mountain lions in the eastern US

Nort Joysey? What Exit?

 

I don't wish to start this all over again but sightings don't cut it for me. Trap one or kill one and prove where you trapped it or killed it.

 

Seen some pretty large tracks while archery hunting 2 years ago in Bedford, PA mountains near Evitts.... See tons of Bears and a few Bobcats and Coyotes but never really seen a lion. There's a guy down there with trail cam picks of a pretty dark mountain lion but I'm not sure if I believe it. Looks legit.....But still very skeptical of lions in PA.

 

I think it's possible that they are around the Appalachian Mountains. They seem to keep a much lower profile than black bears. Maybe they're like bobcats, we know we got them over here but nobody ever sees them and if you catch a glimpse of them during the day and happen to shoot a photograph, it's newsworthy.

Don't know if there is any truth to this but I've heard that sometimes bobcats have mated with house cats. Seems like someone is pulling my leg but it sounds cool so I like to think it.

 

Myth, but I'm sure there have been a couple that maybe escaped a zoo or private owner and ended up in the wild. lol I hear the same stories about wolves too. lol Same scenerio...escaped.

 

I've seen a Bobcat not too long ago Below Grandfather mountain, around the Wilson Creek. It was a small thing, ran across the road in front of the truck.

 

Someone got a picture of a mother and it's cub during the day a few months ago and I guess it was close enough to Lexington to be newsworthy.

 

All this cougar talk is getting me fired up for tonight's cougar hunt. I've seen cougars in every state I've been in. I don't what's so hard with spotting them.

I've noticed one thing about cougar hunting. The longer the hunt goes into the night you are willing to accept less quality cougar for the hunt to be considered successful.

 

Cute kitten

 

I spotted a mountain lion on my way to work early one morning on 69N headed towards Jasper at 5:30am. This is in Alabama. I thought they would be further up north. I've heard stories too of a black panther in Brookwood Alabama, but have yet to see any. I figure I would be the first to see any since I sample sediment ponds in the backwoods all day from my company's old strip mines.

To get back to my spotting, at first glance, it was about 100' away. I thought it was a large tan dog, I couldn't see the head, it was down in the bushes. I drove closer and noticed the fat cat tail with a black tip, an then I knew. If picked up its head shortly after and I saw its face. I went cold. Even though I was safe in my truck passing it, seeing a rare preditorial animal and looking it in the eyes kind of spooked me.

Another side note: today I ran up on a bobcat in Parrish AL at work.

 

Whoa... That's crazy, it looks hungry
I'd never leave my house again... Hahaha

 

When I was a kid , we lived in a house that backed on a large park and it was the summer , we just had a screen door on the back door and a cougar came up to the door and was making some noise that woke up my dad , he went down to check it out and got to within about 15' of the door when he saw the cat , at the same time the cougar let out one of their growl / roars before it walked off and my dad said every hair on his body stood on end for a couple minutes

 

I know its farther north and west, but there have been sightings here in Lawrence for a few years. One followed a lady jogging by the river right downtown a couple years back.

 

Oh snap - a gangsta mountain lion!


But regardless, I don't doubt them being in the Eastern US. I believe most people get a little overboard with labeling bobcats as mountain lions but there is a LOT of land within the Appalachians for them to be roaming.

 

I would, as long as I was armed. I once got up close to a male African lion and its crazy to get close and realize how big their head actually is. Its like the size of a bison!

This one just looks curious.

 

I saw a mountain lion once out in Lawton, Oklahoma years ago.

There are rumors that they are migrating back east but as of right now the DEC says no for NYS.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/44564.html

We definitely have bobcats in the southern tier though.

 

I would love to have been there too and you wouldn't need to be armed , it's not like he's going to come through the slider , lol

 

I might be in the minority here but I have never really had a positive experience with a cougar. Isn't much like hunting but being hunted.