what is this?!?

i am totally and completely stumped and frustrated by not being able to figure this out. i think we may have moved into true crypto territory here

My dad has put up 2 game cames close to the ground and put some various foods around them, i am keeping my fingers crossed for more than raccoon pictures

yesterday i posted about seeing a jaquarundi, i am almost positive that is what i saw.
But
the two people who have been closer to this animal say that it is without a doubt is not the animal they saw. Both were within 5 feet and got a good loook at the animal, my dad also saw it from about 10 feet above so he isnt too sure but he thinks it has shorter legs than the jaguarundi and a smaller tail and a pointier tail

i can not think of another animal they could be seeing that they wouldnt be able to identify, especially not from the place where they have lived their entire lives. All of us are animal buffs, outdoorsy types and well educated about critters of all sorts.
We also are talking extreme northeast oklahoma, lots of hills, patches of forest and dense vegetation mixed with patches of small towns, and farm land.
Whatever it is is not afraid of people at all,

it let both men approach it one after another and get within 5 feet or so
it walked right up to the deck with my dad standing on it making noise and then talking to it.

It lives on the water or very near in a small cove with about 5 houses that are occupied 25% of the time or less year round and an adjoining 50 acres of forest with no development other than a partial gravel road and 3 power lines.

the ground is really really rocky, not ideal for burrows or tunnels or extensive digging

plentiful food source from both the lake, the woods and human trash for just about anything else

there is a large racoon, fox, deer and coyote population
here is the description

-brown in color, not light or dark, just brown
-short legs, shorter than a cats legs, approximately 4 inches
-about 20 lbs, larger and longer than a housecat
-a sturdy cylindrical shaped body, my dad described it as more meat than
a cat on both sides of the spine but not pudgy
-a hair covered tail that was of average size to its body,

we have ruled out giant rat or nutria because it had fur on its tail
its not a beaver
i seriously doubt it is a groundhog, those arent hard to identify
i was thinking mink, but it is bigger than that
not a badger, no markings
not a racoon
not a jaguarundi, but not horribly dissimilar

maybe river otter..but it wasnt in the water and i think we would have noticed an otter sooner since we are at the very very back of the cove.

Probably a river otter. The only other thing I can think of it could be is a weasel, but that's unlikely as they are fairly small. If you live right next to the water, then chances are very good that it is just an otter. Makes perfect sense. Hopefully you can catch some pictures.

if the head of the critter you saw is small compared to it's body then it could very well be a jaquarundi. as for it looking like a river otter, i would like to point out that it's also known as a "otter cat" because of it's bulky body and small head. i live in north florida and my neighbors and i have spotted one in our area on several occasions. they were introduced into fl. in the 40's. although you are pretty far north and they are rarely seen north of mexico, there's still a chance one or more may have wandered up your way. hope this input helps solve the mystery.

Yeah, giant river otter. They usually run in packs and exhibit organized hunting behavior. They're voracious and fearless predators with no equal in the animal kingdom — even adult crocodilians leave the water when a pack of hungry river otters come hunting. It doesn't get much meaner than that.

Could be it's one of those pesky thorns in the side of cryptozoology, a transplanted alien species — say, from the African Congo — that was originally acquired as a "pet" and then released into an entirely different ecosystem.

— Doc Velocity

[edit on 9/24/2008 by Doc Velocity]