Mountain Lion in Iowa?

[stinkpickle]

I'd have to visit the spot to get a better sense of scale, but that looks more like a big bobcat to me, and those suckers are all over Iowa now....had my own close call two turkey seasons ago.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Well I zoomed in on the photo with my computer and you can see the spots that a bobcat has that a mountain lion don't. 

[Basser69]

Well I zoomed in on the photo with my computer and you can see the spots that a bobcat has that a mountain lion don't. 

Can you do a screen shot of it zoomed in for us?

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Click this link.  Let me see if I can make it bigger yet.  But look at the black spots on the cats leg and back and you can see some on the rear leg it looks like to me.  I also see a little black spots under the jaw.

Let me try that again.

http://www.hunt101.com/showphoto.php?photo=752031&size=big&cat=&ppuser=23790

[Basser69]

Well done Ilikehevi and bobcat it is

[sugarray]

My thoughts were bobcat from the beginning.  Where is the tail?  Blown up pic really shows this too.

[Snoody Bastid]

Either way, it's a pretty big cat. Looks like he's in some deep thought. Pondering a place to make numero dos perhaps??

[doublegobble]

Well I'm not going to disagree because I haven't seen and big cats but I have seen a lot of bobcats and if that is a bobcat, that thing is huge! Personally I would have taken the gun out rather than the camera and found out up close and personal what it was. Bobcat season was open at that time also. Still hoping to get a pic on my trail cam so I get a better idea what it is. Until then, I can't do anything but speculate.

[Gobble!]

if that is a bob cat that is a monster

[Basser69]

Well I'm not going to disagree because I haven't seen and big cats but I have seen a lot of bobcats and if that is a bobcat, that thing is huge! Personally I would have taken the gun out rather than the camera and found out up close and personal what it was. Bobcat season was open at that time also. Still hoping to get a pic on my trail cam so I get a better idea what it is. Until then, I can't do anything but speculate.

I am not a trapper so I don't know if this idea would work or not but could you not try some bait in front of the camera? Not sure what you would use but some of the trappers on here could

[mossy835]

Hard to say but a good test for dead coyote loads, then you will know for sure. Here are two controlled pictures for you experts to compare with. Notice the smaller head to body ratio on the lion versus the bob cat.

[davisd9]

His tail could be curled or hidden in the grass.  You can't really tell much about its tail other than it goes straight down.  Young cougars have spots, could be a young one that is hitting maturity.  Also grown cougars have markings, and the one on that one does not quite looking like bobcat markings.  I am not saying it is or it isn't a cougar, but it looks to big and muscular to be a bobcat to me.  I have been wrong before.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Hey and we could be wrong, too. 

[woodchip]

I still say it's a bobcat.  The terrain is causing it to appear larger than it actually is kind of an "illusion".  Atleast that's what I see.  Also that grass is pretty short it would be hard to hide a large tail in there.