Alaska’s Spotted Mystery Cat
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 7th, 2008
The Anchorage Daily News’ James Halpin, on November 7, 2008, summarizes the new cryptid feline reports coming out of Alaska.
Like a phantom, a mysterious, spotted cat has been seen prowling Anchorage in recent days.
No one knows for certain what the animal is, why it’s in town or how it got here. Described as having spots resembling a leopard’s, the cat, however, appears to be a long way from home and is likely here illegally.
It’s also likely to fall victim to colder winter weather ahead, wildlife officials say.
In the past week, three reports of the cat wandering near Fort Richardson and Point Woronzof, some 10 miles apart, have reached Rick Sinnott, Anchorage-area wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Though he has not yet laid eyes on the animal, its reported solid spots and size appear to describe the serval, a small- to medium-sized African wildcat sometimes kept as a “designer” pet, he said.
“They’re not on the clean list for pets you can have in Alaska, but I strongly suspect someone has one and it got away or they let it go,” Sinnott said. “They’re not going to be a danger to any people unless, obviously, if you try to catch it and it doesn’t want to be caught. Just like any cat, it could probably rake you up pretty good.”
The cat has been spotted along the Glenn Highway, but the most recent report came Thursday from employees at the Salvation Army’s Clitheroe Center near Point Woronzof. Employee Rob Marx was among those who saw the cat a few weeks ago while touring the perimeter of the building. The cat walked out of the woods, apparently unconcerned with the nearby people, and lay down in a patch of grass, he said.
They didn’t report it until Thursday because of disagreement over what they had actually seen, he said.
“We had some real serious cat-lovers. We thought it was an ocelot and then the cat-lovers said, ‘Well, there’s a bunch of people that breed cats to look like this ocelot,’ ” Marx said. “It was a very impressive-looking animal, but who knew it could have been from Africa?”
Some of the reports have the animal wearing a red collar, while others, like Marx, were not so sure.
[General information on servals snipped.]
If the chance presents itself, Sinnott said, he will try to capture the cat and find it a home, but he doesn’t plan to spend a lot of time tracking it down.
“I would mostly save it for itself, because I don’t think it’s going to survive. Maybe do the snowshoe hares a little bit of a favor,” he said. “I’d like to move it to a neighborhood that had lots of feral rabbits in it so it could eat all the domestic rabbits that people let go, but I don’t know if that would be appreciated.”
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Sounds domesticated.
“The cat walked out of the woods, apparently unconcerned with the nearby people, and lay down in a patch of grass, he said.”
Yep, sounds domesticated all right. Illegal escaped pet, maybe?
Perhaps it is a Palin 😉
I going to have to say again…. If the cat is unknown it maybe a smaller Smilodon or it’s varieties or hybrids with known felines or hybrids with known felines with any variety of the Smilodon or the Smilodon it’s self.
This is awesome. To many feline reports around the world.
This may be the New Era of Felines.
Including that post Loren put. About the new species of cat or rare species in South America.
it won’t hurt to believe and have an open mind that is may possibly be a Smilodon.. WOOO HOOOO
We may be seeing a new era here in America, from California props. to Obama to Felines to Cryptozoologist.
I think Cryptozoology in this era (2006-08) are more aware of things then before. Now that you have lots of fans especially future Cryptozoologist. Including myself interested. Cryptozoology (thanks to the internet) is on the verge to find more and unlock the mysteries of the Animal Life hidden beneath our Feets.