Anyone On Here Familiar With Bear Tracks?

I know there are a couple of people on here who live in consistently cold climates that are surrounded by wilderness and wildlife. I'm wondering if any of you would be able to identify a bear track if you saw it, because I saw strange paw prints in the snow in our front yard this morning and I have NEVER seen a bear in our neighborhood before. I'm in Central Jersey, and I know they're around here or there, but I've never seen them in our town. There's not a lot of forest-type areas; it's a lot of roads and development.

I only ask because it's somewhat disconcerting, what with having 5 small dogs in the house that we like to let run free in the backyard. The area is fenced in, but it's still a little unnerving. Anyway, if you're able to tell what it is by these poorly shot photos, it'd be much appreciated. For perspective's sake, the paw prints are almost exactly the size of my hand. Thanks!

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i384/nyr199435/photo_zpsa04982a0.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i384/nyr199435/photo1_zps63bb09ee.jpg

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i384/nyr199435/photo2_zpsa3c17ce2.jpg

Jersey Devil!

I want to believe

How large are the actual prints?

I thought bear prints had 5 'toes'. Wolves/dogs would have 4, though.

The prints are almost exactly the size of my hand. So maybe 3-4 inches wide, 6-7 inches long?

I can say this: it's WAY too big to be a dog print, unless for some reason there's a Saint Bernard or Great Dane on the loose.

As for the location of the tracks, yes: it was garbage night. However, the garbage did not appear to be touched in any way, and the tracks don't lead out to the can which was in the street. The cross almost immediately in front of our front door, continue over the driveway, on through the front yard, then around the side of the house to the backyard. After that though, I couldn't really distinguish between those prints and all the fricken deer prints back there, because there are a ton of deer around our house consistently.

How large are the actual prints?

 

I thought bear prints had 5 'toes'. Wolves/dogs would have 4, though.

Bears have five toes, but they are a little more spread out than on a human foot. This is likely not a wolf, which has two forward toes and the other two toes more off to the side of the paw. The first and third picture seem to show a fifth toe print (but less deep) on the right side of the track.

Bears have five toes, but they are a little more spread out than on a human foot. This is likely not a wolf, which has two forward toes and the other two toes more off to the side of the paw. The first and third picture seem to show a fifth toe print (but less deep) on the right side of the track.

I can only make out 4, which seem to be symmetrical... which wouldn't be a bear. But, their front and back paws would make different prints.

I would recommend contacting the local... whatever, to let them know of possible prints, just to alert other people in case there is a bear roaming around the neighborhood.

Regardless, I need to make boots that leave bear prints. So cool.

I never new turkeys had a bigger foot print than a moose

"Tracks are not to scale"

Pretty cool pics.

Just a few things.

1- Black bear tracks, (what I assume are in your area)...tend to have more rounded toe imprints. Rather then what appear to be longer skinnier toes, (in the pictures)

2- They will have 5 distinct toes in fromt of paw imprint. The Hind being a much larger paw imprint then the front.

I'm not familiar with size, weight and length of stride of your of your bears back east.

I think to take note is obviously the impression it would have made into the ground. And of course that depends on structure of snow, and softness of ground.

Couple of questions-

1- Dogs hate bears, (natural fear), and if in the area dogs will act in a bizarre manner. (whimpering, anxious, etc). Even if they have never been around a bear, the smell is instinctive.

2- Any trash being messed with, (Black bears are the most troublesome)

3- Typically you will see droppings if there has been a bear around. Follow the tracks and that will give you a indication.

Pretty cool pics.

 

Just a few things.

1- Black bear tracks, (what I assume are in your area)...tend to have more rounded toe imprints. Rather then what appear to be longer skinnier toes, (in the pictures)

2- They will have 5 distinct toes in fromt of paw imprint. The Hind being a much larger paw imprint then the front.

 

I'm not familiar with size, weight and length of stride of your of your bears back east.

I think to take note is obviously the impression it would have made into the ground. And of course that depends on structure of snow, and softness of ground.

 

Couple of questions-

1- Dogs hate bears, (natural fear), and if in the area dogs will act in a bizarre manner. (whimpering, anxious, etc). Even if they have never been around a bear, the smell is instinctive.

2- Any trash being messed with, (Black bears are the most troublesome)

3- Typically you will see droppings if there has been a bear around. Follow the tracks and that will give you a indication.

I guess that answers the long looming question.

Pretty cool pics.

 

Just a few things.

1- Black bear tracks, (what I assume are in your area)...tend to have more rounded toe imprints. Rather then what appear to be longer skinnier toes, (in the pictures)

2- They will have 5 distinct toes in fromt of paw imprint. The Hind being a much larger paw imprint then the front.

 

I'm not familiar with size, weight and length of stride of your of your bears back east.

I think to take note is obviously the impression it would have made into the ground. And of course that depends on structure of snow, and softness of ground.

 

Couple of questions-

1- Dogs hate bears, (natural fear), and if in the area dogs will act in a bizarre manner. (whimpering, anxious, etc). Even if they have never been around a bear, the smell is instinctive.

2- Any trash being messed with, (Black bears are the most troublesome)

3- Typically you will see droppings if there has been a bear around. Follow the tracks and that will give you a indication.

With 5 dogs - those things would have gone nuts!

With 5 dogs - those things would have gone nuts!

We lived off a creek growing up.

Pretty far off the beaten path, probably only a few neighbors within 10 square miles.

There was a natural trail that led to the creek across our property. Our two sled dogs would literally try to dig under the house if bears were in the area.

Did some investigation. It's tough to follow the tracks because a lot of the snow melted yesterday morning while it was warm for a while. I can report that I found no droppings out of the ordinary (in other words, nothing other than deer pellets), and the garbage was totally undisturbed.

As for the nature of the tracks, the pictures I posted were the most definitive I had. It looked to me like 4 large claw marks at the top of the print, and a possible side appendage but it's too vague to tell. Again, they were almost exactly the size of my hand, so way too big for any kind of rodent, nowhere near the shape of deer hooves, and big enough that it would eliminate all but the largest breeds of dogs, and even then it's questionable.

As for the gait/pattern, the tracks seem to be very close together. Like almost right on top of one another. Nothing close to big loping strides or anything like that. The prints are clustered together more than the deer prints and more than human tracks.

Honestly I'm not sure if any of our dogs would know a bear if they smelled it. They're so far removed from anything remotely resembling wildlife that I doubt they have the instinct in them anymore. We have two Boston terriers, a pug, a French bulldog, and a beagle/basset mix. The pug was flipping out last night, but he has a tendency to flip out at the slightest provocation. The beagle/basset mix would probably be the most capable of sniffing it, but he has NEVER made a sound since we adopted him. He was a test subject for students at a veterinary school; he has some weird kind of throat condition that required operation. He has never once barked, he just follows you around all day wagging his tail. He's a weird dog, so even if he DID smell something out of the ordinary, he really wouldn't have any way of letting us know other than pacing around excitedly.

maybe its a sasquatch?

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/cd/cde9f7d280985d0ae5554cba2b02ed1b59d9c9cf68f73a3940612cdf7580124e.jpg