Possible Cougar Sighting: Findlay, IL
Several people have submitted photos supposedly of a cougar sighting near Findlay, IL. There are four photos; click here to view all four photos.
The story is as follows:
These are from a guy out at Findlay , Illinois . The pictures were taken from his kitchen onto his patio deck. The critter was watching his little kids playing on the kitchen floor!
By examining the metadata of the photo, we know the following:
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The photos were taken on 3/10/2004 between 7:14 am and 7:15 am
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The camera was a NIKON E775
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Other irrelevant details, such as the resolution, flash mode, explosure, etc
There appears to be snow in a couple of the photos. Looking at historical weather data for central Illinois for 3/10/2004, there may have been snow in the area.
Based on the above details, this sighting is inconclusive.
If you know who took the above photos, please email us at admin@illinoiscougarwatch.com
What do you think? Were the photos taken near Findlay? Or is this a hoax? Let us know in the comments.
I think they are real. There aren’t too many people with wood paneling like that in their house. If it was taken near Findlay, surely somebody will recognize the inside of the house.
Hoax. These same pictures were shown by others in Georiga and Virginia as evidence of a sighting in those states. Check the link: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/patiomountainlion.asp
Also supposedly these pics were taken in Findlay in 2004 and we are just now learning about it???!!!
I do not know if these are real or noc. I live in rural Mechanicsburg area of central Illinois and I have seen a large yellow cat myself….about 4 years ago. Several others, along our road (within 1/4 mi of the Sang. Rive) has also seen this/these cats. When reported to the IDNR, they assured me there are no ‘big cats’ in Illinois. I know what I saw and I have heard the scream…..about 10 years ago…middle of the night and I was sure someone had just killed a woman…the scream/screetch. Based on what I have seen and heard, I beleive this.
I live in findlay illinois and it is home to about 600 people. I have lived in findlay my whole life and i have never seen a house with this type of paneling on the inside and there is no house around here with this type of patio seen in these pictures. With findlay being so small the town would be buzzing with gossip of these pictures. However there are some smaller cats that i have seen personally and they were bobcats. There has also been sightings of black panthers all throughout central illinois. I have still not seen one of these panthers though. Untill i see a panther though i do not believe there are any around here. YET!!
The guy who sits next to me at work just said this is his buddy’s place, and that he spotted this cat on his porch recently. It’s funny I found this website, it’s 2/8/08 and he just got the e-mail from his friend.
SOmething isn’t adding up. If these pictures are from a few years ago, why would he JUST be sending them now…..
My co-worker said his buddy is from Findlay and that these pictures are real, but I’m having doubts.
On another note, I live in Clinton, IL, and there have been reports of a panther from a VERY reputable source; but the last sighting I heard about was maybe 4 years ago or so.
Just FYI.
Its a hoax. If you look at the pics, you can see that this is someones pet. See the rope in two of the four pics?
These pics have been circulating the internet for years…I’ve heard they were taken from Washington all the way to Missouri.
The photos are real, but the story is not. I received these photos several months ago and they were supposedly from Oklahoma. The snopes link, referred to by JLebowski, is the correct informataion.
hoax. these were shown to me, saying that a women that lives in the same county as I do here in pennsylvania took these pictures this past winter.
Yeah the pix are real, but they didnt come from Findlay or even Illinois. I cant remember where they came from, but its not anywhere around here. Pretty cat though
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/patiomountainlion.asp
Heres the link to snopes about the pictures(with pictures) and the story. It was in MD and it just keeps circulating.