My DH just noticed that our garden, especially watermelon, cucumber, green bean and other leafy plants are all gone except for the stem. All leaves are gone! We found some paw prints on the garden bed and we couldn't figure out what kind of critter that ate our garden. I know what deer's paw print looks like, but it wasn't deer. The paw print is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long and it has 3 claws. Know what it might be? Will net fencing help prevent it from eating our garden again? Funny thing is that it didn't eat our tomato and corn plants at all.
It could be a fox. I've had them in my backyard recently, right off Amelia Church in Clayton. The like fruit.
Sounds like a raccoon, did the prints have what looks like fingers? Or possibly a ground hog? A fox print would look like a dog's. If it's a raccoon, he's waiting for your corn to finish growing...................speaking from experience there!! :lol:
It's hard to tell. I wished I could take some pictures for you to see, but I don't have a camera at this moment. I'm thinking about going to craft store and get plaster of paris and cast it on the paw print. It'll be a great way for my son to learn about animal tracking and identification. Something fun and educational for him to do for this summer while school's out. He love science, so I figure it's a great way to do it.
The paw looks like a cat, but it only has three large claws, like a bear, but only mini version. I searched the net and still can't find it to match the id. I think I will cast the print by using the plaster and maybe it will be easier for me to identify it.
Gasp, how is it possible that he believes science? :mrgreen: sounds like a great plan. My son loves going out to the garden and seeing the animal tracks.
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mammals/autogrph/index.htm Nothing here that matches your description, but just in case.
Wayne, thank you so much for the reference. I just printed it out and I will take it with me to the site so I can see which one matched. For now, it looks like it's either woodchuck or muskrat. I will double-check and see if I can find a clearer paw print, since it's impossible to see 3 claws. It should be 4 or more though. I would think muskrat is a good possibility because I've seen them coming out of the creek nearby with it babies. They're cute, but I didn't know they eat garden, like deer and rabbit. I thought muskrat eat fishes and insect. Looks like I have homeworks to do. LOL.
The tracks are rareley as clear as the representations. Both are known to damage crops: http://www.ncwildlife.org/pg07_WildlifeSpeciesCon/Profiles/woodchuck.pdf http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/pdf/wildlife/MUSKRATS.PDF http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/mammals/woodchuck/
It sounds like the prints may be smaller than a fox, but here's what they look like. It may help in the identification process. http://www.bear-tracker.com/redfox.html
