Police officers in the Route 66 town of Galena, Kan., have contacted the state Department of Wildlife to determine whether an animal seen on surveillance camera video is a cougar, reported the Joplin (Mo.) Globe.
You can see the feline here:
Officers aren’t sure whether it’s a cougar, or simply a big house cat. Others are fairly certain it’s a lot bigger than that:
Larry Williams, a route supervisor with Allied Waste Services, was one of the first to view the surveillance video. He said he is convinced it is a cougar or some other large cat, and not a house cat. He found large paw prints near the business on Wednesday that he said reinforces his belief. Other workers had previously told him about the tracks.
“The raccoons are real thick around here,” Williams said. “There’s plenty for them to eat. There’s deer and turkey, too.”
Williams said by watching the video, it appears to him that the cat weighs close to 120 pounds. […]
Galena police Chief Larry Delmont said Wednesday that the paw prints found by Allied Waste Services worker Larry Williams measure three to four inches long. He said the prints can’t be definitively linked to the cat on the surveillance video, but he hopes the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks can make a determination from a combination of the two sources.
The story goes on to tell of other reports of big cats in the region, including a black leopard that was shot in May in Neosho, Mo., by a sheriff’s deputy. It was determined the leopard was an escapee after a tornado went through the area.
A wild cougar in Missouri isn’t unprecedented. One was found in the Kansas City area in 2002.
Heh, those officers need to remember they’re in Kansas, not Texas, where everything is supposed to be bigger. If the housecats in Kansas get that big, glad we didn’t see any while driving through on our last trip on Route 66. Me thinks it’s more than your normal housecat!