Cougars often travel vast distances, especially males. In 2011 one was killed by a car in Connecticut. It is believed it came from South Dakota. One killed in Chicago was also linked by DNA to South Dakota.

When I was a kid my mother swore she saw one crossing a narrow back road in western Virginia. She was familiar enough with bobcats to know that it wasn't one of those. It wouldn't surprise me if it was one of those Western kitties out for a stroll.

I think I'd turn the camera 90 degrees to get a wider field of view.

Is that Santa's sleigh crossing the moon?

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Originally posted by triggertreat:
Is that Santa's sleigh crossing the moon?

Yeah LOL it's not in my Pic I got from my buddies camera

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Originally posted by thunderson:
Cougars often travel vast distances, especially males. In 2011 one was killed by a car in Connecticut. It is believed it came from South Dakota. One killed in Chicago was also linked by DNA to South Dakota.

When I was a kid my mother swore she saw one crossing a narrow back road in western Virginia. She was familiar enough with bobcats to know that it wasn't one of those. It wouldn't surprise me if it was one of those Western kitties out for a stroll.

We had one on the outskirts of FT Wayne, IN a few years back. There were initally reports of sightings and a few grainy trail cam photos, which the DNR insisted could not be a cougar. Eventually more and better photos were produced, and IIRC somebody finally shot the thing, which made it undeniable. The explanation we were given was similar to the above...that cougars, especially young males, can range for up to 2000 miles alone. While I admit that they're cool, I'd rather not have them prowling my neighborhood. I have heard that they're tasty if prepared in a slow-cooker.

We have a few cougars here in the low country of SC, but the DNR takes the position that too few to count means we don't actually have cougars in the area.

Really only one way to find out.

Strap some steaks to your ass and go for a jog.

If you see it, try to pet it.

I successful, not a deadly animal. Unsuccessful? likely deadly animal.

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Originally posted by HayesGreener:
You cannot generally distinguish the Florida Panther from a Cougar from a photograph.

It depends on what kind of tattoos the Florida Panther has. And from that photo, you can't see whether he's wearing jorts.



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Bobcat. Note the markings on the inside of the right front leg.

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Originally posted by OldChimney:
Bobcat. Note the markings on the inside of the right front leg.

On a serious note I was thinking the same thing, also while blurred it still looks like that coat patterns on the head and ears are more bobcat.

However, very hard to tell as Florida panthers can have some coloration on the insides of the legs as well.

Bringing politics into this for no good reason, several things are at work. First,lazy government employees. You have any idea how much work they'd need to do to try to disprove it? How many boxes of doughnuts they'd miss traipsing all over the countryside? Ain't no lions out and about is a bunch easier to recite. Worse, every hillbilly for hundreds of miles would be out in the woods. Big cats are dangerous, but a little pussy never hurt anybody.

All the stupid text books and regulations would need re-writing to include a phantom they probably could never even see themselves. Best time to go looking is right after a nice snow. Cats might be smart, but not smart enough to cover their tracks. Just like government employees are lazy. They'd need to do all kinds of 'splainin' as to why they didn't already know. Hard to see them drinking coffee and eatin' doughnuts. Easier to lie and deny.

Long ago, lets just say 1981, a friends brother and I went scoutin'. Not the kid with silly uniforms, the kind with hiking and tromping all over hell and back. We were on a fairly well traveled path with dust. I was a lookin' at the dust on the path and saw somethin' the kind of worried me. I changed my pace and really started looking at the ground. Then really studying the tracks. One was easy to identify, probably Honda or Suzuki. The other was clearly bit critter. So I stood up, just like the hair on the back of my neck, did an about face and headed back toward my pickup truck. The friends brother was kind of an outdoorsy guy and started asking all sorts of questions instead of concentrating on making tracks himself. So being kind of rude, I told him we'd talk about it when we got back to my truck.

I asked him what kind of critter didn't have toe nails. It was a logical and good question. His answer was "a big dog". Foolish boy. So when we got back to my house, I dug out the phone book and called the agricultural extension agent. He was real interested and kind of questioned me in detail. Most interested in where and when. Then he asked if I was doing anything in the next couple of hours. He wanted to see for himself. I'd vote for him.

So back we went and met the guy. I was kind of foolish and didn't take a camera. He did. But he was kind of foolish and didn't take a gun, a big one. That amused him. I wasn't a goin' back without artillery. So we arrived at the parking place and resumed our earlier hike. His protection was chit chat as we walked along. He said the critter had to be real hungry to attack a party of 3 humanoids. But the tracks were real easy to find again. On a hogback dropping down from the pasture above.

He got real interested when he saw them. Yep, cat tracks and big ones. Not prints, but tracks. The difference being prints in a row, as in the critter going someplace, undisturbed.

We followed them for a few hundred feet, but lost them down at the creek at the bottom of the hill. He explained it probably didn't want to get its feet wet. Bobby, the guy along with me, wanted to know just what the hell it was. The extension agent then explained he didn't know what made them, but there were lots of possibilities. Foolish me was only concentrating on one. At first the considered maybe a declawed large dog, but the pads were different. And the thing I'd missed was the tail drag marks also in the dust.

Then he gave a few other suggestions. Could be a large pet out for an exercise walk. He said he didn't know and unless we saw it (he didn't want to) there was no way to tell for sure. In his possibilities he included something like a lion, but he didn't know of any around here.

It was a "seminal" event. That was when I stopped walking in the woods without a gun. Not that it would have done any good because most large cats attack from behind, you don't see them, you feel them as you die. In a fair size metropolitan area, people go missing all the time. The smarter cats bury their carcass after feeding, so unless someone finds bones, the victim just vanishes.

I agree. You can see the black markings on the inside of the right-front leg and the tuff of hair at the jaw.

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Originally posted by TXJIM:
Thats a Bobcat.

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Originally posted by OldChimney:
Bobcat. Note the markings on the inside of the right front leg.

Disagree.

Ears are wrong and solid color on the body. Not uncommon for a Mountain Lion/Cougar to have leg discoloration but it is definitely not common for a bobcat to have a solid colored front half of the body.

That’s a larger cat, Cougar, Mountain Lion, Florida Panther. Whatever you want to call it.

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Originally posted by Twist:
Whatever you want to call it.

How about "nice kitty?"

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Originally posted by OldChimney:
Bobcat. Note the markings on the inside of the right front leg.

I initially saw that and thought it to be ordinary ground vegetation visible only because the leg is there to provide a backdrop.

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Originally posted by Twist:

quote:

Originally posted by OldChimney:
Bobcat. Note the markings on the inside of the right front leg.

Disagree.

Ears are wrong and solid color on the body. Not uncommon for a Mountain Lion/Cougar to have leg discoloration but it is definitely not common for a bobcat to have a solid colored front half of the body.

That’s a larger cat, Cougar, Mountain Lion, Florida Panther. Whatever you want to call it.

Bobcats will often have very muted body markings and the trail cam flash is washing those out. While Cougar do sometimes have a horizontal light marking high on the inner leg, you can see multiple splotches of dark marking on this cat running down the leg. Also, the head size and shape, and muzzle markings are appropriate for a bobcat, not a cougar. Cougars usually have dark marking on their whisker pads, this cat has no dark marking around the muzzle.

Finally, there is pure probability. While there are Cougars in every state they are rarely seen, even out west where the populations are higher. Bobcat are plentiful and often seen on trail cameras. I have been running trail cameras for 20 years both in the cascade mountains where there is a very healthy population and in Texas. I have collected 10's of thousands of pics and videos and share same with many friends who do the same. Collectively we have seen two in the wild and gotten one singular trail cam video in all of those years.

If the OP jumps on again with a new picture that distinctly shows a full animal with cougar characteristics I will gladly eat crow. I am betting he gets another pic of a bobcat first though.

I think the previous poster was correct, that DNR State employees may not want to start anything they're not willing to permanently add to their responsibilities. So when people call in mountain lions, they ignore it to avoid starting a new federally-managed program. Who wants to answer to Federal Wildlife autocrats ? New requirement here, new one there, unfunded required deliverables, incessant, useless, and impossible data calls, etc. A federal racket as far as State DNR people. Hi, we're from Federal DNR, and we're here to help. Here is a list to start out with, we'll be calling you next week.

I do believe they are moving eastward for sure, but I don't know the extent of it, if anyone does. I believe people reliably see them however, particularly rural farmers, ranchers, home owners, and outdoorsmen. I know someone who definitely saw one while hunting in an area that our DNR says no, none around here thank you. Bullshit, they're here, and probably in many places that all kinds of DNR people deny as a matter of policy.

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Originally posted by 83v45magna:
I initially saw that and thought it to be ordinary ground vegetation visible only because the leg is there to provide a backdrop.

There's no way to know for sure, but it looks like ground vegetation to me too. Especially after I blew it up.



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Update in OP. Going with Bob cat. You got to click on link to view pic as I don’t have computer at hunting camp using phone

Based on the scale photo, I would agree bobcat.

The proportions look like an adult animal but it doesn't even look all that big for a bobcat.

If you look at the lifted foot, there's a fair amount of motion blur from slow shutter speed, I'm betting subtler motion blur on the body plus low light is enough to wipe out body markings in the game camera pic.