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How Do I Identify Grey Wolf Tracks From Dog Tracks?

Spotting what you believe to be the track of a grey wolf is exciting until you realize the track belongs to Fido, your neighbor's dog. Tracks left by the grey wolf are difficult to distinguish from the tracks of larger breed dogs because they can be similar in size and both leave claw marks (unlike cats). To further complicate matters, tracks can look different in mud than they do in snow. Cues for identifying grey wolf from dog tracks are habitat and quantity.

Things You'll Need

Measuring tape or ruler

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the size of the track. The track of a grey wolf is approximately 4.4 inches long by 4 inches wide. Track size can however, vary by age and by gender. Smaller tracks could belong to a dog or to a coyote.
- 2
  Count the number of tracks. Wolves travel in packs so tracks of a single animal could belong to a dog or to a coyote.
- 3
  Consider the location of the tracks. Wolves tend to stay away from people. If you found the tracks in a remote area, they could belong to a wolf.
- 4
  Put all of your data together. Multiple large tracks in a remote area more likely belong to a wolf than to a dog. Multiple large tracks on a dog beach more likely belong to a dog.

Animals & Science