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"I had not checked the camera in two to three weeks," he told the Cullman Times. "If that's a bobcat, which I don't believe it is, that would be a monster bobcat."
Donnelly said he has his own theory as to the animal's identity.
"The short tail and lack of spots has everyone confused," he told WIAT-TV. "I'm not an expert, but it looks like a mountain lion so we sent the pictures to Auburn [University]."
Donnelly, who also located large paw prints left behind by the feline, said he is hoping the university's experts can tell him whether the animal is a cougar, a bobcat, or something else entirely.
"I'm worried it's going to run the deer off, and keep them away," he said. "It is our hunting club. It is 705 acres and my partner Scotty Stevens and my kids, we all enjoy it out there. ... If you have a predator out there like that, it is going to make it harder for the deer to stay."
Donnelly said he has been tracking the animal's paw prints and even put out extra cameras hoping to determine whether the cat is still in the area.
"I don't think it's so much scary, as some people are nervous about it. But at the end of the day, this type of wildlife fears humans more," he told WBRC-TV.