Mystery Cat Video
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 5th, 2008
Just in case the notice got lost in the post-blackout entries, please click here to find the video of the University of Maryland felid.
It looks like neither like a savannah cat nor a cougar to me.
The following is a freeze frame from the video. Quality is poor. I have not seen a YouTube of this UMD video yet.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Bobcat.
Looks like nothing more to me than a tabby with prominent markings. A coworker of mine has a Bengal cat and the video also reminds me of one of those. The size to me doesn’t look anything out of the ordinary, it doesn’t look as large to me. I think it is just a tabby IMHO.
I said it before when this all started and I’ll say it again after seeing this still.
Housecat!
I already explained the reasons why it was going to turn out to be a housecat, but that photo eliminates any doubt I had.
Thanks for posting that Loren. We have not seen any photos of the subject on the local news here. This is the first I have seen of any still photo or video.
If you want the news, go to Cryptomundo!
cheetah with blue spots.
Yep, just a plain ol’ kitty. Bored now.
considering how far away the camera was, the height of the grass and the prominent markings I would have to say that looks very much like our Willow Kitty (who is sitting next to me).
If not a regular house cat, then some sort of Manx, but definitely looks like an average gray stripey (like our Willow). Some may say that that is one big cat…you should see Willow, let alone my father-in-law’s cat Rocky (Himalayan).
Um….ya….. that looks the same size as my cat Hector. There is nothing real odd about it, that is why you havn’t seen it on the news. Its has the same markings of any mixed bread cat. I think the ears are a dead give away.
It can’t be a bobcat–watch the video–there is a tail.
I think it is a big, probably male, housecat. Probably feral.
I am not sure how anyone would think it looked like a cougar, with those stripes, but, well, people can jump to conclusions, I guess.
Really simply a house cat – pointed ears are a give-away!
Cat without mange.
Unless i see a clearer photo or video then add another vote for a probable domestic or feral cat. If it’s a genuinely wild species then i vote for an African wildcat – the wild ancestor of the domestic cat. the African wildcat basically looks like a somewhat large rangy tabby cat.
House cat…Why does the most mundane stuff get so much attention on You Tube?
Mantauk Monster?- err uh…Dog…froze up websites because of interest!? If a real bigfoot is found it probably won’t get that kind of interest. ’cause people will think it’s another fake undoubtedly.
Being from the DC area, I read the comments by the UMD head of campus police in the paper. There were a few inaccuracies. I don’t have the article in front of me, but basically he was saying it was not possible that the cat first seen and described as 4 ft long with a 4 ft long tail could be in the area. Wrong! Two years straight, a year apart, cougars were spotted near or on Andrews Air Force base which is in the same county, across the Capital Beltway and a little bit south and east. The first time both a tan and a black cougar were seen by multiple witnesses in the same afternoon. About one year later, a tan cougar was seen in that area. Both were widely reported. They were seen by multiple witnesses. My point is: that just because this “savannah cat” is seen on security video does not mean that it’s the same cat that was seen the day before or whenever the larger cat was seen. It could be two different cats, different sightings. The person who first reported the large cat, did not report any markings.
What I see is without question a well-marked tabby, probably a spotted tabby or a ticked tabby. The tabby bars on the chest are very noticable and so the coat must probably be a rather paler fawn color than the usual brown tabby, as is often seen in cats which are part Siamese/part tabby. The head-to-body proportions, the bright markings, and the shape of its head and ears leave no doubt in my mind that I am seeing an ordinary tabby cat – that is, if any cat can be called “ordinary”.
I had a look at the video footage on their website. You don’t get a clear image of the cat but you can just make out the markings. I had a look at the savannah cat possibility it looks fairly simular but I’m not sure if the ears seem as long or simulary shaped however it does have simular markings but the savannah cat doesn’t seem to have as many bold markings such as the one along the back and the two on the chest that the cat in the video has though I can not tell if the marking along it’s back is striped or spots grouped together.
I noticed the same problem with the serval alike the savannah cat it’s markings are again simular but does not seem to demonstate that pattern you can in the cat in the picture and again the ears of the serval seem taller then that shown in the picture.
I had a look at the possibility of being a bobcat, again simular markings but it seemed sleeker then the general outline of a bobcat, however some are sleeker then others and if it is a youngster then it would not have the bulkier apperance of an adult but it looks like this cat has a longer tail then that of a bobcat.
A few other possible identifications could be the ocelot again markings are simular and this time the ears seem to fit those shown in the video and also the cat in the picture appears to have quite a thick dark tip and thick dark bands to its tail which is present in the ocelot species,Or maybe the oncilla, again markings are simular but it doesn’t have the same tail markings. The margay also has simular markings and like the ocelot has the dark bands and thick tip to the tail. I know that these species of cat are native to south america not north america but if they have possibly escaped from a private collection then that makes them a possibility.
P.s. However on a non exotic note having just seen a beautiful picture of a male tabby in my magazine it very well like in other comments could be a large domestic/feral tabby cat.
blobcat
It certainly looks like a housecat (kitty) to me, albeit a larger one – possibly a Maine Coon. The hair seems fairly long as well
Looks like a large, silver tabby housecat!
Seriously, house cat. People look way too far, too deep for something that just ain’t there. The truth is out there and the truth is you can find this same cat at your local Pet Smart.