what is this on my game-cam?

[woodmort]

Quote:
First I doubt there are mt. lions in VA. Second check the size of that animal's head compared to the body and then look at those OP's photos again. Oh yeah, find the strip down the Mt. lion's tail.

There are most certianly Mt lions in Va. LOL thanks for thinking I was being untruthful though.

Read this. then tell me there are not Mt lions in VA LOL http://www.btcent.com/CougarQuest.htm

There are not a breeding population of Mt. Lions in VA or WV or any place in the Northeastern part of the USA, they were exterminated before 1910. I am familiar with CougarQuest it is like the UFO sites except they use the occasional freed pet or transit animal to make the point that they exist in this area. Usually simple DNA samples prove that any captured or killed animal is from another population outside the area. As far as your post is concerned, what I find fault with is your statement "We have trapped and unfortunetly neighbors have killed mountain lions." I'd like to see some support for this because I doubt it unless you and your neighbors have moved into VA from some western state.

ETA This is from CougarQuest site: " In all fairness, there has simply not been enough "hard evidence" to unequivocally prove that Cougars do roam and are permanent residents in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere in the East. " Enough said. Most sightings turn out to be something else--dogs, coyotes, bears, bobcats even large house cats. Imaginations get stretched sometimes--at one point there were reported sightings of an African Lion in the Scranton area of PA that was unfounded too. There just are no pictures or bodies to back up these sightings and tracks either vanish or turn out to be of something else.

 

[9Catsz]

Quote:
How many have been hit on the roads? There are only a few hundred Florida panthers in FL yet 2 or 3 get hit on the highways every year. If there are Mt. lions in VA, where are the news articles of them being killed on the roads?

Look at one of the first pictures the OP posted....It's a crow. The picture of the animal you're referring to as a mt. lion is barely taller at the shoulder than the crow. That means it's too small to be a mt. lion, even a baby mt. lion wouldn't be as long as the animal in the picture.

My first thought, after viewing the pics, was mt. lion. After reading the thread and going back and looking at the pics again, with that crow in mind, I now know what it's not....and it's not a mountain lion.

 

[pokey]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I have seen housecat bobcat hybrids out hunting. I have seen two together and one looked full blooded bobcat and the other had the bob tail, but was a orangey tabby pattern in spots. Guess they were a pair, or siblings. But we also get normal feral cat shots on the deer cam and some times it does appear larger than normal. I think it was a feral cat or hybrid. We also trapped a feral Tom cat once and his neck was bigger than my thigh. Sometimes feral cats are big.

 

[pbzmomma]

Ok point being im not going to argue and UNLESS you live in Va and can prove that there are no mt lions here then you can stop implying that i am lieing, I have seen them with my own eyes LOL

 

[kburen]

I also live in VA....and have heard numerous reports of mountain lions here.....If you call anyone to report it you can't even get it out before you're told "you are mistaken, you DIDN'T see one"....won't even come check it out. I have personal feelings that they know they are here and just don't want to admit it.

 

[Noymira]

Wow, just spent half an hour reading the whole thread!

Thanks for the entertainment!

I can't tell based on the pictures what this is, I am not a hunter and don't see many game camera pics besides the deer, fox and bear my brother and father have captured. Some of those were hard to decipher, even when we knew what animal the image was of.

I think some of the images look cat-like, but are too blurred to tell. Does the IR game cam use a flash? It would seem to me, in my very uneducated opinion, that a wild cat would not keep pacing back and forth if a flash, even small, were going off like that. I could be completely wrong though.

Something about the back and forth movement reminds me more of a canine than anything else.

We have fox here, both red and gray (though gray are more common), and they are some of the boldest, loudest animals I've ever seen. We had one gray decide our property was his territory this spring and kept trying to chase our large maine coon cat off, very loudly I might add. I went at him several times yelling and waving a shovel and he had no fear of me at all. I did consult with the rabies hotline and a game warden in our area and they assured me he was not likely sick, just bold or feeding young.

We also have fischer and coyotes, it's definitely not a fisher, I've seen those up close more than once, could be a young coyote I guess. I do love the pictures though and can't wait to set up a game cam near our coop to see what's around.

 

[Luvducks]

Hoping the OP is out setting up the Game Cam RIGHT NOW!!!!!

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
I've hunted and fished in the wilds of NYS for 60 of my 72 years and have also " heard numerous reports of mountain lions here" and they've all proved to be false--somebody saw something and it turned out not to be a mt lion. I even was led to "Mt lion tracks" in the snow by a neighbor but on close inspection you could see toe nails--coyote. Other reports are always by someone who knows someone whose brother's uncle's cousin saw one. It is always so far back that it is impossible to chase down. I know a couple of DEC wildlife people that are getting tired of denying they are here or that the DEC stocked some to keep the deer herd under control. Trust me, the area where I live is wild enough to provide cover and food for a few mt. lions if they are out there but there are no confirmed sightings or kills that would prove it.

As I've said before, I'd love confirmed reports that mt lions are breeding in the northeastern and Atlantic states but it just isn't happening. In this day and age, with everyone and his brother having game cams out someone at some point should have captured a series of photos of them if they are actually there. Thus far it hasn't happened. BTW, I watched a Nation Geographic piece on the Appalachian Trail and they have game cams on the trail all through VA, NC, SC, NJ, NY and GA--they have animal photos of cows, pigs, deer, wild horses, coyotes, foxes, bears, even feral dogs and cats--no Mt Lions. You'd think they'd get at least one. To my knowledge even organizations like CougarQuest that are actively looking for them haven't anything but hearsay proof either. It would seem that eastern Mt lions are the Sasquatch or UFO of the animal world--people are sure they're there and claim to have seen them but there is no hard evidence. Or, like the one in CT, they prove to be a transient. Or a freed pet--NYS had one a couple of years ago that DNA showed to be of South America in origin. And, like Sasquatch and UFO sightings those that are convinced they're here are paranoid about not being believed and figure it is some big government cover-up.

 

[pbzmomma]

I have asked the farm owner that borders ours to dig out the pictures of the MOUNTAIN LION they killed that was bigger then his 4 year old son. I saw the darn thing with my own eyes and while I am no expert i know what i saw. lol While they are not supposed to be here that doesnt not mean they Can't be here. I never said Va is their natural habitat or they have always been here lol. I posted the site before because those were reports of people seeing them. You know if I see anymore I will be the first to say I WILL NOT BE STICKING AROUND WITH THE CAM. Im getting the Heck outta there! lol We do not have game cams and most of our neighbors do not either. I want to get one now just os I can post picks to prove they are here!

 

[dinahmoe]

hi guys,
sorry i haven't posted sooner.yesterday was a bad day.my sons' pet rabbit died and it was all my fault.

i did go down to the traps to check them and saw nothing in them so i tripped them and came home.the bait was gone tho.i didn't really do much yesterday after that.

i reset them last night and tied the bait in the trap to make sure that the animal tripped it.this morning the bait was gone but the traps were not tripped,just the string left.



sat.night,
the measure stick is 3 ft high so he is 1ft tall.big coon

sunday night,
this must be how the bait got out without something tripping it.it was eaten thru the outside of the trap.

so this is what i have on my game cam as far as predators:
possible feline?
grey fox
red fox
coons
possums
coyote?
big bird

my chickens are on permanent restriction.lol