This bar or chevron (present in the front foot and very rarely in the rear foot) is unique to the red fox and, when visible, separates it conclusively from the coyote. In the middle pad of the red fox print there’s a curved indentation (vertically oriented in the photo) made by a ridge of tough skin that protrudes through the hair. ![]() The undersides of coyote toes and middle pads are bare of hair in all seasons, so the toe and pad impressions have smooth surfaces and crisp outlines. Red fox tracks in snow often have a blurry appearance because of the dense hair. This hair gets worn down as the season progresses so it may be less conspicuous in late summer and fall, but in early winter a new growth of thick hair develops. ![]() The hair that covers the underside of the fox’s foot shows as striations in the toes and middle pad. It’s similar to the coyote track in being symmetrical, and in having the canine X and dome, but there are some features that separate it from coyote. The next photo shows a red fox front print, oriented toward the right side. Then there’s red fox, whose tracks overlap with coyote tracks at the lower end of the coyote size range. Bobcat prints also tend to be rounder, and coyote prints are more oval or egg-shaped. If more grip is needed a cat may extend its claws, but claw impressions are much less common in bobcat tracks than they are in coyote (or other canine) tracks. Claw marks are absent in the bobcat photo. In the coyote track there are some delicate claw marks, two close together ahead of the leading toes and a lighter one on the left outer toe. In coyote tracks it’s the reverse: the toes are larger and the middle pad is smaller in relation to the overall track size. In bobcat tracks the toes are small in relation to the overall track size, and the middle pad is large. Another characteristic to look at is the relative sizes of toes and pads. The major ridges in the bobcat track don’t form an X–they could be described as a squashed H or a partly rotated C-shape with some kinks. In the coyote track the large ridges between the toes and the middle pad form an X, and at the central point of the X there’s a dome. An important feature is the shape of the ridges between the toes and the middle pad. Fortunately, there are other features that can help to distinguish the two. You’ll see that the right half matches almost perfectly when folded onto the left half.īoth the bobcat and the coyote prints pictured are clear and complete, but because of varying conditions some bobcat tracks–especially rear prints–appear more symmetrical, and canine tracks sometimes have an asymmetrical look. Now do the same thing with the track in the next photo, a coyote front print, again oriented toward the top of the photo. Try this simple test for symmetry: Imagine a vertical line which passes through the center of the track, and then imagine folding the right half of the track over onto the left half. They have a leading toe (the second from the left in the photo) and a trailing toe (the right-most one), and the middle pad is canted to the outside. Like coyotes, bobcats have four toes and an undivided middle pad, but unlike coyotes (and other canines) bobcat tracks are asymmetrical. The bobcat track below is a right front print, oriented toward the top of the frame. In this post I’ll share some thoughts on how to separate coyote prints from some confusing look-alike tracks.įirst let’s deal with felines. Dog tracks show up almost everywhere and are often mistaken for coyote. Could it be a fox? Or maybe a bobcat? And there’s also the possibility of domestic dog. ![]() Coyotes are one of our more common predators, but when we find a possible coyote track it can be difficult to identify it with certainty.
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