This is not a cougar.
That’s what Lakehead University wildlife technologist Don Barnes confirmed after seeing a photograph sent to media Tuesday afternoon. The photograph was said to be of a cougar sighted in the Cumberland area Tuesday afternoon.
“That’s a mangy old fox,” Barnes said Wednesday, his findings confirmed by an MNR official later in the day.
The photo was taken by Murray Munro off Cumberland Street near the Harbourview Funeral Home.
Barnes speculates that people may have thought the pictured animal was a cougar because of its long tail. But because mange, a skin disease caused by mites, causes an animal to rub away its fur, the fox’s usual bushy tail is skinnier than normal. Generally a long tail is the tell-tale sign of a cougar he said.
“The tail is so long on it that’s why they call it a cougar,” he said. “I can see right now why they called it a cougar… it does look like a rope almost but the thing is with a cougar tail it’s very erect it doesn’t fall to the ground like that.”
Then there’s the size of the animal itself. Cougars are up to seven feet long. Barnes encourages people to search the internet for images of a cougar to see what the difference is.
MNR spokeswoman Michelle Novak said cougar sightings are infrequent at best in the province.
"Cougars are extremely rare in Ontario," she said in an email response to questions asked earlier on Wednesday. "Researchers have recently confirmed that there are cougars in Ontario, but the origin of these animals is unknown.
"They might be escaped or released animals, cougars from other areas, remnants of the native cougar population, or a genetic mixture of these possibilities."
Cougar fever has swept people and media in Thunder Bay since police reported sightings of the elusive animal last week. The animal, along with a reported lynx and wounded bear, even have Twitter accounts. So far the mangy fox has been absent from social media.
