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 ...
Poor kitty.
Freepers shouldn’t spend so much time trying to distinguish one pussy from another. They all work for the government, anyway.
This is a Mountain Bob.
A couple of cats made out at night and did not realize who the other was...
It could be a Canada lynx.
My friend called the DEEP to report a big cat in her yard on Avon mountain....they said couldn't be.
The thing had a radio collar on....and had to be in *someone's* database.
The CT DEEP has repeatedly lied. For years and years they denied the existence of Fisher Cats in the state. Turns out they *introduced* them in CT in a trade with Maine for our wild turkeys.
I don’t know, but quick....send Melissa Bachmann there pronto so she can blast the creature away with her high powered hunting rifle then proudly pose with it!!! it’s a living creature...a cat....you can’t have any of them around..
Hey Caitlin, let us know when that *non-existent* cat takes the face off of skier , up the road, at Powder Ridge.
Really? I’ve not seen many of those without a tail. I have seen bobcats between 2.5 and 3.5 feet in length and based on the trees around there that’s it’s approximate dimension.
Yea, could be a skinny lynx too.
Bobcat and a big one. No tail.
Yes Bobcat or Lynx.
gee that sure doesnt look like the queen of cougars..Mrs Hillary CLinton.
She said it had a long tail, not a bobcat.
Can you please find me a long tailed bobcat?
negative.
Read the article.
*facepalm* read the article.
read the article.
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