The Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area has determined that a large cat captured on a trail camera last week is not a big cat.
At 11:17 a.m. Sept. 14, a large, muscular black cat walked past a trap camera overlooking a bean field, installed by county resident Matt Myers. The camera snapped two consecutive shots of a thick-tailed, stocky feline as it strolled the field. It appears roughly half the size of the bean sprouts.
An Indiana Conservation officer forwarded the case to Tri-County, where biologists studied the images.
“It is definitely a domestic cat,” said Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Manager Steve Roth.
Roth said the cat was just too small to be a big cat, like a cougar.
The county has had no confirmed big cats, Roth said, despite officials fielding approximately 12 reports a year.
