# What animal was captured on this game cam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134 "2013-09-18T11:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/1 "2013-09-18T11:55:42Z")
There is a game camera on the trails where I ride my horses, and it caught[this image](https://scontent-b-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1185915_10201788656777477_1560636557_n.jpg)a few nights ago. Southern Maine. It kind of looks like a fisher cat with the tail positioned oddly, but the body isn’t as long as you’d expect. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/2 "2013-09-18T12:13:29Z")
I didn’t think Fishers were that big. To me it looks like it’s probably a fairly large dog whose head is turned toward the camera lending it a compressed perspective. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/3 "2013-09-18T12:22:41Z")
Face does look doglike- do you have coyotes there? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/4 "2013-09-18T12:27:44Z")
Only males grow that big. Some are not so long as others . 90 cm to 120cm. here’s another shortie. [http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/2/1/8/0/8/1/9/fisher-cat-30187083815.jpeg](http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/2/1/8/0/8/1/9/fisher-cat-30187083815.jpeg) Southern Maine is right on the fringe of Martes Pennanti territory. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/5 "2013-09-18T12:29:10Z")
We do have a few coyotes, although I haven’t heard any in a long time. I don’t believe I have ever seen a stray dog here. We do definitely have fishers, I’ve seen them, but none that looked anywhere near that big. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/6 "2013-09-18T12:41:11Z")
Do you have bobcat or lynx? They’re more what the crook of the back leg reminds me of. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/7 "2013-09-18T12:54:26Z")
Chupacabra. During the summer they have been known to migrate quite far north. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/8 "2013-09-18T12:56:51Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Do you have bobcat or lynx? They’re more what the crook of the back leg reminds me of. [Apparently.](http://www.naturealmanac.com/fixtures/maps/bobcat_lynx.gif) I’ve never seen one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/9 "2013-09-18T13:00:24Z")
Cool. My sister’s sons set up a game cam and bait. They got beautiful pics of deer, which was great. But then the got some shots of a black bear and now my sister is afraid to walk in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/10 "2013-09-18T13:06:40Z")
I walked out my front door about a year ago and there was a young black bear about 10 feet in front of me. I was so excited that I started yelling for my husband to come see it, thus scaring it away. I managed to get[this photo of it’s ass](https://scontent-b-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/539219_436234799753139_2066411725_n.jpg)as it fled. That night, my dog started barking and I thought, “oooh, maybe the bear is back!” but it turned out to be a moose. Best wildlife day ever. ---
**Author:** ![Uber\_the\_Goober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/58956e/32.png) [@Uber\_the\_Goober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uber_the_Goober)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/11 "2013-09-18T13:15:49Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I walked out my front door about a year ago and there was a young black bear about 10 feet in front of me. I was so excited that I started yelling for my husband to come see it, thus scaring it away. I managed to get[this photo of it’s ass](https://scontent-b-atl.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/539219_436234799753139_2066411725_n.jpg)as it fled. > > That night, my dog started barking and I thought, “oooh, maybe the bear is back!” but it turned out to be a moose. Best wildlife day ever. I am envious of the view from your front door. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/12 "2013-09-18T13:24:06Z")
Looks like a big cat to me. The legs are too thick and the body shape is not right for a coyote. Seems to be too big to be a fisher. ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/13 "2013-09-18T13:33:46Z")
What sort of big cats are there in Maine? Could it be a panther? ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/14 "2013-09-18T13:49:50Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > What sort of big cats are there in Maine? Could it be a panther? Maybe? Eastern panthers are officially extinct here, from what I’m finding online, but there have been a few sightings. I’m not sure it looks big enough to be a panther. And this area is rural, but not all that remote. The only official wild cats are lynx and bobcats. Maybe it’s someone’s big-ass pet Maine Coon. 🙂 [QUOTE=[http://bigcatrescue.blogspot.com/2007/02/mysterious-wildcats-still-roam-maine.html](http://bigcatrescue.blogspot.com/2007/02/mysterious-wildcats-still-roam-maine.html)] A few years ago, a mountain lion crossed the road in front of a driver near Bethel. Misidentification is not likely. That driver was, coincidentally, a wildlife biologist. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/15 "2013-09-18T15:13:48Z")
The short tail is suggestive of the smaller cats Lynx and Bobcat. Panthers and presumably domestic cats like Maine Coons have long tails. Bobcats are also known to occur in melanistic color forms, if the dark appearance isn’t just an artifact of lighting conditions. Panthers apparently never occur in black, despite the common “black panther” name. Well, let me explain – the American cat sometimes known as ‘panther’, _Felis concolor_, does not seem to have ever been recorded in melanistic form. Other cats in the genus _Panthera_ though do occur as melanistic individuals. And both \*Felis \*and \*Panthera \*have long tails. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/16 "2013-09-18T15:19:03Z")
My first guess would be a lynx second would be a bob cat. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/17 "2013-09-18T15:20:14Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > What sort of big cats are there in Maine? Could it be a panther? A Maine Coon. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/18 "2013-09-18T15:22:27Z")
We’ve had a deer invasion the last few weeks. Hardly saw any all summer, now we have maybe a half-dozen that wander around the lawn at any time of day, staring placidly at the raging Great Danes safely behind windows. I stepped outside to see one last night and was ambushed by two more I hadn’t seen at the other end of the lawn. I’ve only seen a fisher cat once. I don’t think that’s one in the photo - legs seem too long and graceful. Fishers look like lumpy little bears. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/19 "2013-09-18T15:28:25Z")
Eastern cougars are said to be extinct but there are many reports yearly of sightings. The tail could be curled away from the camera Renee, it would be nice if you could get a picture in the same spot using something to give more perspective, like you standing there or something of a fixed size to compare to the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134/20 "2013-09-18T15:55:38Z")
Good idea, JFLuvly. I know there are several pics of us riding horses from the same camera, I’m going to see if I can get one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-was-captured-on-this-game-cam/669134.md?page=2)