what is this on my game-cam?

[Runt Of The Litter]

wow interesting shots dinahmoe!
in some respects,wish we had such a variety of wildlife-we only get visited by grey squirrels,domestic cats,urban foxes and common birds.


the animal that is in question seems to bare the hallmarks of a wild cat of some type,certainly the well built hind legs and tail.

 

[dinahmoe]

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thanks runt!
i love our wildlife.i am just glad we don't have cougars,wolves,etc like some of ya'll do.i spend alot of time in the woods with my kids to educate them on nature.i carry a gun because sadly it is the human predators i fear more.

 

[woodmort]

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aprophet--I guess I don't understand the reason for your post. Bobcats are actually fairly common it is just they are so secretive that they are rarely seen. I've lived in this house for 45 years and have seen tracks and heard cries of bobcats but only once in that time have I ever caught sight of one and that was so short I wasn't sure I actually saw it. But the animals in question aren't bobcats or any other kind of cat for that matter, and certainly not mt lions. My point is that wild mt lions are not found in VA unless it would be someones escaped/freed pet which would, if captured or killed, be easily IDed from DNA samples.

 

[ellieroo]

dinahmo and all this is an interesting thread from another site pics and photos of tracks included.Those of you in Geo wv and Virginia might want to read

http://www.richwooders.com/appalachian/wildlife/sightings/mountain_lion.htm

 

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
thanks for the interesting read.
i don't doubt it that there are mountain lions thru out the states mainly due to "pets" escaping or being "freed".
the suspect in my photo would have to be a very young one due to the size and i think at that size it would still have the spots.unless of course humans have designed a miniature cougar.

i am going to start a new thread for possible cougars on game cam pics.this is fun.

 

[remadl700]

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We have had no issues with the ODFW. All but two exotics we trapped were given to the ODFW bioligists because the had registered owners. They rest they allowed us to take with no issues.

The ones that were shot were in defense of livestock. Again no issues...............but thanks for the heads up to the rest of the BYC'ers

 

[remadl700]

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I agree and the area that you are in I would think that it more likely a caracal because I know people in VA that had them and you run into exotics being released when they outgrow their "owners" it's sad really...

Probably not a caracal because:

1. The tail is wrong for a caracal.
2. It's a grey fox.

There are several pictures in this thread. There are dogs, foxes, crows and some unknows. Depending on which one you are looking at you could say it's a grey fox, so I am not going to argue that fact.

To be exact the photo's I am refering to are on the very first post of this thread: listed as number #1,#3,#5. In order they would be the third, fifth and seventh.
These are not grey fox!! I have been doing this along time......not to be insulting to you at all so please don't take it that way

 

[onthespot]

Quote:
I agree and the area that you are in I would think that it more likely a caracal because I know people in VA that had them and you run into exotics being released when they outgrow their "owners" it's sad really...

Probably not a caracal because:

1. The tail is wrong for a caracal.
2. It's a grey fox.

X2 I used to house sit for a couple that had a caracal. (declawed, obese, unhappy, lived in a big upstairs bedroom, and was not safe to be around. Had to defend myself to feed it and clean the litter tray.) Anyhow, caracals have tails half as long as our mystery animal. Also, look at how heavy the bones in its legs are, and how much deeper and heavier the body structure is. It's a fox.

 

[remadl700]

Quote:
Probably not a caracal because:

1. The tail is wrong for a caracal.
2. It's a grey fox.

X2 I used to house sit for a couple that had a caracal. (declawed, obese, unhappy, lived in a big upstairs bedroom, and was not safe to be around. Had to defend myself to feed it and clean the litter tray.) Anyhow, caracals have tails half as long as our mystery animal. Also, look at how heavy the bones in its legs are, and how much deeper and heavier the body structure is. It's a fox.
http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/28/122928-004-8210681D.jpg

Yep, all good points. The pic you have is an adult. Based on the size comparison in the pics the animal is smaller. Also and most interesting is the tail. If you are saying that that is a grey fox it would be the longest tailed grey fox in the world. I have been trapping and hunting animals all my life. The pictures that I have referred to are not grey fox. I am sorry....there just not. The picture you are looking at is the first one in the series for this post which is a fox that the poster is using for comparison. Please refer to the pictures I have stated in the above posts.

I will try and dig the pic up of the Caracal we shot because the tail on the juvenile was much longer than the one in this pic.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I finally found a minute or two to do a comparison.

I copied one of the original pics and the pic of the blue heeler into the program. Drew a line from front paw on the dog and copied the exact same line over to the mystery animal and pasted it onto the similar area on it. Did the same with the hind leg.

Se how much bigger the dog is?
This mystery animal looks much smaller - 3 inches at least at the shoulder and hip, and much finer boned and bodied.

It could be a grey fox, as I have never seen one except for the pics posted here. The coloring looks about right for grey fox also with the lighter belly and lower neck. The tail is the question mark for me, but those gamecam photos can do funky things to colloring during night shoots.
But definately seeing a small predator - still thinking possibly big housecat, but grey fox is a def possibility.