Name This Cat

[Steal2B]

Looking for some more learned opinions. This was sighted this afternoon in Dutchess County. Based on some shots of the same or similar cat (carrying off what appeared to be a friendly local pet domestic cat last week) next to some measurable landmarks this cat is 20 inches at the sholder with a body of about 36 inches in length. The curved tail much longer than a 5 inch bobtail. There are no obvious telltale bobcat spots. Compared to dog of similar size I would guess a weight of 40 to 50 lbs but it could be more. The picture is not great but it is the best of several options.

 

[Phazer]

Name This Cat

Mufasa.

 

[togmaster]

Chupacabra

 

[Twogunwilly]

Catamount

 

[Eddie Gunks]

Pussy

 

[GOYABEAN]

Mountain lion

 

[Darth]

Stevens.

 

[BDinPutnam]

I don't think that could be anything but (mountain lion)?

Kim Cattrell if that's the case (cougar).

 

[fnfalguy]

A puddy cat.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

As long as it's not one of these you should be ok.

 

[Bushmaster]

The picture is FAKE, It is a POOR job of a Cougar neck, head attached.

 

[Bushmaster]

Pig tail LOL, shoulder blade size of a freakin cow LOL, pee brain head, weasel neck LOL...In a full green grass area with yellow halo around it, and cut off legs LOL... Piss down my leg, tell me it's raining out LOL WTF

 

[Steal2B]

The picture is FAKE, It is a POOR job of a Cougar neck, head attached.

Sorry, not a fake. It is from my neighbor's cell phone this afternoon and is the second sighting of this cat in a week. Here is a shot from last week from my BIL cell phone. I had no camera with me. In this shot it has a local pet cat in its jaws.

 

[DoD1776]

Looks like a friggin lynx tbh but I think those are in Montana and Canada

 

[Bushmaster]

Sorry, not a fake. It is from my neighbor's cell phone this afternoon and is the second sighting of this cat in a week. Here is a shot from last week from my BIL cell phone. I had no camera with me. In this shot it has a local pet cat in its jaws.
View attachment 32520

That pic is a freaking dog.

 

[Bushmaster]

Looks like a friggin lynx tbh but I think those are in Montana and Canada

NOT a Lynx.

 

[DoD1776]

NOT a Lynx.

I know. It’s face looks like one though

 

[E the massive]

Chairman Meow.

 

[Bushmaster]

The stance gait and black lower legs is dog or red fox with bad tail. Top first pic is not same animal.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Ah what the hell.

 

[Steal2B]

Not a dog, no doubt there, it is a cat. It momentarily dropped its prey to growl / snarl at us, and a protesting herd of deer that came in to our yard. It is much bigger than the female bobcat (usually with a juvenile) we see maybe twice annually along the same trail.

 

[Steal2B]

The stance gait and black lower legs is dog or red fox with bad tail. Top first pic is not same animal.

In person it looked very similar if not the same. I admit these cell phone pics taken in haste are hard to decipher. Can not say they are the same but I doubt there would be two fifty pound cats in the same Dutchess County yards one week apart. I will stage some motion cameras on this path.

 

[Steal2B]

The stance gait and black lower legs is dog or red fox with bad tail. Top first pic is not same animal.

This cat is much bigger than our local red fox and is comparable in size to the larger of the Eastern Coyote we have pics of in the same end of our yard.

 

[Depick]

Maybe one of @Bullet Guy ’s ?

 

[HighlandLofts]

Kill the cat, give it to a Chinese restaurant and call it diner.

 

[BDinPutnam]

It ain't an eastern coyote.

 

[HighlandLofts]

The first picture looks like a cougar, the second picture looks like a bobcat.

To see good cougar pictures go to the
Hunting Washington forum and then click on to the trail camera section
There are a shit load of cougar out here.

A month ago while out shooting with my grandson we seen a half grown cougar up in the cascade mountains crossing a forest service road.

When I set my trail cameras out i should get some cougar pictures.

 

[Saltwater60]

The first picture looks like a cougar, the second picture looks like a bobcat.

To see good cougar pictures go to the
Hunting Washington forum and then click on to the trail camera section
There are a shit load of cougar out here.

A month ago while out shooting with my grandson we seen a half grown cougar up in the cascade mountains crossing a forest service road.

When I set my trail cameras out i should get some cougar pictures.

I agree the two pictures are not of the same animal. One looks like a cougar with a curled tail the other has a bobbed tail like a bobcat.

 

[Steal2B]

After last week's sighting, I would have guessed Bobcat but it was admittedly way too big (close to twice the size of the largest NY male bobcat specimen range cited by the DEC), was missing the usual spottings, and the tail was triple the normal length. Would not have guessed cougar because the tail was way too short, the ears were not right, and it was half the weight of other cougars I have seen. The domestic cat in its mouth was dwarfed in sized. (Sadly we think it was an affectionate but naive neighborhood cat that frequently patrolled this area.)

The sighting today was as big, its behavior was similar, but the ears seemed less tufted. Thought it would be fun to post since no conclusion was clear to any witnesses.

I need better pictures to clear up any ideas in my head and concede to any with more experience. Unless they claim fox, dog, or coyote ... too many witnesses all know better after seeing and hearing this cat kill and protect its prey. This cat had no fear of people, large deer protecting yearlings, and a larger 90 poundish dog going full blown Cujo mode wanting to defend the homestead and attack it. (A small Yorkie next door sought shelter under furniture after sensing the commotion.)

I understand there is a licensed owner of cougars in Dutchess but I assume there would be notifications made if they lost a mountain lion in a suburban county. I am not suprised by more predator cat sightings in our neighborhood since our once heavy local coyote and fox population dropped dramatically in the last year or two and we are swimming in rabbits, chipmunks, turkeys and ground hogs.

 

[BDinPutnam]

You need a trail cam on that tree.

Coloration of body is all wrong for any cats in the US but mountain lion, from the little I can make out, that I am aware of. Cougars have been sighted, allegedly, in NY.

I am not calling BS on you at all but the two later pictures do look very much like a different animal if you look at the face coloration and more important in my mind, gait.

Ps the tail... I dunno. Bobbed? Weird. Shit happens.