I haven’t yet looked up these tracks to see whether they belong to something interesting or someone’s pet. They were in a swampy area alongside deer tracks, and about half the width of my palm, fairly small. (hmmmm, mink,otter?)
Hmm, wouldn’t a lynx be something to see. (I did see one in 1976, but not since)
Ron
September 4, 2013 08:53
I just missed seeing one about fifteen years ago in mid-April at our camp. I had made my morning trip to the heritage toilet and on the path there were tracks just like yours in a remnant of re-frozen snow. After my relief trip I returned inside and had breakfast (unfortunately, without looking outside). Later I went back out and there were new tracks in the thawing snow – it had circled my tracks – probably trying to decide if I was possible prey. From the partridge feathers around the camp it had spent some time under our camp, during… Read more »
Thanks for that story! Too bad they are so shy of people. My sighting involved a “heritage toilet” (great expression!) too! It was the year my dad was building his cottage and I encountered this cute kitty up near the Heritage Toilet. We stared at each other, and it slowly dawned on me that the fur, ears, coloring and the size were all wrong for a house cat (no houses anywhere nearby in those days anyway) and as I realized what it was, it quietly turned around and vanished into the undergrowth, presumably packing up and moving far away. It… Read more »
Ron
September 4, 2013 14:23
I expect that they are around in reasonable numbers – the problem is that, being primarily nocturnal, they are rarely seen. The big question is whether its big cousin, the Eastern Cougar, is still around. There’s enough reported sightings to suggest that they are.
Dominique
September 30, 2013 17:31
Not a lynx track. Front and rear paws would look the same. Might be weasel family, because the inside toe is not always visible.
It could be a small Lynx. Any rodent like a Mink, Otter, or Fisiher would have five toes. A Beaver would have webbed feet.
Correction: I meant Weasel rather than Rodent for the five-toed constituency
Hmm, wouldn’t a lynx be something to see. (I did see one in 1976, but not since)
I just missed seeing one about fifteen years ago in mid-April at our camp. I had made my morning trip to the heritage toilet and on the path there were tracks just like yours in a remnant of re-frozen snow. After my relief trip I returned inside and had breakfast (unfortunately, without looking outside). Later I went back out and there were new tracks in the thawing snow – it had circled my tracks – probably trying to decide if I was possible prey. From the partridge feathers around the camp it had spent some time under our camp, during… Read more »
Thanks for that story! Too bad they are so shy of people. My sighting involved a “heritage toilet” (great expression!) too! It was the year my dad was building his cottage and I encountered this cute kitty up near the Heritage Toilet. We stared at each other, and it slowly dawned on me that the fur, ears, coloring and the size were all wrong for a house cat (no houses anywhere nearby in those days anyway) and as I realized what it was, it quietly turned around and vanished into the undergrowth, presumably packing up and moving far away. It… Read more »
I expect that they are around in reasonable numbers – the problem is that, being primarily nocturnal, they are rarely seen. The big question is whether its big cousin, the Eastern Cougar, is still around. There’s enough reported sightings to suggest that they are.
Not a lynx track. Front and rear paws would look the same. Might be weasel family, because the inside toe is not always visible.
And there are certainly minks around. Thanks, again, Dominique.