what is this on my game-cam?

[sumner28]

Quote:
That is not an exotic house cat... How are the proportions that of an adult?? Georgia has NO mountain lions... I repeat... NO mountain lions!
Signed... The local game warden...

There are mountain lions in GA. Check out the GON website, in the june 2011 issue of their magazine it shows evidence of sightings in about twenty different counties all over the state not just the south. As far as this sighting to me it looks like a bobcat or maybe a feral cat. Although it IS possible to be a young mt.lion.

 

[greenkalki]

I have encountered a mother panther with her cubs here in southwest Florida. They walk in single file behind mom. Also the young ( the size in this picture) have larger heads and feet in proportion to their body. The animal pictured is sleek and has a smaller head... Definitely an adult, no matter what it is. It is not entirely unheard of for Florida panthers from the south, or cougars from the west to occasionally find there way to Georgia. But it would be very unusual for two such cats of opposite sex to find themselves this far out of their current range, breed, and give birth to a single offspring that has the proportions of an adult while only slightly larger than your average house cat, and to allow that offspring to wander far enough away that it could be in four shots of this camera without mom showing up in even one. As for house cats not having tails this long, I just checked the ones in my house and they all have tails that long (in proportion to body length). The main thing that most of the "it's a cougar/mountain lion/Florida panther" crowd are missing is that if that's true, Georgia has the biggest crows in the world, and they would be a bigger threat to your flock at that size, than the cat. If you simply do a google image search for "Florida panther kittens" you'll see that they aren't even close to what is pictured on this game cam photo.

 

[Red&Yellow]

Kinda crazy, but how about a jaguarundi? It's range is off, but that's the first thing I thought when I saw the picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguarundi

 

[greenkalki]

Red&Yellow :

Kinda crazy, but how about a jaguarundi? It's range is off, but that's the first thing I thought when I saw the picture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguarundi

Red&Yellow,
I think you solved the mystery. Don't know if anyone else figured it out, because I haven't read all the coments about this. Here is a quote from an online article:

"Florida has a resident population of jaguarundis that were imported into that state in the 1940s. Since the cats are so secretive it's difficult to gauge their population status, but it is generally believed to be healthy.

This begs the question of how far those transplanted cats have spread? Are they now in Georgia and Alabama, two states that have frequent "black panther" sightings?"

The article is about "black panther" sightings, but also points out, of the jaguarundi that: "Most specimens are about 20 centimeters tall and sport a dark gray color while others are chocolate brown or blonde."

For the full article see:

http://www.anomalist.com/features/jag.html​

 

[greenkalki]

... And check this out...

http://meridianstar.com/outdoors/x46867661/New-cat-in-our-woods/print?mobRedir=false

"According to Lisa Wojcki, this cat is slightly larger than a house cat. It can range from 18-25 lbs, with a small flat head and short ears. It is light grey to dark grey in color and some are solid black. (Could this account for some of the reported panther sightings in this area?) It also has an unusually long tail, about 20 inches long, and is known to be native to Central and South America but, also resides in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia."

 

[dretd]

Quote:
That is not an exotic house cat... How are the proportions that of an adult?? Georgia has NO mountain lions... I repeat... NO mountain lions!
Signed... The local game warden...

There are mountain lions in GA. Check out the GON website, in the june 2011 issue of their magazine it shows evidence of sightings in about twenty different counties all over the state not just the south. As far as this sighting to me it looks like a bobcat or maybe a feral cat. Although it IS possible to be a young mt.lion.

Could you provide a link for this website--I have no idea what GON stands for.

 

[airmechreed]

Quote:
There is a post #250 that compares a blue heeler to it and its smaller than the dog its not a cougar. I thought the same thing until I saw the actual comparisan photo.

 

[airmechreed]

Quote:
Wow how much change did it have in its pockets?

 

[dretd]

Quote:
Red&Yellow,
I think you solved the mystery. Don't know if anyone else figured it out, because I haven't read all the coments about this. Here is a quote from an online article:

"Florida has a resident population of jaguarundis that were imported into that state in the 1940s. Since the cats are so secretive it's difficult to gauge their population status, but it is generally believed to be healthy.
This begs the question of how far those transplanted cats have spread? Are they now in Georgia and Alabama, two states that have frequent "black panther" sightings?"

The article is about "black panther" sightings, but also points out, of the jaguarundi that: "Most specimens are about 20 centimeters tall and sport a dark gray color while others are chocolate brown or blonde."

For the full article see:

http://www.anomalist.com/features/jag.html

The thought of it being a Jaguarundi is interesting. I think that this scenerio is pretty unlikely based on several data points.
-The Jaguarundi is diurinal (day hunter), whereas the OP's photos are of night activity
-In none of the Jaguarundi photos I could find was tha dark dorsal tail strip present that is clearly visible in the OP's photos
-The time stamps of the photos show activity that is more compatable with canine behavior, rather than feline behavior

I would really like for the article you quoted to give a reference regarding the resident population of Jaguarundis in Florida. I could find no other statement nor evidence in any of the articles I read regarding the Jaguarundi about this population established in the 1940's. Most of the evidence I have seen shows the animal to be extremely rare in Texas let alone outside of its normal range, so although I think it is valid to look at this species, it would be a very unlikely candidate since the color is not right, the behavior in the photo series is not going along with a cat, the nocturnal time of the photo and the unliklihood that such a rare animal in its traditional northern range would have rambled so far and happened to be caught on a game cam considering there are much more likley suspects such as the Grey Fox. If you could find more information about this Florida population, I would love to read about it.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but where do you live that you see and track cougars daily? Are you in an area where they are that plentiful and do you have a compelling reason for tracking the cougars? You are saying that you have seen them in Georgia. You need to provide us folks with some explanation about your background before your claims can be taken seriously. Sorry.