Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Identify this? (from deer camera)

If the trough is 13.5", I would find it hard to believe that the cat is over 20". Then, if it is 20" high, then the body may be 40" long. That puts it half size of most "Big Cats" that are 6' to 8' long. Remember, this cat is upward and leaning on the edge of the box. That would make his back hips a bit higher. The legs are stretched out a bit higher/longer than if it was on all fours.

I was just told a few minutes ago by the owner of a 2000+ acre private hunting area (a few miles from where that Photo was taken) he personally has on three ocassions sighted a blackich looking cat there. He said that it is defenantly not a house Cat. He claims persoanlly observed deer running from a food plot before 2 Cats appeared standing in the edge of the woods. He also said the smaller of the 2 Cats was about the size of the one in the photo. I have known this man since 1986 and truly believe he believes what he has seen.
I just got to figure out if I believe or not.

Everyone (State) denies a breeding population of Cougars in MI, but they have warnings posted in State Parks

The photo is not the best, but if you look at the front shoulders, neck and head, that ain't no domestic cat!

I think the big cat's, that use to be common place, are making a comeback.

We don't have any Cougars in MI

Hey, I not going to argue with that because a few inches is very hard to tell from a photo. I am even more confused with someone I trust telling me he has seen a Cat that size with a Big Cat near that area.

Yep, I can also see that also photo and that is why I have a hard time swolling it is a oversized house cat.

Everyone have a happy Thanksgiving. I will check back in when I can.

Regular housecats seem to have paths they hunt on a frequent basis. I would go out on a limb and say that the big cats do the same. If it was me, I would put up as many game cameras as you could find. What was in the trough to attract it? Keep it full and see if it returns back to it. Meanwhile, don't let the kid unattended outside for even a second.

Yea, it is just so hard to tell on photos like this. You can actually take this photo and make a case either way. Anyway I know I would hate find it in a tree stand LOL.

The thinking is that this Cat was just passing by the trough smelling where some other kind of possible prey had been present (corn and sweet feed in trough). It did not stay around long enough to take another photo of the Cat.
Defenantly will keep up with the little one until I draw s conclusion one way or the other.

It looks feline, but is there any conclusive way to make sure it's not a dog of some sort?

If the picture is real!!!

I may be wrong, but the neck from the front shoulders looks to be quite stout and powerful, along with the head structure on how wide it seems. In big cat's, this is how they kill and where their killing power comes from. Chase it down with their legs, then put the bite-n-hold on.

Hope it ain't photo-chopped

That is a cat, unless a dog gave it up and had someone in hollyweird do the magic!

Pretty sure I can take an old pic of myself and convince some that Sasquatch is staying in my spare room

Maybe a dog that doesn't know holloween is over?

Or a turkey that is trying to stay alive till after Thanksgiving!!!!

cat X redear hybrid

Why is it a cat? I'll admit that my brain says cat also, but why? What's there that says this cannot be a dog of some sort? The fur and the tail's shape look feline to me, but the photo is pretty bad. Tell me what you see that makes this absolutely-without-a-doubt...a cat.

Aren't there any more photos? My game cams take multiple shots, shouldn't there be more? If it's a maximum of 20" at the back, AND it's a jaguar or leopard, then surely it's a young one. That might explain the lighter patches that Ewest commented on. I believe melanistic big cats sometimes display lighter spots under the black fur.

Man, there should be more photos....

Absolutely. Black leopards still have light patches that can be seen.

I will fully agree with you sprkplug, some dog species could take on very similar shapes as a cat. Especially in a photo of this low quality. Just needed to get you to expalin yourself a bit further.... however a turkey would be wanting the corn that Tums said was in there.

My first thought was black lab, but I think the tail is too long vs rest of body to be dog.

I don't discount anything like this. Whatever you want to call them - mountain lions, catamounts, cougars, etc., they are officially extinct in Virginia and West Virginia.

Like many of us on Pond Boss, I spend a lot of time in very remote areas, and as inconspicuous as I can possibly be. I must admit that I'm an agnostic when it comes to bigfoot/sasquatch/whatever.

However, in the last 25 years, I strongly believe I've sighted two big cats, with really long tails. Both were in Virginia along the Shenandoah River.

One was an adult that came down a steep hillside trail to drink from the river near my favorite late-summer smallmouth fishing hole, just upstream from where Gooney Creek empties into the South Fork of the Shenandoah, about 10 miles south of Front Royal, VA. I was alone in my canoe. The sun had already set behind the mountains, but there was reasonable light. It got a few laps of water. We stared at each other for a few seconds. It very slowly crept up backwards, always looking at me, and then just totally disappeared into the underbrush. It was a medium tannish color.

The other sighting was a juvenile on the Shenandoah River, just north of where the river flows under the US-50 bridge, between Paris Mountain and Waterloo, VA. I was looking for a spot to park my truck and easily put my canoe into the river.

The cat was running north in a field directly across the river from me. I'm not sure of the best color description, mostly redish tan. Chestnut brown? The cat's body was long and slender, about the size of a medium sized dog with long legs, like a dalmation, a coon dog, a young lab retriever - but longer.

The thing that really struck me was the length of the tail. The tail seemed to be as long as the cat. This cat was running through a field on the other side of the river -- maybe 20-30 yards away.

Did I imagine these sightings? They were about two years apart, and about 25 miles apart. Maybe, but I don't think so. I reported both sightings.

I do believe that cougars/mountain lions/whatever do exist in VA and WV. We have had way too many sightings to dismiss them -- we just don't have a lot of good photos.

Ken

LOL Good quote.

perfect

Good one.


I thought the same thing. I was told there was one photo before this that was triggered with nothing showing. Then this one with whatever in it at the trough. That pretty much puts this thing there for no longer than 2 minutes.


This picture came straight from the family with the camera. It would have to be the camera owners family doing any funny business. Shoot he is so old school his wife or kids have to turn on the computer to show him his pictures. LOL.
BTW The camera owner also a very religous man that holds himself to some pretty high standards. That is why I took this picture serious to start with.


Knowing there is black labs in the area I wondered that. It just does not look like a dogs body to me.


One thing I do know is with the younger country folk that live in that part of Alabama it has to stay in a stealth mode to survive. One of the few areas of the country where you hear multiple gun fire over many miles to celebrate the New Year. Even the road signs get shot in that area of the world. LOL

Ken my goodness man - you know better than to ask us " Did I imagine these sightings?"

With Cat in your name who knows what you see --- or imagine. -- --

Very pretty house cat.