One big kitty.

[deucemagnet]

A guy I know from a nearby tavern took this photo on his property near Ararat, PA a week ago last Saturday. He claims it's the biggest bobcat he's ever seen, and it must have been about 80 lbs. I don't know about 80 lbs, but that's one big kitty!

[flvegan]

1. Magnificent animal.

Nice pic, too.

[deucemagnet]

2. It was a pretty lucky shot.

A guy with a camera and telephoto lens just happened to be visiting when the cat showed up. This shot was taken from his house, and the cat was about 80 yards away.

[bluesbassman]

3. Great pic!

Love bobcats. That one's a beauty.

Cool story, my buddy and I were in a Jeep up in the Los Padres National Forest (inland from Carmel), and as we traversed a trail with a cliff on both sides a bobcat jumped off the upper cliff onto the Jeep's hood and then jumped off down the other side. We were both like :wtf:

[deucemagnet]

8. I can't take credit.

The folks at the tavern wanted my opinion of the picture as a biologist. My opinion is that as a microbiologist, I don't know shit about bobcats, so they gave me a photo to take to work so I can show it to another professor. I thought I'd share. :P

[Avalux]

4. Beautiful. Reminds me of my Maine Coon.

Here she is - studying PreCalculus. ;)

[darkstar]

5. Wow...what a beauty!!!!

Pretty, pretty thing!

:hi:

[Avalux]

6. Thanks!

Would you believe she was a rescue? She was a mess - matted fur; afraid to be touched. She rules the house now and talks my ear off; probably the smartest cat I've ever had. :hi:

[darkstar]

7. We have one, too, and have fought the mats from day one.

Not to put our Maizie girl down, but I think that girl of yours edges her out.

We go ours in south Louisiana. As I understand, they came down with the French Canadians, i.e., furry, cold-weather cats. We moved to IL recently and she loves it. You know, snow and freezing temps!

[Avalux]

9. Well, we're in Texas - although she stays inside.

Tobi doesn't have a mat problem anymore but she does suffer from hairballs. I meant it when I said she was smart - is your Maize smart too? Closed doors are a no-no. :-)

[Captain Hilts]

22. Little Skeezix has a lot more mats now that she's an indoor kitty. What do

you guys do with them? Just cut them off?

[Lorien]

17. Me too!

I think I read somewhere that researchers had done DNA testing on Maine Coons and found "DNA markers" from bobcat and lynx. Would make sense, since Maine Coons descended from Turkish Angoras and ship cats from Norway that mated with "cats of the forest" in the US.

She's a beauty, BTW! :hi:

[TZ]

18. You know if I ever saw your Maine Coon

outside I might think he was a small lynx. Sure looks like one. Such a beautiful cat...

[Lorien]

19. Aw, thanks!

But I don't think you'd ever see him outside; he's an agoraphobic wuss of a giant hairy pussy. ;-)

[Captain Hilts]

21. Little Skeezix is the world's smallest Maine Coon. She's 5.5 lbs. Must be the bonzai variety.

A very mellow kitty.

[Flaxbee]

10. just gorgeous

what a beautiful creature!

[libodem]

11. Wow

I love teh meow meows but I wouldn't want to meet that one in a dark canyon!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. Majestic creature. Gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. n/t

[tabbycat31]

13. great looking cat

and great shots

[Highway61]

14. Wow

Just beautiful.

[TZ]

15. Beautiful

I wish we had bobcats around here. I'd love to see one.

[Marrah_G]

16. So incredibly beautiful.

[deucemagnet]

20. Update on Big Kitty.

I emailed the photos to a colleague of mine who is more familiar with big cats than I am. He thinks that since Big Kitty has rather strange coloring and markings and lacks the characteristic ear tufts of a bobcat, that Big Kitty might be a hybrid. Bobcat-lynx hybrids exist in nature, but I don't know if we have any lynx around here. It would be pretty exciting to get my hands on a DNA sample from this critter!

[Captain Hilts]

23. Remember Jack the Cat in NJ that chased the bear up the tree?

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/06/09/jack_the_cat_proves_his_mettle_by_chasing_black_bear_up_tree/