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I have arranged the photos with number, your assessment of the animal's id and timeline starting at zero for clarity.
I think that given the time stamps, it is a bit of a stretch to have 3 different animals (or even 2) all the same general build and size switching places with one another within such a short period of time. You have put forth the theory that this is more likely than the color appearing different because of angle and shading on a black and white night cam with an IR flash. I respectfully submit that it is illogical that an animal would go from being a fox to being a domestic cat then 3 seconds later the cat vanishes and the fox is back, hangs out for 18 secinds then that animal vanishes and a new type of cat shows up 2 seconds later to replace it.
You referred to the tip of the tail on the presumptive house cat as being light colored. I actually see dark farther down the light patch you are seeing and that the tail is angled away from the camera. You are also stating that picture 5 is missing ears and that since fox have ears it must be a cat. In many of the photos parts of the body are not obvious because of angle, blur or obstruction. I do feel I am seeing ears, though.
As an example of how the color can change with viewing angle given nap and light effect, take a look at velvet. If you have ever worked with the fabric velvet, it has a nap. You have to cut all the pieces in one direction so one way is up. The fabric looks a very different color -much lighter/shinier and darker/richer color if you reverse the pieces and look at it from the bottom. You can even see this in carpet when you vacuum it- the color will look very different if it was pushed or pulled. In some photos of this critter we are looking into the fur from the back and it looks darker and in others you we are looking from the front so it looks lighter. Doesn't mean the animal is different or the color is different, it just appears to be a different color because of the type of fur the animal has and the angle and lighting in the photo.
I used to think that photo 2 was a cat, also. But when I looked at all of the data, I came to the conclusion that all of the animals represent the same animal--most likely a grey fox.
I have arranged the photos with number, your assessment of the animal's id and timeline starting at zero for clarity.
I think that given the time stamps, it is a bit of a stretch to have 3 different animals (or even 2) all the same general build and size switching places with one another within such a short period of time. You have put forth the theory that this is more likely than the color appearing different because of angle and shading on a black and white night cam with an IR flash. I respectfully submit that it is illogical that an animal would go from being a fox to being a domestic cat then 3 seconds later the cat vanishes and the fox is back, hangs out for 18 secinds then that animal vanishes and a new type of cat shows up 2 seconds later to replace it.
You referred to the tip of the tail on the presumptive house cat as being light colored. I actually see dark farther down the light patch you are seeing and that the tail is angled away from the camera. You are also stating that picture 5 is missing ears and that since fox have ears it must be a cat. In many of the photos parts of the body are not obvious because of angle, blur or obstruction. I do feel I am seeing ears, though.
As an example of how the color can change with viewing angle given nap and light effect, take a look at velvet. If you have ever worked with the fabric velvet, it has a nap. You have to cut all the pieces in one direction so one way is up. The fabric looks a very different color -much lighter/shinier and darker/richer color if you reverse the pieces and look at it from the bottom. You can even see this in carpet when you vacuum it- the color will look very different if it was pushed or pulled. In some photos of this critter we are looking into the fur from the back and it looks darker and in others you we are looking from the front so it looks lighter. Doesn't mean the animal is different or the color is different, it just appears to be a different color because of the type of fur the animal has and the angle and lighting in the photo.
I used to think that photo 2 was a cat, also. But when I looked at all of the data, I came to the conclusion that all of the animals represent the same animal--most likely a grey fox.
