Mountain Lion

I also feel you Winniede, been there also. But in a spotting right next to this one... http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8712369 that seem like a cat.

It can be very difficult to tell the difference between dog and cat tracks by looking at a single track. For instance, the track you have photographed looks like it has a leading toe, which would indicate a cat. Also the rear of the heel pad could be interpreted as having three lobes instead of two, which would also indicate a cat. But all of those things could be explained by how the animal put its foot down, how fast it was moving, if it was turning, if it slipped a bit, or even if it made a stride while turning its head. Still, I'm leaning towards a dog track rather than a cat track based upon this one track. Tracking it a real art and even experienced trackers can be tripped up looking at a single track. There are lots of mountain lions in the area where this photo was taken, so interpreting this as a mountain lion track was a viable conclusion. I feel your disappointment.... Let's leave the spotting up for a couple of days as is and see if anyone else wants to weigh in on the discussion. Then we'll need to decide what to do with the sighting.

I could not draw the X along the ridge between the heel pad and the outer toes. But then again, the claws and the shape of the heel pad are very telling. Great resource.

I'd also say this is a dog's paw-print

WOW! great resource! thanks! bookmarked! Looking at that document and ignoring the claws... it's very hard to tell, at least for me. I'll read the whole thing and check.

Interesting photo and track. How big was it? Cats do on occasion leave claw marks in their tracks, especially if the track is in mud or soft substrate or if the cat was running or turning. I remember following mountain lion tracks in the Bighorn Mountains one day and claws would show up on occasion. I think it would be interesting for us to look at this page: http://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html and see if we can come to some conclusion. Let's have some fun with it....

I agree with CorduneanuVlad, felines don't leave claw marks, the cheetah being the exception, still with a very tiny marks for the claws. Here is picture of a felis concolor track. http://consultoriaenvidasilvestre.pue-mx.com/archivosempresas/consultoriaenvidasilvestre.pue-mx.com/Puma%20concolor%2004.JPG looks more like car paws on the car.

I don't think this is a mountain lion track because it has claw marks. No feline leaves claw marks. It's probably a coyote or a dog track.