OFFICIALS WARN: Tracks of large exotic cat found near Reagan library

[jswordy]

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. -- Authorities are warning residents who live between Simi Valley and Moorpark to keep their pets and children indoor.

This after discovering paw prints believed to belong to a large exotic cat. Officials from the Department of Fish and Game says the prints were discovered Tuesday in an area near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. They say the prints were two to three days old and indicate an animal larger than a mountain lion.

http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=2967741

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. It's Matcom looking for Gluckert in the Reagan Archives

Move along, nothing to see here

[mhr]

2. Is This The Terrorists New Weapon - Feline Freeper Scouts?

eom

[leftofthedial]

3. CatWoman is on the prowl again

In a related story, they have found large deposits of male cattle excrement surrounding the George HW Bush library.

[slackmaster]

4. I'll bet it was a jaguar

There have been a few sightings of jaguars in southern Arizona over the last decade. They still exist in northern Mexico. Before European settlers killed them off their range extended well into California.

[Sporadicus]

6. Are Jaguars Larger Than Mountain Lions?

I've always considered both mid-sized felines. Then again, I'm no expert on sooty puddy-footie prints.

[slackmaster]

22. Yes, they're larger and stockier than mountain lions

Largest cat in the Americas.

http://lynx.uio.no/catfolk/onca-02.htm

[Lorien]

30. None that I've seen

I know some people here in Florida with about 250 big cats (www.bigcatrescue.com ). The cougars are somewhat larger than the jaguars (both in length an height), but about the same size (or slightly smaller) as the leopards. Only the lions and tigers are significantly larger than the other species.

[firebee]

7. I always thought Mountain Lions were bigger than Jaguars

This is supposed to be bigger than a Mountain Lion??? The only cat bigger than a Mountain Lion, that I can think of, is a Tiger or a Lion. The Panther is smaller and the Jaguar is smaller if I remember correctly. Those are the only other two cats native to the southwest.

[firebee]

10. Well... MSNBC just reported on Hercules the Liger

This is cross-breed between a Tiger and a Lion. Wonder if one of these fellas got loose.

[Blue to the bone]

11. I do believe Jaguars are larger than Cougars...

....but I've been wrong before. Part of it may have to do with the areas in which they range as well.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

40. Cougars are longer, but Jaguars are more muscular

Check out stats here: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/agarman/bco2ns.htm

I suspect, since the description implies a cat that is significantly larger than a cougar, that it's an escaped lion or tiger.

I hope kitty marks his turf well... :evilgrin:

[yinkaafrica]

12. Tiger, Lion, Jaguar, Mountain Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Siberian Lynx

That is the size order for wild cats. Jaguar is bigger and dominates the Mountain Lion in Mexico and South America. If this is a Jaguar it is somebody's lost 'pet.' There are no wild Jaguar in the US.
No way. Liger is bigger than all of these but because there is no where on earth where Tigers and Lions cohabit, this hybrid only occurs
in captivity. (Yes, a lion and tiger will breed in captivity.)

[yinkaafrica]

14. More likely it is an escaped lion or tiger

They are much more common in captivity than the Jaguar.

[slackmaster]

24. It's very hard to get a permit to keep an exotic cat in California

Not many people have them, though I'm sure there must be some illegal ones.

[Blue to the bone]

16. There are no wild Jaguars in the U.S.?

How do you know this? I seem to recall seeing a photograph of one taken in S. Arizona within the last few years.

[jswordy]

38. There are indeed jaguars in the U.S., says National Geographic

Link:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1126_031126_jaguararizona.html

[jswordy]

39. Oh yes, ABC News says so too...

...and here's that link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98074&page=1

[slackmaster]

23. National Geographic had a photo of a jaguar in Arizona several years ago

It was taken by a rancher who spotted (heh heh) the cat on his land.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

20. The Jaguars have bigger paws, I know

There was a Jaguar sighting in SW New Mexico a few years ago and the paws were larger than that of the mountain lion.

[emad]

5. And yesterday a lone fox skipped outside Poodle's constituency

house in Trimdon Colliery - pictured in UK press because it was last official day of foxhunting....

[JitterbugPerfume]

9. interesting

another DUer and I were discussing this very subject a couple days ago

big cats

they will probably kill the poor thing if they get a chance <sigh>

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Must be a bear reincarnate

:P

[SheepyMcSheepster]

13. A Liger! eom.

[yinkaafrica]

15. Ligers are docile giants. I want one.

I am guesing this is a Siberian-Bengal Tiger mix, three years old :)

[LiberalEsto]

29. Ligers and ligers and bears!

That's probably what Dorothy would say if they re-made "Wizard of Oz" today.

[icymist]

17. It's John Negroponte making sure nobody sees his Iran-Contra records!

While the rest of the nation thinks he's in Afghanistan, Rush is forced to wear a giant cat suit and walk around the Reagan library.

Well, I can dream, can't I?

[Dogmudgeon]

18. It's Space Leopards

Trust me on this one.

--p!

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. Jaguars in the US

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/bigcats/jaguar/az.html

Jaguar Sighting in Arizona
In December 2001, the image of a jaguar was caught on film south of Tucson, providing new evidence that the endangered cat is still present in Southern Arizona. Taken by a remote, motion-activated camera that was set out to monitor potential jaguar corridors near the U.S./ Mexico border, this photograph shows a young male jaguar weighing around 175 pounds. Although these cameras have been in place along these potential corridors since 1997, an image of the elusive jaguar was not recorded until late 2001. Previously, two photographs of jaguars were taken in 1996, one in the Baboquivari Mountains west of Tucson and one in the Peloncillo Mountains, along the New Mexico border near San Simon. Biologists believe the two images captured in 1996 and the one in 2001 are images of three separate cats.
(a little more to read at above link)


...and another Jaguar AZ ztory:

http://tinyurl.com/5xhol

Pic here:
http://tinyurl.com/5gvc3

<snip>
The updated story of Brown Canyon's Jaguar Canyon Trail began in 1996 when Tucson researcher Jack Childs took a now-much-publicized videotape and still photographs of a jaguar that his dogs treed just north of the canyon.

Two years later Buenos Aires manager Wayne Shifflet revealed that a cowboy rounding up leftover cattle came upon a jaguar dining on a deer carcass. There have also been several unsubstantiated sightings in the area since.

[Blue to the bone]

25. Thanks Whoa_Nelly!

As per my earlier comment, I was sure I remembered reading a story about a Jaguar sighting in S. Arizona within the last few years. The one I recalled was the Brown Canyon story of the Jaguar treed by the dogs.

[slackmaster]

26. Great - thanks for the lynx!

:evilgrin:

[TahitiNut]

21. It's the ghost of Maureen

:shrug:

[DBoon]

27. Ghost of a murdered Salvadorian peasant

seeking justice in the afterlife.

[Duer 157099]

28. Maybe escaped from here:

Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in Rosamond, CA -- it's quite a distance, but there are routes of mostly uninterruped mountain terrain and desert between Rosamond and Simi (Los Padres forest)

[VegasWolf]

31. Maybe it was Scotty McClellan, Rove and Gannon playing furries. n/t

[Bo]

32. Could be a Snow Leopard

[DU GrovelBot]

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[maxsolomon]

34. ligers are noted for their mystical powers

napoleon!

[slackmaster]

35. Report on the radio said cat estimated to weigh 400-600 pounds

So much for the "jaguar" and "leopard" theories. Anything that big could only be an old world lion or a tiger or a lion/tiger hybrid.

:scared:

[Coastie for Truth]

36. Maine Coon Cat On Steroids - W/ Eating Disorder

I had a Maine Coon Cat with an eating disorder (she was a "recreational eater - ate when bored, ate before and after using the kitty litter, whenever) -- and she was 24 pounds.

[Minstrel Boy]

37. I think I know what it is:

A cowardly lion marking his territory.

[kskiska]

41. Maybe Michael Jackson has released his pets

from Neverland, since it's doubtful he'll ever live there again.

[damntexdem]

42. Ooh, Catwoman is on the prowl.

I wonder what she wants from the Reagan archives.

[slackmaster]

43. BREAKING - CAT FOUND IN CALIFORNIA!

[Hillary08]

45. That's "Tiny" !

I'd recognize him anywhere!

(Great pic!)

[Hillary08]

44. I wondered where "Tiny" had gotten too!

Bad cat...

[two gun sid]

46. Why can' Reagan just be fuckin' dead?

I don't want to hear another goddamn word about him or his library.