? is this a lion? trail cam pic

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sav10LE_308

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I live in east central IL. A friend had this pic taken by one of his trail camaras. You always here the rumors about a stray cat woundering through, though not common in these parts. But it is in a area that I yote hunt often. If it is what are the chances it stays around here.

Is this a mt lion?
couger2.jpg
 
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My memory is not what it used to be, so don't hold me to this. I think I read on one of the conservation sites that Cougars can have something like a 400 mile range, depending on the food sources.

That picture sure looks like the South end of a Northbound big cat...Too bad the camera didn't pick up a good shot of a side view as well...

Maybe someone that really knows their grasses and trees can give a general idea of where it was taken..

While the camera resolution is not the best, the ground looks a lot like sand and sub-tropical vegetation.
 
Yup, sure looks like it.

Very unlikely it'll hang in a small area unless it has a kill, then it'll hang out for a couple days. If it chooses that as part of its home territory, then it could be 10 miles in any direction and still be in its chosen home territory. They travel long and far.

Very cool!
 
Don't look like no mountain lion or cougar to me.

But it DOES look like an AFRICAN lion. The black mane and black tipped tail are African lion traits. I've NEVER seen a black mane on a cougar/mt. lion. They are pretty much a tawny color all over.
 
From the pic,I can't tell for sure if it is a lion,but I don't think it is.Just havin an a$$ veiw is tuff to tell.The color,as others have said is not right,and hard to see body shape.If I had to bet money,I would say not a Mountain lion.
 
I played with the color properties, and blew it up a bit. Maybe this might help:

[image]
couger2.jpg
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Looks like a lion to me. You can see the long tail, but hey, I could be crazy... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
Well...it LOOKS like a cougar. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

The black "mane" appears that it could possibly be a shadow.

Did your friend check the area thoroughly for tracks?
 
Dark on the back is a shadow for sure, not an African mane. It's consistent with the shadow on the ground. Poor pic, but it looks like a Coug.
 
Thanks for the replies. I can guarantee its real and not photo shoped. I'm sure they wounder through from time to time. It's a shame not a better quailty pic. The lady has six camaras set up. She just likes the nature pics. I've yote hunted her land a couple yrs ago and the lands around it all the time. I'm realy gonna keep my eyes open now. Beside the fact most of it is brushy and thicker the snot.
 
It is hard to say for sure with the pic being such low quality. Logic would say yes because of what it isn't. It isn't a coyote, bobcat, bear, deer, fox, etc. It appears to carry itself like a cougar.
 
Looks like a bobbed tail to me. I think the dark patch is shadow not the tip of the tail. Nothing for size reference but I'd suspect bobcat.

peace.
unloaded
 
I have to agree with unloaded. Bobcat. The dark spot in the back is a shadow and you can just make out the dark tail rings and dark markings on the back of the ear.
 
Umm, dark markings on the ear says cougar. Bobs have a nice large white patch there. Tail looks long to me and the tip is up and pointed. Bobs have a blunt tail and when it is up it is very high and above the back line. There does not appear to be any black spots on the inner hind legs either. Also is not far from where there are definitely cougars so could easily be a cougar. That one in Sas, Canada had traveled over 600 miles in a straight line from where it was collared before they shot it.
 
I'm no authority, but it looks like a cougar to me.

"Police shoot cougar near Chicago
April 14, 2008 at 06:06 PM
The wandering Chicago cougar will wander no longer.

cougar_chicago-2.jpg


The Chicago Tribune confirmed that police officers shot a 150-pound cougar Monday after 6 p.m. in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the North Side. The big cat was shot near North Hamilton Avenue and West Roscoe Street, according to Belmont District police, who said the cougar tried to attack officers when they attempted to contain the animal. That apparently prompted the shooting, which included as many as 10 gunshots according to witnesses.

The Tribune reported that:

Police cornered the cougar in the back yard of Ben Greene, 39, who lives on the 3400 block of North Hoyne. Greene said he heard a volley of gunfire shortly before 6 p.m. as he was bathing his 10-month-old son. His wife, Kate, ran upstairs screaming with their 3-year-old son, and they all took cover in a back room.

“At first I’m thinking there’s a gun battle in the street,” said Greene, who owns a trucking company.

As the shots stopped Greene heard the police yelling, “We got him! We got him!”

Click here to read the entire Tribune story.

Police did not immediately discuss the condition of the cougar, but in a video shown on the Web site of Chicago television station WLS ABC Channel 7, officers stood around what appeared to be a dead cougar in an alley.

WBBM Newsradio 780 quoted a neighbor saying that she saw a cougar running down the street, through a neighbor’s property and into an alley where police shot several times.

Cougar sightings have been reported for the past two weeks since a big cat was first spotted in North Chicago and then Round Lake Park. On Sunday, reports shifted to Wilmette.

Wilmette police received calls from four residents on Sunday morning claiming they’d spotted an animal thought to be a cougar near a Chicago Transit Authority station.

The last cougar found in Illinois was in December of 2004 in Mercer County near New Boston. It was found already dead, apparently shot with an arrow. Another cougar was found dead after it was hit by a train in Randolph County near Chester in July of 2000. Prior to 2000, the last verified record of a cougar in Illinois was from Alexander County in 1862."
 
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