Possible Big Cat Sightings

by LeeAnne, Susan, Dan, Randi, Carolyn, Dave B, Emily K, Dorota, Kim W,
(Twin Lakes, Listowel, Bethany Scarborough, Hanover area, Georgina, Acton, Lisle, Lake St Peter, Mt Forest, Port Colborne)

Possible Big Cat Sightings

LeeAnne E from Twin Lakes, Hudson township wrote ... We were driving down our cottage road today, and saw something standing in the middle of the road. I slowed the vehicle down, and we saw a large cat looking at us. The cat (which we now know was a Lynx) slowly walked to the shoulder of the road, and made its way over the snow and and into the bush. My daughter got a picture of it walking away. Amazing, but kind of scary to see one so close to our cottage, and homes on our lake. Our cottage is on Twin Lakes, in Hudson Township in Northern Ontario. January 1, 2022.

Susan from Listowel wrote ... Sighted a Cougar this evening on Hwy 86 near Listowel in North Perth County. Spooked by car lights running on shoulder! March 10, 2022

One of our readers said ... we saw a lion-sized cougar. I never realized just how long they are! I thought we saw a deer lying down but as it got up we realized it was too short to be a deer. Once we saw it turn to look at us it was obvious we were staring straight at a cougar with its shoulder blades up and a thick long tail. I thought it was awesome. My daughter cautioned me that they are dangerous. We had both seen tracks around the barn and the van they were sleeping in for a couple of weeks. I thought they were big-ass wolf tracks. When we saw the cougar get up in the fresh cut winter wheat the tracks made sense. We had cats and a small dog at the time. There may have been some food in the garbage in the barn. Luckily we were in the driveway in a van passing by it. It astounded me that it was just as long and large as a lion. I honestly thought cougars were stouter. My daughter needed surgery that day so I reminder the date was September 26, 2013. We live in a Bethany, Ontario.

Dan from Waterloo spotted a large feline ... I was driving down Notre Dame Drive in St Agatha and saw it cross the road in front of me. It turned and looked at me and then took off. Definitely a large wild cat.

A reader from Scarborough wrote ... I was going home and I was turning to go up my driveway when I looked straight ahead and I saw two long brown orange like cats! I rubbed my eyes I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and why I had to be the one to see it! They crossed my street went into the ravine at end of my dead end street. I called 311 and they asked if it hurt me. I replied No / well they have been sighting in Scarborough rouge valley ravine she stated. Thought they would go looking for it but I am amazed as kids live right near end of my street. Thank God no one was out there at the time. I was around 300 feet away. Dear lord help, what is happening? These cats can come out at anytime. I am now officially terrified and my street has hardly any lights. They didn’t seem to care really.

Randi wrote to report ... I was walking my dog around my property along the Saugeen River around 6:15 pm when a large spotted cat, orange with black spots, walked out of our wooded area. It looked at us and we ran back to the house. My mother looked out the window and he again stepped out of the woods on our property. My dog is a large breed German Shepherd Retriever mix and the cat was as large as my dog. We live between Hanover, Ontario and Walkerton right on the Saugeen River.

Carolyn from Georgina wrote ... we were exiting the 401 westbound at Grafton, on the off ramp we spotted what we would assume to be a wildcat at about 3:00 pm. I would estimate it was about twice the size of a domestic cat and about 2 feet long, it’s legs were longer than a domestic cat and it’s coat was dark with lighter spots. The markings were very distinct. I’ve never seen anything like it and would love to know what it could be.

Dave Berry from Acton wrote to say he sighted something in Halton Hills ... while walking my dog I spotted a much larger than normal cat sprinting across the country road that I was walking along when there was a significant break in the traffic on the road. My estimated distance from the cat was about half a kilometre. The sighting occurred on regional road 25 south of Acton and north of 25 side road. The gait of the animal was definitely that of a cat sprinting and not a dog running. The colour of the cat was light tan similar to that of a cougar. The cat had a tail and would have weighed between 40 and 60 lbs. The cat went onto the property owned by Maple Leaf Foods which used to be the settling pond area for the Acton Tannery. The time and date of the sighting was mid morning on Sept 6th, 2021.

Emily Kuzmich from Lisle Ontario said ... I was driving to work this morning on Charleston Sideroad Caledon, still slightly dark out. Something ran out at me last minute, it was either a bobcat or lynx. I saw was that it was grey with black markings and a super short tail. When I googled both species they both looked super similar like the animal I saw this morning. I know in Everett Ontario, my old neighbor has heard Lynx screaming at night, as the township had cut down majority of the trees behind her for a subdivision build.

Dorota from Lake Saint Peter, Ontario, wrote ... we are staying at West Pines Park on Lake St. Peter near Maynooth, Ontario. Last night, around 3:00 am we were awakened by a weird animal call, that sounded almost like a slow loud "wow", when looked out the window, saw an animal that was larger than a domestic cat with docked tail walking through the pines slowly. Hard to tell if Bobcat or Lynx, difficult with no size comparison. Calls got further and further away and eventually vanished in the distance. About an hour later heard more calls, but farther away .

Kim White from Mount Forest said ... I was driving along Southgate Road 8 east, and the Bobcat was just sitting at the side of the road, I was not going very fast and at first all I could see is blinking eyes looking at me. The closer I got I could see him get up from a sitting position and just turn to go back into the ditch, right before he turned away from my lights he turned right at me so that I could see the points of the ears, and the big front paws. The cat was about 40 pounds and in such good shape and had a beautiful coat of grey stripped fur.

Another reader wrote ... Lynx or Bobcat in Port Colborne? I'm not exactly sure what I saw so don’t quote me, but I was driving down the 140 and in the bushes I noticed this cat with really pointy ears. It was jarring because it was much bigger than a house cat. It didn’t look like a fox or a coyote though. The way it moved through the bushes too felt very much like a wildcat of sorts. I thought about it all week. I wanted to turn my car around but that highway is 80km/hr and I had no time :(Has anyone else see something like this in that area?)

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