Posted on 03/12/2014 12:18:43 PM PDT by Theoria
A woman’s photograph of a big cat roaming the snowy woods near her mother’s home in a sleepy central Connecticut town has some convinced it’s a mountain lion — despite environmental officials’ assertion that cougars are extinct in the state.
Caitlin Handley posted the photograph on Durham-Middlefield Patch on March 6 under her mother Linda’s name, warning residents to keep their pets inside, and soon received a dozen comments from folks who surmised it was a bobcat.
“It was approximately 10 in the morning when I saw it,” Handley says. “I believe the animal was actually bigger than the picture shows. We have two fully grown Labrador retrievers and it was definitely bigger than they are. The dogs were barking like crazy when they first spotted it and I was shocked at first to see such a large strange animal in my backyard.
“I was also confused to exactly what it was. I immediately took a picture with my iPhone and ran to get my camera with a better zoom but by the time I made it back downstairs, the animal was running away.”
As it ran away, Handley says, she saw it was “very muscular” and although her iPhone photo doesn’t show it, the cat had a long tail.
She immediately went online to look at photographs of mountain lions to corroborate her gut feeling, Handley says.
“It definitely looked like the mountain lion pictures and not a bobcat or something similar.”
The day after Handley posted her photo on Patch, state Rep. Matthew Lesser, who used to represent Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall before redistricting, shared the post on his Facebook page asking wildlife experts what they thought.
(Excerpt) Read more at middletownpress.com ...
Whatever it is, the Dems will try to let it vote for the Mallory ticket. :-)
I have read that there are no bears in Alabama, but that's not necessarily true.
As a native Alabamian, I can say with a great deal of certainty that there were mountain lions in an area 20 miles northeast of Birmingham in 1948. I was hunting with my grandpa then and we distinctively heard one screaming on a ledge right above us. The dogs were our protection, so we didn't worry. I'll bet that they are still there in very secluded areas.
Can you show me the long tail of a cougar on that cat? Circle it. I see a typical stub tail on that cat. Killed plenty of them.
read the bloody article please and thanks.
There are definitely bears in Alabama. Last summer a momma bear and cub crossed the road right in front of some good friends. This is in central Alabama. A telephone guy saw a black panther on down the dirt road I live on a couple of years ago. I’ve heard some strange screaming that really sets the dogs into a frenzy.
Ok. Read the article. Says long tail but not at all obvious in the photo. The leg length/body length just does not say lion. Tufts around ears do not say lion. Relative size to surroundings, same. But I guess it is a lion.
Interesting.
Do you mind naming a nearby town that I might recognize? I once lived in Calera and worked at a radio station in Clanton, which are considered central Alabama.
Bowhunter friend of mine in Alabama was camping down in the Tombigbee swamp...nailed a deer right around dusk, but it ran off into the woods...he went back to camp to get his lantern so he could track the injured deer. He found it about 100 yards away...and it was already somebody's dinner.
The panther did not appreciate being disturbed.
And he spent the night in his tent, wide-awake, with his rifle across his knees.
A bobcat catching a rabbit can result in some bloodcurdling screams...from the rabbit.
Was just so many people not reading the article I thought I was losing my mind LOL.
I live and work in northern Alberta and I see bobcat, lynx, lion everyday (well almost), so I tend to have a good idea about this stuff. It’s also the reason I don’t go hiking etc without my semi auto .308, or a shotgun heh.
We are in Hope Hull, just south west of Montgomery.
Thanks.
Now that’s real Central Alabama!
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