Our friend Linda McCracken is doing daily, detailed "CSI" investigative work seeking to prove the presence of Cougars in New Hampshire and the other New England States and New York........Linda is asking all Blog readers if they would be interested in contributing funds so that she can get DNA analysis of alleged Cougar scat that she has collected............$200 per analysis is the cost and Linda has 5 scat samples ready to turn over to the U.S Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Lab.............If interested, contact Linda at lmccracken2002@yahoo.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Linda McCracken <lmccracken2002@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 8:13 AM
Subject: Re: Illustrations of NH black cats
To: Rick Meril <rick.meril@gmail.com>

OK, I've been having a big "evidence" thing with NH Fish & Game. They want perfect tracks, won't DNA scat, etc., etc.

What's your take on "evidence"?

I have a minor in anthropology, so my scientific take is totally different then that of biologists. I gather information and go where the "evidence" takes me. 

First, I noticed lots of people have seen black cats that looked like cougars, but cougars aren't supposed to be melanistic, but I figured they must be in NH.

Second, people in NH saw lots of small black cats that looked like cougars (40-80#). People in VT and NY saw big black cats (80-250#). I then thought that perhaps somehow jaguarundis and jaguars were here in New England even though they are supposed to be in S. America and Mexico because jaguars can be black and jaguarundis are often dark grey, so I started asking more detailed questions.

People said the black cat had a wider nose than a cougar, some said it had tufted ears, some said it had a ruff on the neck.Then, last Winter, two people told me about this small black or dark gray cat with a bowling ball head and long legs. At first I ignored them. It sounded too bizarre and I thought their descriptions were off, but "bowling ball head" was strange as both people said that. Then I saw the same bowling ball headed cat. I still couldn't believe what I saw, but when I talk with other people, I find that they have seen the same thing!

NH Fish & Game sent me their database. There were lots of black cat sightings. Many had long legs or "round" heads. I noticed a pattern. Because of the way NH Fish & Game asks questions, I can't be sure that these are the same strange cats, but I can't be sure that they aren't. I needed more evidence.

In collecting the evidence, I started hearing about this shaggy haired cat with a round head and long legs (3 reports). Two of these people said it looked like a dog with a cat's head and movements. One person stated that he saw a strange creature that was wolf/coyote/dog with a mashed face. I drew it and it looked very similar to the odd Marlow cat (unfortunately, I have lost that drawing... not with "cat" stuff- I'll find it eventually).

One of my cougar researcher friends told me that he gets similar reports, but people are scared to talk about this strange mutant looking animal. I understand that as I was scared to talk about it and I do this type of research. It's totally different and bizarre and not on the Internet or anywhere else, so I decided to finally put it "out there".

I don't know what is going on and I agree more evidence is needed, but I do think something is going on! Luckily some people are putting up game cameras because of our talks. Perhaps we will get more information.

There was more scat today and more trails by the bridge and the beach. I would love to have DNA analysis done on the scat, but don't have the money (on disability). Do you think you could find some dollars through your blog or friends? NH Fish & Game say they use US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Lab and it's $200 per test. I have five scat samples now.

Linda

indeed i did................not enough evidence from those line drawings is my take

On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 8:17 AM, Linda McCracken <lmccracken2002@yahoo.com> wrote:

Mornin'

Check out the pics yet?

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From: Rick Meril <rick.meril@gmail.com
To: Linda McCracken <lmccracken2002@yahoo.com
Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2011 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: Illustrations of NH black cats

morning to you Linda

On Sat, Sep 17, 2011 at 7:58 AM, Linda McCracken <lmccracken2002@yahoo.com> wrote:

Black round headed, legged cats in NH (unconfirmed sightings):

I talked with neighbor who saw a black cat in Marlow. It was Mar. 2011, not this past week-end like I originally thought.

Attached are some illustrations I did of black cats with round heads and long legs after talking with two observers plus me. I'm an artist and have taken a FBI course to learn to sketch from verbal descriptions.

All these cats were crossing roads. There have been around 10 sightings of long legged black or gray cats. Most are in Cheshire county in the Mt. Monadnock area. Some were shaggy. Several people stated that the shaggy one looks like a cat's head on a dog's body. Perhaps this is a new species or perhaps bobcats and cougars are interbreeding creating unusual "looks".

Benton:

9/2001

Black

Ball-shaped head.

20" tall to back

Body 30" long from chest to rump

Long curled tail 24" long and curled up at end.

Long legs, compact body, rear legs longer than front like lynx.

40-60#

60' away

Crossing road near Mt. Moosilauke

Keene:

7/19/2011

Black

Very round bowling ball head.

18-20" high at rear

Body 30" long from rump to butt, size of coyote

Tail longer than body- 32-34" and crooked back at end.

Long legs, compact body, rear legs longer than front like lynx, ran with hopping gait.

40-60#

100' away

Crossing road toward three mile swamp

11:30 AM

Marlow:

March 2011

Black

Very round head with matted "bed hair" like it had been lying down, shaped like Bishon Frise.

No eyes or ears seen.

17-18" high at shoulder

Body 47" long from head to butt, size of coyote, but longer

Tail longer 18-24" and bushy with long fur.

Thick muscular legs, long body.

100' away – I think this was closer if it came into his yard, also due to detail he provided.

Crossing road from Post Office, through yard toward pond behind house.

6:15 AM

Others with long legs and round heads, often described as compact bodies, but not illustrated, yet were seen in the following towns (I noticed NHF&G has sightings back to 1997, mine are back to 2001):

Albany-2000 (tan/black, 2-3' long, 3' hi, round, tufted ears, tail ½ body length, NHF&G)

Keene-Unknown (unknown, shaggy)

Keene-Unknown (dark gray, shaggy, 5' head to rump, 18-24" hi)

Newbury, South-1999 (black, very long tail, 28-30" hi, NHF&G)

Plaistow-4/29/2009 (black, long tail, NHF&G)

Sullivan-2/1/2011 (like bobcat, but taller, body 2.5'long, 3-4' tail, moved like small cougar)

Whitefield-10/28/1997 (brown-black, height more than knee, tail as long as body, NHF&G)

Above are 10 sightings are of long legged cats, not counting those that just said "round" heads (too many to count, mostly NHF&G).

Also did not count the following odd animals:

Dublin-Mar. 2011 (2 gray shaggy big cats with white cheeks, but no tail seen, 17" ruff, 31"hi, 38" chest to rear)

Gilsum-Jan. 2009 (tawny, 2xsize of bobcat-2/3 of cougar, shorter tail (7-12") but longer than bobcat)

Peterborough (Mt. Monadnock)-2005 (shaggy gray wolf/coyote/dog combination with a mashed in face and slanted scary eyes-Benton cat also had slanty eyes)

The weird thing is that these are very similar (long legs, round heads mainly), but very different in looks. Bobcats and cougars could be interbreeding (making the odd differences, but not explaining the round ruffed heads), there could be a weird mutation or these are black cats that have been here since pre-historic times (called black panthers by first explorers) and are just now coming to our attention.

Although most sightings have been in Keene, black cats have been seen in the Gilsum/Surry area since the 1950s (no other detailed data-size, ruffs, shape of head, legs, etc.). They may be the same cats coming down off of Surry Mountain. There have also been black cats seen in Coos County since the 1930s.

Linda

Linda

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From: Rick Meril <rick.meril@gmail.com
To: Linda McCracken <lmccracken2002@yahoo.com

Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2011 1:09 PM

Subject: Re: Illustrations of NH black cats