Mystery tracks in Presidio raise hackles of dog owner

Hikers came across a set of animal tracks in the Presidio last week that set off fears that another nomadic mountain lion was roaming San Francisco’s parklands.

“I walk my dog at the Presidio every morning,” said Chi Kin “Eddie” Ngai. “I’ve been seeing footprints of what I believe is a mountain lion,” Eddie said.

In August, mountainlion sightings were reported at the west end of Golden Gate Park and at Lake Merced. The most likely explanation was that a lion emerged from the Crystal Springs Watershed on the Peninsula to stake out new territory. As lions raise their families, the big males often drive off yearlings and force them to establish their own hunting territories.

Coyotes — and what they eat — are another concern. Most agencies estimate there are 40 to 70 coyotes in San Francisco, with litters being born and raised in parklands.

Formal studies that verify the diets of cityliving predators are few. In Culver City (Los Angeles County), 40 pet deaths from coyotes were verified in six months, and a National Park Service study that researched 3,000 specimens of coyote scat found that 20% of their diet was made up of cats.

The vision that a predator could be hunting your dog or cat would shake most any pet owner, just as with Eddie.

Lion prints tend to be large, often about 3 to 3½ inches across, with four clear toe pads and no toenail marks. Coyote tracks are smaller, about 2 inches wide, with very subtle claw marks on the tips of the pads.

A close look at Eddie’s photo showed four clear toe pads with pronounced toenails, and a large pronounced heel pad, roughly 3½ inches. The toenails indicate it was not a print from a lion, and the size was too big for a coyote. The print was also longer than it was wide.

The overall size, length, presence of toenails and large heel pad means this print is from a very large dog, perhaps a Great Dane, male Bernese mountain dog or similar.

Many can empathize with Eddie’s fear for his pet. That fear is a reality in San Francisco and many towns and cities. In this case, a paw print revealed another explanation.