COCHISE COUNTY, Ariz. — A wildlife photographer in Vail has made an incredible discovery, and it's his second of its kind in as many years. It's the first time anyone has spotted this particular rare animal.
Jason Miller calls it an addiction. He's been setting up trail cameras in remote parts of Southern Arizona for about six years now.
But just as his beard has grown since those early videos, so has his love and talent for capturing wild animals on camera.
"Oh, it's incredible. I can remember back when I first started, I would get the leg of a deer, or a javelina and be over the moon," Miller explained. "It was terrible footage, but you know, to get that for the first time was amazing."
Tthrough the years he has spotted foxes, mountain lions, bobcats, skunks, ringtails, coatis, bears, big horned sheep... always setting up the cameras in clearnings, near water, and along game trails. He never gives away his exact locations, because he doesn't want to put the animals at risk.
For Miller, the highlights of his video captures, have come with spots.
"The jaguar two years ago," he said with a smile. "And of course, the ocelot. I've gotten the ocelot many times down in the Huachucas."
His jaguar sighting in December of 2023, was the first time anyone had seen that jaguar. His ocelot sightings have always been of Lil Jefe, who is well known to researchers in the area.
But a couple weeks ago, Miller checked the same trail camera where saw the jaguar, and saw something on that specific camera he hadn't seen there before.
"It's my last camera to check, and it was a nighttime video, and I thought it was a false trigger," he recalled. "It was a 25 second video, and 12 seconds in, I see some eyes off to the right come on the screen. And I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I got the ocelot,' and I thought it was Lil Jefe. So, you know, excited and happy about it. But driving home, I thought, I'm gonna check the spots, because I've never gotten him there before. It turned out to be a new one."
If you look at the pictures of this ocelot, compared to Lil Jefe, you can tell they're different animals.
"They're very similar," Miller explained, "but the patterns, little rings on them, circles, are very different. So I knew then it was a new one."
Arizona Game and Fish also confirmed, this is a new ocelot no one has spotted before. It's a remarkable moment for the endangered species, with less than 100 wild ocelots in the US.
Now as Miller adds the discovery to his ever growing list of captures, there's just one animal he's still thinking about.
"Never gotten a porcupine, so that's on my list," he said.
Claire Graham is an anchor and reporter for Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9. She grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in musical theatre. Claire spent a decade in Washington state, but she's thrilled to be back home in the beautiful southwest with her husband, two young sons and two rescued dogs. Share your story ideas and important issues with Claire by emailing claire.graham@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and X.
