ExTrumpet Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Your observations never fail to be interesting, Tex. I look at golf courses as great habitat/travel areas, due to typical water sources and lack of nocturnal human presence. As a golfer, I can appreciate that they must certainly rake the sand traps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 Hey HWM.......thanks for the post. It would have been interesting to put a Game-Cam by the fresh Deer kill. I scouted the nearby area, and couldn't find the pieces anywhere, which was unusual. My theory is when a BF makes a Deer kill in these parts, they mostly eat certain internal organs such as the liver, leaving most of the carcass for the other nibblers, and often taking a leg or two with them for a quick marrow snack later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Almost like something picked up the entire remains and carried it away......Agreed,....I think that's unusual. If we were in Africa....I'd think one culprit might be a leopard...although there are other large predators capable of doing that....but, I'm sure that a cougar would be capable of doing so here in Texas....especially if it were only part of a fresh kill. Very interesting.... ExTrumpet - maybe they use the traps like a litter box ....raking for a different reason! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 There should have been something left behind, hair, dried blood still on the ground, but nothing.......not a hair that I could see, and like the dirt was licked clean, very weird. I saw a black Jaguar several years ago, but that was on the other side of the bridge, and several miles away. That's when I got the Ridgeback, as the encounter was pretty darn scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I tend to think any four-footed carnivore is likely to push against the kill while tearing/biting it until it slides against the nearest stationary object. That part is not very mysterious to me. Nor is the idea that an entire articulated carcass of hide/bone/gristle (if that was true) could be lifted by a coyote and transported intact to a denning site for the kits to gnaw on. What IS pretty weird is how the traces of the kill disappeared. I'd want to know if there were stiff winds blowing between the first visit and the next one Tex. If not, hmmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 How fortunate you were to witness the Jaguar....especially a black one! El Tigre is stout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExTrumpet Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 There should have been something left behind, hair, dried blood still on the ground, but nothing.......not a hair that I could see, and like the dirt was licked clean, very weird. I saw a black Jaguar several years ago, but that was on the other side of the bridge, and several miles away. That's when I got the Ridgeback, as the encounter was pretty darn scary. There have been black panther reports for years and years all across the south and midwest...most say they don't exist. It is a known fact that the black jag exists in Mexico and ventures into Texas...do you think that the black panthers are actually black jags or jaguarundi? Here's an interesting link on Texas cats, also: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_w7000_0150.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Soon after seeing the Jag I called my Game Warden buddy, and he verified that there are a few sightings every year. I've seen a Jaguarundi before, and certainly wasn't one of those, way to small, wrong shape & color too. I have a lot of experience with wild cats of all types, as I have done volunteer and fund raising for a wild cat sanctuary here in Texas.......I've even been jumped on by a black leopard while there one day. This was a wild Jaguar that I saw due to his mannerisms, and not something that got loose. While on the subject, there are an alarming number of wild cats in sanctuaries and private hands in this country, they do get lose, and often not reported. There's a case of two Tigers who escaped from private hands in California, no one was killed, but it took 2 years to catch them. For years there was an African Serval running around my town. Be careful out there, not only from the animals that are supposed to be there, but for the ones that are not. Edited July 23, 2014 by Bigtex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Here's an old steel piece that I found deep in the woods, and have been trying to figure out what it is. It's about 6" long, and one end of it has been apparently fixed and welded at some point. I seem to recall seeing something similar that was used to secure rails on to a rail bed for Rail Road tracks.......has anyone have any idea what this piece may have been used for? As far as a rail road in the area, there is no sign of one, but that doesn't mean there might have been long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I'm familiar with the jaguarundi,...although it's been a while since I first saw one. I think the "black panther" was usually a melanin or black version of a catamount, cougar or puma or sub-species....depending on where you are in the Americas...although a black jaguar would likely be called one as well...if one wasn't familiar with the body shape or size of the wild cats. I'm sure some jaguarundi were thought to be a black panther....at least a time or two. Thanks for the link ExT BigTex - can't help you on the piece....don't recognize it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Yes, black cats exist across the S.W., but also into the S.E. I have it on good infomation of a sighting C. Alabama in the 1980s. I can tell you Tex, after many years of metal detecting in the back corners of rural America that the hands down, #1 artifact you are likely to find are pieces-parts of old coal and woodburning stoves. The first thing Ma did when rural electrification came to town was get Pa to take that out and dump it as far in the back 40 as he could get his old truck to go. Either it is one of those, or a piece of a farm implement, which run a close #2. I don't recognize it as either one, so it really could be just about anything at all, but those two top the list of probables. If it might just be the leg off of an old heater though, and you can see where the weld broke not too long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 It's a cool piece of history.......and was fixed (welded) at some point, so it was in frequent use. It has some letters & numbers on it too, like a part number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtex Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Back to the Jaguar.......at the sanctuary I mentioned earlier, they rescued a 4 week old Jaguar, and I was fortunate enough to play with him many times, but by about 8 months, he was dangerous. In fact, he was one of the few cats at the sanctuary that nobody could go in with, he was huge and very dangerous. He knew me well at one point, but by his first birthday, he woulda killed me in a second. The one I saw wild was just as big, and could see his spots under the black when the sun caught him just right while running. I had surprised him in a cave as I was coming over a ridge from above. He spooked & ran down into the ravine, but appeared to be circling back around as he disappeared into the brush below........it was the longest 2 miles through the woods back to the truck ever, no dogs, and by myself. I had a huge knife, but would have been no match for this kittie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Oh,... to be able to somehow witness an encounter between that Jaguar and one of them....not to see injuries or death....but just curious how much respect, if any,...might exist between them....how they reacted to one another. There's a great video y'all probably have seen,...where a jaguar stalks, attacks & captures a good sized caiman (seemed like it was 6-7ft long) - grabbing just behind the caiman's head, turning and swimming with it in its jaws. Its strength was awesome! Not many people in the USA have the opportunity to study or become familiar with such a beautiful animal.....let alone simply see one....with their own eyes....reminds me of somethin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSA Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Tex..just for grins, you should google that part #, it might give you nothing, but there may be a story that somebody else already has told...or wants to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts