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brhalltx wrote:I tawt I taw a puddycat.

Not a puddyhat?

Lambda Force wrote:

brhalltx wrote:I tawt I taw a puddycat.

Not a puddyhat?

Maybe it was a puddytat...

Kind of looks like a Coon Cat (seriously, that's a recognized breed). They can get to about 40lbs. of really mean cat, and they are smart.

House cat

TomV wrote:House cat

Jusme wrote:Wow you actually saw one of these? And managed to get a photo?
Forward your picture immediately to the Smithsonian so they can send a team down to investigate.

I'm just glad you didn't fall victim to this obviously dangerous predator. I would make sure anything smaller than a full grown Hereford bull was safely brought into the house, for the night!

Actually, I sent Liberty a PM about this the other day, but my son and I both saw an ENORMOUS black cat when we were in France (picture below). It doesn't look nearly as big in the picture, because by the time I got my camera into play, he had alerted to us watching him, and he walked away from us, so this picture is from perhaps 50-75 yards away. We were at the village of Saint-Germain-de-Confolens, where there are the ruins of an ancient castle on top of a hill overlooking the village. We were in one of the castle towers at the corner of two walls, and there was a vineyard below us. The cat was in the vineyard, and comparing his size to the vines, which were in full growth it being mid-August at the time, that cat was at least the size of a large Labrador retriever. He looked just like a big black leopard. When he noticed us watching him, he walked off down the hill between two rows of vines, under the wood rail fence at the bottom of the hill, and onto this long driveway, about 4 or 5 feet below the wood fence. That put us about 50 or 60 feet above and about 50-75 yards behind him. But he was YUGE, and we both saw it the same way, so my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

He sauntered on up that driveway, toward where there was a large secluded manor house on top of a hill, semi-hidden in a grove of trees - very spooky.



This Google Maps screen shot shows the topography:


My take on it is that once in a while a domestic cat will grow to enormous size. A buddy of mine who grew up on Worschester, MA told me about a cat they had until after he graduated from college that was big enough to stand on its hind legs and filch food off the kitchen counter. It wasn't any kind of special breed, other than being part Manx and having no tail. He showed me a picture of his mother (whom I have met, so I KNOW it was her) standing at their kitchen counter, with that cat next to her, standing on his hind legs, investigating whatever it was she was doing.

Manx cats are incredibly personable and very loving.

One adopted me as a kitten, he never met a stranger and if I sit down he's in my lap. Unlike most cats he loves water. When I turn on the shower to get the hot water flowing before I step in, he's usually on the bench waiting for me. (yeah, our master shower is huge, could probably accommodate six people at a time, complete with a bench) He also like to drink out of the tap. He taught his big brother, another rescue, to drink out of the tap too, though his big brother doesn't drink with Stub's finesse.

Speak of the devil, he just jumped into my lap. He's my pal...

Oh regarding size: As a kitten, Stub could've fit in a tea cup and weighs no more than 4 1/2 lbs now. At approximately 12 years old he's not getting any bigger.

The cat in the original post does look like a house cat, but I'll defer to others on that. I still believe there are large cats in Texas.

Here's a report from near Kerrville - http://wkcurrent.com/big-cat-snared-on- ... 474-71.htm

What’s smaller than a Sasquatch, bigger than a Chupacabra, and actually does live in our Hill Country back pastures? Mountain lions, of course.

Known as pumas, panthers, cougars and catamounts, mountain lions are extremely secretive and practically uncommon until stumbled upon haphazardly.

Such was the case April 12 on the Kramer Ranch near Midway Road. A routine fence-line ride turned up something out-of-the-ordinary as Jim and Sharon Capeheart noticed something snared in their fence. From a distance, the tan creature appeared to be a deer hung up in a coyote snare, but as they got closer, they realized that it was actually a mountain lion (Puma concolor).

It's not exactly next door, but it's probably within 100 miles of where the original poster saw a cat.

Looks like my daughter's Maine Coon, Jessie. He is huge.

Know this is an old thread but thought I’d add my two cents. While the cat in the pic could easily be a large Maine Coon, as others have noted we do have big cats in Texas. In college ~2004 a buddy and I were dove hunting on his family’s place down near Falfurrias when we stumbled on two adolescent Mountain Lions walking along a fence cut. Needless to say we were both surprised (the cats and us) and both groups beat feet in opposite directions. Seeing those two cats with only a 12 gauge loaded with #7.5 shot makes you wish for more gun in a hurry.