Canton Cat Flap
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 3rd, 2012
There appears to be a major Ohio mystery cat series occurring.
Sighting in Price Park
A cougar was reported sighted Saturday, July 2, 2011 in North Canton’s Price Park. The sighting was not reported until Wednesday.
Chihuahua Mauled on Lesh Avenue
A Chihuahua in the 5300 block of Lesh Avenue NE in Nimishillen Township was fatally mauled about 7:45 p.m. Monday, July 4, 2011.
Sighting at Broadway Avenue NE and US 30
Cougar sighting reported at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at Broadway Avenue NE and Route 30.
Sighting on Easthill Street SE
Cougar sighting about 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in the 100 block of Easthill Street SE in North Canton.
Sighting at Fairhope School
ODNR received a report of a Cougar sighting near Fairhope School in Louisville near Broadway late Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
Sighting on Bosworth Avenue NE
Cougar sighting on Bosworth Avenue NE at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 7, 2011. Cougar was reportedly drinking from a swimming pool.
Sighting on Millvale Avenue NE
Cougar sighting Monday, July 4, 2011, near Millvale Avenue NE in Canton.
Sighting on Beck Avenue NE
Cougar sighting at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 6, 2011, on Beck Avenue NE in Nimishillen Township-Louisville area.
Sighting on Rosewood Circle SE
A resident on Rosewood Circle SE in North Canton told police on Thursday that she saw a large cat in her backyard at about 9 a.m. on July 7.
Then, an explosion of sightings occurred.
North Canton police are warning residents after three confirmed large cat sightings over the past several days.
The first sighting was reported on July 25 when a woman spotted a large cat in her Fifth Street NW yard at about 2:38 a.m., North Canton Police Chief Stephan Wilder said.
“The motion sensor lights up here were on so my entire back yard was lit up and I saw this cat,” Joyce Wise said.
On Saturday [July 28], a group walling through the Hoover Nature Trail near Washington Square said they saw a large, tan cat that was the size of a German Shepherd, Wilder said. North Canton police officers took photos of the animal’s paw prints and sent them to be analyzed at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Police said the third sighting happened on Monday [July 30] on Wilkshire Circle, where residents said a mountain lion or cougar-like animal walked through their backyard.
Wilder said residents who see the large cat should not approach it and contact local law enforcement immediately.
What is important to notice is that this cat is roaring, not screeching. That’s an epic detail.
Early Monday morning [July 30, 2012], Cindy Crawford, 51, of the 1400 block of Wilkshire Circle SW, said a roar awakened her out of a deep sleep shortly after 4 a.m.
“I heard a eeowww like a big cat roar,” she said.
She said she looked out her open bedroom window into her backyard and saw in the darkness an animal that looked like a large cat with a long tail.
Because of the lack of light, she couldn’t see the animal’s color.
“My dog is 40 pounds. It was bigger than my dog,” she said. “To me, it looked like a bobcat. Like a cougar. … (but) it wasn’t fuzzy and hairy like a bobcat.”
See articles here, here, and here.
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.
That looks like a dog print to me. Cat toes are staggered and dog toes are typically even. Due to the evenness of the toe impressions in the photo, I would call that print a dog print.
However, if there had been a cat sighting in the area where the dog print was taken, would make sense for someone to mistake the two.
Common sense says: might be a cougar about.
We tend to shelve common sense at the funniest times.