Adventures in Cryptozoology

[imjohn]

I had the opportunity to see the birth of an "unknown animal" type story yesterday. It started early in the day when one of my neighbors on the eastern plains of Colorado called the sheriff and said that they had seen a large african lion chasing a dog. They had pictures that they'd taken with a camera phone. A little while later the cops received a second call. Before you knew it the Colorado Springs Police helicopter was buzzing over the prairie looking for the big cat.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/lion_38232___article.html/african_animal.html

The story seemed plausible -- the "lion" had been seen only 5 miles from a big cat sanctuary.

In the end though no lion.

The animal in the fuzzy pictures looks like a big dog to me.

[Beanbag]

If it's a feral dog that large, then it's just as dangerous (if not more so) than a lion. A feral dog won't be as scared of humans as, say, a coyote. I think people should focus on the fact that a large and possibly dangerous animal was seen in the area, and the police did their job.

There was an old story about a large cat-like creature that haunted the banks of the Brazos river back in the 60's. Most people dismissed it as a local legend. Then one day a couple of hunters came across the carcass of an elderly black leopard, who apparently had escaped from a travelling sideshow in the late 40's and settled into the neighborhood, living on rabbits and whatever prey it could run down. Because of no real competition for prey, it had the luxury of dying of old age.

Beanbag

[imjohn]

Feral dogs are dangerous but short lived around here. Stray dogs are usually shot by ranchers.

A leopard for sure? A black jaguar would not be an impossible animal in that area.

[dustbunny]

Here in England we've had several large cat stories over the years. They've never caught one but it certainly got the publics attention.

[LeStig]

From the quality of that picture the animal might as well be bovine as feline.
Not saying that bovines can't be dangerous as well, but still. :rolleyes:

[tapman]

from the angle of the photo, it does look like a lion. I can see the confusion. Sounds like it was a lot of excitement for the whole town.

[Nursefoxfire]

from the article:
"My gut tells me that looks like an African lion to me," she said.

That's the problem right there! Thinking with one's gut can't be a wise thing, and it will only lead to wrong conclusions

and obesity :)

[aggle-rithm]

Except for the tail, it looks like a chow. Could be a chow mix.

[aggle-rithm]

That's the problem right there! Thinking with one's gut can't be a wise thing, and it will only lead to wrong conclusions



Yes, when your brain's not very big, the other organs have to pitch in like that.

[Beanbag]

Feral dogs are dangerous but short lived around here. Stray dogs are usually shot by ranchers.

A leopard for sure? A black jaguar would not be an impossible animal in that area.
The radio news show at that time said "leopard." Repeated attempts to google for further information have failed to produce anything. The incident predates the internet, so I'm not surprised.

Back in the 70's, the cattleman's association in Corsicana offered a bounty on wild dogs. Caused a certain amount of outcry amongst the city dwellers about people shooting poor, defenseless Fido. Dogs are thinly socialized wolves, and easily go back to the wild side.

Beanbag

[Hooloovoo]

Did the animal sanctuary in the area report any big cats missing? Looks like if they had an escape, they'd report it for the safety of everyone in the area. There are also plenty of rednecks who keep big cats as pets. Maybe Cletus's lion escaped the trailer. Or it could be a mountain lion, or a big dog. Even if you used bigfoot photo standards, that picture is vague.

The witness did say her gut thought it looked like an African lion. Maybe we'd have a clearer description if she'd looked with her eyes.

[Hooloovoo]

from the article:


That's the problem right there! Thinking with one's gut can't be a wise thing, and it will only lead to wrong conclusions

and obesity :)
Aww, you beat me to the gut comment. Now I look silly.

[godless dave]

Big(-ish) cats are native to North America, including Colorado. I can see someone mistaking a mountain lion for a female African lion, even though the former are considerably smaller than the latter.

[imjohn]

The big cat folks say they have all their lions. :)