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Mountain lion or bobcat? Durham woman’s pic has many wondering[CT]
The Middletown Press ^ | 10 Mar 2014 | Cassandra Day

Posted on 03/12/2014 12:18:43 PM PDT by Theoria

A woman’s photograph of a big cat roaming the snowy woods near her mother’s home in a sleepy central Connecticut town has some convinced it’s a mountain lion — despite environmental officials’ assertion that cougars are extinct in the state.

Caitlin Handley posted the photograph on Durham-Middlefield Patch on March 6 under her mother Linda’s name, warning residents to keep their pets inside, and soon received a dozen comments from folks who surmised it was a bobcat.

“It was approximately 10 in the morning when I saw it,” Handley says. “I believe the animal was actually bigger than the picture shows. We have two fully grown Labrador retrievers and it was definitely bigger than they are. The dogs were barking like crazy when they first spotted it and I was shocked at first to see such a large strange animal in my backyard.

“I was also confused to exactly what it was. I immediately took a picture with my iPhone and ran to get my camera with a better zoom but by the time I made it back downstairs, the animal was running away.”

As it ran away, Handley says, she saw it was “very muscular” and although her iPhone photo doesn’t show it, the cat had a long tail.

She immediately went online to look at photographs of mountain lions to corroborate her gut feeling, Handley says.

“It definitely looked like the mountain lion pictures and not a bobcat or something similar.”

The day after Handley posted her photo on Patch, state Rep. Matthew Lesser, who used to represent Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall before redistricting, shared the post on his Facebook page asking wildlife experts what they thought.


(Excerpt) Read more at middletownpress.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: bobcat; connecticut; feline; mountainlion; wildlife
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To: Theoria

Lynx:

48 – 56 cm at the shoulder

Bobcat:

30 to 60 cm at the shoulder

Cougar

120 to 150 cm at the shoulder

21 posted on 03/12/2014 12:50:59 PM PDT by Sparticus (Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)
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To: Theoria

Dunno... can't tell from this distance.

22 posted on 03/12/2014 12:53:26 PM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: Sparticus; MeshugeMikey

ROTFLMAO !


23 posted on 03/12/2014 12:54:41 PM PDT by Graewoulf (Democrats' Obamacare Socialist Health Insur. Tax violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: Sparticus

That cougar can maul me anytime!


24 posted on 03/12/2014 12:55:07 PM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (I'm not anti-government, government's anti-me.)
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To: Vinylly

If this is a mountain lion, where is its tail?


25 posted on 03/12/2014 1:04:18 PM PDT by biff (WAS)
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To: Sparticus

Well done !!

LOL !!!


26 posted on 03/12/2014 1:06:23 PM PDT by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: easternsky
That would be the biggest Bobcat I've ever seen in my life. The one thing that looks out of place is the short tail. I can't tell if it's short or if the picture makes it look that way. If the tail is long I say it's a Cougar.
27 posted on 03/12/2014 1:07:33 PM PDT by peeps36 (I'm Not A Racist, I Hate Douchebags of All Colors)
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To: Theoria

We kept having sightings in our state of mountain lions but were told they were bobcats. Then a mountain lion got hit by a car.


28 posted on 03/12/2014 1:09:12 PM PDT by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
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To: Axenolith

Cougars, mountain lions have good tails ... these pics show no tail ... but that is an aweful big thing for a bobcat.


29 posted on 03/12/2014 1:17:17 PM PDT by dartuser
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To: peeps36

Size and shape of head,is lion, tail could between legs or to the side, they are just a larger animal, and their stance is different.


30 posted on 03/12/2014 1:20:47 PM PDT by easternsky
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To: Starstruck

Several years ago my Great Dane pulled a critter out of a tree and killed it. It was about three feet long, plus tail. I picked it up and estimate it weighed 40-50 pounds. The dogs took off with it before I could get a picture. I looked on the internet and decided it was some kind of marten. Problem, this is Alabama. The wild life guy I talked to assured me it was a mink, not a marten. I’ve seen mink and this was no mink.
There are more and more sightings of stuff that does live here. Bears, cougars, black panthers, martens and lord know what all.


31 posted on 03/12/2014 1:25:03 PM PDT by Himyar
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To: easternsky

No tail and it has facial tufts - bobcat.


32 posted on 03/12/2014 1:26:23 PM PDT by SatinDoll (A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN IS BORN IN THE USA OF USA CITIZEN PARENTS)
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To: Himyar
The wild life guy I talked to assured me it was a mink, not a marten. I’ve seen mink and this was no mink.

Wildlife deniers are everywhere.

33 posted on 03/12/2014 1:30:26 PM PDT by Starstruck (If my reply offends, you probably don't understand sarcasm or criticism...or do.)
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To: Theoria

Clearly a bobcat as there is no tail and the shape of the nape of the neck makes it a Bobcat. Do I win?


34 posted on 03/12/2014 1:34:12 PM PDT by LachlanMinnesota
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To: LachlanMinnesota

‘Handley says, she saw it was “very muscular” and although her iPhone photo doesn’t show it, the cat had a long tail.’


35 posted on 03/12/2014 1:36:39 PM PDT by Theoria (End Socialism : No more GOP and Dem candidates)
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To: biff

I was wondering that after I posted.


36 posted on 03/12/2014 1:37:55 PM PDT by Vinylly
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To: Theoria

Wompus Cat if I ever saw one.


37 posted on 03/12/2014 1:43:10 PM PDT by fightin kentuckian
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To: Theoria

From those photos, looks like a Bobcat.


38 posted on 03/12/2014 1:46:03 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Theoria

Online sources say a bobcat averages 19 - 23lbs and that the largest ever recorded was 49 pounds. Bobcats average 24 inches in length.

I don’t believe that is a bobcat in the picture. The size and the silhouette are not bobcat. In this video - pics of bobcats followed by pics of cougar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1AL3RDT0zE
At the 1:19 mark is a cougar with the silhouette of the animal in the picture. The bobcats are boxy and furry enough to look cute and obscure musculature. But the cougar has more contours. I think the animal may be carrying something - read about a guy who created an optical device to detect whether or not his cat, returning through the cat door at night, had mice or other dead animals in his mouth. He created a sensor that would not open the cat door unless the cat’s head profile fit within a certain range (no dead animals). He stopped finding dead animals in his house but would find them deposited just outside the cat door.
So I think the animal is a cougar which may or may not be carrying something.


39 posted on 03/12/2014 2:06:14 PM PDT by ransomnote
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To: Sparticus

You have been waiting for this thread for a while, huh? :)


40 posted on 03/12/2014 2:15:32 PM PDT by Delta Dawn (Fluent in two languages: English and cursive.)
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