“Every new jaguar in Arizona is a moment to celebrate.”
January 5, 2024 2:20 PM Subscribe
New trail camera video shared by wildlife enthusiast Jason Miller shows a jaguar in southern Arizona. Video shows new jaguar in Arizona, Tucson group says (Arizona Daily Star).
Previously, a jaguar appeared on photos captured by remote cameras operated by Customs and Border Protection in September 2023. However, the images were too blurry to identify the cat; at the time, officials could only speculate on whether it was one of the two living jaguars known to have roamed Arizona in recent years or a previously unrecorded jaguar. The new footage (which may or may not be the same cat that was observed in September) is clear enough to confirm that this is a new jaguar (press release from the Center for Biological Diversity).
Miller, the trail camera operator, has proposed the name "Cochise" for the cat, but no official name has been given yet.
Previously, a jaguar appeared on photos captured by remote cameras operated by Customs and Border Protection in September 2023. However, the images were too blurry to identify the cat; at the time, officials could only speculate on whether it was one of the two living jaguars known to have roamed Arizona in recent years or a previously unrecorded jaguar. The new footage (which may or may not be the same cat that was observed in September) is clear enough to confirm that this is a new jaguar (press release from the Center for Biological Diversity).
Miller, the trail camera operator, has proposed the name "Cochise" for the cat, but no official name has been given yet.
I'm with eye of newt. This is news to me too, but pretty cool. Thanks for sharing!
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 2:55 PM on January 5
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 2:55 PM on January 5
Jaguars in the crevasses!?
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:05 PM on January 5 [5 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:05 PM on January 5 [5 favorites]
This is fantastic news!
But also:TrumpBiden’s border wall construction threatens survival of jaguars in the US
(This is an older article but it remains true, hence my editorializing of the headline)
posted by deadbilly at 3:27 PM on January 5 [5 favorites]
But also:
(This is an older article but it remains true, hence my editorializing of the headline)
posted by deadbilly at 3:27 PM on January 5 [5 favorites]
Jaguar, bobcat, cougar/puma/panther/mountain lion [same cat] we have quite a few native wild cats in the US.
I was once living in a cabin on a mountainside outside of a rural town in eastern Oregon when I saw a cat outside the window walking across the fresh snow. I was mystified because we'd had quite a bit of snow and we were miles from neighbors so where did this cat come from... but then my brain did a perception shift and realized its size -- it was a bobcat.
I went outside on the deck to watch it for a while. It prowled around the front field of our cabin for a while hunting field mice. It would leap away from me to catch them and then turn to face me while it ate them, bloody jaws and piercing stare.
Anyway, yes. Big cats exist all over the US. They've just gotten good at avoiding us.
posted by hippybear at 4:07 PM on January 5 [11 favorites]
I was once living in a cabin on a mountainside outside of a rural town in eastern Oregon when I saw a cat outside the window walking across the fresh snow. I was mystified because we'd had quite a bit of snow and we were miles from neighbors so where did this cat come from... but then my brain did a perception shift and realized its size -- it was a bobcat.
I went outside on the deck to watch it for a while. It prowled around the front field of our cabin for a while hunting field mice. It would leap away from me to catch them and then turn to face me while it ate them, bloody jaws and piercing stare.
Anyway, yes. Big cats exist all over the US. They've just gotten good at avoiding us.
posted by hippybear at 4:07 PM on January 5 [11 favorites]
what's the beastie with the amazing striped tail at 2:04, please?
posted by scruss at 4:29 PM on January 5 [3 favorites]
posted by scruss at 4:29 PM on January 5 [3 favorites]
Fantastic. Thrilled these majestic migrants have found their way across the border again.
First time hearing jags in the wild was on the border of Palenque 30+ years ago when it was simply palapas and a restroom on the edge of the jungle and howlers were constant overhead and jaguars screamed every the night as you slept in your hammock. Always wanted to see one but never got to check that box - so freakin' beautiful.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:34 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
First time hearing jags in the wild was on the border of Palenque 30+ years ago when it was simply palapas and a restroom on the edge of the jungle and howlers were constant overhead and jaguars screamed every the night as you slept in your hammock. Always wanted to see one but never got to check that box - so freakin' beautiful.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 4:34 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
There are no pumas in America…
posted by Windopaene at 4:57 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 4:57 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
Pumas and mountain lions are the same cat species. The names might be regionally different, but they are genetically the same.
posted by hippybear at 6:09 PM on January 5 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 6:09 PM on January 5 [4 favorites]
hippybear, if you're interested in more bobcat sightings, consider visiting Calgary.
posted by sardonyx at 7:01 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by sardonyx at 7:01 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
This time of year? In this weather? Are you insane?
posted by hippybear at 7:10 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 7:10 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
Every new jaguar in Arizona is a moment to celebrate.
I don't know about every jaguar. Last time I read about any, it involved a matchup between Blake Bortles and Blaine Gabbert, a fate I wouldn't wish on any NFL fan.
posted by Mayor West at 7:11 PM on January 5 [3 favorites]
I don't know about every jaguar. Last time I read about any, it involved a matchup between Blake Bortles and Blaine Gabbert, a fate I wouldn't wish on any NFL fan.
posted by Mayor West at 7:11 PM on January 5 [3 favorites]
This time of year? In this weather? Are you insane?
They call them "bay lynx" - it's an Alberta expression.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:51 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
They call them "bay lynx" - it's an Alberta expression.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:51 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
I've never seen a wild cat of any type in nature and cannot imagine i ever will. There are none on my island and i don't travel anywhere there are likely to be any. 10-year-old me says "boo".
posted by maxwelton at 10:58 PM on January 5
posted by maxwelton at 10:58 PM on January 5
There are no pumas in America…
The genus Puma literally only exists modernly in the Americas. There is some possibility that there were other species of Puma previously on other continents.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:07 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
The genus Puma literally only exists modernly in the Americas. There is some possibility that there were other species of Puma previously on other continents.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:07 AM on January 6 [1 favorite]
I've never seen a wild cat of any type in nature and cannot imagine i ever will. There are none on my island and i don't travel anywhere there are likely to be any. 10-year-old me says "boo".
Which reminds me: whatever you call them, big cats also have the same fondness for catnip that housecats do. I know this because we planted a big ol' patch of it in the back yard of my childhood home when I was 10 or so, as a retirement gift for our geriatric orange mouser. He spent two months semi-catatonic (heh) in the stuff, before being summarily evicted by a big cat that came down from the mountains behind the house to enjoy the sights and smells. Our cat was a legendarily fearsome beast, and the bane of the neighborhood's outdoor-dwelling dogs (we used to get angry phone calls from neighbors when he'd bully dogs out of their doghouses when it rained), but even he knew better than to mess with a big cat. We had to spend the rest of that summer inside, because even though the mountain lion spent his days stoned out of his gourd and passed out in the catnip, cats that big could eviscerate a human in about 3 seconds if they put their mind to it.
posted by Mayor West at 12:19 PM on January 6 [10 favorites]
Which reminds me: whatever you call them, big cats also have the same fondness for catnip that housecats do. I know this because we planted a big ol' patch of it in the back yard of my childhood home when I was 10 or so, as a retirement gift for our geriatric orange mouser. He spent two months semi-catatonic (heh) in the stuff, before being summarily evicted by a big cat that came down from the mountains behind the house to enjoy the sights and smells. Our cat was a legendarily fearsome beast, and the bane of the neighborhood's outdoor-dwelling dogs (we used to get angry phone calls from neighbors when he'd bully dogs out of their doghouses when it rained), but even he knew better than to mess with a big cat. We had to spend the rest of that summer inside, because even though the mountain lion spent his days stoned out of his gourd and passed out in the catnip, cats that big could eviscerate a human in about 3 seconds if they put their mind to it.
posted by Mayor West at 12:19 PM on January 6 [10 favorites]
DO BIG CATS LIKE CATNIP ? LIONS, TIGERS, LEOPARDS, JAGUARS !! [17m]
posted by hippybear at 12:23 PM on January 6
posted by hippybear at 12:23 PM on January 6
I absolutely love this. The excitement of Jason Miller, shines through in that smile at the end of the video and I can't help being excited myself. Sometimes, there IS magic in the world.
posted by evilDoug at 1:37 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
posted by evilDoug at 1:37 PM on January 7 [1 favorite]
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posted by eye of newt at 2:35 PM on January 5 [6 favorites]