<p>There have been several reliable sightings of an animal fitting the
description of a cougar on the campus. The description of the sighted
cat is: light tan and tawny brown, about 4 feet long with a 4 foot tail,
and weighing about 50 pounds. Several sightings have been reported from
the area of Cole Field House, near the Clarice Smith Performing Arts
Center, and continuing through the wooded areas to the area of the
Comcast Center and Arena Drive Garage. There has been no report of
aggressive behavior on the part of the animal, but community members are
warned that cougars are a predatory species and that, if seen, the
animal should not be approached.</p>
<p>If you see the animal, please contact the university police at
301-405-3555. University police are working with other agencies to
remove the animal from the campus area. </p>
<p>lol... My cousin is at orientation and when I called her she said there were helicopters flying overhead looking for it. Nobody at orientation had seen it yet though.</p>
<p>The helicopters were news helicopters from what I could see. No updates as of tonight though--it probably decided to stay in the woods or made it to the Lake Artemesia area.</p>
<p>@somebody: Oh so that explains the helicopters... Yeah the copters were all over the place... And we were wondering what they were there for... LOL!</p>
<p>astrogirl is thinking this might be an excuse to not show up to her 9:00 classes.....sorry, I would have been to class but there was this cougar....
This is strange. For the OP, I thought it was a joke!</p>
<p>When you said "cougar," I immediately thought a woman of a certain age (my age, for example) was prowling the campus, looking for likely young men.</p>
<p>Hindoo, when i read the thread title, i knew the op was referring to the real animal, but lol just couldn't help but thinking about the other variety :)</p>
<p>The animal spotted on the campus Thursday is not a cougar, University Police said in a campus alert sent out to students Friday.</p>
<p>After the animal was spotted again Friday afternoon near the same wooded area it was seen Thursday, University Police searched the location and obtained video of the feline, which is now available on the department's website. Images from the video were then shown to the state Department of Natural Resources, who confirmed the animal is not a cougar.</p>
<p>Instead, the animal appears to be a Savannah Cat, a hybrid of a domestic short hair cat and a Serval, a larger African feline, the campus alert said. The Savannah Cat can grow to be as large as 35 pounds, which may have led to why those who spotted the cat thought they saw a cougar, an animal that is native only to Florida and states west of the Mississippi River.</p>
<p>In fact, the state Department of Natural Resources has doubted the animal was a cougar since the sightings begin at 6 a.m. yesterday and continued while local news media and University Police searched the campus for the feline.</p>
<p>However, the animal is still on the loose, and students, faculty and staff members are encouraged to continue to call in their sightings to University Police so the department can catch the feline, the campus alert said.</p>