Another sighting of a Puma in Ontario??? Take a look for yourself at the picture below........."By the way it moves, by its long rope-like tail I would say that it's a cougar," said Darcy Whiteside, a spokesman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, the ministry responsible for that province's land and wildlife stewardship..... Whiteside showed the video to an Alberta government biologist familiar with the species, who said: "It moves like a cougar, its tail is like a cougar's. It's a little darker than what a cougar would be, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't one...... Darkness can vary, and it depends on how the video is white-balanced."..... Whiteside cautions that there are also house cats that share a similar appearance....... According to the biologist, if the cougar in the video is authentic the grass in the video would be approximately 30 cm high............Note that earlier this week we reported on Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources biologist Rick Rosatte's peer reviewed article declaring that EVIDENCE CONFIRMS THE PRESENCE OF COUGARS IN ONTARIO, CANADA.........More evidence coming to the fore daily or is this sighting just a large "Tabby'?

Video suggests wild cougars have returned to Ontario
By Ross Fitzgerald, Postmedia News ottawacitizen.com


Derek Peasley is convinced this is a cougar near his home in Carleton Place, Ont., 30 kilometres west of Ottawa.

Photograph by: Pat McGrath , Ottawa CitizenOTTAWA — A shaky hand-held video of an animal prowling through a backyard in Beckwith Township near Carleton Place, Ont., could offer the latest evidence that wild cougars have returned to Ontario.

Derek Peasley was at home cleaning his upstairs bathroom when he saw "a huge cat" in his backyard just before Christmas, right before the snow fell. He rushed downstairs and grabbed a pair of binoculars. "When I looked through the binoculars, I know what I saw," said Peasley. He said the creature he saw was maybe 50 metres away when he put down his binoculars and started filming."I got the video going, he was probably about 100 metres away, and that's what it was, a cougar." Peasley said wild animals are no stranger to his backyard, but that he "was shocked to see something so big."

After the animal wandered out of his yard, Peasley said he warned a school down the road to make sure its students would be safe. Later, he went into the woods adjoining his property to try to get another photo of the large cat, but to no avail. He also contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources, but he said that they did not follow up on his report of a sighting A spokesperson for the ministry could not immediately be reached for comment. Some experts who have viewed the video found no conclusive proof that the animal it depicts is definitely a cougar, and not some other animal. Others are more encouraged.

After the animal wandered out of his yard, Peasley said he warned a school down the road to make sure its students would be safe. Later, he went into the woods adjoining his property to try to get another photo of the large cat, but to no avail. He also contacted the Ministry of Natural Resources, but he said that they did not follow up on his report of a sighting.

"By the way it moves, by its long rope-like tail I would say that it's a cougar," said Darcy Whiteside, a spokesman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, the ministry responsible for that province's land and wildlife stewardship. Whiteside showed the video to an Alberta government biologist familiar with the species, who said: "It moves like a cougar, its tail is like a cougar's. It's a little darker than what a cougar would be, but that doesn't necessarily mean it isn't one. Darkness can vary, and it depends on how the video is white-balanced." Whiteside cautions that there are also house cats that share a similar appearance. According to the biologist, if the cougar in the video is authentic the grass in the video would be approximately 30 cm high.

Officially, cougars were considered to have been wiped out by the early 1900s across all of Eastern Canada, but a recently published four-year study confirmed that though the big cats remain elusive, they are once again living wild in Ontario.

. .Officially, cougars were considered to have been wiped out by the early 1900s across all of Eastern Canada, but a recently published four-year study confirmed that though the big cats remain elusive, they are once again living wild in Ontario.