What made these?

[Nechako]

I found these scratch marks on a tree in our backyard, just looking for some ideas as to what made them. They are about 4ft off the ground and fairly fresh.
My brother thinks he saw a cougar about a month ago, could it have made these? If it is a cougar does this mean it's marking it's territory and hanging around?




Nechako

 

[Pickles]

I'm gonna be the first in and say a Samsquantch

Maybe a deer rub?

Pickles

 

[Why not?]

What kind of track are under the tree?

Ted

 

[M12shooter]

Looks lika a black bear. Tracks under tree? How high off ground?

 

[LeePeterson]

Probably cougar sharpening his claws

 

[JifeLacket]

Ide go for an animal with sharp nails, like Bear or some big Cat. (cougar etc.)

 

[fogducker]

if this was in ontario..id guess a deer rub...but since its about 4 feet from the ground.....i,llpass on my guess..

 

[LeePeterson]

There super fine claw marks if you enlarge the pic.

 

[Nechako]

No tracks, I'm pretty sure it was made before the snow.
I don't think it's antler marks, deer rubs look more dug out than these.
There are light scratches starting at about 4 1/2ft high and getting deeper as they go down the tree to the patch in the photo (4ft off the ground).


Nechako

 

[Skip]

What's the spread between the scratches? How thick the tree? Any fur? What time's dinner?

 

[dumbdawg]

if its deer it would have to be the mother of all bucks i would think more bear than anything else

 

[savage17hmr]

Damn snipes, you've got them too? Time to get some people out to do some snipe hunting!

 

[Nechako]

I can't tell the width between the scratches, no fur/hair either. The tree is about 7in wide.

If it is a cougar, does anybody know anything about their behavior habits? We have farm animals, will it stick around because of this?


Nechako

 

[xeon]

maby a house cat, but the bark looks peeled.

 

[captonion]

Deer rub.No question.

 

[powdergun]

Porcupine maybe. They'll scape bark off with their teeth and they often feed a couple of feet of the ground. I've seen porcy in action leaving scrapes that look very similar. Track looks like a small bear track.

 

[Yuri Orlov]

You don't live on Elm Street do you?!?

 

[BBB]

Bears will do that as a way of marking territory - cats will do it as well, though it's somewhat less common.

It's a little tough to judge size from the pic, but I would measure the distance between the outside of the 4 big paralel scratches, then compare that to a track guide book.

It's probably not deer though - 4 feet is too high. How high is the highest mark?

 

[huntinstuff]

Looks alot like a deer rub

 

[gitrdun]

Buck knife?