New Photos: When Mystery Cats Aren’t?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 5th, 2012
These photos were taken of a “cougar” seen in a backyard. I’d say they are images of a domestic cat with a tabby pattern. Nothing mysterious here.
Taken in Salem, Oregon, backyard. KATU report. Photo courtesy neighbor Jeff Phillips.
Compare the above Oregon “cougar” photos to the image recently taken (below) in Michigan:
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.
All cats are mysterious!
Seems big, like a bobcat
you can definitely tell that the cat at the bottom of the pictures is a cougar. The broad snout, the colouration and the extremely long tail.
I’d say it’s also out of shape and well-fed (canned food).
The person that took the above photos of the domestic cat and thought they where a cougar needs their eyesight checked. It does look a little odd, but then again a Mutt version of a domestic cat would. Its a cat, plain and simple.
The below pics are, however, a true cougar. My congratulations to the one who took them.
The top three photos are showing a simple house cat, with mixed colored fur; plus showing a shedding of fur around the neck area. It could also be the beginning of mange disease.
Bottom is indeed a cougar(mountain lion aka panther.
Completely agree with the other posters, the top photos are so obviously a domestic kitty.
Beautiful cougar photos from Michigan however
Obvious hint which any cat lover realizes: Domestic cats have triangular ears with definite points, sometimes with small tufts of fur on the tips. Cougars have rounded ears, to prevent frosbite [?] Bobcats do have triangular ears, but they are usually slightly larger than domestic cat ears and have a big tuft of fur on the tip.
Not sure if this is a well-fed domestic–it might be a recently abandoned pet whose fur is reacting to his environment. Usually when you encounter a cat wandering around that does not run when you approach, it is a former housepet, sad to say. Becoming very common for those of us who live on the edge of national forests, parks and other wooded areas, and no, your kibble-fed pets are not going to figure out how to eat mice and rabbits on their own and will wonder over to our homes to beg for food.