Big Cat in NJ - Part 2

03/17/2010

On Monday I posted about sightings of a large cat in Manalapan, New Jersey.  You've shared some great thoughts on what the animal might be and what we should do when animals show up in odd places. 

From my point of view, there are several possibilities as to what this animal could be:

Possibility #1 - It's a bobcat.  Bobcats are the only native cat still found in NJ and there are enough wooded areas and old farmland to support bobcats in Monmouth County.  The track that was photographed definitely looks like a cat track and is about the right size to be a bobcat. 

On the other hand, the size of the cat that was reported, its long tail and report that the it was chasing an adult deer would suggest that it's not a bobcat.  Bobcats are only slightly larger than the average domestic cat, have short tails (as their name suggests) and normally feed on rabbits, rodents and other small mammals and birds rather than adult deer.

However, it's my experience that 99.9 percent of people are extremely poor at identifying wildlife, particularly estimating the size and species of an animal.  It gets even worse if the sighting was at night.  It's a sad reality that most people are just not knowledgeable about the anatomy, signs, range and behavior of our native wildlife.  This is why most wildlife professionals have to take sightings by the public with a very large grain of salt.  They are not trying to be jerks or covering up some conspiracy, it's just a fact that statistically speaking, it's probably more likely that a person who truly believes they saw a mountain lion actually saw a bobcat (or something else) than it is that there are mountain lions roaming the forests of NJ.

Possibility #2 - It's a mountain lion.  Despite the fact that wildlife biologists list the species as extirpated in NJ for over a century, the fact that there is little suitable mountain lion habitat left there, and that there hasn't been a road-kill or other verifiable sign, reports of mountain lions in NJ continue to come in. 

Even if most of those sightings are misindetifications or deliberate hoaxes, there's always a small possibility that there might actually be a mountain lion or two out there.  There are certainly enough white-tailed deer in New Jersey for mountain lions to eat.  If there are any lions in NJ, it is most likely that they are escaped captive animals, or their descendants, rather than a viable wild population.  There are no verifiable mountain lion populations anywhere near NJ that could supply a cats to the Garden State by natural range expansion, but it IS shockingly easy for a private citizen to acquire a large predator as a "pet"--legally or otherwise--and fly under the radar. 

However, the track that was photographed in Manalapan, NJ is definitely way too small to be an adult mountain lion.

Possibility #3 - I've got a strong hunch it's neither a bobcat nor a mountain lion.  Check back here on Friday to find out what I really think it is...!

Photo Credits:
Bobcat http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucumari/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Mountain Lion http://www.flickr.com/photos/garytrinity/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Comments

[data recovery]

This cat's eyes are very big and puffy

[greg]

David,
Have you spent anytime in the pine barrens of nj? There are over a million acres of perfect habitat there alone,not to mention other wild areas in northwest nj. Big cats need three things,plenty of large prey to feed on (jersey has had a burgeoning deer population for quite sometime),plenty of water(the pine barrens has numerous cedar swamps,lakes and creeks)and finally plenty of dense vegetation,which it has in abundance.
Also please don't spill out the same old tired party line about these cats being escaped pets. After this many sightings,that is perfectly ludicrous. And by the way, mountain lions were endemic to nj in the 1700's, and the deep pine barrens hasn't changed. As far as misidentification, there are plenty of reliable observers that have seen these animals including police officers and state rangers. It's hard to miss that long tail and think it might be a bobcat!
To maintain your own credibility please do some significant and objective research in the future,instead of a quick and irresponsible assesment.
Finally, it's a well known fact that fox populations are huge,all over the US,and have even been observed in urban and city areas. Ask anybody how many foxes they've seen in their lives,and most will tell you none. I've spent the better part of my spare time over the past 25years roaming the pine barrens, and can count the number of foxes I've seen dead(road kill) or alive on one hand!Their very smart,elusive and generally nocturnal,just like mountain lions. Enough said!