There are "Black Panthers" all over Alabama... I saw some protesting the Zimmerman murder trial in Florida as well. LOL
I'm going to disagree with that assertion based on what I just read in Leonard Lee Rue's Complete Guide To Game Animals: "The face is usually marked dark in the eyes and upper muzzle, and the front of the mouth, lower flanks and belly are an off-white. Melanistic, or all-black, mountain lions are sometimes seen, particularly in Florida." The small head (relative to body size) and large tail are consistent with Mountain Lion pics. Not sure, but leaning towards a big cat.
That's a good catch, but if you look closely, it seems that the cat is digging and may have removed the leaves. The shadow cast by tree adjacent to the white object is also interesting, as it indicates the direction of the sun.
Like I said. "Sometimes seen" does not really count does it..? The are some dark or melanistic phase cougars, but an all black cougar is a mythical creature in the U.S. The fact that the animal in the picture is about 14 inches tall is pretty consistent with a housecat. Every community has a person or two that sees all black cougars on a somewhat regular basis. lol
I'm saying that this is a plain old cat. The "big leaf" in front of it sure looks like a maple leaf to me, not a sycamore leaf. Plus, look at the size of the cat in relation to the leaves on the ground all around it. If this were a cougar those would have to be some huge freakin' leaves.
The fact that I have run trail cameras since we had to make our own and have looked at millions of trail cam pics and have gotten hundreds with cats in them. Its easy to look at the size of trees and leaves and the stump and everything about it to tell that the picture is of a small cat. It really is not even that big of a housecat. And the fact that a housecat just looks different than a cougar. Show that picture to any person with a degree in wildlife biology and they will tell you the same. Sometimes people just see what they want to see and I think this is a great example of that for those that see a black cougar.
Look at it this way. If that's a mountain lion, it's the smallest mountain lion ever. You guys do realize that even small mountain lions weigh about 75lbs right?? A big one is over 200. (and don't give me any 'maybe it's a cub' nonsense, kitten mountain lions are shaped different and still bigger than that housecat)
Nope, sorry but it's too short tip to base for any type of oak leaf. It's a sycamore leaf. Also to settle the duspute, the bright object to the right (cats left) is a foil roasting pan: Aluminum Rectangular Roaster 11-3/4"x 16-1/2"x 2-1/2" Also there are indeed leaves underneath the cat in question upon review in zoom and 2x sharpen.
Did someone say it was an oak leaf? I said it looked like a maple leaf, which it does. If you can't see that it's obvious that you're just having fun with this or you're going to see what you want to see regardless of what is actually in the picture.
I kinda thought bear cub too, but Ive never really seen one in real life, just pics. It's probably the Bears new middle linebacker!
For the sake of argument, lets say that it is in fact a sycamore leaf. Do they come in more than one size? lol
