Because I think this is very important for Nomads to know, I will post these clips here, as I did before in my petroglyph thread that Saltram
mentioned jaguarundis in... I would enjoy seeing some photos that prove they are in Baja! What a cool cat!
We have Jaguarundis and Jaguar here in Nayarit. I heard a noise the night I moved into my new home here in Guayabitos so I turned on the outside
light and in the middle of my yard starring back at me was 40 pound black cat. After researching I found it to be a Jaguarundis and named my new home
"Ek Balam"
Mayan for Black Jaguar....
Last year on a drive back from Puerto Vallarta a juvenile Jaguar ran across the road in front of me, what a thrill..........
What I wonder is if they were once a coast to coast cat (Atlantic to California's Pacific)... and the ones Saltram said he saw somewhere in the Seven
Sisters side of Hwy. 1, were an island of survivors from the Ice Age, or what?
Wow thanks for the education. I had no idea of this beautiful animal nor their presence here in Baja. BajaBucko, have you seen them up in your area?
Amazing, yet another excuse to get on one of those mule trips.
While headed into the Sierra San Pedro Martir in 1973 with Bud Bernhard, something ran across the road a head of us maybe 50 yards. It was dusk and
my first thought was jaguarundi. I had that animal on the brain and for years after, shuffled it away, knowing that in all probability, it must have
been a small teenager cougar. To this very day I've stuck with that opinion (that is was a cougar), having hung out alot with houndsmen in the states
and mulled over ideas w wild cat folks.
Now, that said, I can't get that picture out of my head, and on my zillions of mule trips up and down the peninsula, I have spoken w vaqueros on the
remotest ranchos I visited. The location of that cat makes it a probable cougar sighting. BUT let's just say this is a work in progress.......(like
I really NEED another Baja project...)
Since I have brought up this subject I have received a few notes from people who have described a small darkish cat larger than the feral housecat.
Those of you who have reasonably credible observations I have been in touch with. My plan is to set up remote camera traps in certain locations and
see what shows up months later.....
My best friend (who's biology professor dad turned me on to hound hunting (bear and big cats) over 40 years ago) has been living in the Russian
Far-East for many years and is a key researcher in the Amur Tiger project and also Amur Leopard and small wild cats---we have discussed the
jaguarundi numerous times and I have learned bunches about cat research etc. Many times a species is so unimportant that it never shows up on range
maps. Sometimes no one ever looks to see if it is there. So.......
The last jaguar (talking the BIG CAT) found and killed in Baja California was in 1955-supposedly in the Sierra San Pedro Martir range. Now THAT'S a
strange finding, I recently read in a very old book by a RELIABLE source. That cat is at its northern present range in AZ/NM as it once roamed North
America thousands of years ago. I doubt that many were every on the peninsula but reading that and knowing the source, I was very surprised. The
little cat called the Jaguarundi is nondescript, a small-game hunter, and I could easlily see it being overlooked. I suspect it is present on the
peninsula but considered so unimportant, it is not given any attention by cat people. Mexico does not put much effort in to some things, after all,
look at the 1000s of archeological sites on the peninsula and most are sadly ignored/neglected by the gov.
Have camera traps-will travel
BB
PS These camera traps (Bushnell) are not cheap so I buy them one at a time....
My other 4WD is a Baja Mule!
La Mula Mil Survivor 2013-2014!
1000 miles by mule from the tip to Tecate!
Originally posted by Baja Bucko
While headed into the Sierra San Pedro Martir in 1973 with Bud Bernhard, something ran across the road a head of us maybe 50 yards. It was dusk and
my first thought was jaguarundi. I had that animal on the brain and for years after, shuffled it away, knowing that in all probability, it must have
been a small teenager cougar. To this very day I've stuck with that opinion (that is was a cougar), having hung out alot with houndsmen in the states
and mulled over ideas w wild cat folks.
Now, that said, I can't get that picture out of my head, and on my zillions of mule trips up and down the peninsula, I have spoken w vaqueros on the
remotest ranchos I visited. The location of that cat makes it a probable cougar sighting. BUT let's just say this is a work in progress.......(like
I really NEED another Baja project...)
Since I have brought up this subject I have received a few notes from people who have described a small darkish cat larger than the feral housecat.
Those of you who have reasonably credible observations I have been in touch with. My plan is to set up remote camera traps in certain locations and
see what shows up months later.....
My best friend (who's biology professor dad turned me on to hound hunting (bear and big cats) over 40 years ago) has been living in the Russian
Far-East for many years and is a key researcher in the Amur Tiger project and also Amur Leopard and small wild cats---we have discussed the
jaguarundi numerous times and I have learned bunches about cat research etc. Many times a species is so unimportant that it never shows up on range
maps. Sometimes no one ever looks to see if it is there. So.......
The last jaguar (talking the BIG CAT) found and killed in Baja California was in 1955-supposedly in the Sierra San Pedro Martir range. Now THAT'S a
strange finding, I recently read in a very old book by a RELIABLE source. That cat is at its northern present range in AZ/NM as it once roamed North
America thousands of years ago. I doubt that many were every on the peninsula but reading that and knowing the source, I was very surprised. The
little cat called the Jaguarundi is nondescript, a small-game hunter, and I could easlily see it being overlooked. I suspect it is present on the
peninsula but considered so unimportant, it is not given any attention by cat people. Mexico does not put much effort in to some things, after all,
look at the 1000s of archeological sites on the peninsula and most are sadly ignored/neglected by the gov.
Have camera traps-will travel
BB
PS These camera traps (Bushnell) are not cheap so I buy them one at a time....
Please read the Flora and Fauna paragraph, this is a reserve the size of Delaware...
Hang on. I'll ask my husband, born up in these mountains.
... be right back...
ok, he says the locals call these cats leoncillos.
Jaguarundi, Leoncillo. Same animal, different names.
They hunt the goats up in the mountains.
He says there's a taxiderm specimen outside the restaurant right by the church up in San Javier.
He doesn't know that they come down to Mulege, but given the year-round source of fresh water, it makes sense that they would.
Dr. Lorraine Sellers, the veterinarian who lived on the river for many years, spoke of a feral cat which, tho' scarce, roamed at night. It has a
different pawprint, I believe. No, we're not talking big feral domestic cats.
I'll look into this further. I'm getting intrigued!
[Edited on 2-2-2013 by Mulegena]
Edited again to add this link for clarification. This is the ring-tailed raccoon that lives down here in the hills around the Mulege river. It does
look somewhat like a housecat, its nocturnal and consequently is rarely seen. The ring-tailed cat is not what BajaBucko is searching; its not a
jaguarundi/leoncillo. http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Ringtai...
I'll continue searching for local jaguarundi/leoncillo sightings.
[Edited on 2-2-2013 by Mulegena]
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
I was north of Mazatlan a couple weeks ago and there was a sign at a preserve with the local cats and their paw prints in the area. It has a Leoncillo
on it.
ok, he says the locals call these cats leoncillos.
Jaguarundi, Leoncillo. Same animal, different names.
They hunt the goats up in the mountains.
He says there's a taxiderm specimen outside the restaurant right by the church up in San Javier.
Mulegena, this must be the taxidermy specimen in San Javier you are referring to. They were charging $1 to take a photo of it. I thought it was a sick
mountain lion as it didn't look right.
Originally posted by Mulegena
...
Edited again to add this link for clarification. This is the ring-tailed raccoon that lives down here in the hills around the Mulege river. It does
look somewhat like a housecat, its nocturnal and consequently is rarely seen. The ring-tailed cat is not what BajaBucko is searching; its not a
jaguarundi/leoncillo. http://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Ringtai...
I'll continue searching for local jaguarundi/leoncillo sightings.
In Baja, at least on Isla San José where this photo was taken, they are called BABISURI
Photo from Alejandra de Baja (ca2000) on Isla San José.
Sorry DK-that is NOT a Jaguarundi. The pic you show is a Ring-tailed cat, not even a cat. Saw 2 of those at Los Pilares in the mountains nr Comondu
years ago.
My other 4WD is a Baja Mule!
La Mula Mil Survivor 2013-2014!
1000 miles by mule from the tip to Tecate!
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
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