The sighting of this big cat, caught on camera in Isle of Wight, will be investigated by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.Posted on 05/18/2009 11:27:01 AM PDT by BGHater
Charlie Wooten has been a hunter since 1976 and has seen more than his fair share of wild animals.
His four trail cameras usually catch the occasional black bear roaming around between May and September,but when one of his cameras snapped a photo of an apparent cougar on his property in the Isle of Wight Courthouse area, he wasn't sure what he saw.
"I'm no expert," he said, "but it doesn't look like a bobcat to me."
Wooten, who primarily hunts white-tailed deer and turkeys, showed the photo to 20 fellow hunters, and "19 of them said it wasn't a bobcat," he said.
Wooten's big cat photo awaits confirmation,but similar sightings in South Hampton Roads aren't without precedent.
Aaron Proctor, a district wildlife biologist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the department is working to verify Wooten's reported cougar sighting. Proctor said the department gets about six to 12 big cat sightings on the Southside a year.
The department allowed big cats to be pets 15 to 20 years ago,Proctor said,but has since no longer does.
While the sight of a big cat might be rare in the state, the growing population of black bears is coinciding with sightings that are becoming the norm in many regions during the spring and summer months.
With an increasing number of bears in Virginia, the potential for bear-human encounters is greater.
Wooten's cameras in rural Isle of Wight catch two types of bears every two to three days. His cameras are within a 3- to 4-mile range of his property, "but I've never laid eyes on one," he said.
The sighting of this big cat, caught on camera in Isle of Wight, will be investigated by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailypress.com ...
Chewed through the restraints did ya?
Hard to tell, but it does look like a puma to me. There’s nothing there to give it a sense of scale, though.
}:-)4
Looks like what I would call a mountain lion. Hmm...
Well, and it also looks like it had some photoshopping, altho it could have just been because it was taken in the dark. I’m not sure.
You should have used the words, “Big Cat”.
If theres pumas and bears the place must be crawling with Coyotes.
LOL
the Wight Man did it?
What kind of film did he use in the camera for bait?!? ;-P
Does the Isle of Wight have wabbits?
I haven’t seen enough of them to know if that is unusual, but maybe you’re right.
That’s it...Kitty stays inside - will not be allowed to roam our 3 acres in Isle of Wight CO, VA...
Cool.
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