What did I see?

tallpines · #1 07/28/12, 09:43 PM

Yesterday in Duluth, MN.
3 city blocks off the western tip of Lake Superior.
Hilly, wooded, residential area.

I was walking up a 30 inch wide sidewalk between a house with a heavily wooded backyard on one side and a 30 foot strip of more trees and brush before the next house on the other side.

Suddenly, about 200 feet ahead of me, a large cat like animal bounded out from behind the house onto the sidewalk.
It hesitated there to look at me before leaping into the shrubs and trees on the other side.

It the moment it hesitated I noted:

It's rear paws were just inside the edge of the sidewalk.
It's front paws were just inside the opposite edge of that 30 inch wide sidewalk.

It had a long, solid, round tail ----- about 2 feet long.

It was tan in color. No spots or stripes
Cat shaped head ---- not like a coyote.

A few weeks back, during some serious flooding, some of Duluth's zoo animals escaped.
However, news reports indicate, all have been recaptured.

Hmmm------- I wonder ~~~~~

Danaus29 · #2 07/28/12, 10:25 PM

Mountain lion???
Is Minnesota becoming cougar country? | StarTribune.com
But DNR would say you were mistaken unless you had a carcass.

fishhead · #3 07/29/12, 07:30 AM

Only one cat has a long tail. That's a mt lion.

frankva · #4 07/29/12, 07:30 AM

google "fisher cat." I have seen the legs to the side when climbing, and they have a spread. Nearly black here, but might be tan there.

Might also be chupacabra.

rags57078 · #5 07/29/12, 09:10 AM

mt lion

Cabin Fever · #6 07/29/12, 11:19 AM

Catamount! They have been sightings and tracks in our area. We've never seen any sign, however. Did have a pair of timber wolves walk thru the front yard a couple years ago, tho.

fishhead · #7 07/29/12, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankva

google "fisher cat." I have seen the legs to the side when climbing, and they have a spread. Nearly black here, but might be tan there.

Might also be chupacabra.

Our females are dark but our males change color when you go from their head to their tail. The males remind me of a gray fox.

apirlawz · #8 08/06/12, 09:12 AM

Did you contact the zoo? I've not heard about anything like that on the loose still (but then, that seal was a media hog!), however I can imagine not wanting to freak folks out too much by telling them a mountain lion could possibly be roaming their yards.

DNRs/Game & Fish dept. really vary on how they treat these things. In SD, they were pretty upfront about the mt. lion population, but when one was shot next to a school playground a few years back, it's hard to deny they were there. In ND, it's common knowledge that there is a population in the state, but the Game & Fish dept. stupidly/stubbornly denies it still. I've heard hints about them here in MN, but nothing really definitive.

Good eye, btw.

Homesteadwi5 · #9 08/24/12, 12:18 PM

Was most likely a fisher or a pine marten,both appear catlike when they "run" they're members of the weasel family.we trap both for their fur.

old school · #10 08/26/12, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danaus29

Mountain lion???
Is Minnesota becoming cougar country? | StarTribune.com
But DNR would say you were mistaken unless you had a carcass.

Be carefull they will stalk you and they are very good at it.

gimpy · #11 08/30/12, 11:48 AM

I saw something like that. It turned out to be a brindle great dane that still had its tail and had a weird ear cropping