Strange Cat in NE OK?

Another idea might be to sit a decoy chicken
in an area where you can see it easily from a
window - it might trick the cat into showing itself.

to the OP,that's a cougar ,I live in Central OK and drive a rural ambulance and see those cats every where.
Saw one over on the 270 junction down by Wewoka,one darted in front of me going down HWY 9 at Thunderbird nearly caused me to wreck the vehicle and saw one about 3 weeks ago on 59 just outside Bowlegs about 5am that had something in its mouth,probably a Raccoon or small dog but the point is they say they (cougars) are rare here but they aren't.
good catch btw.

I'm really just not understanding how everyone thinks this is a large cat. It doesn't look that big.

I'm not doubting there are undocumented cougars in this area. All I'm saying is that everyone seems to be having a lapse in judging perspective. Do a google image search on forced perspective. It is achieved because objects that are closer to you appear larger than the objects in the background. That is all that is happening here. Even with that, I don't see that cat being as big as you all seem to think he is, so I'm confused.

Do you guys realize how big a cougar is? This cat isn't even the size of a bobcat.

OP, could you give us a simple measurement as to how wide the spot it is standing on is? It would help in showing perspective.

Originally posted by glitch88
I'm really just not understanding how everyone thinks this is a large cat. It doesn't look that big.

I'm not doubting there are undocumented cougars in this area. All I'm saying is that everyone seems to be having a lapse in judging perspective. Do a google image search on forced perspective. It is achieved because objects that are closer to you appear larger than the objects in the background. That is all that is happening here. Even with that, I don't see that cat being as big as you all seem to think he is, so I'm confused.

Do you guys realize how big a cougar is? This cat isn't even the size of a bobcat.

OP, could you give us a simple measurement as to how wide the spot it is standing on is? It would help in showing perspective.

I agree. It looks like a domestic shorthair, possibly a calico, or the photo may simply be a little washed out from overexposure. The bone structure is not that of a wild feline. It's too delicate, even for a young wildcat. The paws and head are too small.

Maybe an irresponsible owner released one of these to the wild?

Looks like a Lynx (Bobcat) to me, pretty common thoughout the US. A friend of mine has a stuffed trophy one hanging on his wall, and they only slightly larger then a big cat yet smaller then most dogs.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/962eb73289bb.jpg[/atsimg]
Could also be a young mountain lion/cougar, but no way is that a normal cat.

reply to post by defcon5


It has a long tail. It's not a lynx or a bobcat.

Could you please explain how you came to the decision that there is no way it is a normal cat? I'm really just trying to understand where everyone is getting this from.

Cougar/mountain lion. I'm in eastern Missouri in a good sized city and we've had (at least) 11 different mountain lions helping to control our exploding deer population. Some cougars have rings on their tails and body spots or stripes-ish. They fade with maturity. I found a good reference picture of a young mountain lion and a raccoon scuffling or something.

Have you found any tracks at all? I think your culprit might be some other creature. Although a playful young cougar could certainly leave a mess of feathers. It's the 10 days thing that makes me think it's probably something off camera eating your birds. A chicken isn't much of a meal for a big cat. If it's easy pickings, the cat would come back sooner, imo. I don't know though. Maybe it prowls a territory and comes by every week or so?

I laughed out loud when you showed your cat for reference. You might be surprised how many ATSers would use a chicken theft as an excuse to show a picture of their house cat. LOL. And yeah, I understand, you showed your cat to show the markings.

Good luck catching your predator. Who knows, perhaps the cougar will catch your chicken thief and solve your problem!

reply to post by glitch88


It appears to muscular and squared off to be a normal cat, it looks more like a predatory cat.

KITTY!

oh god i cant help myself..



it reminds me of a florida panther or what youd call a marshland panther.. As far as i know they used to cover most of the US and canada

reply to post by defcon5


Not to pick hairs, but all cats are predatory.

I really feel that maybe everyone has the idea in their head that all house cats are these rotund, overfed, marshmallows. I've got at least three cats I could take pictures of (if they would sit still long enough, they're feral) that are long and muscular.

House cats come in all shapes and sizes. Of course some are going to have the same look as a large cat. They're all in the same subfamily (felinae). I really just feel that it is a jump to assume this is a cougar based solely on the shape of the animal. Especially when this cat does not appear to be any larger than a big tomcat.

reply to post by glitch88

The size is why I was thinking that it was possibly one of the smaller “big” cats, such as a bobcat. In truth the shape looks entirely like a immature mountain lion more then anything else.

Mystery solved, much to my chagrin and embarrassment.

This morning as I came home from work my cat came out to greet me and the game cam took her picture:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d6615304ebf2.jpg[/atsimg]

I'm sorry!

The mystery of what has been getting my chickens (and 6 large full-grown geese last year in the space of 3 days) remains, but the picture that puzzled my husband and I is now obviously just my kitty with her colors washed out by the sunlight. Dadgum that darn perspective thing.

The game cam is back up, still hoping to catch the chicken thief.

PS If you're anywhere near Cleveland, Oklahoma, that adorable puppy and its two sisters are available for adoption, as are the 5 kittens.

reply to post by hhott


Thanks for solving the mystery and letting everyone know. I live in central oklahoma and have seen cougars here so my money was on that but glad to find out that if there are cougars in your area that they're not coming up in your yard.

And good luck to you on catching that chicken thief.

Ah, so this was a hoax. You get banned from this site now.

reply to post by hhott


Thanks for letting everyone know....everyone was talking about a baby cougar...smh.

reply to post by hhott


Thank you for the new picture. Not everyone on here would do that.

I am still interested in what is getting your birds though. If anything else shows up in the game cam, please let us know!

reply to post by hhott


Thank you for the follow up and honesty.

I would wager that the chicken thief is a raccoon if it is happening at night, and a hawk or owl if it is happening during the day. I have seen both be very destructive. I had a racoon take out a whole flock once, and I finally caught him on the last chicken. He didn't care about the dogs whatsoever. He just grabbed a chicken and went up a tree and let the dogs bark while he ate.

Oddly enough, it took me loading both pictures into Gimp and superimposing to convince my husband that both pictures are just the cat. The extreme angle of the bright sunlight really makes her look different.

The problem with the chickens (and ducks and geese) has been ongoing for some time. At one point we had a very large (great pyrenees) outside dog who was not confined, and while he was around the predation mostly stopped. But, he had a tendency to roam and eventually disappeared, and the predator was back not long after.

Perhaps I am shortsighted to try to blame it all on one predator. My chickens have a secure house that I shut the door on at night, so the predation is occurring in the daytime, always. I have, in my own mind, rather ruled out predatory birds because I don't think there is a hawk or owl in OK large enough to take a fully adult domestic goose, but it could be a hawk getting the chickens and something else got the geese. My frustration has been for a long time now that in spite of barking dogs and an obviously human-occupied house, the creature(s) are so BOLD!

The last goose was taken from a child's wading pool so close to the house that the light from the kitchen window spilled over her, and it happened in the space of less than 10 minutes while I was awake, without any noise! (We didn't have outside dogs at that time). When that happened I actually went out with my .22 and tried to track it, but all I found was a foot and a lot of feathers.

Well, the game cam is back up and I'll let you know if it catches anything other than my kitty. There are still 2 chickens left ....

reply to post by hhott


The raccoon in my old yard took a very aggressive red rooster with some major spurs. And it did it with a dog in the yard protecting the chickens.

I have seen a Red-Tailed Hawk take a full grown stray housecat.

The owls in my current yard regularly take squirrels and bunnies right out of the front yard.

We also have a fox that comes through 2 or 3 times a week, but we don't have anything that it can currently eat. If we had any chickens, he would be all over them.

My advice is to get a good pitbull, to ward off coyotes, raccoons, and foxes, and then put up some thin tensile wire all over the place to ward off swooping predatory birds. I've never tried it for hawks or owls, but it works very very good for seagulls, LOL!