Guess these tracks.

[JasoninMN]

Phone is 3.5 inches long, hand is 8 inches from tip of middle finger to end of palm, taken in Minnesota.

[tinknal]

Great Dane, or a timberpuppy!

[MELOC]

shouldn't canine prints leave some hint of claws?

[Freeholder]

They've melted quite a bit and are much bigger than when they were fresh. However, they could be wolf, but are most likely dog.

Kathleen

[goodshephrd]

I agree. Melted dog track

[EDDIE BUCK]

The edges seem to precise for melting,that large and no claw marks,mountain lion.Wait a minute,your left hand has six fingers,thats more unusual than that man eating cougar track.

[Emmy D]

With Dogs and Wolves you will normally see some claw tips in the tracks, these have none and are much more rounded than a canine track should be. Also they look recent, with little if any melting...I would say Cougar.

Emmy

[MaineFarmMom]

I think it's a cougar too.

Mountain Lion
Mountain lion tracks rarely show the claws. As with other cats, the front foot is the larger, and the toes tend to spread widely when the animal is running. The width of tracks varies from 3 to more than 4 inches, and can be much greater in certain types of snow.

[paintlady]

Cougar- there have been quite a few sightings here in northern MN.

[tinknal]

Yep, the other posters are right. Here is a good comparison.

http://home.mcn.net/~wtu/tracking.html

[fatrat]

No canine would ever have toes that spread apart that far. Those are a cat of some sort, a big cat, real big. Don't feed him and don't try to pet him. He's big.

[deaconjim]

Show that to a DNR official here, and he would assure you those were made by a large house cat, or possibly a bob cat.

[fatrat]

I used to trap fur in Michigan. I used to follow the animal tracks as I looked for fur. The difference between canine and feline tracks are very obvious. Those tracks look like the house cat and bobcat tracks I've seen but much larger. I'm sure he would eat my catch if I was trapping in the area. That's a big cat! Even large house cats have small tracks in snow. A large bobcat could have tracks up to four inches wide, especially in snow. It's not unlikely that it would be a cougar in Minnesota but it also could be a very large bobcat. Bobcats aren't really very big but cat tracks can be deceiving because the toes spread apart making them look large. Those tracks look quite large compared to the hand print and I would not be a bit surpized if it was a cougar, especially in Minnesota. I would be surprized if it was a bobcat because it would seem to be quite large for a bobcat but I suppose some big ones are out there. One thing is for sure, it ain't no house kitty. A bobcat will be afraid of you as you are way out of his league. A cougar won't be. You are always a possible dinner guest for him, though he would most likely prefer to avoid you unless the deer herd is very small and he's really hungry.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by rose2005

Yeah, because we don't have them here, even though there have been many sightings of cougars.

Our LGD prints are huge, but are different from those. Another vote for cougar here.

Rose

That has been the Minnesota DNRs song and dance for years, but they have about worn it out and their protests are becoming weaker. I expect in the next 50 years or so they will declare that Minnesota has a breeding population of mountain lions (and of course pat themselves on the back for their great "discovery")

[blooba]

Well I think it was this cat. Looks like he might just have YOU for breakfast. Hehehehe

But, sun melt is alot more even melting than warm weather melting so it may have melted some and looks bigger than in real life.

[SueMc]

Originally Posted by tinknal

That has been the Minnesota DNRs song and dance for years, but they have about worn it out and their protests are becoming weaker. I expect in the next 50 years or so they will declare that Minnesota has a breeding population of mountain lions (and of course pat themselves on the back for their great "discovery")

Same here in IL. Our local librarian was hiking the River To River Trail in So. IL a few years ago and saw a "scrawny" cougar cross the trail in front of her in the middle of the day. It stopped and looked at her before moving on. I believe her because she would have been the first one to tell someone else that they must have been mistaken about what they saw.
I remember many years ago when a DNR guy told me that I couldn't have seen wild turkeys (3 of them standing just off the road) because there weren't any in the area. Now everyone sees and hears turkeys around here.
We have whitetails everywhere. There was a heard of 30+ in our field last week. It only makes sense that the carnivores will eventually follow that kind of food source. Of course the "official" stance by the IDNR is that IF there are cougars here, they were released by, or escaped from someone!

[fatrat]

I've lived in six states and the DNR in each of them can be the dumbest bunch of outdoor people you'll ever meet. Oh there are some real good ones but most seem to just always repeat whatever the so called wild life biologists at the local universities tell them, "there are none in this state". If you want to know what lives in the woods ask the trappers. If you want to know what fish and snakes are around ask the fishermen and the trappers. Most of the hunters with the exception of a few only spend a little time once or twice a year out there but the fishermen and the trappers are the ones that on average are out there year round for one reason or another. They know what's there and can tell you when and where you are mostly likely to see whatever it is you want to see.

[JasoninMN]

Lots of close guesses, they are feline, but its not a cougar and its not a bobcat. There is only one more Minnesota feline it can be........the tracks led straight to a family of lynx!

I was amazed at the paw size, and no I don't have extra fingers on my hand...LOL They have paws the same size as a cougar but only weigh 20-40 pounds. They are built for cruising through the deep snow.

Mom, looks like a tough kitty.



If this isn't one of the cutest critters I have ever seen I don't know what is.

[fatrat]

Ha yes, wonderful, a big cat, bigger than a bobcat! That's pretty cool. Where did you find him and how were you able to get close enough to not scare him off? I lived in Minnesota for a year but never saw one of those. You must have been way up north. Of course there are none of those in Central or South Minnesota, just ask the DNR. That is so cool!

[JasoninMN]

They were in Lake county near the Finland/Isabella Area. I had been stalking them for two days as they stayed tantalizing out of my cameras reach. They were hunting snowshoe hare in the area and I set up camp and waited eventually the persistence paid off.