Originally posted by grover
The only thing that seems off to me are the way it hunches down from the shoulder as it were... the psoture reminds me more of an African lion than it
does a mountain lion.
Here's a good video of mountain lions, from the start you can see the mountain lion making this kind of posture.
www.youtube.com...
|
*** Update ***
Fur and skin samples have been collected from the site (not where the photograph was taken - a second sighting), and has been given to Biologists at
Southern Illinois University for analysis.
OAKLAND - State biologists on Tuesday began investigating the second reported mountain lion sighting in the area in a week.
...
On Tuesday, Oakland resident Kelvin Higgins provided a sample of fur and possibly some skin to state biologists. He said a big cat shed the fur while
grooming itself on a snowy rock in his wooded backyard in April.
"I'm not 100 percent sure it was a mountain lion, but it was a big cat, believe me," Higgins said.
...
In that incident, an unnamed resident provided a grainy photo of what appeared to be a large cat to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Latti said the photo was inconclusive.
The Oakland sighting is different, according to state biologist Keel Kemper, who said the sample appears to include both hair and flesh, and is large
enough for DNA testing.
"This does not look like deer hair, to be honest with you," Kemper said.
Source
So, it seems there is a big cat in Maine. Only a matter of time before we know what it is.
|
It looks remarkably similar to a cougar. We have cougars all over here and I've seen them in the wild though rarely. Majestic animals I love to
watch them.
|
Originally posted by gallopinghordes
It looks remarkably similar to a cougar. We have cougars all over here and I've seen them in the wild though rarely. Majestic animals I love to
watch them.
Yeah, I think they are being driven off due to habitat loss, which is sad. Maybe this story could bring attention to the need for more conservation
with this species.
|
Take a look at the link below. It may be that someone has 'lost' their pet jaguar.
Jaguar - Wikipedia
|
The DNA results are out:
Oakland — A scrap of hair and skin from a rock where an Oakland man reported seeing a mountain lion came from a fox, according to a state
biologist.
Still, the results of DNA testing on the sample neither prove nor disprove Oakland resident Kelvin Higgins’ assertion that he saw a mountain lion in
his yard on a warm day in April, according to Keel Kemper, a state wildlife biologist.
“There are a lot of possibilities,” said Kemper. “The only thing I can say emphatically is the hair he submitted is (that of) a red fox.”
...
Higgins said he believes the large cat was cleaning itself after eating the fox when it left the scrap of fur on the rock.
Kennebec Journal Augusta, Maine August 16, 2007
More
That's all dandy, but it still doesn't explain the photograph out of the way, as the animal in the photograph is by no means a red fox...
|
|
looks like a tiger-mountain lion-cougar cross breed
|
Funny, I was looking for something else Maine related and I find this article. I saw a mountain lion or something very similar on mid coast Maine in
the early 2000's. I thought it was a deer at first because of the coloration but it assumed the springing crouch that cats do before they leap up
something, in this case the hillside. As it leaped up the hill, still thinking it was a deer, it's tail was the give away that it wasn't a deer.
I have heard they found cougar tracks on Goldsboro beach or someplace near there within the last 20 years or so. Just giving witness to what I saw.
Nothing new to add at this point. There is a decent sized cave near the hill top. Maybe we will hear more about this animal in the future.
|
