what is this on my game-cam?

[aprophet]

if you look at a grey fox's paw print it looks very cat like if you go back on the evolutionary chart a grey is a much older animal the a yote or red fox check their taxonomy almost a different specie then a dog .I cannot see the pictures unless I qoute the message then copy and paste the url into another browser looking at pic 5 I still say a grey fox it still has the black strip down its back and it is the right size in proportion to its surroundings .

 

[woodmort]

Obviously tweetyflights didn't look at the time's in the lower right hand corner of the photos--I doubt that a fox could turn into a cat in the 2 seconds between photo 4 and 5(Unless of course it could eat one in that short period of time). Also tweetyflights should familiarize him/herself with photos of grey foxes--they are cat-like in anatomy which is what allows them to climb trees very well. Additionally the last photo OP put up of the red fox will give one an idea of distance/size--the animal in #5 is too small to be a cougar.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

I'm going with house cat. I doubt, judging by the size, that it is a cougar. Can you get a look at the tracks? Perhaps put some flour down in the area where the animal is known to frequent. There is a chance that it is a juvenile cougar, but I'm still going with house cat.

 

[Tylt33]

Quote:
Woodmort, I think we are alone on Grey Fox island.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
Woodmort, I think we are alone on Grey Fox island.

Actually, I hink you have persuaded me that Grey Fox is more likely than large house cat, although I cannot rule that possibility out. I would never commit to a firm call based on just a night cam based on all of the previosly brought up optical challenges. If the OP could obtain physical eveidence such as prints (tainted because of her dogs running the area), scat (not sure she looked), or fur tufts, it would help to solidify an answer. At first read, the animal looks more feline and many folks think very large. If you measure the critter and look at the coloration and behaviour of the grey fox, it becomes much more likely.

I think most of the recent posters didn't bother going through the 17 pages of discourse and are just going on their first impressions. If they take the time to study all of the data and read the arguments for and against, and keep an open mind, I think that they could be persueded.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Not really aprophet agrees with us and a few others, including, I think, OP. The biggest thing about the animal is that it is too small to be even a young cougar and, given the timeline, it's actions are decidedly uncatlike. Mostly it is a case of people looking at that last photo and letting their imaginations run wild. I've studied enough game cam photos to know they can give a distorted view which can lead one down the wrong path even when you know what you're looking at. One other point in favor of the grey fox, they are more common thus more likely to pop up on a randomly place camera than a cougar, especially in the wilds of Georgia.

 

[KenK]

A deer hunter killed a very large cougar in west central georgia a year or two ago. Maybe 100 miles from Milledgeville. It was determined that it had been raised in captivity. These days I think most anything can turn up most anyplace.

That said, I think it's a fox.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
Not really aprophet agrees with us and a few others, including, I think, OP.

You know, I also think that the OP may have planted a bias for everyone when looking at the photos. The title of the thread says' I hope it is a house cat.' So everyone that reads it is thinking 'is it a house cat or something else--hey maybe its a mountail lion' (which really doesn't fit even it's a baby based on size). At least I think it may have sent me down that path. I didn't even think canine at first, I was too focused on the size and it went from there.

 

[ginbart]

OK I looked again and I now think it's a rabbit.

 

[citychickx6]

Quote:

To me it looked like a cougar. I have seen several here in CO.