35
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to differentiate between a dog print and wolf print?
No, there's no chance to distinguish the print of a large dog from one of a wolf. However, you can still differentiate between them, if you have a whole track. Dogs walk remarkable different than ...
- 23.4k
28
votes
What coastal creature leaves braid-like trace that has clear landing and take off points?
This is almost exactly the opposite of what you think it is - it is actually from a burrowing animal, so instead of flying, it is actually burrowing into the sub-surface liquifaction layer of the sand ...
- 8,870
22
votes
Accepted
What is this blob found at the edge of a puddle on a forest logging road?
The pool of water they are in is called a vernal pool. Amphibians and other woodland creatures take advantage of these temporary pools while they last.
Not having anything for scale in the picture, ...
- 1,817
22
votes
Accepted
Identify this insect found indoors in Ireland with a double tail and antennae
This is, I believe, a silverfish.
This is the picture from the Wikipedia article;
A silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) is a small, primitive, wingless
insect in the order Zygentoma (formerly Thysanura). ...
- 2,347
16
votes
What are these round, spiny, puffy, green things from the ocean in Northeast United States?
They are Sea Urchins and they taste like mussels. People mostly eat them raw.
They're actually pretty tasty.
Oh yeah, you'll peel off the shell and go for the slimy flesh, a delicacy with fresh ...
- 3,321
16
votes
Accepted
Wildcats in Scotland
It is realistic to see them, but not at all easy.
The range of the Scottish Wildcat has reduced over the years such that they are only found in a few areas. They live almost exclusively in the ...
- 573
14
votes
Accepted
Can you identify this lizard-like creature I observed in the UK?
That's not a lizard that's a smooth newt.
Source
None of the lizards in the UK look anything like that, and the tail and lines are what I am basing my identification off of.
Also see Attracting ...
- 69.1k
13
votes
What animal could strip all the bark off the lower 7 feet of this tree?
I originally thought a porcupine did this (see my other answer), but after seeing your new photos and a closer look at the original ones I now have a different theory.
Your tree was first infested by ...
- 21.3k
13
votes
What breed is this very large, black, turtle/tortoise found in the Northeast United States?
Based on this list of turtles in Massachusetts, and this one as well as the pointed nose and the jagged back shell, I am going to say that this is a common snapping turtle.
For more information I ...
- 69.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Which types of animals would peel bark off this tree?
That was definitely a beaver. Nothing else has quite the chewing power of a beaver, for example accoring to Wikipedia, these trees were cut by beavers in a single night.
Based on the color of those ...
- 69.1k
13
votes
Accepted
A skeleton with elfish ears - which animal was that?
That looks like the spine and pelvis of a raccoon: .
Although the raccoon is not native to Germany, they were introduced there in the 1930s and can be found in the wild. The map below shows raccoons ...
13
votes
Accepted
Bird identification from feathers - brown-black feathers, medium size, West Sweden
Looks like a female capercaillie to me. What killed it could be anything. Because the feathers seem pretty much intact I'd suspect a bird of prey like a goshawk. Here is a picture of a female ...
- 146
12
votes
Accepted
Did I see a wolf's pawprint?
That snow clearly isn't fresh and has been slowly melting and refreezing for a few days. The thing is, prints get larger as the snow melts. I own retrievers that weight about 34 kg (75 lb) and I've ...
- 449
12
votes
Is it possible to differentiate between a dog howl and a wolf howl?
The answer is yes, but it may require equipment, which is not just the human ear. The publication quoted below is from Montana State University Disentangling canid howls across multiple
species and ...
- 23k
12
votes
Accepted
Help identifying this animal
The Bengal slow loris is found in the extreme north east of India, including Arunachal Pradesh. Most of the slow lorises are found further east.
I've seen other slow loris species in zoos, and the ...
- 24.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to identify the sex of a caribou without a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope?
According to an article on caribou sex identification by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Only the white rump without a [black] vulva patch or the presence of a penis
sheath should be used ...
- 23k
11
votes
Accepted
Can you identify flying bats?
I absolutely love bats and always have.
In the UK we have eighteen species of bat. The Bat Conservation have a nice list for all the common UK species, including those which breed in the UK (which is ...
- 15.4k
11
votes
Accepted
How to tell the difference between bobcats and house cats?
The domestic cat and the bobcat look completely different, so it would be fairly easy to distinguish them. The bobbed tail cannot be relied on by itself, as there is a domestic breed of cat called the ...
- 1,886
11
votes
What coastal creature leaves braid-like trace that has clear landing and take off points?
I too think it's from a burrowing animal. Instead of crab I would say it is some kind of lugworm/sandworm.
I found this similar image:
https://www.plainpicture.com/de/images/1443397
The keywords for ...
- 211
10
votes
Accepted
What breed is this very large, black, turtle/tortoise found in the Northeast United States?
This is a common snapping turtle. It's not a tortoise. The biggest difference is that turtles are aquatic, spending most of their time in the water, while tortoises live on land.
As for your other ...
10
votes
Accepted
What kind of animal may have done this?
Almost certainly, this is the work of a woodpecker foraging for grubs in a dead and rotting tree: they tend to move methodically up the trunk excavating at intervals, producing the Swiss cheese effect ...
- 3,742
10
votes
Accepted
Can anyone identify this small black swimming creature?
That's a mottled sea hare.
Image source
Aplysia fasciata, common name the "mottled sea hare", or the "sooty sea hare", is an Atlantic species of sea hare or sea slug, a marine opisthobranch ...
- 69.1k
9
votes
What animal could strip all the bark off the lower 7 feet of this tree?
In most ways, it looks like porcupine to me. The scratch marks going perpendicular to the tree trunk make it less likely to be bear, deer, or elk. Bear will strip a tree like this if it is rotten ...
- 1,736
9
votes
Accepted
What kind of toad is this 2.5 inch (6.5cm) one yellow with brown spots and a white back stripe?
Note: This answer has been revised based on a higher quality photo
I am not a toad expert, but I think it is likely a Woodhouse's Toad based on this handy guide. One of the key features is the pale ...
- 2,400
8
votes
Can you identify flying bats?
The best way to identify bats in flight is to use a bat detector. This is a device with a microphone that listens to the bats high frequency calls, and plays them back at a lower frequency.
Bats use ...
- 854
8
votes
Accepted
What does a dark colored fur mean regarding a jaguar
It's possible that what you saw was normal for a jaguar. The Panthera species (leopards [Panthera pardus] in Asia and Africa, and jaguars [Panthera onca] in the Americas) can have melanistic colours ...
- 15.4k
7
votes
What animal could strip all the bark off the lower 7 feet of this tree?
I am almost certain this is caused by Sciuris niger or the Fox squirrel. In south Georgia they are mostly light gray with black and white, however where I am at slightly above the fall line in ...
- 81
7
votes
Can you help identify this fish i caught?
Looks kind of like a walleye to me.
I didn't think there was anything else worth catching in Ontario, in NW Ontario at least this is what everyone goes fishing for, they're one of the tastier fishes. ...
- 53.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Found a black snake in my backyard. Is it dangerous?
While I cannot identify the snake myself, I would still like to partially answer your main question of "Is it dangerous?"
TL;DR
Non-experts can easily misidentify snakes, and even experts can ...
- 3,506
7
votes
Accepted
What kind of sea creature leaves this skin/shell?
It looks a lot like dried Turkish Towel seaweed, or Chondracanthus exasperatus.
Turkish Towels are often solid red when alive, but
then changes to shades of brown, pink, cream, and translucent as it ...
- 251
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible