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Messages 1 - 16 of total 16 in this topic
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Jan 26, 2015 - 06:56pm PT
Cool discovery Alex...Do cougars usually carry tape measures..?
Willoughby

Social climber
Truckee, CA
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:01pm PT
Can't speak for the tracks, but the kitty sure looks like a bobcat on my screen.

EDIT - just looked up some measurements and I suspect you're right about the tracks be Mtn. Lion. They sure look big (though bobcats can be surprisingly large!!). Anyhow, looks like you're just outside the range of bobcat in terms of length. My book says the heel pad width is the clincher, as there's basically no overlap there:

4-7.3 cm in the lion
2.5-4 cm in the bobcat

Since they're wider than they are long, this sure doesn't jive with Caveman's numbers below!!
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:04pm PT
Cougar sighting!!
Caveman

climber
Cumberland Plateau
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:05pm PT
Bobcats around here are that big. Just measured pads on a large male on the wall. Pads are 2.5 inches front to back. I have a lion track from a cave close by and it measures 5 inches front to back.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:07pm PT
The prints are dry and there's some wind blown leaf litter and drying cracks in the tracks.

The kitty you saw is not the one that left the tracks.

Hello BIG kitty!

She's watching you!


rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:09pm PT
rfshore...did you see the litter box...?
coolrockclimberguy69

climber
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:11pm PT
+1 for bobcat. They can get pretty big. The ears and face give it away.

Still really cool. Beautiful cat!
little Z

Trad climber
un cafetal en Naranjo
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:21pm PT

puma: (front foot) 3 inches long x 3.5 inches wide
(back foot) 3 inches long x 3 inches wide

bobcat: (front foot) 1 7/8 inches long x 1 3/4 wide
(back foot) 1 7/8 inches long x 1 3/4 wide

prints would seem to be those of a puma


can't tell much from the photo except that it must have been a pretty exciting moment
mike m

Trad climber
black hills
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:24pm PT
AnyOne can see one but to get a picture is pretty awesome. Bobcat or mt lion
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:28pm PT
Wait til you come across tracks you can put yer size 12 shoe in completely! GRRRR!
That probably won't happen in Ojai.
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:32pm PT
Nice!

As you have already concluded, those are definitely puma tracks and very likely a bobcat in the photo (OK, that is a bobcat for sure).

You can go a little further. The width of the rear pad is much larger for a male than it is for a female (never larger than ~3") and I bet this is a female. The kittens grow up fast and by a year or so, the male kittens already have larger feet than an adult female.
john hansen

climber
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:34pm PT
I'm sure most of you know you can hold down the ctrl key and use the + and - keys to zoom in and out on the photo.

If you zoom in 6 or 7 clicks it seems to be sitting up very straight.

Don't think I have seen a photo of a mountain lion sitting like that.

I would tend toward Bobcat too for the photo but who knows.

Cool to have both of them in your area.
Lynne Leichtfuss

Trad climber
Will know soon
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:36pm PT
Survival, more like a kitten sighting......:)
Caveman

climber
Cumberland Plateau
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:46pm PT
To clarify my post, the bobcat I measured is the largest male bobcat ever seen by an experienced taxidermist in middle Tn. The lion track I measured is most likely Panthera Onca Augusta and is roughly 12,000 yrs old.
I might add that I have no idea as to how big bobcats get. I have seen the bones of Onca Augusta and that kitty was a big-un.
dee ee

Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:52pm PT
Most of the Mtn. Lion tracks I've seen have been in the 4" range. they will easily swallow up my large fist. And the cats I've seen were from adolescent to 200+ lbs. A big bobcat can probably have a pretty large track.

Not sure how large this one was....didn't measure.


Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Jan 26, 2015 - 07:54pm PT
What Lynne said....
Messages 1 - 16 of total 16 in this topic
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