Ohio woman thought she caught a mountain lion on video, but tracks pointed to something else entirely

A Facebook video from Bucyrus, Ohio, showing a tan animal crossing a soybean field has sparked online arguments over what viewers were seeing.

While some people, including the woman who filmed it, suspected a mountain lion, the Ohio Division of Wildlife said the animal was more likely a domestic cat.

What happened?

Lori Adams, a resident of Bucyrus, recorded the video one evening after noticing what she initially thought was a dog in the distance. But as it moved through the field, she became convinced it was a big cat, she told 614Now.

The clip shows the animal moving low through the soybeans, and that catlike motion helped drive speculation that a mountain lion had appeared in Ohio.

Adams said the movement was what stood out most.

"I was like everybody else. I was like, 'Is that a golden retriever?'" she said. "I'm a cat person. I have a lot of cats, and I've studied cats my whole life, and that's not the movement of a dog."

She also described the animal as muscular, tan, and with a black-tipped tail.

"I know what mountain lions look like, and it was a mountain lion," she said.

Why does it matter?

State wildlife staff came away with a different assessment after looking into it.

Officials said the tracks at the scene measured between 1.4 and 1.6 inches (3.5 and 4 centimeters) long. That is well below the 2.8- to 3.1-inch (7- to 8-centimeter) prints they would expect from a mountain lion.

"Based on the cat's size relative to the soybeans, as well as tracks observed by a wildlife officer, our staff believes this is a large house cat," the agency said in a statement.

Adams said, "We don't need to grab guns and pitchforks and go in a mob looking for this poor animal. It's just trying to live like everybody else."

What are people saying?

Adams has not backed away from her interpretation.

"I've known for years that they do come into Ohio, and they're not seen a lot," she said. "Things are coming back, and things are migrating back north."

Wildlife officials, however, told 614Now that mountain lions were extirpated from Ohio by 1850 and do not currently inhabit the state.

In an updated post, Adams said authorities had contacted her: "I received confirmation a little bit ago, ODNR picked him up on 30. He was hit. He is gone. He was a MOUNTAIN LION."

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.