jaguar

[J Miller]

Mescalero,

We got a Jaguar, he's got yellow eyes too

Slick playing games.JPG

His name is Slick.

Joe

[mescalero1]

Had one just like it, her name was Two Crows.

[AmBraCol]

If this jag is up there, and I know there is a young mountain lion about 4 miles from the site, I am confused by two large cats that close together.
That's why I wondered about thier range, could this jag be looping through the mountain lions territory on a luner cycle?

In Brazil they are called "onça" (OWN suh) and in the area where my boys were born both the onça and the puma existed in the same territory. They called them "onça pintada" and "onça amarela" respectively. So it's quite possible there's both in the area. The jaguar could be running a circuit, so to speak and it could be large enough to coincide with a lunar cycle. A couple guys I know took out a puma that was in the goat pen a few years ago. They did it with machetes - 'cause that's what they had. I wasn't there at the time so no photographic evidence. They gave me a chunk of the dried meat which I took home - and neglected to tell the wife what it was. I was in a hurry, barely had time to shower and change before heading out again, just told her to put it in the freezer (our normal treatment of ALL meat - dried or fresh or whatever). So we got company and she pulled the "goat meat" out and served it up. Said it was pretty good, a bit stronger than normal but she figured it was due to being dried - we usually stored goat meat frozen fresh. So she's eaten puma but I haven't yet. I'll probably have a chance at puma before I get a chance at onça pintada - their territory is greatly reduced as is their population.

[mescalero1]

So they DO wander through each others territory, I kind of thought so.

[awp101]

Here is a good photo of a melanistic Jaguar.

That's what my youngest female cat THINKS she is...

[mescalero1]

AmBraCol,
A footnote, a killed mountain lion was cooked and eaten in the area, the participants reported it was good, quite palatable.

[JerryB]

The mountain men claimed painter was choice meat.

[mescalero1]

That is correct!
I remember reading that.

[madman4570]

About 3 years ago a guy I knew vaguely, went mountain lion hunting and got one and said that was some of the best meat he ever tasted! Never tried it myself!

[mescalero1]

I am not being judgmental, but it would never have occured to me to eat a mountain lion.

[BigSky56]

Ive eaten ML in smokies while out hunting it was ok,not on my list of things I look forward to. and more times than not cats have trichinosis and you have to cook it the proper heat and time to kill it. danny

[mescalero1]

makes sense.

[AmBraCol]

I am not being judgmental, but it would never have occured to me to eat a mountain lion.

Meat's meat! I ain't tried it yet 'cause my piece got eaten before I could. And now we live where it's pretty darn hard to even FIND one, much less hunt it down for dinner...

[BwanaDave]

Here is what you can do with the kitty meat (it is at the end): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RoNemjcjGE

[Dave B]

I had one of the men on my crew years ago tell me that mountain lion meat makes the best chorizo. I've never had the opportunity to find out.

Thanks,

Dave B

[BwanaDave]

I read something about the Lees using catnip as trap bait back in the 30s. It would be an interesting experment to hang a sack of catnip with a trail cam aimed at it and see what comes in.

Dave

[Kapincrunch]

I have a buddy who claims that bobcat is the best meat he has ever eaten in his life.

[blackhawk44]

Back to the Jags for a minute. Be sure to check local regulations. I haven't checked in years, but in the mid '70's, busting jags in Texas was a major no-no. I came within a hair's breadth of committing the big one at a waterhole until I spotted the movement of another hunter in the edge of the scope field a couple hundred yards beyond (oblivious to us, walking in the middle of a quarter mile wide riverbed). My spotted friend soon noticed the same thing and loped off up a bluff into an old mountain lion den. Fortunately, a partner several hundred yards to the east had witnessed the whole affair through his binos. Several later conversations with local brush pilots confirmed that they often spook two or three out of the brush in a single day, while the local farmers and ranchers go a lifetime without seeing a single spot. It seems that the jags are so nervous around people that they don't bother the chicken coop while living only a few yards beyond it. And yes, I can vouch that they will live in the middle of puma country.

[mescalero1]

That's good to know.