Bushwalk Australia

Prints were fairly wide spread so the critter must have fair leg stretch. Sub alpine area, forest.

Cat?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like a dog to me...

Wouldnt have thought they be in sub alpine areas, and wouldnt have thought they'd walk heavy enough to make this print, or that their steps might be close together. But it could have been running I guess?

Dog... hmmm well it's poor form if someone took a dog here, but then alot of dog owners do feel their pooch has special rights and the rules dont apply to their well behaved mutt.

That'd make sense with the fact the prints were fairly spread out too.

Well, irresponsible dog owners are sadly everywhere Mark. I'd like a dollar for every encounter I've had in a NP. Guessing it could also be a wild/feral dog. Don't know that they would necessarily keep away from sub alpine areas unless it was bitterly cold?

That's sadly true John!

Yes it's possible, I know there are wild dogs in the central highlands, but really wouldn't have thought there would be one here. It is a cold area.

Thylacine.

johnw wrote:Looks like a dog to me...

I thought so too at first, but no claws are visible. Some scale would be useful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Swifty wrote::lol: Thylacine.

Ok i'm off to get a remote area motion sensor video camera......

When you get clear prints you can often seperate dog and cats as canines have 2 "lobes" at the base of the main pad, where felines have 3. Hard to tell in this print though...

Thornbill wrote:When you get clear prints you can often seperate dog and cats as canines have 2 "lobes" at the base of the main pad, where felines have 3. Hard to tell in this print though...

You’re a wealth of knowledge mate. I suppose you learned this on Macca?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My thought is cat as there are no claws and I believe only cats can withdraw their claws?????????

Sure it's not a walking pole?
Some have fancy tips to keep traction.

Looking at http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/invasive-species/programs-and-alerts/fox-eradication-program/fox-profile/identification-of-foxes we can probably rule out
fox, quoll, and devil, however jaguar is possible since no scale is given. It might also help to see overview photo of consecutive prints for gait analysis. I'm favouring cat. What's the correct answer?

taswegian wrote:Sure it's not a walking pole?
Some have fancy tips to keep traction.

There's now no other possibility in my mind as to what it is....

Ok, so a few weeks ago I was up on the main range and came across this print a few times. Anyone have any ideas?

Another angle of the print

Bump. Does anyone have any ideas?

Huntsman247 wrote:Bump. Does anyone have any ideas?

Possibly dog? I've never seen one up there but have had encounters with feral horses and goats pretty high in the Rams Heads.
Not unthinkable, i've seen dog pelts outside properties in the Nimmo Plain aera. Sorry I can't see anything in the third photo.

5 toes... possum?

Possum might be a possibility for size. But do you find them above the treeline?