what is this on my game-cam?

[dretd]

Quote:
Thank you for the link! I love the silhouette of the different cats. I wonder if the OP is very crafty, they could make a silhouette of a house cat/gray fox size and see how it visually matches up. Its one thing for me to measure saying its 13 or 14 inches high and 40 inches long and quite another to see that in the photo. May the local wildlife office has silhouette of animals normally in the are she could use?

 

[wyoDreamer]

Quote:
Thank you for the link! I love the silhouette of the different cats. I wonder if the OP is very crafty, they could make a silhouette of a house cat/gray fox size and see how it visually matches up. Its one thing for me to measure saying its 13 or 14 inches high and 40 inches long and quite another to see that in the photo. May the local wildlife office has silhouette of animals normally in the are she could use?

She has already given us a photo of her blue heeler in approximately the same location. It is smaller than her dog.

Editted to add: see my comparison of the mystery animal and the blue heeler at post #250.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I didn't read all the posts, but it looks like a small cougar to me too. It isn't full grown, but it definitely has the head and tail, and from what you can tell in the black and white night vision, it has coloration (shading) like a cougar.
Keep your birdies well protected.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
Yup and if you look at the series of photos on that MO site--you can get some prospective on how large a small animal looks when there is nothing to compare it to especially at a distance and how small it actually is when compared to a known animal. That "cat" in OP's third picture is too small to be a mt. lion or wild/bobcat. Someplace way back in this threat I've posted comparison pictures taken by the same camera of a grey fox and my 12 lb cat. The fox is about the same size.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
Yup and if you look at the series of photos on that MO site--you can get some prospective on how large a small animal looks when there is nothing to compare it to especially at a distance and how small it actually is when compared to a known animal. That "cat" in OP's third picture is too small to be a mt. lion or wild/bobcat. Someplace way back in this threat I've posted comparison pictures taken by the same camera of a grey fox and my 12 lb cat. The fox is about the same size.

The photo of the healer was during the daylight and not at the same angle. It may be easier for some folks to see the difference between a cougar/dog/cat/fox of a silhouette were placed in the area and then the camera triggered. I had already done the neasurement but sometimes seeing is believing and making it similar to the animals in contention will make it easier to see the differences or similarities.

 

[Meara]

Ok, I sent the link to this thread to my friend and her husband who works as a wildlife biologist at GA DNR and lives near the OP. Three separate wildlife biologists concur with grey fox. NOT because any other choice is improbable but simply because based on their experience that's what it looks like. That's not as exciting as a cougar, but hey, it's still a cool animal. Grey foxes have been declining across their range due to the expanding populations of coyotes. They are excellent mousers and prey heavily on rodents.

 

[greenkalki]

Quote:
So who takes this "fox" to the groomer to get it's tail trimmed?... It's obviously a feline. Guess GA DNR healthcare plan no longer covers vision... darn budget cuts!

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
So who takes this "fox" to the groomer to get it's tail trimmed?... It's obviously a feline. Guess GA DNR healthcare plan no longer covers vision... darn budget cuts!

probably the same hairdresser as the gray fox on post #164 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=17 .

or maybe the hairdresser used by the gray fox on post # 137 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=14 .
but possibly even the hairdresser used by the gray fox on post # 36 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=4 .
Quote:
'course if you're worried about your vision, you can always do the eye test from my post # 507 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=51 .

red fox = big fluffy tails we associate with foxes.
grey fox = longer, more feline tail with considerably less fluff and a more cat-like carriage.
it's not a cat, its a grey fox. just my opinion, but hey, I did the eye test...

 

[greenkalki]

Quote:
So who takes this "fox" to the groomer to get it's tail trimmed?... It's obviously a feline. Guess GA DNR healthcare plan no longer covers vision... darn budget cuts!

probably the same hairdresser as the gray fox on post #164 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=17 .

or maybe the hairdresser used by the gray fox on post # 137 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=14 .
but possibly even the hairdresser used by the gray fox on post # 36 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=4 .
Quote:
'course if you're worried about your vision, you can always do the eye test from my post # 507 on this page https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=565337&p=51 .

red fox = big fluffy tails we associate with foxes.
grey fox = longer, more feline tail with considerably less fluff and a more cat-like carriage.
it's not a cat, its a grey fox. just my opinion, but hey, I did the eye test...

I get it, grey fox's tail is not as fluffy as red fox's tail... Still, the photos you linked to have tails that are two to three times as thick as the tail of the UPA.

I understand why team fox thinks it's a fox, because they're common and they're the right size.... What I don't get, is why team fox thinks that size and abundance are compelling enough arguments to disregard the simple fact that the UPA looks like a cat, and not at all like a fox.

Likewise, I understand why team big cat thinks that the UPA is a big cat, because it looks exactly like an adult Puma concolor... What I don't get is why team big cat thinks that appearance is enough to disregard the fact that the size of the UPA is way too small to be an adult Puma concolor, and when Puma concolor are at the age to match the size of the UPA, they're proportions and markings look nothing at all like that of the UPA.

That's why I'm inclined to think that the UPA is a Jaguarundi. Jaguarundi look like miniature Puma concolor, yet they're the size of a grey fox.

In short, it can't be a big cat if it ain't big, and it can't be a fox if it don't look like a fox... If it looks like a jaguarundi, is the same size as a jaguarundi, and was spotted in a region where jaguarundis have been spotted, then it must be a jaguarundi!

No need to speculate, or engage in convoluted "eye tests," or contrived silhouette manufacturing exercises, when there is a much simpler and more reasonable explanation:

It is what it looks like, and it looks like what it is.

How hard is that?

 

[ellieroo]

greenkalki, great summation !