Photo by Dennis Deck
Photo by Dennis Deck
What is the animal? What stride is it using?
[ View Answer ]
Although bears spend most of their foraging time walking, this gait is clearly not a walk.
Rather, it is a slow gallop known as a side lope. Note the front, hind, front, hind pattern.
This meets James Halfpenny's criterion that a lope must have at least one hind foot behind
the leading edge of the foremost front foot in a group of four prints.
The bear was turned slightly to the left as it ran, resulting in a diagonal pattern.
The main highway is behind the camera. The bear was probably galloping to put distance between
himself and the road.
Answer
The human footprints provide some scale. These are rather large tracks with the hind track
looking somewhat like a human foot. Bear should come to mind at once. The species of bear
is not obvious from the photo but these tracks were made by a grizzly.