Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Wakulla WMA Photo


This low-resolution photo, taken at a distance by Jane Morgan on March 29, 2013 in the Wakulla (FL) Wildlife Management Area near St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, shows what appears to be a small-headed cat of moderate size. Mike Morgan, Fire Chief at Wakulla County Fire Rescue, posted this and others to his Facebook page. Mike thought it was a Florida panther, but in profile this animal subjectively aligns more with jaguarundi than panther, bobcat, or house cat. Not the smoking gun we're looking for, but certainly one of the more interesting photos that have surfaced in recent times.

Note that this USFWS brochure (PDF) on the adjacent St. Marks NWR lists the jaguarundi along with feral hog as non-native mammals on the refuge.

6 comments:

  1. Intriguing shot. I just conducted a scientific study by googling images of sitting jaguarundis. It seems as though jaguarundi front legs are too short for them to be sitting upright at this angle and have their paws on the ground. This pose reminds me more of a sitting rabbit then a jaguarundi. So, I think house cat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I saw one yesterday in the Lake Nona area of Orlando. Had to search online to figure out what is was.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe 10 years ago - the internet wasn't what it is today - I saw a pair of jaguarundis on the peninsula in Daytona Beach - just a couple of blocks from Main Street no less. I didn't know what they were and contacted UF to help me ID. I was walking my dog at dawn. The first sighting was one, the second time it was a pair. They ran up trees when they saw us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi. We run a small camera trap project in Costa Rica. This past fall(2013) we had several jaguarundi pass through the property. We got a number of them on camera. I know they were not from the US, but the images and video may me of use for comparative purposes. Here is a video.
    http://youtu.be/c47H5rP6rY0
    And at a still here:
    http://ovcamtraps.blogspot.com/2014/03/camera-trap-project-update-camera-gaea.html

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great video, and apologies for taking so long to reply. Have not been tending this blog as closely as I would like. Think I will feature it in the next post! Really appreciate you sharing.

      Delete
  5. I was awakened by two Florida Jaguarundi in my yard last night at 3 am, not sure exactly what I was seeing, but the two were snaring at each other, after hours of research I’ve come to the conclusion they we’re definitely Jaguarundi, I live in a very rural area in Martin county Florida, very interesting to say the least

    ReplyDelete