Unknown prints

[Dogghound]

Two prints that i carnt seem to put a name to.

First found in woodland on a track. Stoat? Squirrel? Polecat, something else?

It was about the size of a 50 pence coin.

Sorry it is quite hard to make out.


Found on the edge of woodland. Very large about 11cm from tip to dew claw. just a roe deer or something else



Cheers

[mh68]

Hi mate, first one looks very much like a Stoat right fore print.Second one Roe Deer, probably moving at speed for the dew claws to show.

Mark H

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by mh68

Hi mate, first one looks very much like a Stoat right fore print.Second one Roe Deer, probably moving at speed for the dew claws to show.

Mark H

Cheer's mate. They were my main thought's but best to get a second opinion. Would make sense as both species are very abundant in the area.

[mh68]

No probs.The stoat print is a nice find, being a lightweight animal its hard to find good prints like the one you pictured

Mark H

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by mh68

No probs.The stoat print is a nice find, being a lightweight animal its hard to find good prints like the one you pictured

Mark H

Yes it was in very soft mud, on a track between woodland and farmland, its an area ive seen both stoats and a polecat. As well as plenty of squirrels, the general size seemed about rite for stoat though.

[mh68]

Interdigital pad looked too round for Polecat to my eyes compared to the references I have.The size,shape and position in relation to the digital pads is what distinguished it as a forefoot print too
Dry as a bone up here at present, so prints of any description are hard to find.

Mark H

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by mh68

Interdigital pad looked too round for Polecat to my eyes compared to the references I have.The size,shape and position in relation to the digital pads is what distinguished it as a forefoot print too
Dry as a bone up here at present, so prints of any description are hard to find.

Mark H

Cheer's for that info mark, my experience of prints is some what limited compared to the mammals themselves. Got some photo's of some great badger prints too but they are quite distinguishable, so how do you tell between a fox and a dog mate? cheers.

[mh68]

In a Fox print you can draw an imaginary "X" crossing between the interdigital pad and the digital pads without it "touching" the prints themselves, with Dog prints an "X" pictured in this way will cut through one or more of the pad prints.
Hope that makes sense.

Mark H

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by mh68

In a Fox print you can draw an imaginary "X" crossing between the interdigital pad and the digital pads without it "touching" the prints themselves, with Dog prints an "X" pictured in this way will cut through one or more of the pad prints.
Hope that makes sense.

Mark H

Yes i no what you mean, quite a easy way of telling the difference, i will keep that in mind next time im out. Cheer's.

[mh68]

Glad you understood what i meant, just tried to do a diagram in Paint to explain,and it was terrible
Another clue is the gap between the 2 front claw marks if present...in Fox the claws are very close together, in Dog theres more distance between them in most cases.The X method is the most reliable though.

Mark H