Granite-headed Lynx

[sardog1]

Lock up your wabbits. NH Fish and Game and NH Audubon have reported the sighting of lynx tracks last month near Jefferson: Lynx tracks news release. It is speculated the cat might be a Mainer or a Quebecois just passing through. (Or maybe s/he's looking to reduce a tax burden?)

In any event, I'm pretty sure that F&G would appreciate seeing track photos, and/or scat, if you spot any more sign.

 

[Mattl]

The Lynx is a very miss-understood and mysterious animal. It moves through areas very quickly and is very difficult to track and get population numbers for. New Hampshire has large areas of suitable habitat for them, as well as plently of snowshoe hair which makes up almost all of their diet. The problem is just getting them here with numbers enough to repopulate. I believe they have already done this in small areas. It will take a long time for them to establish themselves though. Grouseking and I believe to have seen tracks and even sightings of Lynx in the Pemigewasset area. If you take a walk in the Ethan Range you have a chance of seeing possible tracks, which I have done several times. Has anyone seen one or tracks? They have wider tracks them bobcat and lack claw marks. The toes are seperated more as well. -Mattl

 

[Chip]

Lynx tracks are HUGE relative to bobcat. Bobcat are only slightly larger than housecat tracks, as opposed to lynx, which are more the size of a human hand or bear paw. Fox have bigger feet than than bobcat.

 

[sardog1]

Never have seen lynx tracks, but I hope to rectify that sometime in the next few years here in NH. Saw one up close and personal from a canoe in Ontario more than thirty years ago -- it was swimming! That's my third most favorite wildlife experience of all time, after (1) seeing a brown/grizzly bear for the first of what turned out to be several times, and (2) seeing wolverine tracks in a valley above my house (both of those in AK.)

 

[forestgnome]

Lynx tracks are HUGE relative to bobcat. Bobcat are only slightly larger than housecat tracks, as opposed to lynx, which are more the size of a human hand or bear paw. Fox have bigger feet than than bobcat.

Very interesting. I've always thought that bobcat and lynx tracks were too similar for a novice tracker like myself to distinguish. Now I can't find my tracker card or anything else to check what bobcat tracks look like(any good websites out there?) If this is true, then I definately saw lynx tracks on Middle Sister of Chocorua back in October. There were hare tracks all over the place, and one set of large cat tracks which went over a ledge and into thick trees so I didn't follow them any further, just assumed it was a bobcat chasing lunch. The prints were about the size of a very large dog print. They looked vey much like the prints in the NH F&G article.

 

[Chip]

cat and canine tracks look different, obviously, but for relative size comparisons average track lengths (snow opens and makes tracks larger, but...) are;
- weasel 1/2 to 1"
- mink 1 "
- house cat 1 1/8"
- otter 1 1/2"
- bobcat 1 7/8"
- fox 2"
- fisher 2 1/4"
- coyote 2 1/2"
- dog 3 - 4"
- lynx 3 1/2 - 4 1/4"
- black bear 4 - 7"

 

[Chip]

The prints were about the size of a very large dog print. They looked vey much like the prints in the NH F&G article.

That'd be lynx, (unless toe nail prints were visible - then it would be coyote, a bit more likely) assuming there wasn't alot of wind and or melting that "opened up" the prints.
Lynx have big padded feet, so the tracks aren't always as apparent/deep as most other tracks.

 

[forestgnome]

Thanks, Chip. I'm now very confident that it was a lynx up in the col between First and Middle Sisters. Very noticeable about the prints was the teardrop shape and the size and the lack of nail holes. I remember thinking "that could be a lynx and I wouldn't even know it, have to assume it's a bobcat".

Now I'm stoked to go out tracking; it's another mild Saturday and there's fresh snow/slush. Found my track card and it's in the pack.

Happy Trails!

 

[Mattl]

I bet it was a Lynx, thats a perfect area for them. I think some areas of the White Mountains are in need of a further backcountry study to see what is actually going on out there. Areas to check out, Kinsman near Gordon and Bog ponds, Twinway area, Ethan Range, Southern Presidentials, Chocorua/ Moats, and Carter area. They like spruce/fir remote areas will lots of hare. While working with Fish and Game, I have talked to Kim Tuttle, and wildlife biologist and she infromed me that many areas out there have very little data to support the species present. Lynx, as well as the rare Bog Lemmings maybe there, they just dont know for certain without raw data. Areas like Stillwater to Ethan are very remote and unknown for species. I have seen many tracks here of Lynx and others, I just havent been able to prove anything. I love exploring out here to possibly see some of these rare animals. While hiking near Stillwater I saw turkey tracks a couple years ago, thats definetly a new comer to that area, not rare but recent. -Mattl

 

[Gris]

Six years ago after a huge winter storm and big dump, my wife and I came face to face with a PUMA at Glen Boulder trailhead. We took pics of him/her and his/her tracks with disposable camera but they didn't come out good enough to show up very well on web. We were there. We saw it up close and personal. And we are not crazy. So, no one can ever convince us that there isn't a wildlife corridor there or that pumas don't wander through from time to time.

 

[Chip]

this is a plaster cast of a cougar print. these would look very similar to lynx, pretty much the same size too. These would look exactly like bobcat or house cat prints, except for the different sizes involved.
I think a lynx print would have a tighter spread and a smaller pad or larger toes.
Scavenger and predator populations are on the rise, they're definately out there.

 

[forestgnome]

Six years ago after a huge winter storm and big dump, my wife and I came face to face with a PUMA at Glen Boulder trailhead. We took pics of him/her and his/her tracks with disposable camera but they didn't come out good enough to show up very well on web. We were there. We saw it up close and personal. And we are not crazy. So, no one can ever convince us that there isn't a wildlife corridor there or that pumas don't wander through from time to time.

I'm jealous. It's not at all crazy. You have some down there in Florida, and I believe there are some in the White Mountains, and I don't care if some people think it's crazy.

Mattl, glad you're back. Interesting that you mention Gordon and Bog Ponds. I've noticed Bog Ponds on the map many times and I plan to tool around in there some rainy day this spring or summer. Yes, there is excellent habitat for lynx in the White Mountains. Maybe they are again establishing themselves right now; they're so elusive. It's wonderful to think about the mountain lions and lynx that may be above you, watching, while bushwacking in such places.

Happy Trails!

 

[Mattl]

I am too! I would love to see those pics even if they are blurry. -Mattl
[email protected]

 

[Waumbek]

Very interesting. I've always thought that bobcat and lynx tracks were too similar for a novice tracker like myself to distinguish. Now I can't find my tracker card or anything else to check what bobcat tracks look like(any good websites out there?)

Here's a downloadable pocket track guide. The key difference between bobcat and lynx tracks is not only size but the center pad. Bobcat has a double lobe on the top of the center pad and triple lobe on the bottom, lynx does not. The bobcat center pad looks like the cougar cast Chip has posted above, but smaller. I've seen bobcat tracks, and you can identify the center-pad lobes. To find either cat tracks, just look for snowshoe hare or rabbit tracks--and then look for cat tracks superimposed on top of them or near them as the cat chases the rabbit.

 

[w7xman]

I always have these swinging from my pack in winter...
http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_...older_id=2534374302846765&bmUID=1139130447353

Very convenient and easy to use.

And...I've seen a PUMA in PA, my father one in VA, If they are there, I'm sure they're in the whites as well! If I were a mountain lion, I'd live in Dixville Notch! (I'm not though )

~w7x

 

[Gris]

If I were a mountain lion, I'd live in Dixville Notch!

If I were a puma I'd live in BSP, among the false summits on the approach to POTRs...

 

[AdkWiley]

Another thing to look at when trying to idetify the tracks fo a bob cat and lynx, other than the size, is that the tracks left from the lynxx are usually blurry looking comparred to teh bob cat. The Lynxx have hiar on teh bottom of their paws so the pads are not as prominant. This goes with many other animals, for examply telling the differnce betweena gray fox and a redfox print. ( red fox have the blurry tracks there).

 

[grouseking]

Grouseking and I believe to have seen tracks and even sightings of Lynx in the Pemigewasset area. If you take a walk in the Ethan Range you have a chance of seeing possible tracks, which I have done several times. Has anyone seen one or tracks? They have wider tracks them bobcat and lack claw marks. The toes are seperated more as well. -Mattl

In November of 2004, after a hike to the Sugarloaves off Zealand Road, we were on the way back from Twin Mtn toward I-93 on Rt 3....when suddenly, this grey cat with big ears and tuffs on the end went running across the road. I told my friend to stop the car and check it out, and to this day I'm not sure what was up because he didn't stop! From my distance (70 yards) it looked like a Lynx. It was much larger than any bobcat I have ever seen and if I'm correct it crossed the road near an area that has supposedly had Lynx before. Now the next question is, is there a population living there? I'm not a scientist, but I would say that if you have these animals at least wandering through the region, you might as well do some tests. I mean there is enough remote, perfect habitats for a Lynx, and I would think it would mean good things for the whole life cycle and food chain of the White Mountains.

Back in Oct of 2003 me and Mattl took at trip to Ethan and Shoal Pond. Thanks to the early 6 inch snow blanket, we saw thousands of different tracks, from deer, moose, mouse, turkey snoeshoe hare, fox, bobcat and what we thought were lynx tracks. They were much wider than the bobcat tracks. In some instances you could see where the cats were chasing the snoeshoe hares. There is so much life up there. Following all those different tracks was an experience I soon won't forget.

As for mountain lions, I bet you one or two could live in the Pemi

grouseking

 

[Mattl]

Grouse, we will go on a lynx tracking trip this weekend in the Ethan Range -Mattl