Search for Cougars

[new jersey mike]

http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/43 ... -new-york/

[mike]

The saga continues.

[wiredbeans]

hello, I'm new here. I found this forum because last night in my back yard I saw a rather large light brown cat with chubby ears and a swishing tail.
there is a small slope in the back that goes down to a bog with heaps of wildlife. I had walked out to the edge of the slope and saw the light brown animal. we surprised each other.
It definitely was a cat. We stared at each other for quite a long time. I was trying to process what it was I was seeing. it eventually walked to the side behind a small bush and I stepped around to see it then it picked up it's pace going to the side and realizing how powerful this guy looked I headed back to the house. I got on the internet to figure out what I could have seen. I realize how crazy this is especially since I have no experience, but I did get a long look and it all points to a cougar. I am open to any other thoughts on this, I know I am no expert.
it moved like a cat, not a dog. I got a good look at it's face, which was a cat face with chubby ears. no tuffs of fur, and I saw no spots. it was 8:20pm and I am off of 52 in sullivan county, NY White Sulphur Springs to be exact. I did go back down this morning hoping to see some tracks but it's been dry and i had just weed-whacked so there is a lot of debris and leaves. What do you think? thanks for any info.

[Jon]

prints? Pics? Coodinates? This is very far south of the mountains?

[wiredbeans]

I went to look for prints but because I had just cleared down there there was a lot of leaves about and with no rain, very dry. so I saw no prints where I saw the cat.
I was on the phone walking out to the edge when we saw each other. I really wish I had a camera!
yeah, we are in the hills of the catskills. a little ways away from the mountains. Any other idea what I could have seen? I think I will have time today to go poke around and see if I can find skat or it's dinner around...
another friend swore she also saw a big cat with a long tail a couple years ago at night running across the yard. but we couldn't believe it. I just have no clue what else it could have been. I'll see if I can figure out the coordinates with my gps at get back.

[wiredbeans]

N 41* 47'52.7"
W 074* 49'56.9"
elev: 414m
I was about 50feet away of a big cat, my wild guess at how tall is 2ft-ish.

[mike]

It could be a cougar.

You have to remember that bobcats are twice as big as domestic cats, and cougars are five times larger then bobcats. They are usually around 3' high and 5-9' long (nose to end of tail). Juveniles will obviously be smaller. The key identification points are quality pictures and paw prints. Scat works too because we can test it for DNA to find out the species and where it came from.

Being within 50' of a wild cougar is way too close. The key word is wild. More often then not, people acquire a cougar cub and start raising it. Once it becomes too large, they become scared of it, and take it into the country and release it. If the animal you saw is a cougar, it probably would be an illegal released animal. And, there will probably be more sightings. You also have to remember that a cougar can travel 50 miles in one day. So, today it can be down towards NYC, and a week from now it can be in Vermont.

[TimJ408]

Cougar or large bobcat?



Picture of a coyote to compare to:

[mike]

Bobcat. Way too small, and short tail. A cougar's tail is about the same length as it's body.

[TimJ408]

It's a pretty big bobcat at that! I would have liked to see it in person.