BobSmith - Apr 13, 2006 2:10 am - Voted 10/10
No claw marks.Those are likely black bear tracks. Black bears have shorter, more curved claws that rarely show up in track marks. Unless in very deep, soft mud. As these tracks are in soft matrix, I would almost certainly expect a griz track to show definite claw marks in front of the toe prints. Lacking these, I'd suggest it was a black bear that made the tracks. (But I could be wrong.)
Not that I would have felt any more secure or endangered. Bear encounters can be unnerving.
Ratton - Jun 3, 2006 7:24 am - Hasn't voted
The pad suggests a Griz...After looking at http://www.bearsmart.com/bearFacts/ and the picture closely (there are 4 tracks in that picture, front and back feet on top of each other), the positioning of the toes and lack of claws seemed inconclusive, but the shape of the pads suggest a Griz to me.
I have spent quite a bit of time in that part of Griz country (NW Yellowstone and the Taylor-Hilgard Wilderness) and I am firmly convinced that the bears are more scared of me than I am of them (and they are plenty scary). Make a lot of noise (I sing) and the bears will bee-line away from you. I carry bear spray, too, but it is a last resort - if you need to use it, you have already screwed up!
gimpilator - Sep 18, 2006 1:19 am - Voted 10/10
Re: clawsYeah, I would expect long claw marks from a grizzley. I saw some prints just like that a couple weeks ago in a muddy back just north of Yellowstone Park but the tracks in your picture look slightly bigger. Nice picture!
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