Posted on 10/17/2017 5:08:54 AM PDT by w1n1
Here is a closeup of a dead bobcat sporting a tail much like that of the cat above whose identity you question. The identity of the bobcat in my photo below was confirmed by a biologist at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.
Then, it hopped up on a log, turned and looked at us, and, it obviously was a big cat.
As I said, the tail was just a stub that stuck up like a Boxer dog's and it was almost as big -- and, darker than these in the photos...
We've heard them at night, and the one I saw was under a half mile from our house in the Piney Woods.
I showed the photo of it to the staff at Laguna Atascosa NWR, my destination for the morning. I was sure it was a bobcat, but I wanted confirmation from the staff there that it wasn't one of the rare ocelots from their Refuge. When my wife and I drove back on that road a few hours later, the carcass was gone. We think somebody picked it up for the skin or to take it to a taxidermist because it was in such good shape (aside from being dead). Its fur was in perfect condition.
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