Extraordinary images from a remotely placed camera-trap yield glimpses of a rare mammal. Long thought to be gone from the Falls of the Ohio, it appears the Feralocitor is recovering parts of its former range. The Feralocitor is a carnivorous animal about the size of a very large house cat. Genetically, a Feralocitor’s closest living relative is the Fossa from Madagascar which is that island’s largest and rarest native predator. Both share a relentless drive to pursue prey and are especially adept at catching birds and small mammals in trees. Like the Fossa, the Feralocitor has a long tail which it uses to balance itself as it runs and jumps from branch to branch in its arboreal home. Pictures of the Feralocitor at the Falls of the Ohio came as a shock to the park’s naturalists who remain mute about its existence here although there have been long-standing rumors.
The image above shows what the Feralocitor is especially good at which is stalking its prey. Noiselessly, this predator can get low to the ground (or log in this case) and approach within striking distance of its formidable claws and teeth. Once a Feralocitor has a hold of its intended victim, there is no escape. In addition to stalking, some Feralocitors (especially older or injured individuals) are excellent at hunting by ambush. The original inhabitants of this land have an almost supernatural reverence for this animal and their name for it roughly translates to “…ghost-spirit of the trees”. This reverence, however, wasn’t shared by the farmers who settled this area and saw the Feralocitor as another predator who killed and ate their smaller livestock. It was shot on sight, poisoned, and trapped until it became so scarce that it was rarely seen and believed gone from these parts. Today, the role of random predator is played by domestic dogs that have gone feral and occasionally run in packs causing fear and damage. Such dogs exist at the Falls of the Ohio and here are a few images of them.
The feral dogs in this area are a motley crew of mixed breed dogs. I recently came across two of them while bird watching and I was so intent on looking up, that I didn’t notice that these dogs had walked quite close to me. In far western Kentucky, I recall an experience of being out in the woods and being surrounded by five wild dogs! It was a tense moment because dogs in this situation can be dangerous. I remember yelling at them and throwing rocks in their direction to chase them away. Once there was a thriving sheep industry in the western part of the state that was decimated by feral dogs. An old biology professor at Murray State University told me that one. The dog in this second picture doesn’t seem particularly glad to have run into me and I’m probably interrupting his attempt at a meal from a nearby dumpster. They seem always hungry and will take nearly anything that crosses their path. There is a shortage of ground nesting birds in the park because there are just too many predators on the prowl and not enough cover. World-wide, feral dogs are a resilient and growing problem and rabies is also on the rise.
I decided to camp out in an area where a Feralocitor was last seen. After several days of nothing, I was rewarded with two separate images of a hunting Feralocitor. In this case, the prey animal (the Ohio Valley Rail) is also rare and endangered. The first hunt I observed was successful, however, the Feralocitor was so efficient and quick at the kill that it was over and gone before I could get obtain another picture. It waited until the bird’s head was down before launching its fatal attack.
In this second photo, the Feralocitor was unsuccessful when the bird sensed something was wrong and flew away. By listening to its instincts, this rail lived to experience another day. It is great seeing an animal that once existed in this area recovering some of its former range. Similar stories exist from the recent past. Once black bears were rumored in the eastern section of Kentucky. This was proven, they became studied, protected, and now there is a limited hunting season on them. The same could be true of the mountain lion. Persistent claims that they too are re-entering their former territories will probably pan out as young lions move eastward pursuing the ever burgeoning deer population. As for the Feralocitor, time will tell. It isn’t an animal likely to be prized by hunters.
The last image is of the Feralocitor in progress. It’s made of found Styrofoam, wood, nuts (for eyes), rubber, and plastic and was constructed on location during a light rain. The sculpture was held together with sharpened wooden stakes and pins. With the exception of the Feralocitor and the Ohio Valley Rail, other mentions in this post are factual.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 