South Carolina BS thread under new MANAGEMENT and lives in SC

Cooking on the grill and this guy comes within 5 ft of my back porch steps. I guess he liked what I was grilling

 

Throw him on the grill as well.

 

https://youtu.be/nChIaIngbcM

 

Dang, I'd be looking out to make sure mama wasn't coming up, too.

 

Looks friendly. Should have tried to pet it.

 

I installed my prinsu by myself.

 

No pics? Lol

 

He’s a yearling so the momma has done run him off from her.

 

I’m sure I could of probably almost petted him.

 

'LET HIM HAVE IT'

 

It’s funny the wildlife around here that people tend to associate with elsewhere.

The trip to TN last weekend reminded me how few roads cross the ridge from NC to TN- meaning that, despite well over 200 years of settlement & need to cross over, there just aren’t that many passable paths. It’s far rougher than folks tend to think & has remote areas people completely forget exist.
Wildlife lives in those areas.

Aside:
My cougar/mountain lion interest is in an indigenous predator that has been between extinct & endangered for well over 100 years, yet keeps getting unofficial sightings by people with no real knowledge it’s supposed to no longer exist &/or no idea they were ever around in the first place.
If 2 females were intentionally released, then offspring nearly immediately show up, it would mean males were still out there.
My last understanding was that the few remaining natural cougars (not the released black panthers people got b/c the football team) were low enough that lack of genetic diversity was finally ending the few remaining lines- which were far enough apart as to not interact or interbreed.

&, yes, I saw one from the batch living between Columbus, Tryon & Saluda, NC- Thanksgiving night 7 or so years ago, while driving up the surface “Saluda Grade” twisty road returning from Clinton (work) to my fam in Flat Rock, NC. One sprinted across the road in front of me near a curve & I got the best glimpse of the back half & tail as it darted into the brush on the side of the (steep) hill. It vanished instantly, which actually surprised me-surprisingly good cammo & stealth.

 

Oh, I didnt know that about them. I learned something today.

 

Yea the momma will usually run the male cubs off around a yr of age. The female cubs can usually hang around the momma bear up to around 2 years of age and then they generally spend the rest of their lives around the general area they are raised in. The males generally leave the area because of the breeding stuff because you don’t want a male cub growing up and breeding his sister.

 

Drove my yota to work for the first time in 3 yrs

 

What would ya’ll say “typical” wildlife is around SC?
-For a project I’m working on.

I have:
Deer
Squirrels
Yotes
Ants
Mosquitoes
Bears
Mountain Lions/Cougars
Turkeys
Jackrabbits
Various snake types (could be own list)

 

Field mice
Chipmunks
Hogs
Armadillos

 

I don't think there's been a mt lion found in SC or anywhere east of the Mississippi for 100 years. Probably more likely the Florida panther.

Bobcats

 

I firmly believe there is a presence. Agencies won't acknowledge it because there is no concrete evidence and they won't study it due to funding and denial. Game cameras aren't enough evidence and they just assume it's a transient lone wanderer out of the western cougars range or Florida Panther that got lost.

The thing is, Eastern Cougars may very well be extinct, but my theory is the Western Cougars expanded their range to fill the biological void when the Eastern Cougars disappeared.

Something has to fill the big cat niche.

We have sightings near Sumter of Cougars, Black Panthers and Bears but nothing that anyone can reproduce. It's all Sasquatch type game cam pictures.

 

This fell into my lap today

 

I’m looking at 55-ish quart coolers, as the Lifetime 28 has proven useful enough that a larger one would be “nice to have.”
In that size, are the Ozark Trail ones good? What about the Lifetime 55?
Both are at Walmart & close in price. I can pick one up quick & easily. Is one “better” than the other?

Or should I save up for the nicer ones (Engel, RTIC, Orca)?

Anyone have one they wanna sell me for cheap?
hahahahaha

Edit: I might be opening Pandora’s Cooler with this ... hahahahaha.... not my intention. I really wonder about ya’ll experiences.

I’m planning on use on baseball weekends, often high opening & zero shade & direct heat (if allowed inside gate), otherwise, in closed vehicle heat or left in my truck bed (under tonneau). So, conditions for ya’ll’s offroading trips would help.
My old, cheap blue & white one won’t stay cold enough for long enough.
I used 2 last weekend: cheap one & the Lifetime 28. After 2 days in the xB, the cheap one was warm water, while the Lifetime still had plenty of ice. [Edit 2: I dumped the ice/water today ... been too busy to remember till this morn.]
I don’t need a week of ice, just 3 days worth (if 3 day tournament & trunks left in the van/truck the whole time).