wolf or dog , fox, yote, either way it's dog like, it's in the dog family....looks too big to be a fox in my opinion....why dont you set out a camera and see if you can get this critter on film?

I could but i have not seen any more tracks like this. how much would a camera cost to do this

There are a few things to consider when trying to identify a track.

The length of stride is probably the most important, soil condition is an equal or close second. Why it was doing what it was doing when it made the track is the next thing.

Both dogs and cats have four protrusions or "nubs" in it's tracks. They both show claw marks and a "wide" spread when running in soft dirt or mud.

Your picture does not show the surrounding tracks, or give much of an indication about surrounding conditions, but I would surmise that where that particular track was...was wet, or dried mud, or "set" snow.

It's a very clear track, of a very particular animal, in a very particular soil condition...The thing is, there are several animals that fit that particular foot patern.

Without seeing additional tracks and knowing the soil conditions around it, I would guess;

That particular track, in my opinion shows a dog running in soft soil and bearing to the right.

I say that because all four pads are very distinct, and the claws are shown, which indicates nothing except that the soil was soft or soft and wet.

The pad in the middle has a high arch, which makes me think it was a dog...a cats arch. or center pad has a more "round" shape to it. (A dog AND a cat have center pads that look kind of like a "club" in a deck of cards, but a dogs often has a little more of a point on top)

You mention that it was about the size of a tennis ball...That enforces my thinking that it was a dog and not a cat.

I would even make a further guess and say that this track was found along a trail that is close to water.

I'm gonna finish my guessing with this prediction:

It was a rather big dog...A setter or retriever, that was out for a walk with it's owner, and this was a track it made in wet soil while it was running.

I agree with you on most of these things, but i do want to clarify some stuff. First the print was in a moist area of sand it was on a road next to some woods leading to a pond but, no one would walk a dog to where this track is. It is in the middle of nowhere and has no clear roads to it. Thanks for the help

I had another thought, it could be a coy or ferral dog. That's a dog that's gone wild and hunts smaller animals. I have had cats do the same thing, go wild and try to live off the land.

T

ferral dog is a good answer....after walking through woods after the hog dog hunts....all i can say is there wasnt a place where there werent any tracks....dogs will go anywhere they want too.....lol...

Dog or wolf not a heck of a lot of difference oh accept maybe a yote.

nubo

Dog.

A couple of years ago close to Troy, Al. we found some large cat like prints in some soft clay. We called the game warden, who in turn called a couple of more game wardens, who in turn called the state wildlife biologist. They determined that it was a large cat or cougar (way out of the norm in this area). The print was slightly longer and wider than a .270 cartridge is long. You may want to call a game warden if you feel that it may be of interest to them.

While you may get cat claw marks in the right soil conditions the claws look too long to be cat claws. I always thought they would be some marks, but with not appreciable length to them until extended. If I were putting my dogs on it I'd think I was running a coyote. Though if it's as big as you indicated, I'd be moving on because I'd be thinking it's a dog of some sort. The needles I see to the left and upper right (i think that's where they are in the photo) sorta give an idication as to size and I would say coyote. Of course I've walked a dog track back to someone's house on an occassion or two hoping it was a big coyote, wondering if it was really a colder track than I thought and why the dogs weren't ready to open up on it.

Juniorpc.