Animal Track Identification: Claws, Toes and Gait

Track identification works best in a fixed order, because each answer narrows the next question.

Count the toes. Four toes on both front and hind feet points to the dog family, the cat family, or the rabbit and hare families. Two toes means a hoofed animal. Five toes on the front foot points to raccoons, weasels or bears.

Look for claw marks. This is the classic dog-versus-cat split. NPS records that coyote tracks always have claw marks, while mountain lion claw marks are usually absent.

Measure the clearest print. NPS gives a coyote track as about 2.25 inches wide, oval-shaped and nearly symmetrical, with a foot pad carrying two lobes at the bottom. A mountain lion track is 3.5 to 5 inches across, circular, asymmetrical with one leading toe, and the pad has three bottom lobes.

That sequence separates most of the carnivore tracks people photograph, before anything subtler comes into play.

All three leave four-toed tracks with claw marks, so size and trail pattern do the work.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife records wolf tracks at about 5 inches long by 4 inches wide, with four symmetrical toes, evident claws, and a single lobe on the front of the foot pad. Coyote tracks are roughly half that size. WDFW notes that even the largest domestic dog breeds usually have smaller tracks than a wolf.

The trail matters as much as the print. WDFW puts it simply: the paths of wolves usually show a direct, energy-efficient or purposeful route, whereas those of dogs often meander. A dog walking with a person wanders to smells, doubles back, and circles; a wild canid heading somewhere does not.

So photograph more than the single best print. Shoot the line of prints as it crosses open ground, and note whether it runs straight or loops.

Two-toed tracks are easy to spot and easy to over-identify, because several species leave the same basic shape at different sizes. NPS gives two useful anchors: bison tracks are up to 6 inches long with the toes curved inwards, while deer tracks are about 3 inches long and the toes are straight.

That straight-versus-curved distinction is worth more than size alone, because a large deer and a young bison can overlap in length.

Other things to record before you leave the spot:

• Whether the two halves are splayed apart, which happens in soft mud or when an animal is running
• Whether dewclaw marks show behind the main print
• The depth of the print relative to nearby tracks you can identify
• Where the trail is heading — a fence crossing, a water source, a browse line

None of these are conclusive on their own, but together they usually settle whether you are looking at deer, elk or livestock.

A track photograph without scale is nearly useless, and it is the most common failing.

• Put a ruler, a coin or a lens cap beside the print, in the same plane as the track
• Shoot straight down, not at an angle, so proportions are not distorted
• Take a second frame with low side light — early or late in the day, or a flashlight held low — so the rim and toe pads show
• Photograph several prints, front and hind, not just the prettiest one
• Step back and photograph the trail across open ground
• Note the substrate: firm mud, soft mud, dust, or snow

Then check the sequence: toes, claws, size, pad lobes, trail shape. Photograph it and the app identifies it; the scale object is what lets you check its answer against the measurements on this page. Our animal scat and tracks pages hold the species-level detail once you know the group.