SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – A neighbor on South Bend’s west side says she spotted a large cat in her mother’s backyard Sunday, prompting a report to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
A DNR mammal expert has since reviewed the video and ruled out both a mountain lion and a bobcat.
Tami Bryant said she spotted the animal just before sundown Sunday at a home on the west side of South Bend.
“We thought it was a dog, a cat, a deerling, we couldn’t really make it out, and I didn’t want to go all the way back but I started to take some video,” Bryant said.
Bryant said the animal was larger than an average house cat and had a long tail. Once it stood up, she said, her concern grew.
“When it stood up, there was a concern because there’s not a cat that big and it was moving like a cat for sure,” Bryant said.
Not everyone in the area shares Bryant’s concern. A neighbor, John Sater, said he believes the animal is a large domestic cat.
“From what I saw it just looks like an extra large house cat, I think it’s called a Maine Coon, they’re just a big house cat,” Sater said.
DNR rules out mountain lion
Bryant reported the sighting to the DNR. Brad Westrich, a state mammal expert with the Indiana DNR, reviewed the video and said the animal does not appear to be a mountain lion or a bobcat.
“Looking at the video, I was able to rule out that it was a mountain lion at least in this one observation. And it also wasn’t a bobcat. There have been no other reports that have come in in St. Joe County,” Westrich said.
Westrich said the animal’s physical characteristics did not align with what is typical for a mountain lion.
“It seemed like the legs of the animal were too thin, the tail was well too thin and the observation overall of the animal just was not lining up with what is typical for a mountain lion — which is how I’ve come to this interpretation,” Westrich said.
Westrich said anyone who spots a strange animal in their backyard should take video of it for the DNR to review, as long as it is safe to do so.
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