Big Kitty in my driveway

[Walt]

I saw muddy footprints in my driveway after a rain a few days ago so I checked my cameras.

[AJMD429]

.
Photo looks convincing…

Speaking of kitty footprints…

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Saw a bobcat on the trail cam and this track 100 yards away.

Bobcat…???

Only other critters here in Indiana would be house cats pet dogs and coyotes.

I think feline, and too big for housecat…???

This webpage seemed informative: https://www.bear-tracker.com/caninevsfeline.html

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[GunnyMack]

Just be happy you don't have to clean the litter box for that puddy-tat!

When I lived in CO a fresh lion track in the snow by the house I was renting, made darn sure to pack a gun while outside after that. I didn't leave the dog out alone either- she could and did carry a glock but couldn't use it!

[Walt]

Doc AJ, it almost has to be a bobcat because there are no claw marks since cats retract their claws. There are four pads in front and the footprint is almost round. Actually, there's no doubt it's a bobcat.

[COSteve]

That's not a rare thing in our valley as we have all sorts of 'critters' roaming around from small squirrels, to bobcats, deer, elk, and bears.

[Sixgun]

Wow! That’s a biggie…….as I know nothing about such creatures, are they creatures to worry about if you leave your dogs outside or take an evening walk? We are getting coyotes in numerous numbers but I’ve never seen one. People’s dogs and cats have gone missing along with road kills and guys killing them while hunting deer which are as numerous as whining college kids.

[Walt]

Six, the mountain lions show up periodically on peoples' security cameras around the community but I had never seen one in my driveway until now. I have sometimes seen muddy bear tracks crossing my driveway after a rain but I only have one semi decent picture of one from one of my game cameras.

Yep, I think a mountain lion might take advantage of the situation if a dog was chained outside overnight. It supposedly takes a deer per week to sustain a full-grown mountain lion and there are certainly lots of deer around here. Mountain lion attacks on humans are exceedingly rare but usually involve children when they do happen.

We have lost a cat and a dog to coyotes in the 27 years we've lived here. I came outside one evening to bring our large dog and a small one into the house and a coyote was standing in the driveway about 8' from the small dog and the large dog was glaring at him maybe 6' on the other side of the small dog. If I hadn't come outside at that moment, the coyote would likely have dashed in, grabbed the small dog and made off with him. I do remember a story from the neighborhood about a coyote taking a small dog from someone who was walking it on a leash.

Coyotes are extremely adaptable, very intelligent animals. They are always around here and we hear them yipping and howling around here in the mornings.

[jeepnik]

Coyotes commonly take small dogs and cats here. And or foxes get some as well. Both have been known to take small dogs on leash.

In fact the coyotes have bitten folks walking dogs, but the record keepers refuse to count it as an attack on a human because of the presence of the dog.

As to the rarity of lion attacks, I guess it depends on whether you are the one attacked. My stste usually finds some way to not count quite a few attacks.

[ollogger]

Set up a trail cam last fall, so far no lions on it but have seen them around the barn & have been jarred
out of bed by a screaming lion, in the last 2 years they have shot 5 lions with in a few miles of my place, yes they take dogs very often around here, few months ago a bud of mine lost his dog to a lion, he is in a wheel chair
so a bit slow to get the lion in his sights, he called a bud of his who has dogs & they got the lion
after that he kept his rifle close by, one day he looked at his screen door & a lion was looking at him
Henry blasted the lion good & proper dead



ollogger

[Sixgun]

The foxes here leave the cats alone….we have several who come right up to the front door every night……yea, the foxes get the scraps and sometimes full meals….they love spaghetti.…..we have this semi feral cat that’s a real scrapper………this cat is baaaddd. First pic the cat is on the rock about 10-15 feet from our front door….the next picture you see the cats arm outstretched and the cat connects on the third……the fox took off.

[Walt]

Around our community, people have thought it was cute to leave food out for the bears. That's pretty much a death sentence for the bears. When someone complains to the Game and Fish Dept about a bear rummaging around their house, they send out a couple of guys who find the bear, tranquilize and tag it, then take it to a remote location about 80 miles away. The bear frequently shows up again and in a surprisingly short time. They do that twice with a given bear and then when the bear shows up again, they do a close range shot with a shotgun. End of story. And then of course, people complain about the cruelty to the bears. The solution is to not feed the bears but people think that can't possibly apply to them.

[EG73]

You guys are so lucky to have all these sorts of animals around. Appreciate them and take required steps to ensure they don’t cause problems (for example, as said above, don’t leave your pets outside at night, stay with them if you take them out etc).
Pretty easy stuff to do.

People are dumb when it comes to approaching wild animals (thinking of feeding bears).

The last wild animal I had here was a brush tailed possum getting into the chickens seed. Cute little bugger has been back a couple times. No worries, he can never eat enough to be a care on the wallet, and if you’re worried about a few bucks in feed then you need to reevaluate your priorities lol.

[Rockrat]

With that long tail, I am more inclined to say that was a young mountain lion