Western New York Sighting of Unidentified Feline Animal

I let my yellow lab out at 7:30 am Sunday . We own a few acres of land and my dog is restrained only by an invisable fence around the perimeter of our partially wooded property. She has never caught or attacked any animal, but she loves to bark and chase the rabbits,deer, wild turkeys etc…off our property. She was out less than 10 minutes and came back barking desperately to let her in. I let her in and the poor dog was so scared she was shaking.For the rest of the day she would not go outside unless I went with her.
About 10:00 am I saw this strange animal standing on the cement around our pool. It had pointed ears like a cat,only bigger. It was about the same height as my dog,but was very skinny.I opened the window and yelled “gay avec” ,which means go away.It turned around and ran into the woods.It had a long skinny tail that stuck straight out when it ran.It was grayish brown and mangy looking. Apparently it understands Yiddish (lol),and scared my sweet doggie. BTW I live in a suburb just east of Syracuse, NY. I have lived here 25 years and have never before seen this type of animal. Does anyone know what kind of animal this is? Should I worry it will come back? Do you think it would hurt my dog or a person?

tan, short hair, 2ft long tail, 2ft high from ground…thick short hair like a cat except it wasn’t a house cat…ran across the road in seconds..didnt see face.

Riding my bike up River Rd. north of Riverside – towards Tonawandas, there was a dead cat on the side of the road. It was large, about the size of a hound, spotted (uniformly so, even along its underside), and had very rich, dark eye markings. It was too large to be domestic, but did not have Lynx facial tuft, or bobcat tail. Escaped exotic maybe? Or do Lynx’s have tuft variety given the season?

My friend and I were driving down Old Lake Shore rd. on Aug.29th at about 5 PM when this very tall cat-like animal loped across the street in front of our car. It was light brown in color with pointed ears and a long tail.The thing that stood out the most was that the legs were really long and the animal`s body was pretty short but very sleek. I am familiar with fox and coyotes. It was neither. Has anyone else seen this animal?

I just today saw the same animal…..it looks like a tall skinny shorthaired fox! Very adjile and quick. It was getting ready to scope out the underside of my deck but I chased it….it was 3:00 in the afternoon. I live in the Southern Tier of New York next to a wooded area.My husband said it was a coyote…..but what about the short haired long tail?

My son and I saw a cat on July 5, 2011 on route 22 about 100 yards shy of the turnoff for Ticonderoga. Around 3:30 pm. About 3 feet with a short stubby tail. It all happened so fast but it was definitely a large cat and there were two of us to see it. I would have said cougar missing it’s tail but I’m told that’s impossible. Sandy brown body with stumpy tail. Very sleek and FAST.

I live in a very rural area of Western NY, around a lot of apple orchards and farm land. We have Lake Ontario in our back yard and of course all of the bays that go along with it. While driving to work at 6:15a an animal ran across the road in front of me. It was definitely feline, yet much bigger than any domestic or feral cat. It was tan, muscular and had a very thin tail with a bit of a tuft at the end. This is my second sighting of such a creature, but while sitting in the summer around a fire in the back yard, we hear this sort of crying/scream sound, its short and will repeat about 3 times before moving to another area and making the sound again. I do believe we have wild cats in New York State where we have not seen them before.

I live on Lake Erie, and have a second story home office with a computer facing the lake. I looked up from my work and watched (in amazement) as a huge feline walked across my seawall from west to east. I have 3 domestic cats, and have had a huge domestic cat. No one can tell me that this was in any way a domestic cat. I see eagles and coyotes and all manor of creatures from my window especially in the winter with no cover for the creatures. I first thought it was a coyote or dog from its size. It was not. It was a cat, buff in color with a lighter face. I saw it from many angles as it would turn it’s face right at me. I’m not sure what kind of cat I saw for sure. It was NOT a domestic cat.

I have just seen your comment – too busy. The fisher cat makes a screaming sound. It is not a cat by the way.

Ok so I live millersport sheridan area amherst ny. Approx 2 years ago ever night i heard what appeared to be a child screaming HELP! one night my neighboor told me there was a coyote in my yard chasing my cat and making crazy noises. after a few days it disappeared and as of today july 7th i came home at 1130 and my cat got a baby rabbit when i went to go put it in the fields something chased me. I finally got a foot away from it. It stood on its hind legs like a prarrie dog and made this horrible screeming noise then ran away. It for sure was at least 4 feet and ran very stealth and cat like. i’ve been doing research for years about to call the town. I can almost name every animal….. Never seen anything like this.

Ok so I live millersport sheridan area amherst ny. Approx 2 years ago ever night i heard what appeared to be a child screaming HELP! one night my neighboor told me there was a coyote in my yard chasing my cat and making crazy noises. after a few days it disappeared and as of today july 7th i came home at 1130 and my cat got a baby rabbit when i went to go put it in the fields something chased me. I finally got a foot away from it. It stood on its hind legs like a prarrie dog and made this horrible screeming noise then ran away. It for sure was at least 4 feet and ran very stealth and cat like. i’ve been doing research for years about to call the town. I can almost name every animal….. Never seen anything like this.

As I was walking in the early evening in the Wheatfield/Pendleton area, a creature I’ve never seen before crossed the road quickly and headed for a wooded area. At first I thought it might have been a coyote, but it was definitely a feline. It had short hair, the body was sleek and thin with a long tail and was a medium brown color. The size was that of a small-medium sized dog, but thin. It would be interesting to find out what I saw.

Your comments validate my thoughts on this sighting. I have spoken to enough professionals who all were quick to discount that this was any kind of cat….some of their suggestions just never seemed to fit…a fisher (much too small/short), a coyote (just NOT the bushy tail one would have), beaver/otter/fox (again, not correct body type, tail or height).

Although my curiosity got the best of me, I foolishly moved in closer. The size of this animal was enough to make my friend call for me to come back. I guess I never took it into consideration that it may have been something not native to the area. I must say that it appears to be quite a stretch (geographically speaking) yet the photos of the jaguarundi truly appear to be a striking match to the animal I saw. (I had never heard of this animal, until I viewed your link—Thanks, Michael!) Certainly Interesting to say the least!!

YOU very well may have seen a wild cat. I live in the suburban area of Chicago and a few years back we had a puma or the dreaded cougar pass through here. My son actually saw it on a quite deserted road in southern Wisconsin. It was being sighted all over the place. Those cats can travel very long distances every day. No one knows what happened to it it just stopped being seen. Also in Chicago about 4 years ago there was one on the streets in Chicago. It hadnt escaped from any zoo so they shot it of course rather than tranqulize it and relocate it. Sometimes people just let their unruly cats go thinking they will survive in the wild. Or it could have been a hybrid escapee. A few years back in my ares people were letting their Bengals go thinking they could survive. People would find them and take them in.

On the basis that this is a cat as you say and that is weighs about 45 lbs and is solid dark brown, that narrows down the options massively. The cat was also living in swampland.

This description points overpoweringly to the cat being a jaguarundi except for the weight. This wild cat has a maximum weight of 15 lbs well below your estimate but it is a cat that is a little otter like in appearance and dark brown, ticked coat.

Also, there is the obvious obstacle to this being a jaguarundi namely that the state of New York is miles from its natural range — see jaguarundi range but it does occupy Central and South America.

Of course it could be a captive jaguarundi that is now wild. This wild cat by the way likes wet grassland but is tolerant of arid areas too. It is a decent swimmer. It also has a long thin tail.

What are the alternatives?

A caracal weighs a max of 45 lbs but has white facial markings and distinctive ear tufts, which would have been noticeable. This cat would have to be a released captive cat as its habitat is Africa.

As most wild cats (as you infer) have tabby patterns, for the time being, I am going for the jaguarundi if the assessment of weight can be reappraised.

Thanks for visiting and sharing your experiences.