Soil will compact very little if it is very wet or very dry. The soil in the pic wasn't very wet or the tires would have left ruts and it definitely wasn't very dry. Soil does not compact as it dries, but it does become more dense, but it is not due to compaction. Unless the ground froze and thawed before the cat made that track , it is highly unlikely to get such a well defined print from a cat in a tire track.