Where we live in Southwest Arkansas, rarely someone sees a mountain lion. I have never seen one but this past weekend I saw a set of tracks that went for about three hundred yards down a soft dirt road. The paw prints were exactly four inches across and four inches from front to back. The distance between the back of one foot to the back of the next foot was 26 inches
Can anyone tell me the size of the cat by the length of his stride?

cynrays

Usually when you measure for stride you skip one set of prints. Example if you were to find three sets of track in the dirt or snow you would measure from the first to the third. A big Tom will have anywhere from 40" to 44" stride and his track maybe 5" to six" wide. There toes marks should be as big as your thumb and more rounded than a female. A female's are more oval shape. Hope this helps

Steve

The distance between four prints were 7 feet 4 inches. Can you tell me any more from this?

cynrays,

It's hard to say without seeing the tracks myself. I've seen cats(Mountain Lion) walk at a pretty good pace and they can cover many many miles in a short time. I just laid out a tape and marked 7'4" and imagined four set ot track in this give area and I'd say from my experince the cat may have been stalking or looking at something out in front of her. I've seen cat place tracks like you explained and they were making a stalk on their prey.
Did you look to see if the cat jump or took off running at any prey. You might have found a kill within a short distance if the cat was able to bring down it's dinner.

Steve

No, the cat walked down a gravel road for about three hundred yards. The pace and tracks stayed the same.
Any more input would be greatly appreciated...

cynrays

I bet it was hard spotting the tracks on that gravel road. That cat may return and travel down the same road within fourteen days depending on the cats gender. A female may return sooner, a male depending on the size of his area or whether or not he made a kill can take up to fourteen days or longer to return. However, they will return unless he/she was looking for a new area. If you get a chance go to the same area and look for track again you may find out when the cat is coming through the country.

Steve

I saw his tracks again today down another road about a quarter of a mile from the other place. I took several pictures but I do not know how to put them on the Forum.
The gravel road was mostly red clay mixed with sand and a little gravel. The tracks today were mostly on sand and red clay mixed and both sets of tracks were right after a rain. The first ones sunk down about a half to three quarters of an inch. It has been two weeks since the first tracks, so you were right about the length of time before he or she came back. There was a rain in between the first time and today's tracks...

cynrays

I wish you didn't live so far away I would come down and we could get together and turn a hound or two loose and tree your cat. You could take some awesome pictures. If you are trying to hunt this cat and don't have and dogs you may be able to find a kill or try calling the cat in with a varmit call.

Steve

FWIW this is a cougar track


For reference I placed a fired 2 3/4" shotshell beside it.

The game and fish commission down here denies that there are mountain lions here. I think that they are afraid that if people found out that the bleeding heart people would close all the hunting seasons because they would be an endangered species.
I am 65 years old, have hunted all my life and this is the first time that I have seen big cat tracks, so can you imagine my excitement. I will keep you posted on the tracks.
It is also against the law in Arkansas to kill one even though their existence is denied...

Cynrays your excitement is well founded, keep prowling around and you may be lucky enough to see more tracks.
Don't worry about the Game and Fish departments denial of the cats it is a "standard procedure" from my experience. Here in Colorado the Division of Wildlife denies the existence of grizzlies and wolves. Several years ago when you bought a black bear tag you got a little flyer about how not to shoot a grizzly! When I asked the DOW about this I was "blown off" each time, finally I pressed it and was told behind closed doors that if the State admitted to the existence of grizzlies in the state then a protection program would have to be implemented, studies financed and the whole big deal that the state has no money in the budget for. It is much easier for the state to look the other way until they are "forced" to do otherwise.
In the case of your cat the size of the prints will tell you more about the cats size than the stride. Remember cats will not generally leave claw prints when the are just walking because they have retrackable claws, if claw prints are present you don't have a cat you've got a Bear or a canine walking about.
Keep us updated on your cat!