A recent visitor to Catalina Island spotted an animal that seems to have revived the long-time island legend of a large black cat roaming the island. Retired firefighter Chip Prather, of San Clemente, was hiking near Fourth of July Cove in late May, when he spotted a large animal on an adjacent trail jump out of the brush and run up the road, before disappearing back into the brush.
He grabbed his phone, hoping the animal would re-appear and when it did, he was able to snap a couple of shots. The photos are from a distance but do show what looks like a large cat. Jim Watson has written stories for the Catalina Islander about sightings of a large black cat, where witnesses swore that what they saw was much larger than a common house cat.
Prather sent a couple of photos to the Islander and those were forwarded to the Catalina Island Conservancy. The conservancy responded with a statement that photos they have seen in the past were nearly all those of a house cat, and that these photos were no different.
But Prather is a naturally curious man and continued his quest to find more evidence. He returned to the island on Wednesday, with his wife and returned to the spot where he spotted the animal. With his golf range finder in hand, he measured the distance from where he stood and where the animal was and photographed his wife standing on the trail where the animal was walking.
He entered the two photographs into ChatGPT and posted the question, “There are 2 photos, each with an added red circle. Inside 1 red circle is a 5’4” 135-pound female human, inside the other red circle is a large black cat. Distance from the camera, measured by a golf range finder, is approximately 120 to 130 yards. Please identify the approximate length, height and weight, if possible, of the cat.”
ChatGPT used pixel size to compare the two figures, according to Prather. The human figure covered 50 pixels in height, which equaled 64 inches (5’4”). Using that measurement, ChatGPT estimated the animal to be 32 inches in length and 19 inches in height. ChatGPT noted that wild feline of that size could weigh between 55-90 pounds.
Prather asked for more analysis of the tail, which added some new theories. ChatGPT said the length of the tail was nearly the same as the body and the thickness of the tail suggested a larger animal, possibly the size of a juvenile mountain lion. All of this is speculation, of course, and reported sightings of an animal matching these descriptions have been rare. Watson’s story detailing past sightings was published in 2014, which would have put the animal in these photos beyond juvenile age, assuming it was the same animal.
