Could swear I saw this cat last week

In the NE panhandle of WV not far from the Virginia border on Rt 127. It crossed the street from woods to woods in front of my truck and my first thought was "that is not a house cat". I even said it out loud, by myself while driving. From the description it is supposed to be down south and probably not even around. Weird. First thing I noticed was longer than a house cat, slightly bigger, but the tail was substantial, not like a domestic cat.

Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi)
Another southern rarity, it is possibly eradicated from the United States. Suited to desert country nearer to water in cover of cactus, mesquite and thorny scrub. Overall dark color and truly unique build. Perhaps best described in appearance as a blend between house cat and mountain lion, its short legs earn it the nickname “otter cat.”

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There's been a hand full of animal sightings around the country of critters that were thought to be regionally gone or extinct.
And some entering places they'd never been found in before.

I always thought porcupines were only in the upper North West.
Years ago, I was visiting an uncle who was a rancher in the Texas Hill Country.
He showed me some needle looking things and asked if I recognized them.

I told him they were porcupine quills, and asked where he got them. He said he'd pulled them out of his dog's nose.

Amazing animal, thank you for showing the picture.

Yuup, that's no house cat!

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Interesting. I have had cats on my trail cams i couldn't identify. Too small to be a Mountain Lion and to long with a long tail to be a bobcat.

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

There's been a hand full of animal sightings around the country of critters that were thought to be regionally gone or extinct.
And some entering places they'd never been found in before.

I always thought porcupines were only in the upper North West.
Years ago, I was visiting an uncle who was a rancher in the Texas Hill Country.
He showed me some needle looking things and asked if I recognized them.

I told him they were porcupine quills, and asked where he got them. He said he'd pulled them out of his dog's nose.

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I thought the same, about both porkies and beaver, but both have been found nearby. A fellow CAS shooter with property near Bastrop insists he has seen a wolf. There is game camera film of mountain lions, too.

Not extinct. Have seen medium cat critters in extreme south Texas within a mile of the Rio Grande living in "cactus, mesquite, and thorny scrub."

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Originally Posted by Nueces

I thought the same, about both porkies and beaver, but both have been found nearby. A fellow CAS shooter with property near Bastrop insists he has seen a wolf. There is game camera film of mountain lions, too.

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Game wardens relocated some beaver from essentially the middle of Coppell, Texas couple of years back. Right in the middle of town.

Porcupines common in Northern Pa.

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

There's been a hand full of animal sightings around the country of critters that were thought to be regionally gone or extinct.
And some entering places they'd never been found in before.

I always thought porcupines were only in the upper North West.
Years ago, I was visiting an uncle who was a rancher in the Texas Hill Country.
He showed me some needle looking things and asked if I recognized them.

I told him they were porcupine quills, and asked where he got them. He said he'd pulled them out of his dog's nose.

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I’ve seen porcupines dead alongside the road between Big Spring and San Angelo as well.

We have coatimundi ( Raccoon family with white nose)here in St. Francisville. They are in South Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, but not suppose to be anywhere near here.

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Originally Posted by Boogieman

Porcupines common in Northern Pa.

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That they are, and a pest too. One forest ranger found great delight in dispatching them with a Colt Officers Model loaded with Winchester factory target wadcutters. We had beaver too, they built a dam down the road from the farm, you could pull off the side of the road and watch them. Pigeon Hill, Elk TWSP. Tioga CO.

Black one....But they don't exist

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Originally Posted by Nueces

I thought the same, about both porkies and beaver, but both have been found nearby. A fellow CAS shooter with property near Bastrop insists he has seen a wolf. There is game camera film of mountain lions, too.

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I saw a wolf last year near Bastrop. He trotted up about 15 yards of me. We also have javelina moving into the area.
When I was a kid up near Waco there was a jaguar around. Couple teen age girls brought a cub they'd caught to school. Still shudder to think what would've happened if momma had caught them

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Originally Posted by Shanghai Jack

Game wardens relocated some beaver from essentially the middle of Coppell, Texas couple of years back. Right in the middle of town.

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I bet that went over well!

And we have alligators in increasing numbers in North Texas- maybe they'll eat some feral hogs.....

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Originally Posted by Texas by God

And we have alligators in increasing numbers in North Texas- maybe they'll eat some feral hogs...

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I've seen news stories about one or two around DFW every year or two.
Something that'll get 'em going again in big numbers is the alligator farms.

People are raising them again to sell to the restaraunt industry.
But legally being wild animals----
The deal they get with the govt. is that they have to release 25% of their 'crop' back into the wild.

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Originally Posted by MrWolf

In the NE panhandle of WV not far from the Virginia border on Rt 127. It crossed the street from woods to woods in front of my truck and my first thought was "that is not a house cat". I even said it out loud, by myself while driving. From the description it is supposed to be down south and probably not even around. Weird. First thing I noticed was longer than a house cat, slightly bigger, but the tail was substantial, not like a domestic cat.

Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi)
Another southern rarity, it is possibly eradicated from the United States. Suited to desert country nearer to water in cover of cactus, mesquite and thorny scrub. Overall dark color and truly unique build. Perhaps best described in appearance as a blend between house cat and mountain lion, its short legs earn it the nickname “otter cat.”

Attachment 286553

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There have been folks who keep wild cats of one sort and another for pets, so it's not nearly impossible for one or more to have escaped. And one that is not as big as a tiger would have a little better chance of blending in with the other wildlife. Not to mention that the only thing keeping them geographically limited is their habitat not getting turned into farmland. And once they get to a place that is a bit more friendly to wildlife, they can go anywhere. Coyotes used to be seen mostly in the southwest. Now they're about everywhere, for example. A lot of their native habitat is subject to slash and burn farming. That would make me interested in moving along, too.

Bill

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Originally Posted by Ithaca Gunner

That they are, and a pest too. One forest ranger found great delight in dispatching them with a Colt Officers Model loaded with Winchester factory target wadcutters. We had beaver too, they built a dam down the road from the farm, you could pull off the side of the road and watch them. Pigeon Hill, Elk TWSP. Tioga CO.

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Porcupine is good eating!

You might mention what you saw to the local game warden or other wildlife people to see if anyone else has seen it or something like it.

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Originally Posted by GregLaROCHE

You might mention what you saw to the local game warden or other wildlife people to see if anyone else has seen it or something like it.

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I plan on doing that Monday. I tried explaining what I saw to guys at my LGS, but the picture nails it. I am in a very rural, woody mountain area and there are plenty of places to hide and game to eat. I wonder about the cold though.

Do You know how to skin a porcupine ------------ Very carefully

That is a strange looking cat.
Could it be a cross breed????
How big was it????

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Originally Posted by MaryB

Porcupine is good eating!

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You know, as kids we tried eating anything we shot, porcupine we didn't. After pulling quills out of our dog's snoot, we decided to let that culinary experience pass. We did however try raccoon, that was terrible! Everything else we shot or caught was at least edible, fish, foul, or critter.

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Originally Posted by abunaitoo

That is a strange looking cat.
Could it be a cross breed????
How big was it????

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Slightly larger than a large house cat. It was longer an leaner. First thing that made me say that ain't a cat was the tail. Long and substantial and the darker coloring really threw me. Light brown, tan, etc I would have thought possibly young mountain lions which have been seen in the area but not acknowledged by DNR. That picture is basically identical to what I saw but could not be based upon the description. I will call the DR tomorrow to see if anyone else has seen something like that. It was pretty cool to see it run across the road from woods to woods.

A young cougar slightly larger than a house cat would still have spots.

I called my local DNR yesterday. Kinda started off on wrong foot when guy made a statement that there are no mountain lions here and I laughed at him. If anyone from WV has pics or footage please let me know. Anyway, I went in to describe what I saw and said I know it can't be but I saw a jaguarundi based upon the picture and description I found on the internet. Silence. He then said a few months ago they got a call about one in Berkeley Springs (not really that far from where I saw it) and it had escaped from a private residence and that he actually saw it himself. My credibility went up a bit after that and I told him I also had a pic of a Paw print from a mountain lion when I first moved here 4 1/2 years ago. Said it was larger than my pocket knife which was about 4 1/2" closed. He said it could have been a really large bobcat but I could tell he wasn't as sure of himself with all the degrees he told me he had. Was an interesting conversation.

There's always that one common theme these sheepskin toting Wildlife ''experts'' fall back on every time they can't explain something....

Musta been someone's pet that got out??? Every single one of em' in every state holler's ''Pet musta got out''

I have skinned a porcupine, killed in horse pen, horse had a couple quills in nose. The carcass smelled like turpentine, probably from eating pine and spruce bark, lived at 8700 feet in Colorado at the time. Porcupines are most places that have trees.

Saw one of these down below the Border when White Wing shooting back in the late 1960's. It was fresh skinned out. The Mexican Cowboys would shoot them with .22's.

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Originally Posted by MrWolf

I called my local DNR yesterday. Kinda started off on wrong foot when guy made a statement that there are no mountain lions here and I laughed at him. If anyone from WV has pics or footage please let me know. Anyway, I went in to describe what I saw and said I know it can't be but I saw a jaguarundi based upon the picture and description I found on the internet. Silence. He then said a few months ago they got a call about one in Berkeley Springs (not really that far from where I saw it) and it had escaped from a private residence and that he actually saw it himself. My credibility went up a bit after that and I told him I also had a pic of a Paw print from a mountain lion when I first moved here 4 1/2 years ago. Said it was larger than my pocket knife which was about 4 1/2" closed. He said it could have been a really large bobcat but I could tell he wasn't as sure of himself with all the degrees he told me he had. Was an interesting conversation.

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I live in the Canaan/Blackwater Falls area of WV, within 3 miles of Davis WV, the highest incorporated town in WV. I could have told you exactly what the DNR/gamewardens would say about your report.

Years ago when the coyotes started to move into WV, the game wardens would stand toe to toe with some of us, and positively state there were NO coyotes in WV. They said we were seeing wild dogs. Today the coyotes are everywhere.

Mention mountain lions, and the DNR/game-wardens will tell you that what you are seeing is feral cats, or large bobcats.

There are positively mountain lions in West Virginia. I worked at a coal-cleaning plant that was ten stories high. We all had fm personal radios we wore for communication. One of the guys in the plant squawked on the radio, "Look at that mountain lion in the field!" Sure enough, 8 men got to see the mountain lion walk slowly from the field and into the trees.

It was NOT a big house cat,...it was not a bobcat..(bobcats don't have a long tail), and it was not figment of the imagination.

I have also seen cougar foot prints in soft dirt and in mud. Like you state, they put down a big paw print...no mistaking the print.

Have many friends who roam the woods and hunt like I do, and they too have seen cougars.

I don't trust anything the WV DNR or game-wardens in our state say about coyotes, cougars, etc. Past experience of being born and raised in these mountains for 66 years.

Like I said I laughed at him when he said no mountain lions. Probably should have paused for a second or two but oh well. When a rancher tells me they have seen them and I have found a footprint, I tend to believe my neighbors over someone with "numerous degrees" as he put it. Gonna have to put out a game camera one of these days. Been awhile since I was really out and about on my property.