trail cam pic
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chains1240
Member
Very nice.
472x1A/B
Member
Great pic. Never know what you're gonna see.
wankerjake
Member
Sweet pic!
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Yep, its a bobcat. At that time of day, it is Over time, you will be amazed what you see with trail cams. We have caught a number of animals mating. Caught a 45 minute buck fight where wounds appeared as the pictures progressed. Have seen all sorts of flying birds. Caught raccoons working the hoist to lower the feeder, followed by a pic of the feeder on the ground. I have pics of various animals cleaning themselves. Got one of a fawn falling in my water hole, LOL.
FLAvalanche
Member
Hopefully I'll have a picture of a jaguarundi soon. I saw him crossing the fence last weekend and I'm going to put a camera where he's been crossing. They say they don't exist this far south in Florida but this one is the third I've seen.
Sometimes I wonder if FWC actually goes out in the woods...
Sometimes I wonder if FWC actually goes out in the woods...
harryheadshot
Member
that's not a small cat, flip, cool pic man, thanks for sharing it with us.
harryheadshot
Member
Isn't it a florida panther not a jag.
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There is so much confusion about wild cats on this sight I'd like to introduce a bit taxonomy here..Jaguarundis and Jaguars are completely different cats and jaguarundis are NOT Florida panthers. Florida panthers are a species of mountain lion.
See below.
Texas is home to 7 different cat species including several endangered ones.
Bobcat
The bobcat is a medium-sized, reddish brown cat about the size of a chow dog. Length of the adult is about 3 feet, 6 inches. Weight is 12-20 pounds, occasionally up to 36 pounds in old, fat males. Bobcats are highly adaptable felines and throughout most of their range in Texas have shown a marked ability to cope with the inroads of human settlement.
The bobcat's food consists mainly of small mammals and birds. Among the mammals found in bobcat stomachs, wood rats, ground squirrels, mice and rabbits supply the bulk of the diet. Occasionally deer are killed and eaten, but most of the deer meat found in bobcat stomachs has been carrion. The bobcat also preys upon domestic sheep, goats and poultry. The predatory damage is not great, except in rare instances.
The bobcat is the only native Texas cat which is important as a fur animal.
mountain lionMountain Lion (Puma, Cougar)
The mountain lion is an unspotted cat. Males may be as much as 8 feet, 6 inches; females, 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Weight of three males averaged 184 (160-227) pounds; six females, 118 (105-133) pounds.
The mountain lion ranges over much of the Trans-Pecos of West Texas, the southern two-thirds of the Hill Country in Central Texas, and a large portion of the South Texas brushlands as well as in limited areas in North Central Texas. Within this range, the cat is most common in remote, thinly populated ranchlands but may be encountered almost anywhere. Changing land use patterns have resulted in reduced predator control efforts in many lion-populated areas. As a consequence, lion populations currently appear to be holding their own or increasing in the southern, central and western portions of the state.
Retiring and shy by nature, and largely nocturnal by habit, the mountain lion is seldom seen in its native haunts.
The diet of the mountain lion consists almost entirely of animal matter; but, like the domestic cat, it occasionally eats grasses and other vegetable matter. Deer and javelina are major food items; however, lions have been known to take elk and bighorn sheep as well as a variety of smaller animals.
Contrary to popular opinion, mountain lions rarely use caves as dens, preferring cliff crevices, overhanging ledges or enlarged badger burrows instead.
Except for a short breeding period of up to two weeks' duration, they lead a solitary existence.
Margay
Similar to the ocelot in color and color pattern, but smaller and more slender, is the margay. Total length is about 3 feet. Little is known of its breeding habits and food, but opossums are included in its diet.
It is known from Texas only on the basis of one specimen take at Eagle Pass by Col. S. Cooper over 100 years ago.
Remains of this diminutive cat were found in Pleistocene deposits along the Sabine River in Orange County, indicating the Margay ranged over a considerable portion of South Texas a few thousand years ago.
jaguarundiJaguarundi
The jaguarundi is about twice the size of a domestic cat. It has two color phases, one grayish, the other reddish. Length of males is about 3 feet, 6 inches, of which the tail is more than half.
Considered extremely rare in Texas, the sleek low-slung jaguarundi inhabits the brush country of extreme southern Texas in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties. It reportedly eats rats, mice, birds and rabbits. Of all the cats, this one excels in ability to spring and jump, considering its size. No information is available on home life, growth and development. Numerous sightings of this species are reported each year, but they are difficult to verify because of the similarity to wild house cats.
The clearing of brushlands in the Rio Grande Valley threatens to destroy habitat in Texas.
Jaguar
The jaguar is the largest and most robust of the spotted American cats. Large males may grow as long as seven feet and weigh up to 200 pounds. Seldom venturing into the high, cooler inland areas, El Tigre inhabits the dense chaparral and timbered areas of the New World Tropics. This elegant cat shows a particular fondness for water-side habitats. It is extremely unlikely that this cat occurs in Texas although a rare visit by a wanderer from Mexico is possible. Last verified Texas records date from the turn of the century. The jaguar is now considered by most authorities to be extirpated from the state. Its food habits are not well known. In Mexico, it is known to prey on peccaries and in the Amazon region it catches fruit-eating fish using its sharp claws as gaff hooks, and it probably preys on deer and large ground-dwelling birds when such items are available.
Dr. E. W. Nelson reported that it is also fond of sea turtle eggs. The jaguar roams the beaches on spring nights, digs up the turtle eggs and enjoys a delectable repast.
Domestic(Feral Cat)
While the domestic cat has adapted itself in extraordinary fashion to man's customs, it has not altogether lost its wild traits. Often sleek, sleepy, and well-behaved by day, the cat, by night, may become a stealthy and serious predator.
In the course of a bobwhite quail experiment in East Texas, cats killed 8 quail and 10 cardinals in the experiment traps, on one occasion 6 quail at one time.
Cats also are known to catch and consume cotton rats and pocket gophers, and according to studies in Texas, cats consume Attwater's prairie chickens, meadowlarks, chicken flesh and feathers.
ocelotOcelot
The Ocelot is the most beautiful Texas cat. It is unique in that no two ocelot pelts are alike. Adult males may be as much as 3 feet, 10 inches long; females up to 3 feet. Weight is 20-35 pounds. Although the ocelot's food habits have not been determined completely, it has been reported that birds, including domestic poultry, are captured on their roosts. Rabbits, wood rats, mice of many kinds, as well as snakes and other reptiles, are also important items in the ocelot's diet. Now restricted to several isolated patches of suitable habitat in three or four counties of the Rio Grande Plains, the ocelot once ranged over the entire southern part of the state, with occasional records from north and central Texas.
Its population in Texas is chiefly threatened by habitat loss resulting from conversion of naturally-vegetated areas to agricultural land in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Recent studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife reveal that the ocelot is still found in scattered native brush areas of South Texas and some of these cats may now be using more open rangeland.
See below.
Texas is home to 7 different cat species including several endangered ones.
Bobcat
The bobcat is a medium-sized, reddish brown cat about the size of a chow dog. Length of the adult is about 3 feet, 6 inches. Weight is 12-20 pounds, occasionally up to 36 pounds in old, fat males. Bobcats are highly adaptable felines and throughout most of their range in Texas have shown a marked ability to cope with the inroads of human settlement.
The bobcat's food consists mainly of small mammals and birds. Among the mammals found in bobcat stomachs, wood rats, ground squirrels, mice and rabbits supply the bulk of the diet. Occasionally deer are killed and eaten, but most of the deer meat found in bobcat stomachs has been carrion. The bobcat also preys upon domestic sheep, goats and poultry. The predatory damage is not great, except in rare instances.
The bobcat is the only native Texas cat which is important as a fur animal.
mountain lionMountain Lion (Puma, Cougar)
The mountain lion is an unspotted cat. Males may be as much as 8 feet, 6 inches; females, 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Weight of three males averaged 184 (160-227) pounds; six females, 118 (105-133) pounds.
The mountain lion ranges over much of the Trans-Pecos of West Texas, the southern two-thirds of the Hill Country in Central Texas, and a large portion of the South Texas brushlands as well as in limited areas in North Central Texas. Within this range, the cat is most common in remote, thinly populated ranchlands but may be encountered almost anywhere. Changing land use patterns have resulted in reduced predator control efforts in many lion-populated areas. As a consequence, lion populations currently appear to be holding their own or increasing in the southern, central and western portions of the state.
Retiring and shy by nature, and largely nocturnal by habit, the mountain lion is seldom seen in its native haunts.
The diet of the mountain lion consists almost entirely of animal matter; but, like the domestic cat, it occasionally eats grasses and other vegetable matter. Deer and javelina are major food items; however, lions have been known to take elk and bighorn sheep as well as a variety of smaller animals.
Contrary to popular opinion, mountain lions rarely use caves as dens, preferring cliff crevices, overhanging ledges or enlarged badger burrows instead.
Except for a short breeding period of up to two weeks' duration, they lead a solitary existence.
Margay
Similar to the ocelot in color and color pattern, but smaller and more slender, is the margay. Total length is about 3 feet. Little is known of its breeding habits and food, but opossums are included in its diet.
It is known from Texas only on the basis of one specimen take at Eagle Pass by Col. S. Cooper over 100 years ago.
Remains of this diminutive cat were found in Pleistocene deposits along the Sabine River in Orange County, indicating the Margay ranged over a considerable portion of South Texas a few thousand years ago.
jaguarundiJaguarundi
The jaguarundi is about twice the size of a domestic cat. It has two color phases, one grayish, the other reddish. Length of males is about 3 feet, 6 inches, of which the tail is more than half.
Considered extremely rare in Texas, the sleek low-slung jaguarundi inhabits the brush country of extreme southern Texas in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties. It reportedly eats rats, mice, birds and rabbits. Of all the cats, this one excels in ability to spring and jump, considering its size. No information is available on home life, growth and development. Numerous sightings of this species are reported each year, but they are difficult to verify because of the similarity to wild house cats.
The clearing of brushlands in the Rio Grande Valley threatens to destroy habitat in Texas.
Jaguar
The jaguar is the largest and most robust of the spotted American cats. Large males may grow as long as seven feet and weigh up to 200 pounds. Seldom venturing into the high, cooler inland areas, El Tigre inhabits the dense chaparral and timbered areas of the New World Tropics. This elegant cat shows a particular fondness for water-side habitats. It is extremely unlikely that this cat occurs in Texas although a rare visit by a wanderer from Mexico is possible. Last verified Texas records date from the turn of the century. The jaguar is now considered by most authorities to be extirpated from the state. Its food habits are not well known. In Mexico, it is known to prey on peccaries and in the Amazon region it catches fruit-eating fish using its sharp claws as gaff hooks, and it probably preys on deer and large ground-dwelling birds when such items are available.
Dr. E. W. Nelson reported that it is also fond of sea turtle eggs. The jaguar roams the beaches on spring nights, digs up the turtle eggs and enjoys a delectable repast.
Domestic(Feral Cat)
While the domestic cat has adapted itself in extraordinary fashion to man's customs, it has not altogether lost its wild traits. Often sleek, sleepy, and well-behaved by day, the cat, by night, may become a stealthy and serious predator.
In the course of a bobwhite quail experiment in East Texas, cats killed 8 quail and 10 cardinals in the experiment traps, on one occasion 6 quail at one time.
Cats also are known to catch and consume cotton rats and pocket gophers, and according to studies in Texas, cats consume Attwater's prairie chickens, meadowlarks, chicken flesh and feathers.
ocelotOcelot
The Ocelot is the most beautiful Texas cat. It is unique in that no two ocelot pelts are alike. Adult males may be as much as 3 feet, 10 inches long; females up to 3 feet. Weight is 20-35 pounds. Although the ocelot's food habits have not been determined completely, it has been reported that birds, including domestic poultry, are captured on their roosts. Rabbits, wood rats, mice of many kinds, as well as snakes and other reptiles, are also important items in the ocelot's diet. Now restricted to several isolated patches of suitable habitat in three or four counties of the Rio Grande Plains, the ocelot once ranged over the entire southern part of the state, with occasional records from north and central Texas.
Its population in Texas is chiefly threatened by habitat loss resulting from conversion of naturally-vegetated areas to agricultural land in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Recent studies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife reveal that the ocelot is still found in scattered native brush areas of South Texas and some of these cats may now be using more open rangeland.
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This should clear up any further questions for the remainder of the life of THR site. Right? RIGHT?
Jaguarundi…They can be solid in color or spotted.
Jaguar males can weigh over 300 lbs and will kill you dead as a hammer if they ever wanted to.
Female adult Florida Panther with cub NOTE the cubs are spotted. I think this causes some confusion. The cubs lose their spots as they mature and become a solid cream color at about 1 to 1.5 years old.
NOTE
The term panther, painter, catamount, cougar, lion, Mt lion, Florida Panther, all refer to some kind of Mt Lion when used in the USA.
Jaguarundi…They can be solid in color or spotted.
Jaguar males can weigh over 300 lbs and will kill you dead as a hammer if they ever wanted to.
Female adult Florida Panther with cub NOTE the cubs are spotted. I think this causes some confusion. The cubs lose their spots as they mature and become a solid cream color at about 1 to 1.5 years old.
NOTE
The term panther, painter, catamount, cougar, lion, Mt lion, Florida Panther, all refer to some kind of Mt Lion when used in the USA.
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Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I would bet that the FWC sometimes wonders if folks really know what they have seen.
My folks live a few miles south of me, in the country, but in an area being built up. For yet another year, people in the area are reporting the sighting of a cougar/mountain lion. The local Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist looking into the matter specializes in urban wildlife gives talks on human/animal interactions in urban environments. He has investigated 100s reports of cougars/mountain lions in the area (covering parts of several counties) over the years and has yet to turn up any credible evidence despite many witnesses who supposedly knew what they were talking about. When they do have photos, scat, or tracks, it always turns out to be something else...despite claims to the contrary.
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedconte...als/stories/DRC_editorial_1204.290b45130.html
However contrary to your claim, FWC does not say that they don't exist in south Florida. They specifically have sighting records from Lee, Desoto, Highlands, and Manatee and as a non-native species, it has the potential to be just about anywhere. What FWC does note is that they have 8 accounts with absolutely no confirnmational evidence.
People report seeing all sorts of stuff. Look at all the reports across the US for Black Panthers (the cats, not the people) in the US, but where is the evidence? Here is a recent thread here that claims proof of them in Alabama. Note that no actual proof of a black panther was offered... http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=558532&highlight=black+panther
So I hope you get your proof and it is definitive proof. Otherwise, you just got a story about how you know more than the FWC does and nothing to back it up.
mr.trooper
Member
Welcome to the internet: having your facts strait is not a prerequisite for posting.
FLAvalanche
Member
At this point I hope I do just for the sake of knocking you off your high and mighty perch.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
When it comes to cryptids, everyone has stories. It is almost alarming how many such stories gravitate to sensationalized phenomena. Heck, even I have seen a chupacabra! Of course, chupacabras are just canids with extensive fur disease such as mange or by mites, but I have seen one.
When FWC confirms that you have actual evidence of jaguarundi, they will post it because it will be a significant find. There hasn't been much in the way of reports of the jagaurundi in your area in nearly 30 years after all. http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/Nonnative_Jaguarundi.htm
So when the confirmed identification is made, consider yourself vindicated, but note that I didn't say you were wrong. You just tell a very unlikely story.
Think about it. How is it that you have managed three sightings for an extremely rare animal for which there isn't any actual proof that it exists in your state when none of the people from FWC, USFWS, universities (biology, zoology, wildlife and fisheries, and econology programs), hunters, trappers, cryptozoologists, and eco-tourists have ever managed conclusive proof?
Maybe you will get lucky with your game camera. Jaguarundi are diurnal and so you should be able to get the best images that way. However like bigfoot, the little cats have apparently been able to avoid the thousands of game cameras already in use in your state.
The only actual confirmed historic records for the jagaurundi in the US are from the southern tip of Texas and that is it, though there is a prehistoric record from Arizona.
http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/Documents/Redbook/Jaguarundi RB.pdf
also see Hall and Kelson, 1959, The Mammals of North America.
So I am afraid that I am fairly secure in my high and mighty perch as you called it, but not completely so. Florida does have an extensive problem with invasive and non-native species, hundreds in fact.
http://www.myfwc.com/WILDLIFEHABITATS/Nonnative_index.htm
I would not be surprised that they have been brought in as part of the illegal game trade. Regardless of how they might be brought in isn't relevant. If you can spot one and get conclusive prooof, it counts. Apparently, there have been several sightings at Hammocks State Park starting back in 1979, so maybe there is an active population after all?
I wish you the best of luck in being able to get proof that will confirm the presence of the cat. You will be in the record books for the first actual proof. That will be a real feather in your cap, not to mention just being outright cool!
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Sweeeeet! Nice pic! Is this down in Texas? Were you hunting them?
Freedom_fighter_in_IL
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I have a question for all the "experts" out there. Isn't the head a little longer than usual on a Bobcat? I have seen my share of them in Tennessee and maybe this is just an environmental thing to do with the species, but the head pictured on that animal is more similar to a small panthers head. Never seen one while hunting in Texas so I have no clue as to the norm.
Everything else on it says bobcat to me, but that head just makes me question the purity of the bloodline is why I am asking.
Everything else on it says bobcat to me, but that head just makes me question the purity of the bloodline is why I am asking.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I think that what you are seeing is a combination of coloration, shadow play, and head position.
It would be hard to question the purity of the animal's genetics based on a singular trait showing possible subtle variation.
So the head on small panthers is longer than the head on big panthers? I am not familiar with any biometric studies along those lines or using head length for identification of cross species progeny. What about the head is longer?
It would be hard to question the purity of the animal's genetics based on a singular trait showing possible subtle variation.
So the head on small panthers is longer than the head on big panthers? I am not familiar with any biometric studies along those lines or using head length for identification of cross species progeny. What about the head is longer?
Freedom_fighter_in_IL
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Looks to me like the muzzle is a little longer on that animal than a bobcat. Blow the pic up a little and you may see why I am asking. You could be right about angle and such. Just seems a little longer to me than any bobcat I have ever seen.
Freedom_fighter_in_IL
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Comparison view of another BC taken. Try putting them side by side and you will see the difference I am speaking of
An even better example
An even better example
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
From the OP picture, it sorta looks like the ears are cocked back, some, which could make the head look longer.
Margays are neat cats. I knew a guy who had one as a pet, years and years back. Quite gentle and tame, but it loved to sit way up high on bookshelves and cabinets. From there it would hop onto an unsuspecting shoulder...
Margays are neat cats. I knew a guy who had one as a pet, years and years back. Quite gentle and tame, but it loved to sit way up high on bookshelves and cabinets. From there it would hop onto an unsuspecting shoulder...
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
The first image doesn't work because the camera angle relative to the cat is too different and you can't see the "length" of the head. The second better example is perfect.
In comparison with the OP's cat, your cat has its chin turned down and the neck is oriented slightly upward. The OP's cat has the chin raised and neck oriented slightly downward. You can see this clearly in the angle formed at the junction of the neck and the jaw in the images. Yours looks to be maybe 90-95 degrees and the OP's is more like 120. Sorry, but the kids took my protractor for a project and it never returned.
If you look closely, you can the see line of the mouth in each and they are oriented in different directions.
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