There ARE subtle differences in the shape of the heel-pad and toes that can be consistently detected with experience. In these cases, the best thing to do is get ULTRA familiar with the tracks of those animals through lots of practice. Some parts of the world have species of wild cats that are basically a feral ancestor of modern house cats. The only time it gets confusing is when you’re dealing with a particularly large house cat or a small wild cat like an immature bobcat. Since the size range of house cats is less variable than dogs, it’s usually possible to tell wild vs domestic by size alone. In the cat family… Telling wild animals from domestic animals is usually much easier than dogs. These are all things that wild canines don’t do except with direct purpose. What About Wild Cat Tracks Vs House Cat Tracks? Their trails zig zag and change speeds/direction frequently. They trot for a bit… then run as fast as they can. Their trails then are much more variable. They most commonly move in a direct register trot.ĭomestic dogs on the other hand are almost always wound up with energy and no outlet to spend it. Wild canines know where they’re going before they go.

They don’t waste energy, which makes their trail look very clean, consistent, and purpose oriented. As a result they have very different behaviour that is even reflected in their movement patterns.Ī primary concern for wild animals is energy conservation. Is the trail neat or messy?ĭomestic and wild canines lead very different lifestyles. This doesn’t mean you won’t see coyote tracks on a walking trail used by people, but if you see a solitary canine trail with no human sign… it’s much more likely to be a wild animal. Perhaps more importantly… Wild canines never travel with human beings.

Are the tracks associated with people?ĭomestic dogs tend to be linked with the presence of human beings. You can often rule animals out or in just by knowing what lives in your general area. What is your location?Īre you in a place that would even have wild canines in this size category?Ĭoyotes and foxes can often live surprisingly close to people, but wolves are much more likely to be found out in remote wilderness areas. With a bit of comparison this is fairly easy to spot. I already mentioned in the video that wild canines will tend to have much sharper nails. Here are some things to watch for: How sharp are the nails? In this case you need to rely on more subtle cues within the tracks. In these cases it’s pretty easy to know that you’re dealing with domestic animal by size alone.īut a lot of dog breeds do actually have a lot of size overlap with wild canines like coyotes, wolves or foxes. Some are very small and others are very large.

With a bit of practice it’s also pretty easy to tell the difference between domestic dog tracks and wild canine tracks.ĭogs come in all shapes and sizes. I covered animal gaits with a bit more detail in my online guide to animal tracks so check that out if you’d like to learn more about this technique. Studying animal gaits is a bit more complex than just looking at individual tracks, however when it comes to identifying cat and dog tracks, it is an extremely useful technique. The exception to this rule would be in the case of domestic dogs, as I’ll explain in the section on telling domestic dog tracks from wild canine tracks like foxes, coyotes & wolves. In general – Canines tend to move in a trotting pattern, while cats almost always move in a walking gait.

Okay now onto some more advanced stuff… Telling Cat VS Dog Tracks By Gait PatternsĪnother great way to tell cat vs dog tracks is by the gait pattern.Ī gait pattern means the way an animal actually moves. Notice how the dog track is much more symmetrical than the cat. Just draw an imaginary line down the centre of the track, then compare the right and left sides. Dog family tracks are much more symmetrical than cat family tracks.

Paw prints identify