Compare the track to the green blade of grass laying in front of it... small track.. good job trying to use a 1" knife with a close up pic to make it look larger.. I don't believe u ever said where your lease is located? To me that looks like a coyote track, it may not have the nail marks but in mud they don't always look the same. Surely there were other tracks besides just that one? You're just another statistic, I saw a big black cat, my buddy saw a big black cat, someone I know saw a big black cat, ect ect.. but for some strange reason Noone has pics of one, Noone has videoed one, Noone has killed one. I wonder why that us??
I don't believe the OP has any intent to 'deceive', but certainly an object of known scale next to the print would be of more benefit.
A better 'track/impression' would be helpful as well.
This is what a true Cougar track looks like:
We have a lot of Bobcat on my property and surrounding areas. I have game cam videos of them almost weekly and often see their tracks. A bobcat track...even a large one, is only going to be about 2" wide at most and about the same in length. A cougar track (if mature) will be twice that span. It will be readily apparent that a large animal made it.
I shot this Bobcat recently while out hog hunting:
While not the heaviest, nor the most mature cat I have taken, it was a fairly tall and long Tom. The position in the picture above exaggerates the 'walking' length of the cat, but if it had been viewed running, jumping or otherwise stretched out, it would indeed appear to be about 4' in length. The AR in the picture is 38" long for reference.
I do not contest anyone's claim to have seen a large cat, even a claim clearly identifying it as a cougar, they exist in many parts of Texas, though rare.
Where I have to stop the bus and get off....is the 'black' part. While I have no doubt some folks see 'something' that is black (or appears black), I think it is almost always a case of mistaken identity, or just a house cat, the size of which....is misjudged.
But I am happy to be proven wrong. Sadly...still waiting for anyone to produce a valid picture of a black panther though.