Cryptid Jaguarundi Research
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 21st, 2008
Mystery felid cryptozoologist Dave Pelley writes Cryptomundo that his research on the cryptid jaguarundi (Puma yaguarondi) in Florida is ongoing.
Pelley shares this update:
I’ve been hot on the trail of the Florida jaguarundi for about a year now, and I think we are darn close to getting proof that a sizable population exists here in the central part of the state.
Thus far I have four eyewitness accounts of a particular jaguarundi that frequents my neighborhood, as well as plaster casts and a possible scat sample (frozen!).
I’ll keep you guys posted!
You can see a mini doc that I did earlier this year on the subject:
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.
I’ve always thought that there are jaguarundis as far east as Florida and probably there are scattered populations as far north as the Missouri and Ohio River Valleys. I hope that their presence is confirmed soon. The sooner we know they’re there, the sooner we can begin to protect them.
Fascinating. I think the jaguarundi could very well be in Florida and other areas of North America. Some felids can be extremely elusive. Take the Iriomote wild cat for example. Some of the people who have lived there their whole life have never seen the cat and some don’t even believe it exists. And thats just one of the Yaeyama Islands.(the dwindling population probably has a lot to do with this though) In an area as large as Florida the jaguarundi could remained undetected by the local populace for quite a long time. Looking forward to seeing more of Mr. Pelley’s findings.
Intriguing. The eyewitness’s description seems apt for a Jaguarundi.
Thanks to everyone for taking a look at this entry, and a special thanks to Loren for posting the video.
Bake Neko, you hit the nail on the head. Small cats are extremely elusive, compounded with the fact that probably 90% of the human population in the state has never even heard of an animal called “jaguarundi”. How can you be looking for something if you don’t even know it exists?
Part of what we are trying to do down here is establish an ongoing, very public research group that pushes public awareness through education. Not only will this help us locate populations of these cats throughout the state, but it will also set the groundwork for future conservation efforts once the cat receives the “official” status it deserves.
Lastly, a little nugget that might be of interest to readers: it would appear that the jaguarundi existed in Florida during the Pleistocene period(Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 45, No. 2 (May, 1964), pp. 330-332).
This information is exciting because it could indicate that our Florida jaguarundi represents a relict population-a genetically different species. Granted, its a long shot-but I for one absolutely cannot wait until we can get some genetic work done on this cat!
Puma yaguarondi floridensis?
Good stuff!
Speaking of DNA testing, does anyone know of any updates on the planned DNA tests for the black bobcat that was trapped a few months ago?
There have also been reports of jaguaruindi sightings in the St. Mark’s area in the panhandle. It would not surprise me at all if there were a few jaguarundis in Florida, because there are so many exotic species there, but it would surprise me if there were a native population. The closest known native population is in South Texas, in the lower Rio Grande Valley.
I’m not sure what the status of the Jaguarundi is now but when I was a kid in 1947 I used to live in a Latin area of Fort Lauderdale and when I walked to school I would stop by this man’s house-that had a really amazing animal in the back yard-he was unlike anything anyone had ever seen-but an unusual cat. He was a pet. I think the gentleman came from the Andes area and I believe that what he had was a Jaguarundi. I have had many dreams of this animal and I always remembered him with great affection. His name was Sugarbaby.
In 1989 I was getting ready to open a restaurant on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale and I happened to be apprised of a kitten running loose at my mother’s office near the Everglades and I (of forty people) was the only one to get him-I took him home and raised him.
He exhibited some very unique traits from the beginning-he was very tiny and at approximately 6 months exploded into the biggest cat I ever saw-he was a black and silver tabby with an unusually small head, enormous body and very very long-He had a peculiar yowl and did not behave at all like a cat-he was so big I had to buy a large car to put him in because he was too big for my sports car.
My vet in Boca (who specialized only in cats ) was so curious as to what he was that he did a DNA work up on him and told me I had a panther and I told him I didn’t think he could be a Florida panther-he said that was the reading they got.
It is only now (knowing they could be genetically linked with the puma and the cheetah) that I think I have figured out that my Sabra must have been the product of a large cat (male/female) and a Jaguarundi-his legs were too short for his body and he always had problems holding himself up. He was an anomaly.
I would not be surprised to find that there is a colony of Jaguarundi in the Everglades area-that have been passed on from pets that were in the South Florida area.