Home > Trip Reports > Nov 10, ONP Obstruction ..Fischer Tracks?

Nov 10, ONP Obstruction ..Fischer Tracks?

11/15/11
WA Olympics
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Posted by runcle on 11/10/11 11:45am
Biked out through patches of snow and ice and found some pretty decent turns on one of the remaining alpine glaciers to the south of Obst. A couple of inches of wind affected snow on ice but turns none the less. That Whippet came in really handy today :)

Ideal tracking conditions. Here are a couple unusual ones I found on the way out?

Beautiful out there today!

I believe those are mountain lion tracks. The five-toed track is produced by a front paw stepping in the hind track. I saw a sort of weasel-family shape also, but I ran it by a friend who literally wrote the (a) book on the topic. Here is a link to a good photo of a marten track in snow, which is a decent stand-in for a fisher track; you'll also find a clear image of a mountain lion track.

http://davidmoskowitz.blogspot.com/2010/01/tracks-in-snow-winter-2009-2010.html

Last time I sent him "wolverine" tracks they were mountain lion tracks. But I have found wolverines and other mustelid tracks, so I never give up.

Cheers!


Looks like you made the best of a great fall day and the new snow.  :D

Didn't take you long to try out the new Whippet, I will be interested to hear "the rest of the story".  ;)

Gary

Is that the power assisted bike that passed us on the obstruction pt. rd a few years back?

Hard to get too much of an idea of relative size, but if they are big, (looking at your one with your foot in it) I would agree they are Cougar, but Fisher do step like that.  When I take pictures of tracks I use mt pocket knife for scale. Thanks for the pictures.

I don't think the tracks are cat. Cat tracks have four front pads, the whole print is circular and you won't see claw prints like you will with a dog. Circular, no claw marks, and around 3-4 inches are classic sign of cat, according to a partner of mine. She can easily tell cat from dog. It's not important at home, but in BC, on the coast of Vancouver Island, it translates to cougar and wolf. A great friend to travel with.

Did you look for a tail draging print from the critter tracks here?
What is the track? AND
Is your bike electric?


Uh, uh. I did't read carefully. Five pads when the front and rear pads are transposed, good to think about. 
I can tell bear tracks when I see bear walking by.
I love travel partners,(human.)

It's a wildcat.

fischer trax would've been sweet since they are so rare ..

wolverines are awesome too forest .. have you shared them with conservation nw .. if not, please do 

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runcle
2011-11-10 19:45:35