good sized kitty in Austin

[waterhouse]

Just thought I'd share. I can't verify that it is true, but I have seen cat prints around a deer carcass in the area. I can't be sure, but I think I've seen that deer as well. There are (were) 3 mature bucks that grazed in the area. It's hard to make out details of the rack, but I think this was the second biggest one (which isn't saying much, size wise, in Central Texas. My Vizsla is as big as some does.) I don't know much about big cats . . .where do they spend their days?

Sorry for the quality of the picture, best the game cam could do.



This was just sent out to my mom's HOA with a notice to keep dogs and other pets inside. She lives off 1826 right across from the Circle C area for those that know their way around the area. If you've ever driven down 1826 you've seen the place with the miniature donkeys, horses, and (at the right time of year) bluebonnets. This is supposedly their feeder and their game cam.

TDPW is planning on "capturing and relocating" the cat. I don't know if that is PC talk for "tree it and shoot it" or not.

 

[Warhawk83]

Looks like a Panther, believe it or not they are local to the SE.

 

[wyohome]

What is the difference between a Panther and a Cougar?

 

[hirundo82]

What is the difference between a Panther and a Cougar?

The name.

Panter, cougar, puma, and mountain lion are all regional names for Puma concolor.

 

[fattboyzz]

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=414273

that pic has been making its rounds for a while ;-)

 

[doublebarrel12]

That is pretty amazing to catch on a game camera!!

 

[wyohome]

I thought Mt Lion and Cougar were Felis concolor

 

[Flintknapper]

I've seen that pic circulated for at least a couple of years.

 

[hirundo82]

Genus Puma
Genus Felis

At least according to Wikipedia, the cougar was moved from Felis to Puma in 1993. There may be some dispute over which genus they belong to, but they are all the same species.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

From fatboyyzz link:

Wow that Mountian Lion has been dragging that deer for 3 years all over the South! Youd think he'd find a spot to stop and eat him...

 

[paintballdude902]

haha this has been going around my town lately it had a story with ti saying ti was shot like an hour east of here i laughed and replied that since we dont have cougars and i got that picture 2 years ago somethings fishy and its not the lion or deer

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

http://www.buckmanager.com/2009/05/21/mountain-lion-really-killed-this-whitetail/

 

[MCgunner]

As it turns out, the photo is not fake, but a really amazing trail camera photo taken on a ranch in South Texas.

Hmm, I wonder WHERE in south Texas?

 

[Art Eatman]

They're common in the south Texas brush country. And all around my area, as well. For a few years I leased some state land up in the Davis Mountains. One season, I saw more lion tracks than deer tracks...

 

[jimmyraythomason]

"we dont have cougars"-paintballdude902. Are you SURE about that? The OFFICIAL statement from AFWS here is that there are NO cougars in Alabama and anyone who reports seeing one is mistaking something else for the big cats. Having seen 3 seperate wild cougars in central Alabama with my own eyes,2 in Blount County and 1 in St.Clair County. I can,without any trace of doubt, or mistaken identity,say don't take the OFFICIAL statements of ANY entity as proof of anything.

 

[MCgunner]

Yeah, there's some REALLY brushy, wild country and big ranches between San Antonio and Laredo and up toward Eagle Pass and Del Rio. I spent one summer on a huge ranch between Pearsall and Uvalde working for the gubment counting cotton insects on a research project. That was a smallish farming operation and covered about 10,000 acres. I saw a bobcat on that place once that was HUGE! It stood up in the road. I was driving a government owned Ford Falcon and it was as tall at the shoulder as the hood of that car. I'd guess that thing was 60 lbs. I'm quite sure there were cougar there, too. I've never actually seen one in the wild, but that's not unusual, either, as they are very secretive. I have seen big cat tracks, though, that I believe were cougar tracks about 40 miles from here, north of Victoria, Texas in a creek bed nere Inez. It would have had to have been a record book bobcat to be a bobcat, track so wide I couldn't completely cover it with my hand.

I've heard the things bawl out in the Guadalupes when hunting, coming in late evening via flashlight. Man, that sound puts shivers down your spine, puts your head on a swivel, LOL.

 

[austin360]

Wow. I live about 10 miles from there.

 

[Art Eatman]

McG, that big a bobcat wasn't a bobcat, I'd bet. Jaguarundi, maybe.

Jack Damron used to be the foreman on the Clinton Manges ranch neer Freer. 120,000 acres. Jack's son, Allen, the troubadour/picker, hunted and guided there from time to time. They took a fair number of lions off that place. Allen had about a half-dozen tanned hides around his house...

 

[MCgunner]

Naw, Art, it was a bobcat, stood up in full profile, bobbed tail, tufted ears, spots, the whole 9 yards. It was just a big'n.

I hunted a 750 acre ranch near Freer one year. Friend of mine's dad was partners on it. He was an educator, eventually superintendent of the high school in Orange Grove. That is the heart of the brush country down there, LOTS of game and some muy grande deer. I took a spike off it just to keep from starving to death my senior year in college. LOL Another buddy took a nice 8 point.

 

[paintballdude902]

"we dont have cougars"-paintballdude902. Are you SURE about that? The OFFICIAL statement from AFWS here is that there are NO cougars in Alabama and anyone who reports seeing one is mistaking something else for the big cats. Having seen 3 seperate wild cougars in central Alabama with my own eyes,2 in Blount County and 1 in St.Clair County. I can,without any trace of doubt, or mistaken identity,say don't take the OFFICIAL statements of ANY entity as proof of anything.

officially or unofficially? lol

i have seen a panther when i was on the coast but i dont know anyone thats seen a mountain lion here near the smokies. now the state says that we dont have a breeding population of cougars, pumas, mountain lions or florida panthers. but thats crap lol

but as it stand i dont know anyone to see a mountain lion in this area, only on the coast.

i always found it funny that they dont live here but if you shoot one its a felony and you will pretty much be strung up by your toes oh well

i was talking to my wildlife management teacher about the photo and he just got angry and went on a rant about how we dont have them but everybody and their uncle has seen one in the woods

then last year when a clear video was taken of one near my family back east the local game warden would only say "it must be an escaped pet"

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Yeah "must be an escaped pet" is oftened used by AF&W. A small black bear was seen and photographed in Jefferson County (Al.)several years ago and that was the "official" comment.

 

[JWF III]

The name.

Panter, cougar, puma, and mountain lion are all regional names for Puma concolor.
__________________

Don't forget Catamount.

Wyman