Cougar or bobcat?

[Joel/ak]

It's a crappy pic I know.

 

[Jstpssng]

Bobcat.
I'm not sure where you are though, so could be mistaken. I don't see a tail though.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Looks like a bobcat to me

 

[civilian]

I will go with couger. Looks too long for a bobcat. Just my thoughts. Jon

 

[Joel/ak]

I don't see a tail either and we have seen juvenile bobcats but this one's body just looks different.
In SW MI. They say not cougars down here this far.

 

[Jstpssng]

I don't see a tail either and we have seen juvenile bobcats but this one's body just looks different.
In SW MI. They say not cougars down here this far.

If they're nearby it could always be a transcient... young males tend to wander far from home. (Sound familiar? )

It really does have a longer body than I would expect on a bobcat.

 

[Joel/ak]

Wife was a taxidermist in AK and she would deal alot with lynx. So we have an idea on bodies. Just not familiar with cougars

 

[Joel/ak]

If they're nearby it could always be a transcient... young males tend to wander far from home. (Sound familiar? )

It really does have a longer body than I would expect on a bobcat.

Oh yeah, Asia was good for me....

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I don't see a tail either and we have seen juvenile bobcats but this one's body just looks different.
In SW MI. They say not cougars down here this far.

There's been pictures of cougar's around Grand Rapids, no reason they wouldn't wander south of there...

SR

 

[ponytug]

Yes, not the greatest photo, but it is hard to get good ones of cats. We have both around here, and it looks more like a bobcat to me, just by how it is moving. Generally, I find that it is hard to miss a tail on a cougar or mountain lion, even young ones that still have spots.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jaxs]

Bearcat sounds mysterious so that's what we call unidentifiable cats. Much worse picture and I'd call it "a something another".

 

[scootr]

One swish of the tail and it is out of the picture.
Body too long and ears too short. Looks to be a cougar to me.
We have Bobcats show up on our video cameras now and then.

 

[ning]

Looks smooth and mostly one color - cougar.

 

[spitter]

I thought a cougar was a single middle-aged MILF. My neighbor sent in a picture of Puma, Mountain lion, Cougar to fish and game they said we don't have any in these parts. I guess photo graphic evidence doesn't mean anything.

 

[Jstpssng]

I thought a cougar was a single middle-aged MILF. My neighbor sent in a picture of Puma, Mountain lion, Cougar to fish and game they said we don't have any in these parts. I guess photo graphic evidence doesn't mean anything.

I've been hearing the same story here for decades. Yet nobody can produce a track, and there has never been a road kill. While it's possible that a transcient might go through, that's a long ways from a sustaining population.

As for being acknowledged by your state fish and game agency; If there is an existing population of mountain lions you will suddenly find yourself subject to the Federal Endangered Species Act. We are dealing with that here with Canada Lynx. Despite the fact they are abundant just north of the border- and more abundant than they will admit down here, IMHO; we still are restricted by the feds. Now there are groups who want to bring wolves back and are trying to outlaw canine trapping. They also are doing DNA testing of scat, and allegedly found some on the Canadian border with a percentage of wolf in it. That's entirely likely as they are so abundant in Quebec and Ontario that there are guided hunts for them.

We need to build a wall at the northern border, to keep those pesky animals out!

 

[LD1]

Hard to say without knowing where the image was taken. Meaning something to "scale" the size of the cat with. Because bobcats are SMALL. 30-40 pound cats. So really not much bigger than an average beagle.

Whereas a cougar/mountain lion/puma is ALOT bigger. Twice the size of a average "large" dog like a lab or german shephard.

 

[dodge man]

My initial thought was cougar. We had one wander through our area a couple weeks ago. We it ended up in Springfield Illinois they tranquillized it and hauled it off to some kind of wildlife preserve. It had a tracking collar on it that was put on it in Nebraska.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I was BSing with a DNR guy one time and I asked him why they deny that we have cougars, and he said, "I'll tell you why, if we recognize that we have them, then we have to budget money for them, and we don't have enough money to go around for each specie now."

At least, that makes some sense.

SR

 

[orezok]

chupacabra

 

[Thomas]

Leaning towards bobcat.