Medium Size Kitty

[Gbro]

This is a "Fresh" set of photo that have not even been taken off the camera. My Daughter took these with her I phone from the image on a camera's review screen.
These were taken in the little town of Coleraine Minnesota on December 26, 2011 1630hrs.
My daughter was waiting along with her husbands family for another family member that was just about to leave her house and spotted this Kitty in her yard. She took a bunch of pictures and then called saying she isn't going outside just yet because of a large cat in the yard.
She calls 911 and reports a large cat in her yard and was transferred to the local DNR office. She describes that she believes there is a Linkx in her yard and was told that its not possible because there are no Linkx in MN. and that they will not come out unless there are more calls.
My daughter calls me at work asking if there are Linkx in MN and I said that I believe there are and ask for pictures, that is when she takes the I-phone photo's.
I then called the local Conservation Officer that I work with doing Firearms Safety and ask him about Linkx and he tells me that he has taken them out of traps when the trappers make the call, and that they once had a trapper bring in a hybrid that neither he nor the wildlife biologist could id. It took DNA to ID that one.
Well, he states that these pictures look very much like a Linkx.


More photo's will follow soon.

[JohnKSa]

First of all, that's definitely a lynx.

Second, the DNR office is not well informed. It seems to be common knowledge that they are found in parts of MN.

http://www.d.umn.edu/vdil/research/2...orts/carr.html
http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_an...dlife/lynx.php

Very cool pictures...

[GojuBrian]

Yeah, game and fish told me there's no rattlesnakes or Panthers in Arkansas either. I've seen two panthers and countless rattlers here with my own eyes.
That a lynx alright. Very cool.

[Art Eatman]

Yup. The tufts on the ears are the main clue.

[Gbro]

I got the real pictures. This event made for a lot of excitement for that family today.

[warbirdlover]

The DNR makes me laugh sometimes at their sheer stupidity and ignorance on subjects in which they should be the leading authority.

[Buzzcook]

Beautiful animals. Pretty scarce. They usually get forced out by bobcats.

Do not shoot.

[Shoes]

Thanks for posting the pictures. That is a beautiful animal. I second, Dont Shoot!

Shoes

[2damnold4this]

Great pics!

[BIGR]

Something different that you just don't see.

Kind of like wildlife officials deny the existance of large cats (MTN. Lions, Cougars and Panthers) in some places. We know better.

[Gbro]

Yes this is a camera only shoot.
This is an animal that is normally a deep forest dweller that relies on the snowshoe hare as its #1 prey.
This fine species is being used as a tool to shut down logging across the nation.
What I have read the issues are the logging roads that allow the Barrows Linkx to go deeper into the forest thereby competing with the Canadian Linkx for the snowshoe hare.
Unfortunately the snowshoe hare is at a point we could well rename it to "Snowshoe Rare" and not because of a Bob Cat accessing forest roads.
This past hunting season my highlight was when I saw my 1st snowshoe in two years. That is 2 full years not just hunting sightings!
This is a time to do a backtrack and leave the area as to not cause undue stress to the Rare Critter.
Hey i might be becoming a "Bunny Hugger" !
35 years ago we could take the children on a 20-30 mile drive around the township north of the little town and see 60-70 snowshoe and maybe some cotton tails too.
This Canadian Linkx's visit is most likely to do with the abundant Grey Squirrel populations we have in towns around the area.

[tahunua001]

that's a big lynx! either that or I'm just used to our tiny bobcat population out here. hope no one in the neighborhood has a wiener dog

he doesn't look malnourished so he wasn't driven there by hunger, he was probably just curious

[VINCENT1]

yes, thats a lynx. class 2 cat. not likly to attack a human, and even if it did you have a good chance of not only fighting it off, and an even better chance of surviving. i love lynx, but prefer something a bit bigger.
heres a pic of my kitties

[Gbro]

Yesterday when my daughter called me at work telling me about this Linkx an old friend in his early 80's that is restoring a Model T, had stopped into the Parts store and we looked at the pictures together. He said back in the '50's there was an old Conservation Officer by the name of Louis Peloquin who told him about the time an area trapper brought in a Linkx he had trapped in the Hibbing Mn. area and he then reported it to the St. Paul office. The powers behind the DNR at that time told him that its imposable because there are no Canadian Linkx in MN. He then took the linkx to St. Paul and although they agreed that it was in fact a Linkx, but it was probably trapped somewhere else because again there are no Linkx in Minnesota.

[warbirdlover]

I've looked up pics of both a Lynx and Bobcat and damned if I can tell the difference..... Which is it? My wife says it's a Bobcat. She went to college to be a DNR biologist and then changed her major.

[VINCENT1]

lynx is some what bigger,and thicker. although very similar, a lynx is far more relaxed, and a bobcat is more skitish, and agressive. lynx has longer rear legs for moving through the snow, much like a florida panther is the same as a mountain lion, but has longer rear legs for moving through the florida swamps.

in essence a lynx, and a bob cat are the same much like a puma, mt lion, cougar, and panther are all the same. just slight body variations due to thier habitat.

[BIGR]

While you guys are analyzing cats. Do think these pictures are of a Bobcat. I just recently got this one on the game cam.

[FrankenMauser]

While you guys are analyzing cats. Do think these pictures are of a Bobcat. I just recently got this one on the game cam.

I don't think that's a cat. The legs are too skinny, and the rump slopes too much. It looks more like a dog, or an overgrown weasel, to me.

[warbirdlover]

I don't know what it is but am pretty sure it's not a Lynx or Bobcat.

[rickyrick]

I was thinking canine also.

[huntinaz]

While you guys are analyzing cats. Do think these pictures are of a Bobcat. I just recently got this one on the game cam.

Except for the bobcat looking tail in the second pic, I think it looks like a fox.

[JohnKSa]

In essence a lynx, and a bob cat are the same much like a puma, mt lion, cougar, and panther are all the same. just slight body variations due to thier habitat.

That's not really correct.

Puma, Mt Lion, Cougar, Florida Panther, Catamount, and Panther are all different names for the same species, Puma concolor.

Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis) and Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are distinct species, however they are both in the Lynx genus.

[rjrivero]

Originally Posted by JohnKSa

Puma, Mt Lion, Cougar and Panther are all names for the same species, Puma concolor.

Canadian Lynx (Lynx canadensis) and Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are different species, however they are both in the Lynx genus.

I remember reading an article some time ago about a Hybridization of the two species due to a change in their food sources forcing them in closer proximity. I forget the actual concerns about the hybridization, but the upshot is that they could loose the pure Lynx canadensis and pure Lynx rufus species all together.

[jimbob86]

I've seen quite a few bobcats...... in comparison to what is in those pics, they are squatty, compact critters...... that stilt legged critter in your pics is not a bobcat, for sure.

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by BIGR

While you guys are analyzing cats. Do think these pictures are of a Bobcat. I just recently got this one on the game cam.

That's almost certainly a bobcat.

The stripes in the front legs and the tail in Pic2 almost exactly match the picture of the bobcat posted above, which I add below as a visible pic rather than a link:






Here's another infrared picture of a bobcat I found, looks just like yours, IMO: