Rock Scratching's on Portage trail.

[Jim Dodd]

Found a few of these scratching's on a Portage trail, in the BWCA.
Can anyone positively ID, animal that made these ?
I placed the bill, for size reference.

Thanks !

Jim

 

[stripperguy]

I see marks like that on trails in the ADK’s all the time…
If it’s a hiking (or carry) trail it’s often from winter time crampon use.
Some ADK carries coincide with snowmobile trails, in that case the marks are from ice cleats and snow machine tracks.
Other than that, I’m saying BIGFOOT!!

 

[PaddlingPitt]

I showed this to two friends at coffee this morning. One was a conservation officer. The other is a lifelong hunter and all around outdoorsy kind of guy. If an animal made these scratches, they are guessing a cougar. Their reasoning: “All members of the cat family like to scratch, and these are big scratches.”

 

[Boreal Birch]

Looks too fresh to be glacial striation.
Saw a lot of it when I traveled the Quetico Superior country, The whole country was shaped by glaciation, back when Glenn and I were mongrel pups, neither were pick of that litter.
I would hazard a guess as to some recent hominid activity while bored.

 

[yknpdlr]

I'll go with the crampon hypothesis as by far the most likely. I have seen these in several places in the Adirondacks as well.

 

[Patrick Corry]

Just my opinion... I don't see these marks as crampon scratches. Having done lots of winter trips with crampons in the ADKs and White & Green Mountains you usually see an abundance of shorter scratches, usually on the crest of rocks rather than down the face - unless some poor guy took a spill and both feet went out from under while descending to make marks like this. I'll vote for a critter making the marks.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I showed this to two friends at coffee this morning. One was a conservation officer. The other is a lifelong hunter and all around outdoorsy kind of guy. If an animal made these scratches, they are guessing a cougar. Their reasoning: “All members of the cat family like to scratch, and these are big scratches.”

I was guessing maybe a Lynx, sharpening his claws ? I also thought a bear cub trying to turn over a rock ? I found just a few other marks on rocks similar. Though the portage trail was rocky, These were spaced erratically.

Thanks !

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Jim,

Note that my friends said IF an animal made these scratches, then, after a minute of reflection, they speculated cougar. They did not see the marks and immediately blurt out, in unison, Cougar!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I have no idea what they are, but I'm a little disoriented by the photo. Is this rock flat on the ground or is it slanted up on the side of the trail?

If the rock is flat on the ground, I could interpret the scratches as being from two sets of paws or feet. But are the sets too close together to be human feet? If they do represent two human feet with crampons, the feet would have been very close together and sort of shuffling.

 

[snapper]

In all seriousness...could this be a form of human graffiti? I've spent enough time around people who scrape stones on other rocks, leaving scratches and other marks. Just a thought...

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Jim Dodd]

I have no idea what they are, but I'm a little disoriented by the photo. Is this rock flat on the ground or is it slanted up on the side of the trail?

If the rock is flat on the ground, I could interpret the scratches as being from two sets of paws or feet. But are the sets too close together to be human feet? If they do represent two human feet with crampons, the feet would have been very close together and sort of shuffling.

The rock was rounded, and the marks appear to follow the shape of the rock.
To me ? Animal.

Lynx are somewhat common. Mt. Lion ?

Thanks !

 

[Gerald]

Looks almost exactly like mountain bike front chainring gear tooth marks to me. Depends if rock was flat with ground or not.

Gerald