Field journal

A large paw print in the mud

San Domingo

  • A large, rounded paw print pressed into soft, gray-green mud, with an outspread hand beside it for scale.

    A paw print about as wide as an adult hand, probably from a black bear (Ursus americanus).

  • Close view of the same print in algae-streaked mud: a broad, round pad impression with a fallen oak leaf and pine needles around it.

    The print on its own. The toes and claws are too soft to read, so the identification stays tentative.

Late in the afternoon of October 22, 2025, we found a large paw print pressed into soft, algae-streaked mud at San Domingo Arbory. Beside an outspread hand it was about as wide as the hand itself. The size and the broad pad point to a black bear (Ursus americanus), but the toes and claws didn’t hold their shape in the mud, so we’re calling it probable, not confirmed.

The remote cameras we have since set up above one backcountry road, part of our AI-managed remote sensing, record black bears among their night visitors; tracks like this one hint at what moves through the rest of the property.

Theme Monitoring biodiversity

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