trail cam picture - What is it?

At first look it looks like a bear facing right, and a bit away. You can see the out line of the bears head pretty clearly, it's large head, ears, and long snout with it's mouth open slighlty.

But looking close, focising in the hands it looks like two humans arms in a winter coat grabbing and pushing one end of a bear trap(go figure) while pinning the other side down with his feet, closely together. There also seems to be something on his back, looks like the outline of a gun.

So it's either a hunter laying a bear trap (most likely).

or

A bear undoing the hunters trap carefully, and stealing the meat

It appears to be a medium/large breed of dog to me. The front legs look a little too skinny, but I think that's probably an optical illusion created by a poor camera angle. The same is probably true for the length of the tail, but in that case, I think that digital artifacts are causing it to blend into a shadow along the animals back. In reality, what looks like a tail is probably about half-to-two thirds shadow.

reply to post by Inertia
Hi Inert,
You've been looking at too many ink blots, (only joking) I'd go for the big pussy theory myself, although earlier I did think it was a bare bear.

Ok, I have a new theory and I think I may be on to something. What's throwing everyone off is that there is a stump in front of the animal.
I outlined what I believe to be a tree stump in this pic. You can see that it is either a some sort of big cat or a dog trotting away from the camara between the tree and a stump. The stump has part of a limb sticking out of it. I don't think its a bear because the front paws are way too small. Bears have giant claws.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/049624cd9e48.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by virraszto
Here's what I think it is.

I think it's two mooses, but because of the way they were standing when the photo was captured, it makes it hard to tell. I colored what I thought were two different animals. You can see the legs and possibly part of the head of the second animal.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e06abfad41d8.jpg[/atsimg]

I think this guy right here has the coloring right on the money, but is off on the explination. I think this is 100% for sure an escaped or let loose lioness. Which is not at all beyond the realm os possibility with the illegal animal trade in the US. Someone could have gotten their hands on a lion cub and set it loose in the swamps/woods when it got too large. I think the parts he has colored red aren't another animal, but either noise or motion bur from the animal running. A lioness is the only animal I can think of that matches that head shape along with the body proportions.

The people convinced this is a hunter are just out of it imo. I mean the only way this is a hunter is if he's naked, has really shiny and smooth skin, is wearing a bear head and has tiny malformed arms. And besides, if that were a person, this wouldn't even be a thread because there would be more frames.

It's a shame this picture has got the NASA MARS red tint to it instead of being true color. Seeing true color here would tell us exactly what it is I'm sure. But I'm actually convinced this is a lioness bounding through the woods. Wherever this is taken, I suggest not hanging out in the woods there unless you want to become lion food. I just hope she stays in the woods and doesn't roam into populated areas, because she will be killed.

I think it is a big cat.... This is a pic of a cougar running, the angle is different but looks pretty much the same.

I zommed into this pic in photo shop and it's 100% a dog walking away from the camera.

reply to post by Box of Rain


Yeah, that's what I see, too. We live in northeast Louisiana, and this looks like a panther to us. My husband has trail cameras out in our woods, but we've never caught a panther, just lots of bobcats!

reply to post by Larry L
See now Larry,
You've made me change my mind again, It's now seems like it is a leprechaun taking his Wolfhound out for a walk!

Originally posted by Cygnus_Hunter
Big Cats have been sighted in Louisiana,not that im saying anything mind,just thought i'd add the page above to add to the speculation!

While I can vouch for big cats — specifically cougar — in East Texas and probably on into Louisiana, I can tell that this creature is not a cat. Large cats have a completely different skeletal structure, their spines are naturally arched toward the rear end. The creature in the picture is configured more like a large dog, like a pit bull, although the front legs appear too slim for a pit bull of those dimensions. Pits have heavy forelegs and slim rear legs.

— Doc Velocity




[edit on 2/12/2010 by Doc Velocity]

Looking again at the picture, at the bottom right it says Bushnell...is that Bushnell, Florida?

The largest cat we have here in Florida is the Florida Panther.

Florida Panther Facts

Males: average 130 pounds and measure 6 to 8 feet with the tail; shoulder height of 2.6 feet; front pad width greater than 2 inches. Males defend home ranges up to 200 sq. miles that overlap ranges of several females; mature at 3 years; average lifespan of 10 years if they reach adulthood.

Females: average 80 pounds and measure 5 to 7 feet with tail; shoulder height of 2.2 feet; front pad width less than 2 inches. Females have a home range of 80 sq. miles, overlapping with other females. Females mature at 1.5 years, breed year round with peak dinning period in spring, den in palmetto thickets to gestation of 3 months. A typical litter size has an average of 2 kittens. Kittens leave den at 2 months, fully independent at 1.5 years.

...however this photo shows how illusive depth perception can be in a still photo. This cat, depending how your eyes perceive, could in fact appear huge.

For example...I took the OP's original photo and attempt to show the object in question at a relatively far distance via Mr. Happy Man.



...and in this photo it shows the object in question at a relatively close distance, again, depending on how your eye perceives the object in question.




In the first example image I clearly see the hunter bent over, however in the second example image I see the dog.

I think it is in the eye of the beholder in any case, but I feel secure that it isn't anything out of the ordinary.

Now I'll post the picture I did early on in this thread of what looks like a hunter....



and now a new one I did that shows the dog which I suddenly saw after I have done all this examining of this photo.



So it's what ever you want it to be...I've yet to see flying butt monkey mentioned, so S&F to me for thinking of that one.

reply to post by xstealth


It's not a dog, cat, deer, or almost any other known animal. Take a real good look at the part that everyone assumes is the hindquarters. Only 2 known kinds of animal have a forward bending back leg...Elephants and primates. Elephant...Louisiana...doubtful. So pick a primate folks.

Probably an East Texas armadillo that has inadvertently wandered into Louisiana. They're extremely large and fairly vicious, and have been known to attack hunters...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/480f3b25b812.jpg[/atsimg]



— Doc Velocity




[edit on 2/12/2010 by Doc Velocity]

If the Bushnell trail cam is internet ready, it's possible to do a search for one. Maybe we'll get lucky and find this particular camera.
Of course one will need the string or parameter switch that unique for this manufacturer.
Example: doing a search for "inurl:/view.shtml" will bring up web cams for a particular manufacturer known as Axis.
Perhaps the Bushnell camera uses similar switches and parameter on its web server?

Ok ok,I'll come clean and say I've been trying to dis-inform you all.

It is in truth a musk ape that has been genetically modified with man-bear-pig DNA,and is looking for a forest bride.

Zoom out completely and look at the sunrays throughout. The thing that seems to some a rifle and to others a tail is probably a ray/shadow.
Also, the camera is picking up grass/weeds in foreground that change what the zoomed in artifact looks like.

Try to not see the tail and anything you can identify when zoomed out.

Now it does look like deer - more than one. Mommy and Bambi perhaps.

The sun, shadows, animal movement, and camera quality are probably distorting mommy deer's head.

I'm a bad artist, but here's what i'm trying to say:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8f616c8ea7c4.jpg[/atsimg]

Ok folks here is my take on this:

As an experienced hiker here is what I see:

It is a person with a full frame back pack bending over to either reach for something or tie a shoe. The roll, in the back, at the weird angle up and to the right, is foam bed roll. The backpack reaches up to the head area and obscures the actual head. If you look closely you can see the center strap pull on the back of the pack near the middle.

What people are looking at and assuming is the front left leg of an "animal" is simply the tree the trunk of a small tree which can be seen rising on the left front of the person. It is bent almost to a vertical Z shape. The left leg of the person is in front of the right one making the left leg appear huge.


Cheers.

At first glance I thought it was a hunter in a bending position but upon closer examination those front arms are way out of proportion to be a human being. The arms are way to long and not positioned correctly(unless the guy is suffering from some major birth defects). Anyway I have no clue what it is but nice find!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/76fdbb8fdf3ad128.jpg[/atsimg]

I hope this image works.

This is why I think it's a hiker:

Brown under the figure extends above the figure = Tree
Grey = Foam Bedroll
Black = Right arm and leg. Don't look overly long to me. The Guy appears to be muscular. Left arm is not visible and left leg blends in with right one.
Red=Strap
Light Pink= Sleeping Bag
Purple = Back Pack

...Cheers

Generally in the Gulf States, you do your hunting on hunting leases — private property — where you're likely to find those timed deer feeders and deer cams. The advantage of a deer lease is that it's fenced in with locked gates, and only a certain number of hunters are allowed on each lease — so you enjoy enough security that you can leave your large hunting gear, such as tree stands and deer feeders and deer cams, out there and not worry about theft.

You don't leave expensive hunting gear such as deer cams on public lands where they're likely to be discovered (and stolen) by hikers. On the same token, it would be very unlikely to see a backpack-laden hiker on a private hunting lease, unless he had a death wish. Also, most smart hunters these days wear "hunter orange" vests and other brightly-colored gear, so they aren't mistaken for wildlife.

This thing is obviously not wearing hunter orange, which would glow like crazy in direct sunlight. It also isn't wearing leafy camouflage. It appears to be a natural woodlands color.

So, if that critter in the photo is a human being, then he's taking his life in his hands. I know 9 out of 10 hunters would shoot that bastard simply because he looks like a wild animal.

— Doc Velocity