Thought I'd ask people more familiar with mountain lions to see what they thought of this trail cam picture I got from behind my house in Shawnee National Forest today.

We don't have bears and cougars are really scarce, but that's what it looks like to me.

Any guess's?

I get a lot of those puzzling trail cam pics of an eye or a shape or a patch of fur. Got one with a black shape streaking across the sky.

I've begun to accept that many of them I'll prolly never know.

Yep, I've got some that look like aliens..whatever they look like. When I first saw this one I didn't pay any attention just looked like a dud..flash. Then I looked again and it looked just like the side of a head and ear. If it's an ear I'm guessing a cougar, black bear or coon. If it's a coon he'd have to be hugging the tree..or a real tall one. The cam is about waist high on me.

The shape is about right for a kitty.

Raccoon.

If the angle is right it could even be a deer...just not a straight on pic

I'd rather it not be a cougar, mountain lion..whatever you want to call it. But I know they do come through here. A man and woman pulled up in front middle of one afternoon in August and said they just saw one come out from behind my house and cross the highway.

I saw what I thought was two late one afternoon right before dark about 3 days later..and they were about 80yds from where this picture was taken. Haven't seen any sign of any since that..4yrs ago.

But, if I had to guess for money that's what I would say it is. Maybe..I'll get another picture..hope it's a deer or coon.

I would say it is a deer. But, rock chucks photo at that angle sure doesn't help that theory. I think there are more and more(mountain lions) in Illinois all the time. At least several have been photo'd in the last few years.

Sasquatch. Seen this scenario time and time again.

Yep..me too. Ask a simple question and get a smart ass answer.

Hoyt, I didn't mean to be offensive. Sasquatch is what some buddies and I call a blur going through the woods that we can't clearly make out as a deer/buck/doe, fawn, pig, coyote, etc. Just a gesture saying, I have no idea. I guess it was too much of an inside joke to post. Apologies.

hunttolive, no problem, I shouldn't have been so touchy anyway, I apologize for the smart remark.

Not a bear's ear.



This is a nearly identical shot of a bear's ear, just before it tore down my camera.

Thinking it is not a lion after studying as many photos as I could find. Seems the ear geometry is not quite right. Too long for the width, not rounded enough on the margins and tip, but it is short/smooth haired, I am voting small deer. Although it is about the right shape ear for a raccoon...

Today my camera came up with a real "what is this", maybe a nose, corner of eye, can't tell, and no idea the critter, though there may have been an elk go by about that time frame. You can get weird stuff.

I got a sneaky feeling it was this coon..(pulled the card this morning)hope so anyway. The date and time on the camera is not right, but it works and is too much of a coincident for the time to be so close. Also the shape of a coon's ear is real close to the one in the picture. The glow around ear in picture is probably coon's fine hairs that grow past the ear.

That's a big boar coon looks like and he'd have to be big to be able to reach around the cam and still get the picture of side of his face shot like it is. Although I'm just guessing and it still looks like a big cat to me also.