The image below is cropped from a photograph taken by Kevin Sloan of West Brookfield this past Saturday (February 27, 2011). Kevin and his wife "scrambled to get the camera" and were fortunate enough to capture this big cat passing through their back yard.
The cat undoubtedly has powerful, muscular features and a full-length, heavy tail. It certainly seems much beefier than a house cat. The tawny color, although darker than expected, is close to that of an eastern cougar. Unfortunately, the uncropped, original photograph (below), with the snow covered expanse between the swing set and the cat skewing the perspective, makes determining the actual size of the creature by eye extremely difficult.
By Kevin's estimate, the cat was about 150 feet away when the above photograph was snapped, with the camera lens adjusted to 10X-12X optical zoom. Tracks in the snow on the left can be seen marking the animal's path. Adult mountain lions are 24 to 30 inches tall at the shoulder and range in length from 5 to 9 feet head to tail tip. Males can weigh over 200 lbs. Females are generally smaller.
The feline that cut through Kevin's yard left the tracks shown in the photograph above, snapped by Kevin soon after the cat was gone. Skeptics have rightly pointed out that the raised features of the tracks are unusual for a track left in snow.
A closer look at the tracks. The proximity of the animal's feet in their positioning is a typical indicator of a cougar moving at a quick pace.
The above graphic, kindly shared with EWM by Bill Kettler, author of the blog, Southwest Backcountry, illustrates both what a mountain lion track looks like as well as the positioning of a lion's feet in motion. To this amateur eye, the images in the graphic and the tracks in Kevin's yard are strikingly similar.
Here is another graphic comparing shapes of tracks; bobcats, dogs and coyotes known denizens of Western Massachusetts. The mountain lion tracks are again very close in appearance to the ones in Kevin's yard.
What do you think? Could the cat in the photograph be a mountain lion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or email explorewmass@yahoo.com
Thank you to the Sloans for sharing their photographs with EWM and its readers. It is much appreciated.
Update March 6, 2011: Having seen the photographs above and a later one taken by Kevin for size reference by placing a household tub with set dimensions in the same spot as the cat, Bill Davis, District Supervisor at the Mass. Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, has determined that the cat in the photograph is not a mountain lion. In correspondence Kevin shared with EWM, Mr. Davis wrote: ..."you’ve taken a nice photo of a domestic cat, albeit a large, chubby one! The prints in the snow confirm this as a cat and are consistent with house cat."
For more on mountain lions in Massachusetts, visit previous EWM post, Massachusetts Mountain Lions and Quabbin Gray Wolves: Putting the "Fur" in Furtive, which has developed a very active comment thread (including numerous reports of local lion and wolf sightings) since its August 4, 2010, publication.
A February 7, 2011 article, On the Trail of the Unusual, in the Telegram mentions the EWM comment thread and explores the cougar question. Here is a link: http://www.telegram.com/article/20110207/NEWS/102070450/1116
Here is a link to the USFWS press release declaring the eastern cougar extinct: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ecougar/newsreleasefinal.html
As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.
21 comments:
How tantalizingly awesome is that? Possibly the first real proof... almost!
The post I deleted asked what was the distance between the tracks. That information was given so I deleted that comment.
Very exciting. Looks like the big cats are back. It can't be a bobcat because of the length of the tail.
It appears that it is a juvenile if it is in fact a cougar. One would expect the paw prints to be farther apart if it was a fully developed adult cougar. Which is even more exciting for me. Because if it is a juvenile not only are the big cats are back but there is a resident breeding population present...
Last month I saw a large cat which I instantly felt was a wild animal, and ran for the camera. Unfortunately, it's a cheap point-and-shoot, and the photos are lousy. However, the cat was about the size of a retriever or setter dog, sort of a charcoal gray in color, not tawny. I wondered at the time if it could be a bobcat, though I had never seen one before. So glad to see this photo of the mystery cat, because that's what it looked like, only (and this is difficult tell) perhaps slightly smaller. But, muscular and beefier than a housecat, as you say. And much larger.
I just saw a gray wolf tonight 3/18/12 10:30 PM while walking my dog in the area of Stockbridge/Lenox near Tanglewood. Calmly turned and headed home. We have a home here for 26 years. Freaked me out....
I actually saw a cat like this in South Acton Massachusetts around this time. I remember specifically that it had a very long tail and appeared to be jet black. No one believed me so I don't crow about it but this is very interesting. Wish I knew about this then.
We live in the burbs surrounded by woods. Recently, late one night, I saw a large shadow pass the top of my bedroom window blocking out our outdoor lamp's light from shining in. The bottom window shutters were closed. Again, two nights ago, while in our screened in porch, I caught movement when something blocked the light from the top of our kitchen window. I saw what looked to be a very large cat jump from the roof of our single story and disappear into the back woods of our house. Please note that these bottom window shutters were also closed. The animal moved with such agility and speed. Only a feline could moved like that. I could not see the coloring but it appeared to be a dark color. This is exciting, but at the same time a little scary. I know what I saw, but I am leery to report, because....who would believe me. And...do not to forget the fact that this animal is hanging around my house. FYI...although there are many wild animals in this area., i.e., coyotes,, fisher cats, feral cats etc., there was no mistaking the one visiting my roof.
I think I have one in Holyoke
Greg C from Troy NY posting 10-4-19 here;
I drive 30,000 miles per year and often late for my job through MA, NY and CT. Last night at about 9:00 I was driving the full length of MA RT 8 heading north from CT. In that remote area South of Otis I was the only car on the road when a tawny brown colored cat appeared in my headlights. It was not at a full run as it crossed RT 8 from East to West, but it was at a fast determined walk. I got a good look at it since it was only 30 ft in front of me. The first thing that was unusual about this cat was it's length which was about 48 inches long head to long tail. This was no bobcat or domestic house cat. Secondly, its color was an unusual deep rusty brown. Its gate had all the style of a wild animal on the hunt for game. The 4th thing that was strange was it's extremely long tail that was similar in length to the body. Makes me want to buy a dash cam since the whole sighting was not over 4 seconds before it disappeared into the woods. Any ideas?
Looks like a normal sized house cat..
I know at least 3 people who are avid outdoorsman say they have seen mountain lions in rural Berkshire county.None are kooky.Business owner,pilot and daycare owner.they know the difference between them and bobcats.
This species of "Cat" was seen last week in Western Mass entering the Pittsfield State Forest off of Cascade Street. It was not a domesticated cat.
I saw this creature earlier this morning at 4:30am in Holyoke ma
Same as Anonymous from Acton, saw a similar predator cat at the border of conn central Mass. When I explained what I saw folks would respond “we don’t have cats like that around here”. Growing up in the woods and believing the same thing I just shook it off as something else. If true very cool too see the are still around.
I seen a charcoal gray large coat run across the highway but it was on the border line of Marion and Rochester very awesome post
Large gray cat
Thursday July 6, 2023 4:40PM Northborough, MA Berlin, MA. A Beautiful Large ‘big cat’ I am convinced is not a bobcat padded gracefully, but quickly across our backyard. Not brown but a shade of rich tawny color nearer to cinnamon. Looked like a short hair, not fluffy. Not Furry. Not fat. It was very toned, muscular, and had a fast walk with a lift in it, almost prance like. It was fascinating and scary at the same time, plus not knowing what I was seeing out the window! I was a few seconds prior, out on the deck preparing to cook outside and walked back inside to get the utensils. As I turned to walk back out to the deck, I saw through the double window a big animal, (what I want to describe as a puma looking animal. It was tall, guessing 3 feet tall or more..and about 4 - 4 1/2 ft long. It pranced uninterested past our cold Weber Grill and on a focused purposeful track in to the woods. It was an impressive lean shape and height. I was awe struck and scared but safe In The Kitchen yet was on my way back out to the deck and The Timing of the moment Was Amazing. It was fast. It had no idea I was just out there. I saw it for 3 seconds maybe 4 seconds. The house sits near to Mt. Pisgah in Northborough, MA. There was a bobcat here in June but looked nothing like this impressive animal. This was absolutely not a dog. It was “lion” like. The whole image I watched was of its moving from my left to right toward the woods. So I did not see its face straight on. I know what I saw. If it is a Bob cat then it looks entirely different than the Bob cat from June, which there is a great Bob cat picture of what we saw on the internet. Again, this amazing animal July 6th, I hope has more sightings. I am looking in to buying a trail came (or two) today. It was That Amazing to see. Keep a look out Central Mass residents! Roads: Brewer, Howard, Lyman area
SAW A BLACK/DARK GRAY LARGE CAT THIS MORNING IN TYRINGHAM, MA (BERKSHIRES~ NERAR THE AT- BEAUTIFUL RUNNER.LOOKS JUST LIKE THE PICTURE POSTED ABOVE.
I saw a huge black cat right now in Athol mass. March 1 around 1:50 am by the main st. I was on my way to work and it was too big to be a Bobcat or just a cat and it wasn’t a wolf. It looked just liked a black cat but in a caguar version.
3 years ago Christmas day My Wife and I observed a large black cat about the size of a beagle . It was on a snow covered ground, it went into a culvert . The next day I went to the spot temps were below zero there were well preserved tracks each over 3 inches . i took a few pics before camera literally froze.
Today being Nov 5, 2024 this article is kinda old, well, OK it is old. But I saw a large feline this morning in West Townsend MA.And this picture leads me to believe it was actually a large feline. I wrecked my brain trying to reconcile black with mountain lion and I didn't think that color existed for cats in the US. At least now I know there is a possibility.
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