Enhanced Mystery Pix
Posted by: Loren Coleman on September 14th, 2006
These versions (above) of the enhanced original photograph (below) by brineblank shows support for the "deer" camp. What would other enhancements demonstrate?
Or is it a felid, like the caracal above? Or canid, like that dog running across your road?
Is this photograph the "Mystery Animal" seen for decades in West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands?
This picture was taken by an automatic digital camera set on private property in a 3000 acre wilderness in which no human inhabitants live. It was caught on film on August 8, 2006 at 0700 Hours.
Since the original owners do not want to become embroiled in the heated Eastern Mountain Lion mystery debate, the Eastern Puma Research Network will be fielding all responses for this photograph. The EPRN can be reached via email at epuma [at] beaconnet [dot] net.
Photograph courtesy of the initial West Virginia photographer/owner of the digital camera, via John Lutz of EPRN.
To gain permission to show the "Mystery Animal" photograph (top), the above italicized statement was required to be published with it.
_____________________________________
Update: Cryptomundo reader Fred Facker sends along these new enhancements, in which he "bumped the levels, contrast, hues, etc looking for colorations that didn’t match the rest of the plant in hopes of finding some sort of outline. Here’s what I came up with. It’s really hard not to let the texture and shading of the bushes trick us into thinking they are part of the animal. That’s why I like to make it unrecognizable and then look for an outline."
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Yeah, the thin rear haunch really looks deer-like, and I can see the outline of the head much better in the cutout.
Nice job, brineblank.
I disagree - deer and canids don’t have tails that reach the ground. Neither do caracarals. The isolated outline cuts off the tail and picks noise out of the undergrowth in the foreground to create a false “head” or “face”.
Puma concolor - a mountain lion.
I wish I could monkey around with digital images so I could illustrate it, but pay special attention to the area just to the left of the hind leg. There is a pretty noticeable curled tail there once you recognize it.
What? Enhanced or added to? This is goofy-As in the rear end looks like a dog. And the head looks like a mountain lion hiding in a bush in original posted pic., now this? I don’t see this deer head at all in the first picture. I feel messed with.
Just as I said, Deer. And he still looks like at least an eight pointer.
I would hate to hunt with some of you guys. There’s no telling what we would end up eating.
Thats what I thought it was also. Dinner on the hoof. Yum yum.
The only enhancement I did was to run an unsharp mask filter that reduces blur! There are limitations to what digital cameras can capture vs. traditional cameras. I never did anything with a ‘tail’ and merely outlined the head area. No top secret enhancementsNor did I ‘pick and choose’ what I was removing for the head from ‘noise’. There are no breaks in the face I outlined and I didn’t clone or patch the area at all. The details in the face area that are outlined are common with deer and appear very evident to me….no intent to ‘bigfoot’ around with anyone just trying to help the cause! I want to see real ‘new’ critters, not ones I eat at Thanksgiving. Thanks Loren!
Now it looks like a mountain lion with a calfs head in its mouth.
Looks like a small yellow Lab partially obscured by leafy bushes close to the camera. No mystery here, those are dog legs, the tail is down between it’s legs (where it often rests) and you can see clearly one big Lab eye. If the bush wasn’t there, the panting tongue and the ‘ooo, are there treats out here? Can I pee on things?’ happy Lab look would probably be very apparent.
I look and look and I fail to see this “tail” which appears to be just a brown plant.
I had my roommate who is an avid outdoorsman and he says there is no way that is a cat. He kept saying there is too much leg to it to be a cat. And he concluded that it is a deer. The enhanced version on solidifies my theory because now you can see the outline of the long thin face that a cat does not have but a deer does. As for the “eight pointer” Mr. Inspector mentioned, I prefer saying 4 x 4.
The hind legs, and especially the hind feet, do not look like a deer’s at all to me - no sign of hooves I can see. The feet splay out like a dog’s toes. I have to go with dog here.
I think the road runner-like “topknot” is part of the foreground bush.
That lower joint of the hind leg just doesn’t say deer to me. If the lower part of that leg is behind the log then I’d have to agree. Deer. I see cats ears pinned back behind the head. Very blury
Nothing much to look at here, just a deer with its head turned to the left. Even in the un-enhanced version of the picture clearly shows a deer.
Dealing with low-Res photos all the time, (I am A manager of a Photo Lab), I’ve seen this over and over for the past eight years with game cameras. Even the newer digital game cameras (if that is what this is from) don’t provide the detail of the higher res cameras, that is why you may or may not see the hooves or even the antlers clearly, but its nothing more than a deer.
Nice size too, seven or eight point looks like.
That’s the most misproportioned “deer” I’ve ever seen. No discredit to your work, but I believe the outline you chose for the head is a combination of the head and curled foreleg. I’m submitting my own interpretation to Loren now.
The animal is walking away to the viewer’s right. Instead of a tail what shows behind the rear right leg could be part of the left leg that is being picked up in the act of walking. I am not up on animal mechanics but don’t some or all 4 footed animals walk by moving the front right and rear left leg and vice versa at the same time?
Also the enhancing does seem to suggest a deer.
Regards
The “Enhanced” photo is very misleading. The photo editor is adding mass to the animal that is not really there and we are supposed to draw conclusions based on this enhancement that is simply wrong. (can anyone say Richard C.?)
The original photo is much more clear. And to me, it looks a heck of alot like a large cat! Or, possibly a dog. But certainly not a deer.
The ‘deer head’ looks out of proportion, and it’s at a weird angle. Still looks like a cougar to me.
My last post with regards to this comment…I explained exactly what I did to ‘enhance the picture’..no adding of mass, no special filters other than to take away the blur and roughly erasing around to outline the face. I gave the specs in the other posting so you can follow the steps and see that there was not trickery. My father who is an avid hunter owns 100 acres that is 99% hillside, including leading into his backyard. Every weekend we watch the deer come down to feed at various locations with multiple angles of hill and fallen trees, etc. When they are unsure of something they can strike various poses other than the full ‘heads-up ears-up posture’. My dad’s wife has even commented several times as ‘new’ deer come into the area and pause that they have feline poses because of the angle of the hill where they primarily come from. Again no intention to mislead but you also need to understand the limitations of digital cameras. And for the feline dog crew I will again ask what about the horns that are evident on the top (with some blurring due to the dig.cam.)? While the debate is good my concern is that turning the everyday into something sensational can hurt when something really mysterious comes around.
if you would look at the length of the back leg you would notice that it is too long for it to be any type of dog or BIG cat. It’s most likely a fat deer jumping over the log.
MrInspector says “Just as I said, Deer. And he still looks like at least an eight pointer.
I would hate to hunt with some of you guys. There’s no telling what we would end up eating”
No kidding. I live in WV. & have been deer hunting since 1981. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this is a deer. But I’d say only a 6 pointer or possibly a small 8.
P.S.
I have seen thousands of deer in my life & have killed 21 myself.
I think this is a DOG.
Can you get the person who sent this to ask the camera owner to measure the tree in the left of the frame on the same level where the animal is stepping down?
It looks like a large breed dog stepping down. I opened the file in photoshop and while the head is obscured I don’t get a sense of deer or mountain lion, simply a dog obscured by a bush while walking down the embankment.
The front right paw looks extended because of the trunk of the bush/small tree in front of it. The shoulder area looks smaller than that of a large cat like a mountain lion as well.
I don’t see any horns, only branches from the bush/small tree the BEAST is walking behind.
The ”enhanced” version turns foliage around the head into antlers and a deer muzzle. It’s not a deer…unless deers have paws.
That “enhancement” is a stretch. To me, this is clearly a cat, most likely a mountain lion. The stripes on the front leg are key; they’re too uniform to be plant material and are obviously markings on the animal. I don’t see a tail, but cougars swish their tails every which way for balance, so it’s no surprise that it was hidden behind the body at the moment the photo was snapped.
It also looks well-fed, which might explain the lazy walk over the log.
I don’t see any use in bickering over what exactly is in the picture. It is obviously a woodland creature (I personally think it looks like a deer) and not anything mysterious (unless it’s a very rare and elusive mountain lion/deer/dog hybrid!)
Still a mountain lion.
Yellow labs don’t have tails that run all the way to the ground and then curl up.
I’d hate to go hunting with some of you people, we’d wind up being the quarry.
You’ve now almost bothered to the point where I learn to futz around with photoshop.
The animal looks cross breed between deer and puma.
Just an observation, that animal looks a little unordinary.
Yellow Lab. Plain and simple. You can see its dark eyes, right ear hanging down and square snout. No mystery here.
I’ve enhanced a picture to point out clearly how this is a yellow lab, but I don’t know how to send share it. I’m new to a contributor to this forum and so I could use some help. I think if you see my enhancement it will make it clear that this is a dog with some vegetation in front of it.
arent there more pictures or was this a one shot camera?
After seeing the second “enchanced” version, it becomes less clear as to what this is. It would seem to have both the charactericts of deer and Mountain Lion. I still say its a deer, and the direction its facing the camera and the low res of the photos is whats tricking the eyes of our readers. My wife looked at it and she saw Mountian Lion, I look at it and see White Tail. I live in Missouri, so White Tail are common everywhere, but not so the Mountin Lion. I’ve only seen them from tracks and the safty of the zoo’s. I still say that in a few weeks, once deer season starts, that thing will be hanging on someone’s wall as a mount.
Some people have nothing better to do than act out like children!
Cat, Dog, Deer, whatever you think it is, ‘it’ is walking across a fallen, rotted log and is stepping ON or OVER a limb going into the ground. The limb is clearly visible in all the pics, plain and enhanced. OK, I’m sure some will say it just ‘looks’ like the animal is walking on the limb and is actually jumping over it, but Deer do not walk on branches, they jump over things unless it is so close to the ground they can simply step over it, like we see in these pics. On the other hand, a Cat or Dog of any size would walk over a log and down a branch if they were in no big hurry. However, if they were being chased or chasing, they would jump it like a Gazelle and be gone, fast!
The deliberate positioning of the body indicates it was clearly ‘looking’ for something as it crossed the tree and branch, perhaps following the latent scent of another for a smooch? After all, it is breeding season for Deer, called the Rut, so urine from a Doe may be what the assumed Buck is sniffing at as he slowly moved over the log and branch. That makes sense as the camera was put there to capture an image of a Big Buck. I’d put $ down that the camera owner also put down some of Dr. Tink’s Special Sauce to get the pic.
Deer? you betcha, this time of the year they get that nice flat back with a loin that won’t quit, yummy! Grab the Bordeaux and Baby Bellas, Mom, we are gonna feast tonight!
Best regards and good hunting!
All the new enhancements missed the tail. Look at the tail outlines on the last two enhancements. The actual tip of the lion’s tail is meeting the tip of the outlined tail - tip to tip. It’s a mountain lion tail - it is really long. It reaches the ground and then curls up at the end. Part of it is not visible because it is obscured by underbrush and then it curls up at the end. It has a dark tip at the end, like puma tails do.
Ok shovethenos, I just did one more with your tail theory. I’m not completely sure of it, but I am 95% sure of the head shape and front leg positioning.
I sometimes forget that not everyone grew up in the great outdoors. Not everyone has encountered panthers and bears, and deer, at arms length in the woods. Not everyone owned a dog or cat as a kid or an adult. So here’s a tip, the rack, (that’s the antlers to most of you) is a dead giveaway. Moose, deer, and elk have much wider racks than either dogs or cats, even the big ones.
It’s amazing how everyone sees something different…
Makes you wonder if these bigfoot sighting are animals that are just mistaken for a BF.
Such as the debate going on right now…
Is it a Dog… deer… cat
who’s wrong??? cause some of you are!!
and some are downright indignant.
I myself can’t even guess with the picture being used… could be any of the above.
I sometimes forget that not everyone grew up in the great outdoors. Not everyone has encountered plants and trees with pointy and leafy branches.
There’s no antlers in that picture.
And the ‘pointy branches’ above the head that appear to show points and thick tines are from the invisible tree or are they the regular floating in space variety? It would be nice if there was a picture without the animal from the exact same view so you could tell what exactly is clutter (like the ‘tail’ appears to be). Going back to the same area now might or might not work since the season change is upon us. The last outline photo makes it look like a hippo snout.And this is my last post on this this time…But being an outdoorsman and working with digital images for the past 10 years and knowing the limitations and how pixalation occurs…not to mention being a hillbilly made me feel the need to defend my heritage
I don’t see a tail; I see reflections off leaves behind a dog in the woods. Its hind end looks too round and smooth to be a cat. Its coat looks too short and slick to be a cat. It does not look like the way a deer moves, and usually when you see a deer walking, its tail is quite prominent. It looks like a big yaller dog walking over a log, with the photo shot from an angle that allows the body to obscure the tail (or lack of one). I don’t buy the enhancements. They look like wishful thinking. Since the head is conveniently (deliberately?) obscured in the original photo, in a way that does not quite look natural, there’s no way to tell for sure, but my eyes, gut and brain still see a dog.
I have no doubt that there are pumas in the West Virginia woods, but I do not think this citter is one of ‘em.
Dog, cat, deer, whatever. Too blurry to mount on my wall.
Many people hunt, are outdoorsmen. Doesn’t make others opinions invalid.
Someone posted a deer head angled the same way earlier circled in red. Had me thinking it could be a deer. I’ve shot alot of deer also, more than most.
Doesn’t mean that someone from a city isn’t right. They could be a zoo vet.
Mystery solved. Check out my enhanced pics. These images were not manipulated in anyway aside from brightness and contrast. You can see very clearly this is a big cat of some kind.
There is a small amount of bush/shrubery in the cats face, which causes its features to become obscured..save the image if possible and zoom in on it..realization will quickly set in.
Loren feel free to post the image in the thread. Thanks.
http://www.fightingfanatic.com/cat.jpg
I’m still no expert, but I still stick with cat on this one.
I’ve been around plenty of deer and dogs (my dad hunted every chance when I was a kid) — and even taking into account that the perspective on this animal (I think we’ve all agreed that it’s an animal, just not which kind!) makes it foreshortened in strange ways, it still just looks to me to be moving like a cat.
Even when I zoom in on it, I still see something like fredfacker posted.
No matter what you believe, it is a definite testament to a couple of things — first, we see what we want to see…second, fuzzy digital images don’t tell anybody much about anything.
I initially thought mountain lion, but upon zooming in I see a deer very clearly.
Even a simple 1x zoom on MS paint made it quite obvious.
fredfacker-
Thank you, that is basically where the tail is. I’m not sure we can be certain of the other details since we really don’t know the terrain.
The hindquarters and rear leg do look sort of non-pumaish due to the odd angle and position they are in, but I am very sure of that tail. So unless they have started making strap-on puma tails for the fashion-conscious dog or deer that wants to look especially fierce, it is a mountain lion.
Howdy,
In many ways I think this is a good example of why bigfoot sightings are so common, especially in areas where it just isn’t reasonable that some type of ape would be out doing what apes do.
Same here, it’s evident this is a “male deer” doing what it would normally do in a place it would normally do it. I interact with panthers and other “big cats” weekly and this photo does not show one.
It’s all about the mystery. Oh, what could it be?
It’d be great if it were a panther or some new animal that appeared in a puff of smoke. I REALLY want it to be. I love to learn about rare or unseen creatures. But you have to put the facts out there first. Then take another look.
My two cents. Also I have lots of panther pics if the site wants them for reference.
I have an open mind on any subject but I think due to the quality of this picture, there is a large possibility that this is a photoshop fake.
I have hunted for over 35 years, and seen most of the animals in the U.S. It is a Lynx. This is a member of the cat family. I can see the spots on the legs and see the ears slightly laid down and the tuffs of hair on the ends. It is a Lynx cat. The big ones can get over 45 lbs. And they are very adaptable to any enviroment. Some states they are legal game and others protect them as endangered.
Nether and Sunny, what if the animal’s right eye (left to us facing it) that both of you pointed out is actually the right ear? I noticed that even though one of you drew a deer and one labeled parts of a cat, you both put the eye in the same place. I think that’s actually the ear and the eyes are obscured by brush. Great work though. Thanks for taking the time to post something.
(slips fredfacker another cup of coffee)
My interpretation was pretty much what you outlined…I don’t see a deer in the original photo.
Whoops. Texasgirl drew the deer. Sorry Sunny. I needed that coffee this morning.
I still see a dog. The proportions are not right for a lynx. It is too heavy and round in the rear, and the coat is too short and sleek. It has that awkward sort of stance in the rear that a big dog has when walking over a log.
Hi!
I feel very sure of myself about what this animal might be. The enhancement is wrong because it adds noise to make it look like a caribou. The animal is most probably a rare (extinct?) Red Wolf. Thank you and take care.
Mike
That is a mountain lion tail if there ever was one. It is even at the same basic angle and curl as the tail on the stuffed one in the other thread. I think if you could enlarge that part of the picture - right beside the rear leg - you could see that it is a mountain lion. It’s a long, beige mountain lion tail with a brown tip.
I did 2x sharpen on the picture and put a negative color scheme on it and I see a very different picture like this and this.
Cougar. That was my first impulse upon seeing the pic. Most of the time, if you have spent alot of time in the woods, your first impulse is correct. However, one foggy morning, I was sitting on a ridge looking down a valley and saw a whole pack of coyotes coming toward me, when they topped the ridge where I was, it was a herd of doe whitetail deer. Trick of perspective and lighting. There are now and have been for many years, cougars all the way over into north mississippi, middle tennessee, northern alabama and middle kentucky. I know this for a fact, not speculation. It would not be a stretch to find one in the Virginias. Some biologist want to explain it as florida panters, but this isnt the case, these cats are there (or here, depending on where you are). I personally dont think they ever left this region of the USA. They just learned to hide a little better.
The posture of the animal is what makes me say cougar. That front right paw and leg, in that position is more cougar than dog. Also the angle of the head. But, who knows, could be a pack of wild coyotes.
Wow - check out texasgirl going all CSI on everyone.
Yeah, there it is, tail and all.
Mountain lion.
I wonder if a mountain lion is the mystery killer in this Virginia case.
Well this has gone on for long enough, don’t you all think?
Let it be what it will be, but there is nothing “unusual” about this animal, it is either a deer or a mountain lion and let’s leave it at that.
This whole, who’s right and who’s not is getting too much to bear right now.
Texasgirl whoever you are… most excellent!!
It looks like an African Antelope.
Texasgirl thanks this
Upon viewing your enhancements it is a doe deer and for some reason she is not jumping , standing in this downward angle.
You can clearly see that her head is angled backwards as though she is licking.
You can clearly see the eye with the white around it, the nose and muzzle , the white under the chin, and the ear.
Unless of course this photo has been manipulated.
I can tell you that I didn’t manipulate the photo other than sharpening it and reversing the color.
I originally believed it was a deer as well but now I think it might be a mountain lion. At any rate it was an interesting picture, but probably nothing more than a local animal walking through the woods that happened to take a strange picture.
Deer in the original photo. I see nothing even close to a tail that length.
The tail is a long mountain lion tail that reaches the ground and curls up. It is immediately to the left of the visible hind leg. The tip is pointing up because it curls up.
It’s at basically the same angle as the stuffed mountain lion pictured in the other “mystery picture” thread. It has a dark brown tip, like mountain lion tails do.
Just seems natural for a deer to jump over that log, not step over it. Someone mentioned earlier that a cats legs move parallel. Both legs forward on one side, both legs back on the other side. Deers legs meet on one side and are spread apart on the other. Doesn’t look like its jumping. more like its stepping over the log.
“it still just looks to me to be moving like a cat.”
How can you see it move? It’s a still picture?
I see no rack at ALL. And if that’s a tail, it’s inexplicably quite transparent in several sections. There is no tail that can be identified as such. I’m not saying there is none, although tailless big cats must exist. This is NOT a Lynx, or Bobcat.
That said, I am making a 100% reversal of my earlier opinion and declaring I’m pretty doggone sure this is a……
(Scroll down!)
MOUNTAIN LION/EASTERN COUGAR
MOUNTAIN LION/COUGAR
Mojohotep: I have heard quite a number of people in Southwest Virginia assure me that the Cougars are there. They’re finding tracks occasionally and hearing the screams a lot more often. And mostly I heard this twenty years or more ago.
I agree, what most of us have been assuming is the animal’s right eye looks to me to be it’s right ear. It’s face is obscured by the foliage, and the foliage additionally is being mistaken for a rack of antlers. It’s at an odd angle and some characteristics seem feline, others canine. I think the foliage actually makes it look like the thing has a mangy mane (I’m betting it doesn’t). I think this is either a regular-sized dog or a big cat. The biggest mystery to me isn’t the creature’s identity, but who’s the genius who mounts a game camera behind a bunch of foliage?
Also, I would like to add something else to ponder. My wife gets US Weekly magazine which is a People-style magazine. I like it myself because there are always pictures of Eva Longoria and other Hollywood hotties in it. Anyway, the magazine occasionaly has a feature where they ask ‘experts’ to view photos of famous couples and using the body language on display decipher what the celebrities are thinking about their significant others. A typical comment is something like “He has his hand on her arm which means he wants to be in control”, or “She’s touching his shoulder but looking away, which shows she’s not really into him”. The so-called ‘experts’ are judging these people on a tiny fraction of a second of their lives. I’d think to accurately judge what these people are thinking by using their body language you’d have to actually watch them in motion, or at least see a sequence of photos taken in a tight order. It’s like looking at a picture of someone mid-sneeze and saying “Her face is contorted–she’s extremely angry and sleepy right now”. I guess what I’m saying is that given just one or two more frames we could probably get a positive identification on this animal and there’d be no mystery at all. And that Eva Longoria is hot.
The front leg that is most visible seems to be over-extended while the hind leg appears to be well up under the animal.
An animal caught in a trap would possibly have its leg over-extended in that manner in an attempt to pull its foot out of the trap. This appears to be an animal that is moving backwards, not forwards. So, whatever it is, I believe it may be in a trap. See if you can find some video of a live trapped animal and you will see what I mean.
Sky King-
The view of the tail is obscured by leaves or underbrush the same color as the background in a couple places, but it isn’t invisible. It’s quite prominent - it reaches the ground and curls up.
As far as how it moves, I think its just a puma casually gliding through the woods. It seems to have hopped on top of the log for a moment and is stepping off to continue where it was going.
I believe what you take to be a tail is just a random leaf pattern. The cougar may well have a tail, but it can’t be found in this picture.
I know this is a done deal, but one more thing is on my mind. I have spent alot of time in the woods watching mule deer, white tail deer, moose, and elk. Not one time, not once, have I ever seen a deer step on top of or stand on a log of the size in this picture. It just is not their nature. However, I have seen goats stand on and step on top of logs this size. But this picture “ain’t no goat”.
Good arguments for and against the possibilities here. I’m not sure yet what to think.
What I have noticed is that in the lower enhancements what is construed as the tail may actually be the other hind leg.
Like most images on here that are quickly adulated as truth, I see nothing in here other than an animal- but not a mountain lion or deer. It more resembles a dog or something of the like.
And the ‘tail’ that you outlined is either not there (most likely) or I am going blind, for I do not see it in the original, grainy, and already distorted first image.
I do not understand it. If I say ‘Go in the woods and take a picture of that tree,’ I will get a dozen perfect pix. But, then, if I ask ‘Get me a picture of that cryptid!’ I get a dozen grainy and difficult to decipher pictures?
It’s a thinker!
Oh, and I’m new! Hi all!
DissingCryptids,
Getting a picture of a tree is quite different than getting a picture of a rare, elusive animal…
The animals tend to move around. The trees…not so much.
Sometimes, it is better to remain quiet and appear intelligent, than to open the mouth and remove all doubt.
Ask any local Colorado resident in the sticks, “how many cougars have you ever seen in the wild?”, most can answer with their index finger. AND cougars are plentiful enough in Colorado to have a legal hunting season. Now divide that by 10,000, and thats how hard it would be to get a glimps of a rare/unknown critter. In Colorado, they used dogs to hunt cougars, because they are so HARD to find. That tree statement removed all doubt.
It’s a deer. I am originally from WV. My father and I own property there. I have seen hundreds of thousands of deer in the wild. This particular picture (the original) is a deer for sure. In a few weeks of the year, a male deer will shed its horns. The original picture seems to show a buck, with the loss of one side of his rack shed. This is not unusual.