"Cougar" caught on video in Noblesville

[johntheplinker]

Certainly looks like a cougar. However, 2 things tell me it isn't unless it is an escaped pet. First, it is in a fairly populated area. Second is its day time. Everything I've read about cougars is that they are extremely wary. Even in areas with high cougar populations an incidental sighting is very,very, rare. As much as I'd love for us to have a good population of them (along with bears,elk, and a few other critters) unless its somebody's pet I think its a larger feral housecat.

 

[rooster]

Mountain lions have been documented to roam hundreds of miles. It’s not crazy to to think that they would wind up in Indiana.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/nyregion/wild-cougar-traveled-east-1500-miles-tests-find.html

 

[Itchytriggerfinger]

Expected pic of ex-wife. Realized it wasn't filmed in a bar so I stopped watching.

 

[patience0830]

Certainly looks like a cougar. However, 2 things tell me it isn't unless it is an escaped pet. First, it is in a fairly populated area.[ Cougars hunt when they're hungry and have no sense of fear around humans when they have no fear of being hunted] Second is its day time. (Again, cougar hunts when it's hungry, roams when it feels like it] Everything I've read about cougars is that they are extremely wary. [ Phooey. I've seen video of them walkin right past a guy on the ground .
Like inside arms reach] Even in areas with high cougar populations an incidental sighting is very,very, rare. [ That doesn't preclude other sightings. ]As much as I'd love for us to have a good population of them (along with bears,elk, and a few other critters) [ For a guy that would like to have them around, you sure are going out of your way to try and convince me my eyes aren't seeing what they ARE seeing] unless its somebody's pet I think its a larger feral housecat.

Use the road in the foreground for a size comparison. That's a 100# housecat, if it is a house cat.

 

[Principal Skinr]

I think your guess needs more education. Or your purple is broken. 2 mules killed in the last week by a large cat. Horse attacked and put down because of a large cat. We have found kills with cougar size pug marks in Van Buren township down in southern Brown County. There are cougars in the state and have been for several years. That video shows a cat with a tail as long as its body. That is no bobcat.

I agree with that. No bobcat is going to kill a mule. Even if this thing was an escaped pet, it is still wild, as those things really aren't domesticated. Knowing cougars roam so far, it is entirely possible that occasionally a few roam into Indiana. This isn't the first recent sighting. I remember a thread awhile back where there were trailcam pics of one down around Crane Naval Weapons Center. IIRC, DNR confirmed it, but viewed it as a loaner that had roamed into the state, and not a permanent resident.

 

[johntheplinker]

Use the road in the foreground for a size comparison. That's a 100# housecat, if it is a house cat.

I tried to, the angle is too flat for me to use for any sort of a comparison.

 

[Goodcat]

My friend lost a mule last week. I saw a mountain lion halfway to Ft Wayne last month. Must’ve been 7-8 feet long. Had to double take before believing what I saw.

Im gonna go with, not a bobcat.

 

[Thumper]

They are here I have seen 2.1 alive and 1 dead

 

[DWS]

I’d suggest someone take their large breed dog out and video it at 250 yards with their iPhone and get back to us with your findings...

 

[Cameramonkey]

They are here I have seen 2.1 alive and 1 dead

 

[miguel]

I can't tell from that video, but I started this "big cat in Hamilton County" thread recently: https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/great-outdoors/448817-big-ger-cats-hamilton-county.html

Might have to start driving country roads at night with a few hams strung up on the bumper.

 

[DEC]

Just another crappy "Big Foot" video.

 

[K_W]

The great and mighty DNR has spoken... "Well fed house cat."

The DNR had multiple people look at the video and says they found the animal to be too short, the tail too short and no black markings on the tail to identify it as a cougar.

Well, I guess our eyes are not good enough...

Bovine excrement.

https://www.wthr.com/article/noblesville-cougar-sighting-just-domestic-cat-says-dnr

 

[ghuns]

I remember as a kid, 30 years ago, a neighbor telling me he seen a coyote. I laughed at him. Told him he was crazy, probably was drunk at the time.

I was wrong to laugh at his coyote sighting, but I stand by the drunk and crazy part.

There were zero coyotes up here for a very long time. Now they are everywhere. No reason to think big cats couldn't also make a reappearance.

As for that video, it sure looks like a cougar. But aren't cougars famed for their stealth? Seems like a pretty dumb one to be tiptoeing across a wide open field in broad daylight. Especially when there's a perfectly good fence row right behind it. Maybe a captive raised kitty that broke free?

 

[worddoer]

I was really expecting a different kind of cougar out of Hamilton County.

Yep...me too.

 

[JettaKnight]

Given the quotes in the thread title, I expected something else.

/r/SuspiciousQuotes

Given the distance and lack of and reference, it could be a cougar, or just a really big house cat.

 

[K_W]

Given the quotes in the thread title, I expected something else.

/r/SuspiciousQuotes

Given the distance and lack of and reference, it could be a cougar, or just a really big house cat.

Quotes were used correctly; I was quoting video maker's claim to it being a cougar vs my own conclusion... even though I agree.

 

[JettaKnight]

It still gave me a chance to post that link, because a lot of those are quite funny.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Cougar tracks... possible sighting...

View attachment 73525

 

[johntheplinker]

Cougar tracks... possible sighting...

View attachment 73525

Need pics of the rest for a proper determination.