Lynx, bobcat or mtn lion?

H&Hhunter said:

I've had several killed or mangled bad enough that they had to be shot running bears.

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I had the pleasure of talking with a colorful old coot back in the mountains of SW Virginia. He related a story where his hounds backed a big boar against a rock face. He said the bear killed or maimed almost all of his pack before he got there to shoot it. He quit running bears after that because he didn't have it in him to raise another pack from scratch.

wankerjake said:

As an aside, if I'm not mistaken, that is a photo of a very large lion that was hit by a vehicle near Williams AZ. I have seen that picture and I think that's where.

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Sorry no cigar. But you may have seen it before. Not in Arizona.

A note on Canadian lynx also. They are an endangered species. If someone in the US or Canada successfully hunted one in recent times, and posted pics, they should expect a very unfriendly visit from law enforcement some time soon.

Just sharing that info. But it isn't a lynx. It's a bobcat.

Dog Soldier said:

Sorry no cigar. But you may have seen it before. Not in Arizona.

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In Arizona, the local paper in fact. I remember when it happened.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/mountainlion2007.asp

http://blog.pennlive.com/pa-sportsm...ennsylvania_this_time_near_state_college.html

As President Trump would say "Fake News". I suspect it was from an archive.

Dog Soldier said:

As President Trump would say "Fake News". I suspect it was from an archive.

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That's correct it was from an archive. The Williams AZ newspaper archive.

OK if you are happy I am also.

wankerjake said:

Bears he said were a different story. They don't mind a fight. He doesn't intentionally run bears.

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Around here, Bear hunting with dogs is a tradition as old as hunting itself and I have several friends with hounds that own/train/run them, exclusively for bear. Many have dogs with no sense of scent trailing in their pack, who's sole job it is to keep a bear that stops, but doesn't tree, busy until the hunters catch up. Those folks are more afraid of their dogs getting too far ahead and running into wolves than bear.

buck460XVR said:

Around here, Bear hunting with dogs is a tradition as old as hunting itself and I have several friends with hounds that own/train/run them, exclusively for bear. Many have dogs with no sense of scent trailing in their pack, who's sole job it is to keep a bear that stops, but doesn't tree, busy until the hunters catch up. Those folks are more afraid of their dogs getting too far ahead and running into wolves than bear.

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Definitely it is, I'd love to do it sometime. Guys run bear here too. He doesn't. The fact that bears kill more dogs than lions is one reason HE doesn't run bears presently is all I was saying on the topic of bears being more apt to fight a dog than a lion.

So true. The wolves attacked a herd of sheep South of my place. That is in the rugged "Chalk Buttes" bad lands. They killed 3 large well trained sheep dogs and 26 head of sheep. The dogs were Great Pyrenees which are fierce fighters and sell for $4,500 each.

Way too much off-topic wandering.

While the photo isn't the best, I could see what looks like spots on the hind leg. And, as others have said, the position in front of the man makes the cat seem larger. So, bobcat.

My turn to wander: Used to be a professional cat hunter in Alpine, Texas; Roy McBride. Worked his dog pack 12 to 15 miles per day, even up toward 80 years old (I'm jealous). He trapped for radio-collaring in Big Bend National Park. Some two-dozen lions. Never a mention of lost tails. Lots of photos. And I've never read of such in any of the outdoor mags that I've been reading since back in the late 1940s.

"...1st clue, Lions don't have spots..." Young ones do. What appears to be spots aren't necessarily. And the tail can be hanging down behind the log. Bobcats have more fur on the sides of their faces too. Hard to tell much from that picture though.

Dog Soldier said:

That is a cougar. He has been treed by hounds. They typical lose their tails in these chases. The ears were torn. You can see where the ears were doctored for the picture. He was shot through the ribs. That takes out their very small lungs. The hunter knew lions. A .22 Mag is a choice lion caliber.

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Wow, you got all that information from a bobcat picture.

"The ears were doctored." ROFL!

It's a bobcat and I didn't need to read the thread to figure that out. Spots on the rear legs, the coloration on the ears, the black tip of the short tail and the shape of the head/face all tell me it's a bobcat.

I've never hunted lions but I have hunted and killed bobcats, not with dogs. The lions I've seen were either in zoos and such. I did spend time observing a huge one lying and resting on a table at a venue at a wildlife exposition in Charleston SC. He seemed unconcerned as people walked by and watched him not a double arms length away. Lions are magnificent cats! So are bobcats, IMHO. I agree that a bobcat is pictured and made to look enormous by the camera perspective.

Wild cats are neat critters. I've seen two cougars in the wild, and tracks of many more--some around my house, particularly the burn pit for my garbage. I've killed a couple of bobcats and seen several others. One on my place was almost fully brown--at least the spots weren't visible--which I'm told is an indicator of age. The most fun event was one afternoon when a bobcat wandered onto my front porch, sniffing at bird scent (because of feeders) for a bit and then wandering on his merry way.

The Species Cougar, Puma Finis Concolor has spots often into early maturity. The female with cub is older and retains spots.

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I don't see much "High Road" stuff going on here.
Everything on the internet does not have to be set straight, and if it did, I sure wouldn't want the job.
So what? Who cares?
If somebody is sure they are right or might be wrong in this forum,
why does it so often have to escalate to the point where people need blood pressure medication?
Lighten up people. We're here to help each other, not scramble to the top of Mount Know-it-all.
If you think this is a house cat on steroids, that's fine with me. Tell me why and I'll draw my own conclusions.

Bullseye said:

...We're here to help each other, not scramble to the top of Mount Know-it-all.
...

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but....it's lonely up here! I want company

Dog Soldier said:

That is a cougar. He has been treed by hounds. They typical lose their tails in these chases. The ears were torn. You can see where the ears were doctored for the picture. He was shot through the ribs. That takes out their very small lungs. The hunter knew lions. A .22 Mag is a choice lion caliber.

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Huh? I used to hunt with a friend that had a pack of dogs and we hunted cougars in Washington, Idaho and Montana for years and I have never seen a cougar lose it's tail. Must be an urban myth in your neck of the woods.

The hole just keeps getting deeper.

Pass the popcorn.