Suspicious tracks not made by a bear

Suspicious animal tracks seen early Tuesday near Walker have been identified as those of a large dog.

“They are definitely not bear tracks. Bears have five toes that are visible above a palm track. I'd say they were made by a large canid,” said Sue Mansfield, a field biologist with the Wildlife Research Institute.

Mansfield, a bear expert and master tracker associated with the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn., reviewed photos of the suspicious tracks taken by Carol Mallory of rural Walker.

Mallory was taking her morning walk along a Level B dirt road near her home about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday when she noticed a trail of large animal tracks in the road.

“They looked like oversized paw prints that could be bear tracks,” she said.

Mallory said she had been following the progress of a black bear that had last been sighted Thursday morning in Jesup. “He was supposedly heading southeast along the Wapsipinicon River, a course that could take him through here,” said Mallory, who lives about two miles from the Wapsipinicon.

The trail followed the road for about half a mile before disappearing into one of the ditches, she said.

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