POWELL, OH (WCMH) — Cell phone video shot Sunday evening shows a big cat sauntering through a Powell backyard. It has neighbors on high alert wondering what kind of cat it is.
NBC4 took the video to an expert at the Columbus Zoo.
Powell neighbors say it is not that uncommon to spot deer, fox and an occasion coyote, but this big cat video is a new one.
Doug Warmolts VP of Animal Care at the Columbus Zoo also watched the cat video. But says it would be unusual if this was a cougar.
“It is hard to look at the video as it is and make a clear identification, they all have that similar gait to it,” says Warmolts.
Powell police say the cat’s size can be estimated because the utility box beside it measures three feet tall.
“It very well could be a domestic cat, domestic cats can be very large,” Warmolts says.
But says neighbors still need to be cautious until it is identified.
Teri York and her husband were watching their grandson at a park a short distance from the sighting.
“My first thought was I hope they catch it soon, because I knew we would be watch our grandson today and it was a beautiful day, so we would be outside and I didn’t want it near him,” York says.
Kevin Bosse also had his two children at Arbor Ridge Park.
“Well there are plenty of things out in Powell, we have a herd of deer in the backyard. We hear coyotes a lot so, there are a lot of rural areas that are starting to get closed in and the animals are being pushed around, so that is how it is going to be in this area,” he says.
“A cat like a cougar is an ambush predator, they are secretive by nature, so it would be unusual in my estimation if that is what this is,” Warmolts says. Along with that, he says cougars have distinctive markings on their ears and the cat’s size makes him suspect this is not a cougar sighting.
There have been previous suspected sightings of Cougars or mountain lions in Ohio. In November of 2014 a wildlife officer says he spotted a mountain lion in the Shawnee State Forest in Southern Ohio.What others are clicking on:
