This is the photo posted on Frank Malara's Facebook page, showing the large cat he fears is a predatory feline.
on October 13, 2014
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There is a very large cat roaming Staten
Island. And many in the community are wondering if it is a
predatory breed of feline, or simply an extremely large domestic cat.
If you ask Frank Malara, it's definitely a mountain lion -- or at least a bobcat. He first noticed the creature two weeks ago on Staten Island.
After he was able to grab a photo, he started an Islandwide buzz by posting the image and a warning on his Facebook page.
Even though the experts say there's nothing to worry about -- it's really just a large, well-fed, run-of-the-mill feline -- Malara is still concerned.
The owner of the Modern Male barbershop in Charleston, Malara said he was parked in his car in front of the business when he saw the creature in the wooded area behind Target Shopping Center.
He missed the photo when he first spotted it, but snapped one when he saw it a second time.
Malara said the animal was about 200 feet away, and that that it looked to be roughly 4 1/2 feet to 5 feet long. "It actually stalks back and forth like a mountain lion, and then it would disappear in the woods," he said.
WARNING ONLINE
So Malara put a warning on the store's Facebook page: "We Think there's a very large Predator Type cat roaming the woods behind Target on Veterans rd west. Spotted it 2 weeks ago, it came back around today. Please be careful!"
Michael Reilly, a member of Staten Island's Community Education Council, who is aware of the sighting, shared the photo on his Facebook page.
A former NYPD detective, Reilly decided to reach out to the state Department of Enviromental Conservation police. Reilly got a comforting response: "After reviewing the photo, and looking at the body build, length and structure (mainly length of the tail compared to length of the body) it appears to be a very large house cat probably one that run in the 20-30lb range, which are unusual but very feasible. A bobcat or a lynx would have a short tail."
The agency added it would follow up on the incident, looking for tracks in the area to see if they can find anything of bigger size.
STILL NOT CONVINCED
But Malara said he doesn't believe the animals is a large house cat. "No chance," he said. "I seen it with my own eyes. If I wasn't in my car, I would have turned around and started running. It it's a house cat I've never seen one like that before."
A total of 41 comments were posted on Modern Male's Facebook page. Here's a small sample and the pervading skepticism:
If you ask Frank Malara, it's definitely a mountain lion -- or at least a bobcat. He first noticed the creature two weeks ago on Staten Island.
After he was able to grab a photo, he started an Islandwide buzz by posting the image and a warning on his Facebook page.
Even though the experts say there's nothing to worry about -- it's really just a large, well-fed, run-of-the-mill feline -- Malara is still concerned.
The owner of the Modern Male barbershop in Charleston, Malara said he was parked in his car in front of the business when he saw the creature in the wooded area behind Target Shopping Center.
He missed the photo when he first spotted it, but snapped one when he saw it a second time.
Malara said the animal was about 200 feet away, and that that it looked to be roughly 4 1/2 feet to 5 feet long. "It actually stalks back and forth like a mountain lion, and then it would disappear in the woods," he said.
WARNING ONLINE
So Malara put a warning on the store's Facebook page: "We Think there's a very large Predator Type cat roaming the woods behind Target on Veterans rd west. Spotted it 2 weeks ago, it came back around today. Please be careful!"
Michael Reilly, a member of Staten Island's Community Education Council, who is aware of the sighting, shared the photo on his Facebook page.
A former NYPD detective, Reilly decided to reach out to the state Department of Enviromental Conservation police. Reilly got a comforting response: "After reviewing the photo, and looking at the body build, length and structure (mainly length of the tail compared to length of the body) it appears to be a very large house cat probably one that run in the 20-30lb range, which are unusual but very feasible. A bobcat or a lynx would have a short tail."
The agency added it would follow up on the incident, looking for tracks in the area to see if they can find anything of bigger size.
STILL NOT CONVINCED
But Malara said he doesn't believe the animals is a large house cat. "No chance," he said. "I seen it with my own eyes. If I wasn't in my car, I would have turned around and started running. It it's a house cat I've never seen one like that before."
A total of 41 comments were posted on Modern Male's Facebook page. Here's a small sample and the pervading skepticism:
- "To me it looks like a golden retriever lol are you sure it's a cat?," commented Arielle Cooper.
- "Staten Island has a lot of stray cats and they have babies and they become feral!" commented Kathy Price.
- "It's a large cat! No mountain lions in SI," commented Jennifer Gagliardi.
- "Looks like a normal cat to me, just a fuzzy picture. C'mon people!" commented Matt James.
- "They found a bobcat in Staten Island about 5 years ago, so this definitely isn't impossible," commented Lou Buono.
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