Medium sized cat seen on the Don Valley Recreational Trail

by Daniel
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada.)

I was on my daily bike ride along the beautiful Lower Don Valley Recreational Trail and was just cruising along slowly as I always do so I can observe the wide variety of great wildlife we have right under our noses.

I looked to my right and noticed this strange medium-sized cat that was black and brown with light brown streaks throughout it's fur.

I have been riding this trail for years and years and have never seen anything like this.

At first I thought it was a Lynx or Bobcat however it was not as robust, but it was bigger than a house cat.

Can somebody help maybe identify what this was?

I know there are a lot of different species of wildlife along this trail.

Anybody have any guesses.

I tried to get a picture but as soon as it saw me getting closer it bolted into the woods with a very long and high leap, a house cat does not jump like this and it was bigger.

What a beautiful animal it was, and I was honored at having the pleasure of observing it.

It was laying on a log not too far from a heavily treed and wooded area, it was around 4:30 pm.

Thank you!