Jhoffman,
Not sure what you're seeing there?

What you have outlined, (and you even gave the base diameter a little more girth than it shows in the pic) portrays a tail that in reality isn't much bigger , if at all, in diameter than the tail of an average shorthaired housecat.
A cougar's tail appearance is about the diameter of it's forelegs and roughly 1/2 the diameter of it's neck (Fluff included). Clearly the portion of your outline doesn't come close to that.
Even if a tail of that diameter was hidden by the foliage, the base is clearly visible and there's nothing there even remotely close to what should be showing.

Not trying to be a "Know it all"........just applying what evidenceIS clearly present, not what might or might not be there.
If the tail doesn't fit.......you must aquit.

Also ,How are you guys not seeing the facial tuft in those pics either? You can see a relatively clear brown triangle of fur extending down thru the animal's neckline behind it's jaw. You can even see either the shadow of, or the black edging of it where the white of the neck picks back up.

I do enjoy the discussion , especially since I am familiar with the area this pic was taken but please don't take my interpretation of the pics as personal attacks. I am just trying to point out the obvious evidence that this cannot be a cougar.