Pics of our frozen lake, an hour ago.

We had a early deep freeze on the lake again this winter, well fall technically.... I've been running the dogs on the lake for a week now with the ATV and there's already 9" of ice in the deep waters and more towards shore. Last year a ice auger couldn't drill all the way through so we had to chop through the last 4-6" with a heavy steel landscaping bar. It might be that way again this winter! Itll go down to -10 F tonight but I'd rather have it cold than snowing until the roofs cave in and the power lines come down!

The second picture is of a animal trail that I've never seen before, any ideas? The paw prints were fairly big and it had claws.

I suppose the kill could have been swinging back and forth...and there is a lot of wolves And Coyotes up here. The neighbor on the lake where I took that picture shot 3 Coyotes in one day last week on the ice. He killed the first one and then two came along to smell the other and it was the last smell they had! Lol $20 a hide up here for Coyote.

stoveguy2esw said:

i'd suspect a large cat as the tracks are "walking in their own footsteps" also though i cant tell in the pic , i dont really see any claw marks like you get with canines, cats have retractible claws so they would not show in tracks in the snow.

i agree also on the "kill dragging"

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I'll look again, I said it had claws but I'm not really sure about that.

Jags said:

What lake be that? I am quite familiar with your general area.

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The lake is 676 acre Lake Winter in Winter WI and I live at the blue dot.

firefighterjake said:

Oh, oh . . . I know the answer to this one . . .




Yeti.

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i tend to exaggerate when it come to wild animals around my neighborhood.... I might say that it had HUGE claws when it had none or I could hear it growl loudly while chasing us from across the lake, when it really was whimpering in its escape. It's an extension of my BIG fish tales from over the years... Lol

Jags said:

Ah yes. I am not familiar with that one specifically but have fished Chetek most of my life.

ETA: The tracks are from a bobcat carrying a rabbit while dragging its hind legs in the snow. The rabbit weighed 3.2 pounds and the bobcat is a 3 year old female. Thats my guess.

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My neighbor looked at the paw prints and he thinks it's a Bobcat also. There is one that's been spotted on our road more lately. And the rabbit legs making the two trails makes sence too. That's what it was and we are sticking to it! Lol