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I saw a wild cat, and I can't figure out what it was (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 weeks ago by LanyrdSkynrd@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net

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I was running on an unused logging road and came up behind a wild cat. It didn't see me coming, so I got pretty close, maybe 20 feet away. It turned and stared at me for a second and then took off up a steep hill.

It was about 2.5 feet to the top of it's head, a little smaller than a Labrador. It wasn't a bobcat or lynx, because it had a long tail, but I don't think it was long enough to be a mountain lions tail(I don't remember seeing it curled). It had a brown coat and the tail had a stripey bit at the tip. 100% a cat from the body shape and movement.

But after looking it up, it seems like mountain lions basically don't exist in new england, or at least are extremely rare. Its limbs were not as thick as the mountain lion images I'm finding online.

I thought maybe it was one of those megasized housecats, but this trail is separated from town by a deep and wide river, any housecat would have had to walk 3 miles and across 2 bridges(one of which is a metal mesh footbridge) or 7 miles along the logging road to get to the nearest house. It's also below freezing out and there's 5+ inches of snow on the ground.

It's making me feel like I hallucinated this or something, because it doesn't seem possible. Hopefully I'll see it again now that I've looked at a ton of wild cat pictures. I was trying to remember as much detail as possible when I saw it, but I didn't know what to look for.

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[–] AcidSmiley@hexbear.net 13 points 2 weeks ago

My first guesses would either be a mountain lion with an unusual coat pattern or an escaped exotic pet / zoo animal. Besides the three species you listed, other native wild cats in the US (like jaguarundis and ocelots) seem to have a range that's much more south than New England.