Any guesses on what this might be?

[Jeff]

I'm thinking Lynx.  I've included a picture of a deer in the same place to use for scale. I don't think its canine, and I think to big for a bobcat, and no tail so not a cougar. It seems cat like to me.



  

 

[WDH]

Sure looks feline to me. 

[drobertson]

Looks like a long neck?  you sure it's not the deer moving quickly?

[Jeff]

Pretty sure, look at both photos. Both animals are in the exact same place you can see the difference in size. Thats way to small to be a deer.

[NWP]

One of Poston's goats?

[NWP]

Seriously, it does look like a goat. I showed my wife the picture with no explanation. She said it looked goatish

[Jeff]

No goat is going to survive in the wild where I'm at in the U.P. Especially southern goats.  ;)  you may be looking at a weed as part of the head.

[Jeff]

Here it is cropped from the image.



 

[NWP]

Yeah. It was the weed I was looking at it.

[Jeff]

If I can identify the location of that plant by it's head in the morning, I should be able to get a good idea on the height.

[Jeff]

I upped the contrast and you can now see markings on the leg. It could be bobcat or lynx,



 

[drobertson]

I see the little hairy long hair, but still not sure, plus I know nothing of the lynx cat,  I still think it could be a deer, how bout tracks? 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Its a Bobcat and the Goats inside. I'm gonna miss her. 

[red oaks lumber]

lynx or bobcat, be nice to see the ears better. tracks would help determine which one also

[Jeff]

I superimposed the one image over the other. I think this should change your mind about it being a deer. Not much chance for tracks, but I can check tomorrow. There has been a pretty good snow then melt since these photos.


 

[Magicman]

No ears and no nose (round head) makes it "catty".

[Barney II]

A lynx is a real good thought---it has just enough forward slope---front is lower than rear.  The left rear leg is just about correct size, could be a little bigger and little more hair---but--good enough. Dnr in WI says they are not in WI nor just up the road from me an d leaves lynx tracks all over the place in the winter. ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Reddog]

Its a Bobcat.

Lynx are much taller with more leg length and a higher hip to front shoulder angle.

Has a good comparison shot of both down mid page.   http://travel4wildlife.com/tell-difference-between-canadian-lynx-bobcat/

[Jeff]

We have no shortage of bobcats around here. I caught several on camera a couple years ago about 400 yards from where this camera is.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,61154.msg898049.html#msg898049

Many years ago I heard my first cat screaming at night here at the cabin. It shook me up at first as it sounded like a woman screaming from deep in the woods. I was told that that was probably a lynx and not a bobcat, but I really have no idea.

[WmFritz]

The pics in Reddogs link are good ones, but I'm not convinced yet. The height of the rear hip may be hard to judge due to the camera angle, at least to me. The tail looks short.

I got an up close and personal eyeball at a Lynx near Brevort, not far from Jeff's place. They're much easier to ID having a stare down in daylight. Those tufts on their ears are hard to miss.

[Chuck White]

I'm thinking it's another deer!

Look at the hind legs!

[Jeff]

The animal was moving so the infrared flash captured mostly blur. The part with the most detail is the planted front leg as it was moving the slowest. There you can see some detail. Deer don't have dark spots on their legs.

[WmFritz]

As the Cat or Yooper Goat debate continues... I thought I'd sidetrack for a bit.

This morning, sitting in my local restaraunt, the discussion was about a Cougar sighting last week in Cedarville, Michigan. Cedarville is close to Jeff's place and sightings in that area are not news and have been documented for a few years now. What was interesting to me was one of the 'regulars', a former DNR employee, went up Saturday and had an informal information session with local L/O's on Sunday. He located Cougar scat, to be sent to Lansing ( I learned scat can be tested for DNA and the sex can be determined) and set trail cams.

I'm thinking over my coffee that if I'm Jeff, I'm not walking to the outhouse without my shotgun or sidearm with me.  ;D

[sandhills]

Judging by what I see in your picture, reply 7, look at the direction of the ears, looks to me like it's looking straight ahead.  Then look at the nose, either a cat or a seriously overgrown Pug  :D, the picture with the deer along side would make for one big bobcat around here anyway. 

[Jeff]

The documented last picture we saw from a trail cam on facebook was supposedly from Prentiss bay. Cougar track plaster casts have been made less than 3 miles as the crow flies from here.  I'[ve had times on my old property where I would get a very strange feeling and tell myself it was time to leave. Never knew why. I'm not scared of bears and know how to act in black bear country. I do usually have at least a machete.

[Jeff]

This is the "Near cedarville" picture that is all over facebook U.P. pages from late October. Information on it just seems to be a bit sketchy for me though. It certainly does look like it could be from this area however.


 

[ellmoe]

  Looks like a kitty to me.

[Chuck White]

Cougar!

[Swatson]

Cougar!

That sure looks like a porch rail in that picture...bit close for me

[fishpharmer]

Maybe a zoo rail ;)

Back to the original picture...bobcat or lynx.  End of tail could be black and blends with background.

[Jeff]

I'm sure my picture is not that of a cougar, but they are close.  A neighbor to us up here sent this over to me. I'll edit the last names in the text. It was taken about 4 miles and only a couple miles away. I made a map of the cougar location in red and where I'm hunting in green.

Ralph, neighbor across street had a camera set up on one of his food plots behind his house and took this and 3 other pictures of a cougar strolling across his plot.  He said it has a trail it follows between the food plots he has made checking for deer.  Looks like its belly is full.  This cat is between 7 and 10 feet long.  Looks healthy.   Ralph recently took a picture of a large bobcat killing a doe.  No he hasn't gotten his buck this year but is hopeful.
Jay



  

 

[clww]

Mountain lion range can be from 25 square miles to over 150 square miles. You may have the same one.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Never seen anything like that except on movies. That sucker is huge!

[clww]

I have one in the garage.



Mounted. ;)

[Magicman]

Looks like it is carrying a whole deer.   

[fishpharmer]

Remotely related older story that I just discovered.  A South Dakota cougar was killed by a car in Conneticut.

http://dnr.wi.gov/news/releases/article/?id=2158

[NWP]

That's a BIG cat. 

[Buckshot00]

bobcat

[chain]

After considerable analysis, and knowing my expertise of all wild and exotic beasts, I think it's a deer!

Can't you all see the muzzle and black nose down below the 'leaves'?

[Jeff]

No, only you can see that, because that is not what that is. It is absolutely not a deer unless it is a dwarf.

[WDH]

My son-in-law, the Wildlife Biologist, took one look at it and immediately said feline.  Bobcat or lynx. 

[chain]

No, only you can see that, because that is not what that is. It is absolutely not a deer unless it is a dwarf.

The photo that I see a muzzle and nose is in the photo of your reply #7, I believe[I'm using a magnifying glass]. I once took a trail cam photo of an animal, a head-on shot, everyone thought it to be a coyote, turned out a bobcat.

[Jeff]

yeah that probably trumps my full resolution photo I have here in front of me. so you think with the rest of the photo a blur because whatever is moving so fast that a muzzle and nose are clear for you to see?

[chain]

Have you forgotten what your title of this thread is? "Any guesses on what this might be?" Why the third degree if I'm guessing, if you requested a , "guess"? Besides< i'm not the only one who guesses a deer, even goats, what about a cat-a-mount, would that fit better for a guess?

I'm sorry, but they don't call  Missouri, 'The Show-me State' for nuthin'! :D

[Jeff]

You didn't say you were guessing. You proclaimed yourself the expert. I don't know what it is for sure, but I do know what it isn't by the evidence in front of me. Its not a deer unless it is less than 18" tall.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I have said for years that there are "creatures of the night" that humans have never seen.....and they live close to us......closer than you think.
With more and more wildlife cams in use, I believe we may be getting a glimpse of one of these creatures. I don't have a clue as to what this animal is. Its strange though and I would bet it eats meat.

[Skidder Kev]

Did you ever figure out what was in the picture?  Do you still have your cameras set up to try and catch it again.

I'm going to guess cat of some sort. 

[Jeff]

We are pretty convinced it is a bobcat. There are a lot of them around us.

[petefrom bearswamp]

This is why I dont like those IR cameras the quality sucks and the shutter speed does also.
Leaving a lot open to speculation.
Would have to be a 75 lb bobcat.

[Jeff]

 Did you guys not see the picture I put together where the layers were merged of the deer, and this animal standing in exactly the same spot taken on the same camera from the very same location?  Deer don't come in miniature and in one of the other pictures you can see the bobcat markings on the leg.  On the superimposed picture, you have about a 110lb deer. How is the other creature a 75 lb animal?

[sandhills]

After very carefully re scrutinizing your super imposed picture I'm 99.9% certain Poston is trespassing on your hunting grounds!  :D