Unusual felid (large house or ? cat)

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While birding in the Wet Mountain Valley of southeast Colorado I saw this black wild felid (member of the cat family)--it was appered more than twice the size of a large domestic cat, about 3 feet in length. It was exceptionally wary. I watched it through my binoculars and 60 X spotting scope for more than 10 minutes. Though I stayed in my car, it stopped it's slinky movements to hide in the tall grass and watch me. It was dusk and getting dark so the pics I got are not diagnostic but they do provide some clues about this cat's charateristics. I called DOW and they have had a number of calls in past several years about a cat they think may be an escaped pet ocelot. Unless it is a melanistic ocelot, that is not this cat. I checked the internet and there have been melanistic ocelots but there have also been melanistic bobcats. At this point I wouldn't venture a guess. The middle pic is just an enlargement of the top pic. The cat was between 125 and 175 feet when I took these pics. The third pic shows a enlargement of the cat sitting and watching me (reflection of eyes due to flash on my camera) and looking very much like a cat. Compare to bottom pic of ocelot from Life magazine.

So--was this just a large black house cat?  It didn't look like one to me.
SeEtta

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