Track ID?

[KsRancher]

What made this? I was walking some timber and came across a large track that I haven't ever seen in Kansas before. With the toenails I thought dog. But it just didn't look right. So I followed it for a few hundred yards. It's along a river so the first track I seen was in some soft mud. I followed it until it got to some harder ground and got another picture. When looking up lion tracks it said there would be a "W" in the back of the back pad. I put 2 dots what looks like the "W" to me. What do you guys think. I have lived in Kansas 38yrs and never seen a lion or lion track. Only track I have seen like this was in Colorado at 9500ft in the snow by my bull elk carcass

 

[Eric30]

The second picture has claw marks in the track, I believe lions don't leave claw marks since they they have retractable claws.

 

[mike.adams.467]

The second picture has claw marks in the track, I believe lions don't leave claw marks since they they have retractable claws.

Agree; its not a lion track. I suspect its a dog.

 

[Geewhiz]

Canine for sure IMO

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Wolf.

 

[Beendare]

Y

Canine for sure IMO

Yep

 

[TxxAgg]

 

[LongWayAround]

Big dog

 

[EastHumboldt]

Great Dane, mastiff, some sort of giant mutt.

 

[Rotnguns]

Not a lion. Big dog.

 

[insanelupus]

Dog most probably.

 

[Mike 338]

Dog.

 

[RockAndSage]

Yep. Big, fat off-leash dog.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Definitely a dog of some form.

 

[roosiebull]

The second picture has claw marks in the track, I believe lions don't leave claw marks since they they have retractable claws.

They do in soft mud pretty often, I have seen lots of lion tracks with claw marks showing but the claw marks are usually thin slices ahead of the toes

The claw marks don’t look the same as a dog claw, but they are present sometimes

 

[Eric30]

They do in soft mud pretty often, I have seen lots of lion tracks with claw marks showing but the claw marks are usually thin slices ahead of the toes

The claw marks don’t look the same as a dog claw, but they are present sometimes

Good to know. Do you find that typically means a older and/or heavier lion from their weight allowing for the claws to slice better in the mud?

 

[gonhunting247]

Typically Lions don't use their claws, but like Roosie said above they do when taking off quickly or anything where they need traction. Also like he stated, they are very thin slices, not a heavy mark like that in the second picture. The back foot of a Lion can look very similar to a canine when the details are not pronounced, except the claw portion. The front foot is much wider and rounded on a Lion though, and is much harder to mix up; even with a less detail impression, at least in my experience.

 

[gonhunting247]

When tracking a Lion that had charged an individual (deer hunter) one morning. I was able to follow her due to the thin slices (sharp claws) she was leaving in the hard clay. The hunter had shot from the hip, but due to the close proximity, he hit her in the shoulder. So, in this case she was using the other leg very aggressively and digging in with her claws, much like one that was in a hurry or needed traction for any other reason.