Alex Mistretta based in Chicago, and BCIB USA rep was recently sent this photograph of a feline caught on a trigger camera. We would be interested in your opinions. We also have pictures of a body of a “large cat,” from the USA.
Further Communication from Alex
BLACK CAT PHOTOGRAPHED IN NORTH CAROLINA
A trail-cam photograph of what appears to be a large black cat has been making quite some noise recently among big cat researchers in the United States. I received the picture by email personally a couple weeks ago; only hours before I received another email, this time by a producer from Monsterquest. Monsterquest is a weekly series on various cryptozoological topics airing on the history channel here in the United States. How they found out that quickly I had received this picture, I have no clue. In any case they wanted to get in touch with whomever provided me with the picture. This all initially led me to believe that this picture was very recent, and hopefully someone could get to the site quickly and take measurements. An attempt was made, but a storm blew in, and that was that. As it turned out this was a moot point, the picture was not all recent, but taken in 2006.
After quite a few phone conversations, I was able to gather a little bit of information about the photograph. Some of the information that has emerged on the internet has stated that the picture was taken on public land. This is not true, the picture was taken on private property. In fact. the trail cam was set up, because the owner of that property had not only seen a big cat prior to this on the property, but had felt the need to run from it on one occasion. I haven’t received permission to print the witnesses name, so for now will remain anonymous. The owner, naturally curious about the animal, described as a large black cat, decide to attempt to obtain photographic proof.
In my inquiries into the matter, I focused on two aspect, the size and identification of the animal. Both have proven, somewhat problematic. In relation to the size, I tried to determine the size of the tree behind the animal. Here I obtained two separate measurements, and cannot verify which if any of the two is correct. One of the measurement stated that the tree was a Gum tree and measured 18 to 20 inches across. The other stated that it was an oak tree, 11 inches across and one foot up from the animal.
In terms of the identity of the animal, I cannot in all certainty state that this not a bobcat. The tail however seems to eliminates a house cat, and appears to belong to a large cat. The head is somewhat obscured, but seems small to me; much smaller then one would expect from a large cat such as a mountain lion or a leopard. I cannot distinguished the ears at all, which would have been helpful in specie identification.
Sources: From private communications.
Unfortunately, I do not have a picture, but I saw a similar cat in my Brentwood Tennessee neighborhood in 2004. Our neighborhood bordered a large heavily wooded area, which is where I saw the cat prowling one evening around dusk. I rushed back to my house to tell my family what I had seen, and they thought I was crazy. It was almost 6 months later when my father came home stunned and said he believed me now, because he had seen the cat himself. The large black cat we saw was definitely larger than a domestic cat and/or a bobcat, without a doubt.
Thanks for that Abbey, keep us informed if you hear of anything else.
Mark