thread about moving, I just haven’t changed my location on here. It’s 20/30 minutes from elkin so not too far of a move, just back to the land I grew up on. Anyways I’d be happy if it’s a dog, we’ve got 3 girls (2 toddlers) and I don’t like the thought of them playing outside with predators around. Maybe I’m a little paranoid though.

I’ll see if I can’t get a few more pictures of the prints and post soo, still waiting on the internet guys to come out and run the lines. Also I have zero cell signal. Those are just a couple tracks and the picture doesn’t look near as clear as in person. There’s also a bunch of turkey and deer tracks. It’s a big muddy area and every time it rains I go check it out the next day. When I get off work and get home I’m going to go look for poop and see what I can find.

Wanted to add, I’m going to try to find a couple trail cameras to set out so if anyone has any they’d like to sale, sell, sail, let me know. Just looking for something cheap for now though.

Thanks again fellas
I have a couple in the sale section

Yotes is my guess as well.

@BU2scwMJL was at my house a bit ago and we heard a big yote fight. My guess is these finally got the deer they have been trying for
 
A coyote will, as shown in the graphic above, put all four feet in two tracks, almost. I have seen them in snow where there were only two tracks. Back feet go into the front feet tracks. So you can best tell by looking at the trail, in addition to an individual paw print.
 
I have a couple in the sale section

Yotes is my guess as well.

It’s funny you mention that, I was looking for that add earlier today but still haven’t found it. Do you happen to have a link or maybe pm me with what exactly you have. Seems like that was an old add, crazy how certain things get stuck in your memory. Don’t ask me what I had for dinner last night though.

Edit now I see
 
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Paranoid can be just another word for thinking about being prepared ... and that’s what I see in your case.

Okay, deer and turkey ... food source for yotes so I’d not be surprised if you have a big alpha and a few of his girls around. If you have a good amount of acreage where they can roam they’ll be happy to prey on deer and other wildlife as well as scrounge from the human side. I would not worry about it but I would start thinking about living with wildlife and even more a couple of good dogs and again a couple GP or Kangal would be excellent especially with young kids. Both are great dogs for kids to grow up with and if raised together they’ll be even more bonded. I guarantee you that nobody will mess with a GP or Kangal’s kid ...
 
431E6CDA-967F-4303-8587-7CBD87B33AA7.jpeg 2B2D329A-0D38-431D-A06B-A65E4AE7E60E.jpeg Here’s the area I first found the tracks.



And here are a few pictures of tracks I took today. There are some coon, deer, turkey, and canine. They didn’t turn out as good as the ones I took at night using a flashlight imo.

Question: is there anywhere in particular to look for droppings? I looked around today but didn’t have as much time as I’d liked.
670CFC57-7334-4986-91DC-7BA3AA915837.jpeg

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0D35B91E-2291-4D6F-80AB-6A9924214015.jpeg
F39BA09E-A1CB-4D6E-86CD-0E697CE53915.jpeg
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Edited to add: going by using the “draw an x” method there were some tracks that looked like dog and some that looked like coyote. I’ll post a few more pictures from tonight when I go out after dark.
 
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Thanks for the info guys. Those pictures are from traphill. I mentioned in another thread about moving, I just haven’t changed my location on here. It’s 20/30 minutes from elkin so not too far of a move, just back to the land I grew up on. Anyways I’d be happy if it’s a dog, we’ve got 3 girls (2 toddlers) and I don’t like the thought of them playing outside with predators around. Maybe I’m a little paranoid though.

I’ll see if I can’t get a few more pictures of the prints and post soo, still waiting on the internet guys to come out and run the lines. Also I have zero cell signal. Those are just a couple tracks and the picture doesn’t look near as clear as in person. There’s also a bunch of turkey and deer tracks. It’s a big muddy area and every time it rains I go check it out the next day. When I get off work and get home I’m going to go look for poop and see what I can find.

Wanted to add, I’m going to try to find a couple trail cameras to set out so if anyone has any they’d like to sale, sell, sail, let me know. Just looking for something cheap for now though.

Thanks again fellas
A. My vote is for dog, though it's weak because of picture quality.
B. If it's Dog, it doesn't mean it's not Predator, daughter-wise.
C. Some of the 'yotes out that way - hybrids or not - are pretty stout. I saw one a few years back down near the Yadkin River Park that was the general size of a German Shepherd, as some have mentioned above. This guy was an alpha male, did not appear to be a hybrid, was as insolent as all get-out, and stood as tall as a full-grown GS with the classic coyote build. Lean and mean. He was not the least concerned about my presence either.
 
Look for scat. Coyote scat will have lots of hair and bone fragments in it.



What we have here is failure to communicate...

I mean a mix coyote and dog tracks.
 
So I’ve got a couple cameras in the way via @LeeMajors. Hope to have them Monday and get them set up soon after. I’ll be sure and post pics when I get some.

I am thinking it may be a dog or a few, some of the tracks are different sizes. But some look more oval than others. I didn’t get to look anymore for scat being I had to cut hay till right at dark. Is there anywhere in particular to look for scat? I’m guessing along the trails but any thoughts on where trails meet? Around water? Or just anywhere in particular?
 
Generally along and to the side of trails.Also along tree lines a lot of time you will see prints and scat in ravines,ditches and such as they try to remain unseen this is my experience anyway.
 
Well I’ve had the cameras up for a bit, mostly pictures of deer and turkeys but have caught a few pictures of vultures, a hawk and a crane.

There was a deer carcass stinking a couple weeks ago. I found it one night and the next night it was gone. I don’t think a coyote could have drug it off and would think a pack would have left bits here and there or at least some kind of trail. I thought it might have been a bear but not 100%.

Tonight right at midnight the wife and I were making our nightly “patrol” as we jokingly call it and saw a coyote. He was maybe 80 yards away and didn’t seem to mind us so I had time to pop him.
1633AC51-6501-4170-BBB9-3BD7978DD2CD.jpeg
 
Well I’ve had the cameras up for a bit, mostly pictures of deer and turkeys but have caught a few pictures of vultures, a hawk and a crane.

There was a deer carcass stinking a couple weeks ago. I found it one night and the next night it was gone. I don’t think a coyote could have drug it off and would think a pack would have left bits here and there or at least some kind of trail. I thought it might have been a bear but not 100%.

Tonight right at midnight the wife and I were making our nightly “patrol” as we jokingly call it and saw a coyote. He was maybe 80 yards away and didn’t seem to mind us so I had time to pop him.
View attachment 157969

Quick! Look at its feet!
 
Ha funny you mention it we’ve seen a few different size tracks this week on the creek bank.
 
You would be amazed at what a small coyote can drag. I leave deer carcasses with hide attached in the back yard right in front of my 50 yard range. If I don't drive a fence post through them, they will be gone the next day and I can usually locate about 40 yards into the woods. Becomes a game with my dog and the coyotes. She drags them back in the yard during the day, they drag it back into the woods at night. Reason I started staking them. Only one I killed there, was a little bitch about the size of the one you shot and she was busy dragging it back into the woods one morning. She was so concentrated on the deer carcass, I was able to slide a window open.
 
Just wanted to check in,

I haven’t seen any more coyotes but I’ve heard them and found quite a few tracks in the past couple weeks.

A couple weeks ago my wife had the window open one evening before I got home from work and heard a “crazy noise” coming from up the hill in the woods. We weren’t sure what it was but after looking on YouTube at different animal noises she swears it was a bobcat. Anyway, we have continued our nightly walks and for the past week or so we’ve been finding feline footprints. At least that’s what I think they are. Figured I’d post a couple for your enjoyment and to get a consensus.
859945AA-3780-4775-BCB5-8A5867DA9024.jpeg C78C17D5-435E-4BE0-AAAE-99A90571272F.jpeg


also here's a picture I got earlier this week of a cougar stalking me
C1DCB830-E664-4658-92AF-C0005CF2378A.jpeg
 
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Looks like that cougar is packing, so you better take it easy around it.
 
We had a bobcat here about 20 years ago. Haven’t seen or heard one since. We also used to have a bunch of foxes til the coyotes moved in. I’ll kill a coyote anytime I get the chance. Everything else gets a pass
 
Bobcat: whoa, cool, I saw a bobcat!

Coyotes: dirty gangsters. Shoot them on sight/site.
 
Yeah, coyotes are pack animals and breed accordingly. You actually can't really hunt their numbers down by any considerable amount. Bobcats are solitary hunters and their numbers are much lower. I shoot coyotes on sight. I'll only shoot foxes if I need a hide for tying flies. Not had any bobcats yet but probably let them walk too.
 
Just found these tracks tonight less than 100 yards from the house. A8CE17C8-09B5-4EA0-8671-9C2E9A11562C.jpegA5BF5890-F46D-402D-8BF9-9E57C8C51CFB.jpeg 68A9B91F-E45E-417F-B471-1A9925C35C71.jpegB30F172D-75C3-4DB1-9E6E-802143D96027.jpeg
 
sheesh. too much wildlife out your way
I nearly hit a hog and its babby on my way into work this morning and that's more than enough for me...
 
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