Did a wolf just eat my cat?

[2Wheels4Ever]

I woke up this morning and noticed one of my shop kitties is missing. There's evidence of quite the chase around the shop and the woodshed. Unfortunately, my cameras didn't pick anything up as they never got close to the house. These tracks are huge. Over 4in wide and a just as long. Our closest neighbor is half a mile away, and their dog isn't this big. My first thought was cougar, but every track has visible nail marks. The tracks leave my property and return to BLM in the opposite direction of any houses. I really want this to be just a dog, but I'm not sure. I never heard any barking and my dogs never got worked up (they bark at coyote and elk calls all the time.) What do you think?

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[TTSX]

I'm almost thinking bear

Nevermind. Doesn't have 5 fingers

 

[Kruel J]

I'm almost thinking bear

Nevermind. Doesn't have 5 fingers

Yep, looks like bear tracks. Pics make it a little difficult to say for sure. Strange, bears don't usually go after domestic animals. And cats are nimble so I'd think it could get away easily.

 

[2Wheels4Ever]

Be

I'm almost thinking bear

Nevermind. Doesn't have 5 fingers

Black bears have 5 fingers on their track, and have a "fatter" palm area. I've seen black bear tracks around here and these don't quite match.

 

[HaveGun]

Possibly wolf.

This is fresh wolf scat I found last year while camping. A couple of them came down and did recon on my camp...



He was pooping on the go, obviously.

This is old wolf scat I found a couple of weeks ago while hiking and looking for morels...

 

[clearconscience]

I'd set up a trail cam and see

 

[titsonritz]

Good news a wolf or bear probably didn't get your cat; bad news, if it's still missing a hawk probably did.

 

[PaulB47]

There are wolves in the Blue Mountains. I know because I saw one there - when that was not supposed to be the case (I was out deer hunting). Shortly after I saw it, a wolf was reported killed on Highway 395.

 

[CoastRange57]

What part of Central Oregon ? There are documented wolves present on the reservation at Warm Springs and people have sighted them in many other "unconfirmed" areas. LaPine, Prineville, John Day among others.

 

[bbbass]

Definitely a canine track. Got to be either a wolf or a big azz doggie!!!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Dog , Coyote , or wolf.
Not much help here...other than :
Something to consider...
It appears that the ground is wet / moist...at times...those ground conditions can make the track larger than what it actually is.
Andy

 

[tac]

Them dastardly Romans killed off the bears around here. Bloody foreigners!!! They come here, building their roads, bringing their law and order, plumbing, home conveniences like under-floor heating, foreign trade, a reliable money system and so on, and THEN kill all the bears! Just no pleasing some people, is there?

 

[tac]

Good news a wolf or bear probably didn't get your cat; bad news, if it's still missing a hawk probably did.

Sooooooo, what made the tracks?

 

[JRapRobert]

Them dastardly Romans killed off the bears around here. Bloody foreigners!!! They come here, building their roads, bringing their law and order, plumbing, home conveniences like under-floor heating, foreign trade, a reliable money system and so on, and THEN kill all the bears! Just no pleasing some people, is there?

Did the romans kill the aurochs too?

 

[tac]

Well, I just looked in my 'Little Cambridgeshire Book of Animal Tracks' and found this - 'Bears walk on the soles of their soft feet, so they often do not leave distinct tracks unless they walk through soft mud or snow. Bears have 5 toes on each foot. Their large toe is on the outside of the foot and the small inner toe does not always register. ... They tend to toe-in, especially with their front feet.'

Of course, THE sure-fire, fail-safe definitive way of determining what exactly made the tracks is to find them with the animal making them still standing in them.

 

[tac]

Did the romans kill the aurochs too?

Apparently not - they were extinct here in Britain long before the Romans came in 44AD - sometime in the late Bronze Age around 1000 BC, it would seem from remains found hither and yon. They survived on mainland Yoorup until around 1670, when the last one was killed in what is now modern-day Poland. I hope that whoever killed it enjoyed the eating.

 

[JRapRobert]

Apparently not - they were extinct here in Britain long before the Romans came in 44AD - sometime in the late Bronze Age around 1000 BC, it would seem from remains found hither and yon. They survived on mainland Yoorup until around 1670, when the last one was killed in what is now modern-day Poland. I hope that whoever killed it enjoyed the eating.

Monsters! I thought I remembered some reference from the Arthurian canon, but that time frame is off, thanks for the info.

 

[bbbass]

Balls...

 

[tac]

Just as an aside, the thing really didn't need to be overly impressive in the gonadal area, as he was around SIX feet high at the shoulder...and weighed around 1500 pounds or more.

it is bleeved that the Cretan Minotaur may well have been an Aurochs. They were the progenitor of all European cattle and the obvious ancestor of the present-day long-horned cattle of Asia.



Fergot t'mention the Texas Longhorn...................................