Help me identify these tracks.

[brutal]

Ha! Got that right. But unless you've got a Gerber Freeman one might think you cheated.

How do you like that knife?

I liked it well enough until the hilt beat the snot out of my rifle/scope because I was wearing it in a dumb place on my pack. It's a good knife that's not too pricey if it gets lost or damaged.

The scabbard is shite, I need to have a decent one made. Sadly, I haven't had to use it for its intended purpose.

[Great-Kazoo]

I liked it well enough until the hilt beat the snot out of my rifle/scope because I was wearing it in a dumb place on my pack. It's a good knife that's not too pricey if it gets lost or damaged.

The scabbard is shite, I need to have a decent one made. Sadly, I haven't had to use it for its intended purpose.

No one's stopping you from taking pictures of wildlife, with it in the frame.

[Hummer]

I liked it well enough until the hilt beat the snot out of my rifle/scope because I was wearing it in a dumb place on my pack. It's a good knife that's not too pricey if it gets lost or damaged.

The scabbard is shite, I need to have a decent one made. Sadly, I haven't had to use it for its intended purpose.

No one's stopping you from taking pictures of wildlife, with it in the frame.

Agree with Brutal that the leather Gerber leather sheath is crappola. No confidence in the knife being secure from loss.

I have the S30V steel version of Gerber Freeman. Beautiful knife, good feel in hand and seems very sharp. Should be a fine game knife but so far I'm disappointed. Have used it on four elk and two pronghorn. I struggled to field dress two elk with it last fall, not sure why but it didn't cut well. Afterward I asked a friend and outfitter if he thought the knife felt sharp. He said yes. But, it was dull on the hide and didn't do the job like my trusty 45 yr. old Buck Special. Hmmm, I really don't know why.


Great-Kazoo also identified the bear and cat tracks but so far no one has explained the identifying characteristics of the tracks.

[Irving]

I knew what the tracks were, but couldn't really tell you why. Part of it is that cat and bear are the two most scary around here and they were safe bets. Cat tracks you can't see the claws. The bear tracks you can see all five digits (same with dog and raccoon I think?).

Can't see the last picture well enough, and also am not experienced enough to know what is going on.

[Hummer]

I knew what the tracks were, but couldn't really tell you why. Part of it is that cat and bear are the two most scary around here and they were safe bets. Cat tracks you can't see the claws. The bear tracks you can see all five digits (same with dog and raccoon I think?).

Can't see the last picture well enough, and also am not experienced enough to know what is going on.

Photographs can tell a lot but tend to be two dimensional and limited in what they convey. It helps to have a series of photos. I'm sure everyone who posted and most people who spend time outdoors notice animal tracks when they find them. Tracking is a fun study, essential for hunters. Tracks can reveal amazing stories sometimes. Like how rabbits or hares will make short foraging hops when close to trees but take long leaps to cross open areas. Then, in the middle of the field the rabbit tracks stop amid the imprint of hawk wing feathers in the snow.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Which is it OBC?

The correct answer was BOTH.

Yeah yeah....I was just trying to win some prize money too.. Honestly, otter really did cross my mind, but to my puny and untrained tracking brain, the possibilities were too vast to call out otter, and I would have thought an otter would have had more tail dragging in between the paw prints like when he went into or out of the creek.

Showcasing my shitty tracking abilities, I would guess the otter came from the woods, and then entered the creek.

[Hummer]

Yeah yeah....I was just trying to win some prize money too.. Honestly, otter really did cross my mind, but to my puny and untrained tracking brain, the possibilities were too vast to call out otter, and I would have thought an otter would have had more tail dragging in between the paw prints like when he went into or out of the creek.

Showcasing my shitty tracking abilities, I would guess the otter came from the woods, and then entered the creek.

Well, that photo doesn't give you a lot, not as if you'd seen the scene in person. I spotted the track early in the morning from the dining room window of the cabin and knew from the slide down the snow into the open pool that it had to be either a beaver or an otter. The tracks weren't there the night before. At that point I had never seen an otter on the St. Vrain but my neighbor/tenant had spotted one earlier in the fall. When I went outside to look I could tell immediately that they were otter tracks because the pattern of 2 x 2 leaps were just like those of other mustela species, weasels and pine martens, which I see fairly often, but the 2-3.5 ft. spacing was much longer, as expected for an adult river otter.

Seconds after I took the photo I spotted an otter swimming in a pool below. Got a couple quick shots but the camera battery died. Here's a little better view of the tracks of the otter leaping over the snow from the right to left then sliding into a pool. The tracks going straight away are from a squirrel.



The snow is 3-5 ft. deep over the river. In winter otters typically travel in the water and under the snow and ice, sometimes for several hundred yards, then emerge to leap over snow banks from pool to pool. Sometimes they leave the river to forage some way into the forest for prey such as rabbits, hares and squirrels. Mostly, otters stay in and along the river. Last time I saw otter tracks there was in November.

In summer I spotted two adult and three juvenile river otters on a family outing. Neat animals! Now, every time we go to the cabin I constantly scan the water for another view.

An adult in water:





A curious baby river otter:





The water is ice cold and juvie otters don't have the insulation that adults do. Otters shiver when they get cold just like we do.





All tuckered out and catching some warming sun.





Keep on tracking, fellas!

[Ranger353]

I gotta go with the Jackalope, I have seen too many of those tracks around my home and my Golden Retriever has come pretty damn close to getting one last year.

[OtterbatHellcat]

Those are some really cool pics, Hummer.

I wonder if Rooksibar is gonna get back with us on his critter pic.

[Irving]

Yep, looks like Hummer is correct about it being a squirrel. Saw these tracks on a roof today. I also saw a squirrel hanging around.