What does this mountain lion have in its mouth? Texas wildlife officials want to know

Jan. 24—A wildlife mystery desires resolving in southern Texas and industry experts wouldn’t mind your to assist — if you can abdomen the specifics.

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It entails a December path digital camera photograph that caught a huge mountain lion dragging an additional animal in its mouth.

Apparently, not even wildlife experts can detect the unlucky prey, which is a bit disconcerting.

“Can you discover this prey animal taken in Terrell County? P.S. We are guessing, much too,” officials with the Trans-Pecos Wildlife District posted Jan. 14 on Fb. Terrell County is about 400 miles southwest of Fort Well worth.

“Lions are opportunistic, preying on a large selection of animals. Do the job conducted by Borderlands Exploration Institute determined at least 14 species of prey in the diet regime of west Texas Mountain Lions.”

The trail camera bought a crystal clear look at of both equally animals, but the prey’s head is trapped in between the lion’s jaws, generating a company identification fairly challenging. What you can tell: It can be 4-legged, fury and practically as tall as the mountain lion, when calculated from rump to head.

Guesses on Fb have incorporated, a bobcat, piglet, raccoon and grey fox.

A several people recommended it could possibly be somebody’s beloved doggy or cat, though numerous concluded it appears to be too big to be a domestic cat.

“A single on my location ate cats, canine, chickens, guineas, cattle, sheep and horses,” a single woman wrote on Fb. “Killed my neighbors puppies, one particular each few of times. Goats, miniature horses. My donkeys were being scared of it. I knew when it was there. They would be up at the house fence braying.”

Mountain lions — also identified as cougars, panthers, or pumas — “have the capacity to choose prey up to 5 periods their weight,” the Borderlands Research Institute stories. Males can weigh far more than 230 pounds, and “they can leap 30 toes,” Texas Native Cats says.

The Borderlands Research Institute, primarily based at Sul Ross Condition University in Alpine, says it is applying GPS collar info to find mountain lion “destroy internet sites” in south Texas, so it can determine out what they are having.

Knowledge collected so considerably have unveiled their prey incorporate deer, elk, feral hogs and coyotes, the institute claims. They are also huge on scavenging animals they find dead, officers claimed.