huge mystery cat

I don't make threads I prefer to comment on others threads, but this was interesting, and just happened.

I was sitting on the back porch of my house in Ringgold, Georgia when what I thought was a skinny dog walked out of the woods.

It was a grey cat with black spots, it was huge (well for a cat) it was in my neighbors yard about 80 to 90 yards away, so I admit distance could have fooled my eyes.

I tried to find it to see if it was as big as I think it is, and get a pic if possible, but I couldn't locate it,I eyeballed the spot of the tree it walked pass to see how high it stood, if I got the right spot of the tree is shoulders would be at my thighs, I'm only 5'8 but we're talking about a cat!

Wish I could give more, but I hope you cryptozoology fans can have some fun with this kind of a black cat sighting.

I'm guessing someone in the area has a Coon Cat. Or, are Bobcats indigenous to your area?

I live in ohio. I have seen a giant cat myself in centerburg ohio. I stopped my car to look because I couldn't believe it. It was stalking something and I watched as it crossed a field very slowly. I am sure it was a bobcat though not some exotic jungle cat. It just threw me, I had never seen a large cat in the wild before.

reply to post by terriblyvexed


Could be a Bengal Cat

www.catsofaustralia.com...





Apparently they can get up to 25 lbs and over 3ft in height.

reply to post by terriblyvexed


Sounds like a Savannah to me...

wiki

They get pretty big..



Peace

PS: here's a video of a savannah...

kimish
I'm guessing someone in the area has a Coon Cat. Or, are Bobcats indigenous to your area?

i'm not sure I do live close to the mountains.

operation mindcrime
reply to post by terriblyvexed

 

Sounds like a Savannah to me...

wiki

They get pretty big..

Peace

PS: here's a video of a savannah...

edit on 30-9-2013 by operation mindcrime because: (no reason given)

I think you solved the mystery, I'm almost positive that's what I saw.

Well there goes a good bar story.

Although at a pricetag ranging from $2000,- up to $20.000,- ( ) people will not let cats like these just walk the neighborhood.

Tabby tracker does give a missing savannah named Cassie just 80 miles from your place in Hiram, Georgia. Now it has been missing since 08/02/2009 but cats can take pretty good care of themselfs.

Might venture a phonecall to see if Cassie has ever been found...

Tabby Tracker

Peace

reply to post by terriblyvexed


How big?
A Savannahs can be up to four feet nose to tail. I would know. Mine was that big.
But savannahs are technically house cats.
Sometimes huge savannahs are too wild for people, and they abandon them.
They are fairly tame, but have a wild side.
If you see this cat again, get a photo. If it is a savannah, please make sure no one takes it.
They are euthanized all the time, and do not deserve this.
I work with a national savannah rescue.
If it is a savannah, they will come and get him.

reply to post by operation mindcrime


I just said this. I bet its a savannah

reply to post by operation mindcrime


They are abandoned. Not all are bred by breeders. Mine was bred to be Pitbull bait.
He was tortured and abused for his first year to the point he was mistrustful for almost two years.
They have paws like a small puma, that hurt a lot if they scratch.
He was a good boy though. I had him 12 years.i miss him desperately.
But people DO abandon them for various reasons. We have dealt with abandon ones in danger of being euthanized quite a few times.

guess i stick to my maine-coon

Please contact these people for help. Contact both, but the second one is the one I work with. They are on these things fast, so I would contact them first.

savannah-rescue.com...


svrescue.com...

I want to throw in my 2 cents and say in my opinion it was a bob-cat. I use to live in Ky and have traveled Ohio-ky-TN-Georgia extensively and I'm almost willing to bet you saw a Bob-Cat. ;0)

Although I did hear you say you agreed w/ the bangle cat pic... I'm still almost certain you saw a bob-cat.

tracehd1
I want to throw in my 2 cents and say in my opinion it was a bob-cat. I use to live in Ky and have traveled Ohio-ky-TN-Georgia extensively and I'm almost willing to bet you saw a Bob-Cat. ;0)

Although I did hear you say you agreed w/ the bangle cat pic... I'm still almost certain you saw a bob-cat.

edit on 30-9-2013 by tracehd1 because: Corr

It's possible I'm not sure of color schemes for bobcats, but the ones I've seen are tan, and very stout in build.
This was thin with long slender legs, I feel sure the Savanna is the animal I saw.

PtolemyII
reply to post by terriblyvexed

 

How big?
A Savannahs can be up to four feet nose to tail. I would know. Mine was that big.
But savannahs are technically house cats.
Sometimes huge savannahs are too wild for people, and they abandon them.
They are fairly tame, but have a wild side.
If you see this cat again, get a photo. If it is a savannah, please make sure no one takes it.
They are euthanized all the time, and do not deserve this.
I work with a national savannah rescue.
If it is a savannah, they will come and get him.

I'm going to keep my phone close at hand "now that I know it's out there" I want to get a pic if it comes back.

reply to post by terriblyvexed


I sent a message to savannah rescue.
They may have people in the area . If you do get a picture, please let us know.
Bengal are not even remotely as big as savannahs.
F1 and F2 s are huge.
Savannahs are a hybrid cat that's a cross between a serval African wild cat, and a domestic cat.
F1 is the product of a direct crossing between the two.
And F2 is the generation after that. An F1 crossed with a domestic cat.
The size genes in the F2 seem to be dominant, and they are huge.
Servals are fairly tame and not vicious at all. Some people keep them as pets as well.
Savannahs are illegal in some places because of the wild blood.

I think servals are also sometimes abandoned or get loose.
Let me find you photos.

Here is a serval breeder in Florida. There is one in Kentucky too.

www.juliesjungle.com...


www.valleystables-exotics.com...



Here is a large savannah.
They are classically this coloring, but they can be ANY color. It depends upon what kind of cat they were crossed with.
My savannah was gold/red. Gold eyes nose fur spots. All shades.

media.photobucket.com...

Nope....nope...a black cat with a long long tail....and believe it or not, a face like a k-9....which threw me off the first time I saw one in Irving Texas....near the 17th green at Las Colinas CC....they're friggin big, and a mystery ....just like the thread title states.!!
I went to the Farmersville library and told the young lady there all about these cats and we did a search...came close thinking it is jaguarundi's....but really not quite.....we have a mystery animal. My brother in law was animal warden ...he said there has been reports for a hundred years of these in the trinity river bottoms...
That librarian.......two weeks later....believe it or not.....brought me pictures of one in the pasture by her house....two rolls were taken.....her mom spotted it first out there....I have pics. I'm a night time predator caller...my buddy spotted one.!! not quite a jaguarundi...no pattern in the fur....a tail that would knock your socks off....and when you first see one from the front...his face is canine.
The first one when I was 15....I had a 20 guage in my hands and saw someones dog at 20 yards....I was lowering my shotgun down to my waist and the animal was looking me over.
I saw a dog face. Then he decided I was armed, turned for the tunnel under the culvert to go, and I saw a three foot long puffy cougar tail.....black as night.
...
I indent my paragraphs but it doesn't show that way,...

reply to post by GBP/JPY


But your cat is not the OP cat.... Or am I confused.
Yours sounds like a small puma

Sounds like OP has identified the cat. Hopefully it can be recued, but I'm sure it can survive in the wild if not.


Here in Kansas we have some strange feral cat that is similar in size to those Savannahs but is black & white with white tufts of hair sticking out of the ears. My dad claimed to have seen several of them out in the country and I always figured he was pulling my leg until one night we were at the family ranch cutting firewood and we saw two of these cats in the woods. I was absolutely shocked at their size, much bigger than a typical house cat but similar build. I'm wanting to get one of those Go-Pro cameras to take with me when I go hunting just in case I see one of these cats again.