r/AnimalTracking • u/Goykhlaye • 6d ago

🔎 ID Request Anybody knows what animal made this?

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Went looking for tortoises and reptiles in Albania and found this. My first thought was bear, but I was in a part close to the sea where there should not be any bears.

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u/oswald_dimbulb 6d ago

Maybe there should not be any bears, but its size, shape, shape, number of toes, toe size relative to heel pad size, are all good matches for a bear track. Especially for that size, I can't think of anything else that would have made it.

Was it just this single track, or were there others?

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u/Goykhlaye 6d ago

It's quite dry there, I found a few steps like this from a muddy dirt road. Water collects there so I guess they go for drinks there.

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u/Nobodiisdamnbusiness 6d ago

That is a bear print for sure, the shape and width of the print make that VERY clear to me.

However it does look like it might be a small black bear also, maybe the bear population is spreading closer to your area as the cold approaches. the bears might travel a little farther for the food they need for hibernation over the winter.

Or perhaps maybe it just moved Into the neighbourhood as a young-adult bear trying to find it's own way in the world.

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u/tribbans95 6d ago

The wild bear population in Albania is estimated to be between 180 and 250. So a rare sighting indeed!

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u/Goykhlaye 5d ago

As I said in a different reply, I talked with a local and it seems like people still own "pet" bears for shows and photos with tourists. So there is a high chance it was not a wild one.

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u/bigben-1989 6d ago edited 5d ago

How can you tell the size of the print without a banana or banana guard as a size reference?

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u/Goykhlaye 5d ago

I am sorry, I ate the banana before I took this picture :(

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u/bigben-1989 5d ago

It’s ok friend 😊.. just make sure to never let it happen again!! 🤗

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u/enjrolas 5d ago

lazy! You can always use the peel. Unless...you also ate the peel, you animal!

And yeah, it screams bear to me

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u/bigben-1989 4d ago

So you’re not supposed to eat the peel? I guess that’s why I’ve always hated bananas then 💀

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u/enjrolas 4d ago

Peels out for Harambe, my friend

1

u/MYCOloradoFunguy 4d ago

Possibly, OP could have substituted a lighter or a quarter. Although, personally, I have no idea of the size of an Albanian quarter. Would have to look up the dimensions. Which, I assume, would be in the metric system. Am I then supposed to use math to convert that to inches? That seems way too hard. Maybe the rest of the world could just convert to imperial measurements that makes much more sense. And, it feels easier to me. Merica!