What to do?

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I would be very interested in seeing the picture replicated with something of known size in the frame. All angles and distances would have to be exact. I'm not saying it absolutely is a housecat but I assure you that cannot be ruled out. Remember, 95% of cougar pictures are housecats.
 
Looking at the picture you can tell that the distance is great enough that if this is a house cat it belongs in the Guiness book of world records.......

Also... I have seen many bears and none had a tail... Didn't you folks that are seein' a bear ever hear the story of how the bear lost his tail?

That leaves large Canid or big Kitty...from the photo <just blurry enough to be useless> I would think that any critter that big would have to leave some track....

Keep us posted..

Wheeler44
 
Wheeler, That is precisely the problem. You cannot infer distance or size from this photo but it is human nature to think we can so we do. That is part of optical illusion. I could show you dozens of pictures like this where the eye and mind conspire to say - big cat. But in those there are references and by analysis they all come up about the same: total length with tail 24 inches.

PS I've sent this off to one of our photo analysis guys, we'll see what he says.
 
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I would check it out for my own curious reasons not because of someone thinking it is my problem and not thiers.
Seems to me it would be better to work together and find out what it is.
 
Woof...Look at the grass and what appears to be "Queen Anne's lace" in the foreground... estimate 2'-3' tall... Then look at the fence just beyond it.....estimate 4'-5' tall....Gonna be some edits here 'cause I gotta go back and look at the photo again.. Okay I'm back.. now look and see that there is daylight under the animals belly...So it must have legs longer than the undergrowth and it must be on the far ridge.... Now look closely at the fence post in the foreground again...estimate 6"-8" wide (kitty length approx. 3 times the width of the fence post).... Unless kitty is in the top of the brush just past the fence line (unlikely due to posture and the size of the supporting brush) kitty is big.... Very BIG.....

I will wait to hear what the photo experts say....

Okay two more clues not in the pic. Neighbor says "his daughter came and got him to look at a coyote on the hill behind their house" Not in the bushes at the fence line.

OP sounds pretty familiar with the field in question....If it were a cut bank and not say.. 150 - 250 yds. from the fence to the ridge he wouldn't have posted in the first place..
 
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I know of no legal obligation on the part of any landowner toward any other person, regarding free-ranging wild animals on one's land. Deer or rabbit, coyote or cougar. A landowner is not obligated to do anything whatsoever.

State law enters into the equation when one considers initiating some action. Then, it's a matter of seasons, bag limits, and protections. Licensing and all that. Regulations concerning trapping, as well. (This is separate from an actual self-defense situation.)

As for cougars, a five-mile circle of hunting in a night is commonplace. They're great cross-country travellers, known to cover over 30 or 40 miles in a 24-hour period. (Example: A young male with a radio collar was released in Black Gap WMA, down by the Rio Grande. Two nights later he was killed in a rancher's sheep pen in the Glass Mountains north of Marathon, Texas, some 70 or 80 miles from the release point.)
 
Wheeler, If the cat were at the fenceline that would work. But I see no basis for estimating the distance from the fenceline to the cat. In other pictures like this I've seen the tendency of the eye is to increase that distance from what it turns out to be. Remember too this pic was taken through binoculars. I'll ley you know what my photo guy says.

As for legality, all wildlife is the property of the state no matter whose land it is on. I think the OP should call DNR and ask them to come out, look around, and speak with the neighbor. They will tell him odds are against it being a cougar, that there is no threat and to just settle down. That's probably what he needs to hear.
 
You guys are looking at it wrong. Thats not the tail of a dog or cat. It's the trunk of an elephant. I'd sugest at least a .300 WSM.
 
Woof...that's my point...the only way that the kitty is 18"-24" nose to tail is if it is at the fence line....see my above post as to two more clues added by edit that expain why it is unlikely that the kitty is at the fence line.... Let me add a third...looking at the distance from extreme foreground to fence...the fencepost shows that unless on extremely steep ground the fence is greater than 12' (closer to 20') from the place where the photographer was standing....Unless the field in the background and the ridge in the distance are again extremely steep.. then the distance to the kitty is greater than twice the distance (I'm sayin' much greater) to the fence.. Thus .. Kitty would be about 3' long nose to tail... again Guinness book of records. We'll see what the experts say... Also maybe the OP will chime in and give us a guesstimate of the distance from the fence to the ridge..
 
I've seen a number of mountain lions out in the boonies, both at a distance and up close. I've also seen quite a few bobcats.

I'd hazard a guess, from the very poor picture, it is a bobcat... if a cat at all.

And as others said, no, you're not responsible for wild life on your property.

L.W.
 
I'll reserve any comments on the effort to deduce distances in that photo. But let's say it is 36 inches. I have a cat that is 30 inches. A cougar should be 6-7 feet. A 36 inch long cougar would have to be a cub. But there is no evidence of a breeding population anywhere nearby. So for it to be a cougar you have to make a lot of low probability assumptions. For it to be a housecat you just have to accept that eyes play tricks, especially with perspective in two-dimensional pictures. Google "estimating distance in photographs" and see how complex and technical it is. It reminds me of moon illusion. The full moon on the horizon looks huge and then seems to get smaller as it rises in the sky. But that's just an illusion.

Leanwolf, It looks to me like too much tail for a bobcat. But then I'm the one saying you have to be careful estimating anything in photos.
 
The date bothers me more'n anything else, simply because most phones today are running "calendars" from the phone service, NOT something that is set from the phone itself.
 
It was taken with a camera inside a pair of binoculars. I assume it wasn't set right for date because the OP said it was taken very recently.
 
I'm with Art. I'm not familiar with this state's law, but who gets to shoot what for wild animals is regulated by that state's office for wildlife resources. You can't start dropping deer just because they are eating your watermelons. I see no reason this situation would be any different. I also agree that there is no evidence that this cat is lingering or causing any problems. If you call the conservation office, I doubt they would respond with the intent to capture or kill it just because you "think you saw a cougar or something once."
 
Oops - you're right - dunno where I got that it was a phone camera....my bad! On the camera - heck, I don't even bother to set up the calendar, much less the clock!
 
you should always carry at lest a 22lr when going outdoors with the kids ,if not just for there sake .wild dogs....cats ... mouse... flees. whatever;)
 
I encountered a cougar last Saturday night at the pool hall.

Still have the scratch marks on my back.
 
House Cat Hunting Mice! The Tail is not long enough to be a lion, If it was a Mountain Lion The Tail Would be The length of the Cat itself or more. The tail is also not in a Walking Position, It should Drop Down then Curl Upward and Out. Also a Mountain Lion Will generally hold its tail Out When Running and Chasing Prey. In this Pic it is Walking!

Duke you are the :evil:
 
mtgunny, I was going to make those points but allowed that the animal in the picture might not be entirely broadside to the camera so the angle could distort both the length and carriage of the tail. Plus, domestic cats have tails of widely varying lengths.
 
Tell him to go to local DNR wildlife conservation Office and talk to them. We have a couger in North East MN.. Multiple pics/sightings. Thing is the DNR wants to tag it but they are unable to tree it/drug it. (but local hicks have treed it twice that I know of) :) :) :)
Thing is they made it VERY CLEAR if anyone shoots it they better be able to PROVE their life was in danger. We have a wolf problem. I was at a guys place who gave up raising cattle. He caught wolves killing calves and notified DNR/wildlife. They said it might be wild dogs and he better not shoot wolves. So he shot one next to his house in a pen where it had killed a calf and was eating it. Last I heard his selling all cattle they might not make a example of him.
 
Hey all I am back home. The distance from the back porch to that fence line in approx 75-80 yards; distance to the object in question in roughly 160-175 range. The only reason I know like I said I built that house and lived there for a couple years before building this one. I have a hunter ed meeting tommorrow night at the wildlife and parks field office. I'll save a copy of the pict to a flash drive and see what they think. Granted I can pull up the pict and zoom in a little on the computer where as we can't on this site. As for the date on the picture i don't know. I am not the photographer I think I would of grabbed my nikon and tried for a good picture. Hell I might of grabbed my rifle and gone for a close up shot later. We are getting a pretty decent rain right now and may soften the ground up a little more.

The other thing a lot of people are buring off pasture now. This whatever it is may have been pushed through from god knows where. The area the photo was taken of is just praire hay. A mix of brome grass, praire grass and little bit of everything else. Not worth a hell of a lot but I still bale it for lean times or drought.

If that is a house cat I herby swear i will never kick another cat trying to get into my garage again. Yes we have bobcats out here there is a breeding pair that I have seen on numerous occasions, There is a family of red fox that I have seen several times as well.
 
One of the people I sent this pic to says no doubt, housecat based on neck and tail length.
Click to expand...
I guess we'll never know..but this does lower my esteem for "experts"...

Figuring eighty -ninety five yards from the fence to the ridge;
The distance from the back porch to that fence line in approx 75-80 yards; distance to the object in question in roughly 160-175 range. The only reason I know like I said I built that house and lived there for a couple years before building this one.
Click to expand...
that is one BIG housecat....to heck with the neck size and tail size........Like the OP says...If'n that's a house cat I'll never kick another one.......

Also makes me wonder how many Cougar sightings have been dismissed as house cats by the experts ........I guess we'll never know..
 
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