by Tom Haddad
(goldsboro, NC)
I saw a large strange cat in 1988 in port St.Lucie/Stuart fla. – My wife saw 2 of them. I have tried on many occasions to identify this cat
This was in my front yard, there was a new mall being built and a secluded area was being cleared for the mall.
Anyway, this cat was very big – the size of a mountain lion, but I have seen these and this wasn’t a mountain lion or cougar you’d see in Florida.
It was built like a cheetah – small head and ears, but very large jowels. The rear legs were larger than the front and it had a tail – but it appeared to have part of the tail missing.
It was a dark brownish/red color and when it turned in the sunlight – you could see dark brown brendel stripes clearly. This cat was bigger than my dog – a large full grown malamute/setter.
An old-timer told me that there used to be a Florida wildcat – supposedly extinct, and maybe that’s what I saw..
Any ideas what this was?
Tom
There are many comments on this page from people who believe that they have seen a Florida wildcat but are unsure of its species. Please read the comments for a lot more information.
Hi Tom… Could it be the almost famous Florida jaguarundi! I am writing some time after you made the post and it seems that there is now (at 2nd December 2011) a lot of talk about the Florida jaguarundi.
Of course, the jaguarundi is much smaller than a cheetah or mountain lion. So if it is the jaguarundi you may have made a mistake on the size.
Michael
I motioned for my sister to see the very large cat, as it was between two apartment buildings and she was behind me. She also commented that it was not a regular domestic cat, as it was double the size of a cat.
I was on North Hutchinson Island in Ft Pierce today (April 8,2013) and saw a grey and white striped cat (about the size of a cougar). His ears had tufts of fur at the tips of them. He was not a domestic cat. He was spotted on A1A. He had a long tail. Does anyone know what kind of species he was?
This cat should be a bobcat but you say this cat has a long tail. There is no wild cat species with that description in North America with a long tail 😉 Sometimes, with the best of intentions, people can misjudge a cat’s size from a distance. There are many instances of large tabby cats being mistaken for tigers! And black moggies being mistaken for blank panthers!
My gut feeling is you have seen a large tabby cat. Or failing that suggestion this cat has a short tail and is a bobcat. You are describing a Maine Coon cat actually and they are large and rangy domestic cats. They are the largest domestic cat in North America. That is my guess.
I live on N Hutchinson island in ft pierce and while biking in Jack island preserve saw an adult and 2 kittens wildcats. The adult was charcoal grey,long tail,slender, about 30″tall and 40-50lbs couldn’t get a picture I was concerned about a mother with her young
Wow, is my first response. Sounds like a small female. The min weight of the puma is around 55 pounds.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Live in Boyette Springs Subdivision in Riverview FL…they are doing extensive roadwork and home building in our area and greatly upsetting the natural habitats. Yesterday we had 2 bobcats running right down our street in the middle of the day!!! Last night had a huge possum sitting right in front of my kitchen window!
I don’t like to hear about people upsetting natural habitat and forcing wild cats out in the open where they are exposed to one, just one, crazy person who thinks wild cats are objects to shoot at for fun.
While doing a 13 mile run on Blackwater Trail in Milton, Fl early this morning I spotted a large black catlike animal run gracefully across the running path. I was less than 300 ft. away and I don’t think it was aware of my presence.
Absolutely awesome!!!
Some should collate all the sightings, map them and try and figure out what is going on.
I live in Sanford Florida, while my husband and I were driving on a busy road. This short grey haired cat ran from one set of woods to the other set of woods. This cat had a bobbed tail, that curled up. It was about 2 feet tall!. We both said at the same time, Was that a cougar!! Could someone tell us what type of cat that was?. The scary part is we run along that road. Thank you.
What about a Florida bobcat? Although in my estimation the Florida bobcat is just the American bobcat. Two feet tall is 24 inches. That is probably somewhere around the height to the shoulder of a bobcat (it may be a bit shorter than 24 inches but your estimate may be wrong). As far as I can tell, it would not be a cougar. The cougar has a long tail and is larger.
My son and I were riding bikes today going down the bike path from the Auburndale to Polk City, Fl. On our way back at almost the 3 1/2 mile I had to tell my son who is only 6 to stop and not move. There was a very large cat reddish/brown in color, half tail, short pointed ears, and looked to weigh around 50+ lbs about the height of a boxer maybe…I thought it was a Bobcat but can not seem to find one in that color. It didn’t have spots or stripes just solid reddish/brown with a touch of white. It was only about 30feet away and I was going to try to take a picture but when it heard me hit just walked across the path and went in the woods. Any help on what kind of cat this was would be great. Thank you!!
I have looked at this Jaguarundi and this was not the cat…the ears on the one I saw were pointed and had fur the ends and it had NO spots or stripes at all..it’s head was almost block shape and it was past my knees not much and I am 5’4″ as I said before I was only about 30ft away so I got a very good look at it.
Hi Tammy, it is almost certain that you did in fact see a bobcat. The lynx tips to the ears are a good sign (fur on the end of the ears making then pointed). The short tail too.
Also the background color of the bobcat varies from ‘buff, brown, reddish or yellowish brown to light grey..mottled appearance.’ (Wild Cats of the World by the Sunquists).
Picture of a bobcat
The bobcat is found in Florida and over most of the USA. Thanks for posting.