Jaguarundi Sighting Santa Cruz Mountains, California

By Joshua

Tonight, I saw what had to be a Jaguarundi. I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and hike daily because I live in the forest.

At 5:45 pm, August 11 2016 – I was on my favorite trail when I walked upon a dead mouse, laying in the middle of a well manicured and 7 ft wide trail in the forest. Behind the mouse’s body, were paw prints along with kicked up dirt. There was a trail of dirt actually, with paw prints going in a zig zag style… like a cat was chasing a mouse.. . Literally.

Jaguarundi in Peru
Jaguarundi in Peru
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Map showing location of Santa Cruz Mountains:

I studied the prints, and damage to the mouse’s body. I noticed that the paw prints looked smaller than a dogs paw.. smaller than my 55 pound dogs paw who wasn’t with me on this hike, and also closer together – like my cats… but bigger than hers.

But too small to worry about.

I saw saliva on the mouses neck, which let me know it was fresh. I kept walking when I realized a squirrel was making a crazy loud noise.. they do that all the time at me, though, but I wanted to see who it was this time…

I walked toward this redwood tree, where I heard him yelling from… and climbing down from the other side – comes a big black cat.

I wasn’t sure what I was seeing…

It was 10-15 times bigger than a big cat, athletic and slender, probably 35 pounds but not nearly big enough for me to be scared…. I think? It had a long tail and was all black – which was what confused me (both) and its face was round and small and the ears were more rounded than I’ve seen in any bobcat.

It wasn’t a bobcat, mountain lion or a cat.. I see these often.

The cat jumped down from the tree, 10 feet from me and slightly jogged away, looking back often because he wanted the mouse and I think he had the squirrel cornered. I was mezmerized by it so like a dummy, I walked towards it… he kept his distance though, then went running, quietly, up a set of rocks up the side of the mountain.

I wanted to watch him athletically climbed, but when I glanced up his black color blended in with the shadows and after 15 minutes of starring I could not find him.

I came home and started googling big black cats in california to see my options. I know from nature shows Jagurundi’s aren’t in California.

Bit I’m quite certain I saw one, at 1876 ft in the coastal forest and it looked amazing.

Joshua


Note from Michael (Admin): This odd looking species of wild cat is not meant to be in California. That does not mean there aren’t any in that state. Joshua seems to have made a typo in writing, “It was 10-15 times bigger than a big cat”. Perhaps he meant “smaller” rather than “bigger”. He goes on to write that he estimated the weight to be around 35 pounds which is considerably heavier than as stated in Wild Cats of the World. They say the max weight it around 15 pounds which is larger than the average domestic cat but what Joshua is saying is that the cat he saw is bigger than the average domestic cat and its appearance was not that of a bobcat.

It seems that Joshua did see a jaguarundi. Thanks Joshua. This page is a copy of a comment that Joshua made on this site yesterday on this page.

Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.

8 thoughts on “Jaguarundi Sighting Santa Cruz Mountains, California”

  1. My sister, friend and myself see one on our trip through big sur. It was running along the freeway ran into the vegetation at an incredible speed. It was lucid and fast. We couldn’t make out at first what kind of animal it was, we’ve never seen one before. It looked too big to be a normal domestic cat but smaller than mountain lion or bob cat. The tail is what had us all confused. We seen one in big sur.

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  2. I’ve been a blondish, weasel-like cat with a bushy tail near my home in Sausalito California. Struggling with how improbable it seems, but its appearance is quite consistent with a jaguarundi. The bushy tail makes me think I’m not simply mistaking it for a house cat.

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  3. i was driving over hacker pass on 9/9/2016 aprox 645/715 pm. i had just passed the madonna in heading into Wastsonville. as i turned the blind curve this small cat with a long tail was crossing from the mt side of the road to cross to the Watsonville down hill side. when i completed the curve it turned and ran back up the steep hill and ran into the bushes. at first i thought it was a young mt lion. i looked up the jaguarundi and this is what i saw. michael

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      • Michael again with what I think to be another sighting. this morning 8/8/18
        on old santa cruz highway ( my morning commute from Capitola)at melody on the lexington or northbound side at 5:15 am. It was smaller than the one i saw in 2016 and the color was similar to the above photo. It also looked very young.. At first i thought it was a baby bob cat but then the tail appeared , once it came out go the bushes. It ran on side of road about 20/30 feet and then disappeared in the brush.

        Reply
        • Thanks Michael for taking the time to report your sighting. It would be great to get a photo but I know how difficult that is.

          Reply

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