Can any one I.D what left these tracks?

[jeffjeff]

I found these tracks in and around the compost heap and I have no idea what they are and I'm curios what made them. There's no dogs can get to the area and their to big to be a cat (I think). the blue disc is 3 1/2inch in diameter. I'm i the uk so we don't have racoons or things like that.

thanks

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Could be skunk - I've heard they've been introduced in parts of the UK.

I don't think they look quite right for badger. Probably too big for one of the weasel family?

 

[jeffjeff]

Could be skunk - I've heard they've been introduced in parts of the UK.

I don't think they look quite right for badger. Probably too big for one of the weasel family?

Never knew that about skunks. I've not heard of any sighting in the uk. it has to be some thing that can climb. our garden is surrounded by a 6ft fence.
I wondered about mink, as theres a pond a few hundred yards from our house. not sure if they get that big either

 

[mike taylor]

Fox ?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Never knew that about skunks. I've not heard of any sighting in the uk. it has to be some thing that can climb. our garden is surrounded by a 6ft fence.
I wondered about mink, as theres a pond a few hundred yards from our house. not sure if they get that big either

We have minks here, not sure if they're the same size as yours, but they're quite small - smaller than a cat. They love stealing fish from turtle ponds though.

 

[sibi]

Whatever it is, it can't be good. Hope your animals are safe with that thing showing up. Btw, you may have a high fence, but have you checked the ground around the base of the fence? This animal can certainly claw its way underground.

 

[jeffjeff]

Fox ?

That's the only thing that makes sense but the prints look different to what I've seen before and the pics on google look different. never known them in town before but see them occasionally on the out skirts of town so it wouldn't be too far for them to come in at night.

 

[jeffjeff]

Whatever it is, it can't be good. Hope your animals are safe with that thing showing up. Btw, you may have a high fence, but have you checked the ground around the base of the fence? This animal can certainly claw its way underground.

luckily our cats don't go out and the tort is inside. so nothing it can harm, except a few rats that seem to avoid the traps. its welcome to them lol.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Opossum.
Are there any in England?
I'd Google it.

 

[jeffjeff]

Opossum.
Are there any in England?
I'd Google it.

no opossum here.

 

[MPRC]

It doesn't look canine (fox) to me. Unfortunately all I can do is rule one out, not offer a suggestion as to what it may be.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I've been looking at animal tracks from the U.K.
four toes, nails and little pad pressure.
It DOES look like a fox. Or more like a fox than any other tracks that I've looked at.
It might just be an oportunistic carnivore.

 

[jeffjeff]

I'm still non the wiser. kept looking out all last night but never seen anything.

 

[Maro2Bear]

I used to live near Harrogate, in Yorkshire, and we had all kinds of small weasels and stoats in our gardens and rock walls. Could your tracks be that of the Stoat?

The Stoat is chestnut-brown above and white below with a long, thin, typical ‘weasel’ shape. At 20-30cm long, it is distinctly bigger than the Weasel and the black tip to the Stoat’s tail is absent in the Weasel. The black, curly droppings and five- toed footprints are similar to other members of the weasel family and are not always easy to distinguish.

Source: http://www.carlislenats.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Cumbrian-mammals.pdf

 

[KellyKhaos]

My first thought when I saw the pics & that you're in the UK was badger.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I wouldn't know a weasel if I tripped over one. It's like a mink?

 

[jaizei]

I wouldn't know a weasel if I tripped over one. It's like a mink?

A mink is a weasel. Think of it like tortoise/turtle. All minks are weasels but not all weasels are minks.

 

[jeffjeff]

still no idea what it is, but its been back late last night or very early this morning. its way to big to be a mink. I'd say its fox or otter sized. but otter have 5 toes and fox is way different. I'm thinking maybe its a big tom cat with flat feet lol.