Cwheed
12-23-2009, 04:45 PM
Mystery cat spotted near OC could be a cougar
By Katlynn Lanham (http://thefacts.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=1b920dcba48935f9c3cf012701f76ed be153b07814dc953ae4c347e2f82a682e)
The Facts
Published December 23, 2009
AMSTERDAM :D— When Byron Woods heard the rumor of a tiger roaming Oyster Creek, he wasn’t surprised. However, Woods suspects it wasn’t a tiger, but an unbelievably large cougar.
Others who have spotted the large animal describe it as a mountain lion.
Several months ago, Woods found one of the horses on his property in Amsterdam severely injured. As he stayed with her through the night, family members saw a large cat they believed to be a tiger, though they said it had no stripes, Woods said.
The large cat has returned every two to three weeks, spooking his horses and leaving large prints on the land, he said.
Woods suspects the cat is circling the area as cougars are prone to do, and though there has been no repeat attack on his horses, he has made sure his family makes no more late-night trips to the pasture, he said.
Police searched the Oyster Creek area last Thursday after a man reported seeing an orange and black striped tiger run across the road in the evening.
In Liverpool, there have been sightings of a large cat, though this cat was described as a 100-pound mountain lion, Liverpool Mayor Vanessa Lovett said.
Her son had a pen of chickens and ducks surrounded by a 6-foot-high fence, Lovett said. But recently ducks and chickens have been going missing, she said. Several other Liverpool residents have reported goats missing, she said.
Down the road from Woods, a neighbor noticed dogs missing and large footprints in the ground, Woods said.
Woods’ contact with the large cat began eight or nine months ago, he said, when he found his horse with half her jawbone missing.
“Boy, she was torn up bad,” Woods said.
Woods stayed up with his horses, Roxanne and John Wayne, that night in an attempt to protect them, he said. His family came out to help him in his initial search for the cat.
While pointing the headlights into the field they saw the cat’s eyes.
“When it stood up I couldn’t believe how tall it was,” Woods said. He estimates the cat would be as tall as his waist, he said.
At about 2 a.m. that morning, both of Woods’ horses suddenly took off running. As he stood in the headlights of his pickup watching his horses run two different directions, he suddenly felt like something was very wrong.
“I had a terrible, terrible feeling that cat was behind me,” Woods said. He spun around, but his headlights prevented him from seeing anything in the dark. He took off running in the direction of the horses, he said.
Suddenly he heard his 22-year-old daughter scream for him to get back in the pickup.
“She was hysterical,” Woods said. She swore the large cat was a tiger, but upon further questioning, she admitted it didn’t have stripes.
“If it didn’t have stripes, it wasn’t a tiger,” Woods said. But that didn’t alleviate his daughter’s fears. She said the legs of the large cat were as big around as a man’s.
Though that was the last time Woods or his family saw the cat, they know it has circled back around every two to three weeks, Woods said, because the horses become spooked and large prints the size of a man’s hand are left on the ground.
“People don’t realize there are cougars around here,” Woods said.
Meanwhile, Oyster Creek has heard no further reports of tigers or any large cats, Officer Mark Wilson said. They have never found footprints or any other evidence of a large cat, he said.
It’s possible the tiger reported could have actually been a cougar, but police are unsure, Wilson said.
Katlynn Lanham is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.
By Katlynn Lanham (http://thefacts.com/contact.lasso?ewcd=1b920dcba48935f9c3cf012701f76ed be153b07814dc953ae4c347e2f82a682e)
The Facts
Published December 23, 2009
AMSTERDAM :D— When Byron Woods heard the rumor of a tiger roaming Oyster Creek, he wasn’t surprised. However, Woods suspects it wasn’t a tiger, but an unbelievably large cougar.
Others who have spotted the large animal describe it as a mountain lion.
Several months ago, Woods found one of the horses on his property in Amsterdam severely injured. As he stayed with her through the night, family members saw a large cat they believed to be a tiger, though they said it had no stripes, Woods said.
The large cat has returned every two to three weeks, spooking his horses and leaving large prints on the land, he said.
Woods suspects the cat is circling the area as cougars are prone to do, and though there has been no repeat attack on his horses, he has made sure his family makes no more late-night trips to the pasture, he said.
Police searched the Oyster Creek area last Thursday after a man reported seeing an orange and black striped tiger run across the road in the evening.
In Liverpool, there have been sightings of a large cat, though this cat was described as a 100-pound mountain lion, Liverpool Mayor Vanessa Lovett said.
Her son had a pen of chickens and ducks surrounded by a 6-foot-high fence, Lovett said. But recently ducks and chickens have been going missing, she said. Several other Liverpool residents have reported goats missing, she said.
Down the road from Woods, a neighbor noticed dogs missing and large footprints in the ground, Woods said.
Woods’ contact with the large cat began eight or nine months ago, he said, when he found his horse with half her jawbone missing.
“Boy, she was torn up bad,” Woods said.
Woods stayed up with his horses, Roxanne and John Wayne, that night in an attempt to protect them, he said. His family came out to help him in his initial search for the cat.
While pointing the headlights into the field they saw the cat’s eyes.
“When it stood up I couldn’t believe how tall it was,” Woods said. He estimates the cat would be as tall as his waist, he said.
At about 2 a.m. that morning, both of Woods’ horses suddenly took off running. As he stood in the headlights of his pickup watching his horses run two different directions, he suddenly felt like something was very wrong.
“I had a terrible, terrible feeling that cat was behind me,” Woods said. He spun around, but his headlights prevented him from seeing anything in the dark. He took off running in the direction of the horses, he said.
Suddenly he heard his 22-year-old daughter scream for him to get back in the pickup.
“She was hysterical,” Woods said. She swore the large cat was a tiger, but upon further questioning, she admitted it didn’t have stripes.
“If it didn’t have stripes, it wasn’t a tiger,” Woods said. But that didn’t alleviate his daughter’s fears. She said the legs of the large cat were as big around as a man’s.
Though that was the last time Woods or his family saw the cat, they know it has circled back around every two to three weeks, Woods said, because the horses become spooked and large prints the size of a man’s hand are left on the ground.
“People don’t realize there are cougars around here,” Woods said.
Meanwhile, Oyster Creek has heard no further reports of tigers or any large cats, Officer Mark Wilson said. They have never found footprints or any other evidence of a large cat, he said.
It’s possible the tiger reported could have actually been a cougar, but police are unsure, Wilson said.
Katlynn Lanham is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.