Rare sighting for my county

[44man]

Neighbor seen a large black bear walking the road towards my direction the other day. I have seen tracks in the snow over the years so they must cross the river from MD.
Everyone is shook up around here, don't know why.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Talk about rare. We were coming home about 8:00 PM from a Farm Bureau meeting back in the late `60`s. As we passed a neighbors farm house near to us we saw a large black shape on his front porch tearing apart his boxes of bee honey he had worked all week to collect and jar. It was a bear, and here in the `Thumb` area where it had been 50+ years since one had been seen around here. In the last few years we have had blank panther sized creatures spotted and filmed, DNR is at a loss to explain it.Robert

[44man]

Cougars are not supposed to be in WV but I seen one farther west.
Big foot does not exist but we had experiences in Ohio with Grass Man.
Not supposed to be any cotton mouth snakes in Ohio either, explain how my brother and I killed two in Carollton Ohio? They punctured all our fish on a stringer.
The Neighbor here where the bear was seen, lost bee hives to a bear a few years back.

[725]

Western Maryland's bear population is growing quickly. 20 years ago we never saw any, but now it's all the time.

[kbstenberg]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.

[mold maker]

More people means more eyes and less habitat to hide in. The movement of wildlife has been normal since the beginning of time.
I was 40 years old before I ever saw a deer, groundhog, turkey, or Bobcat. Now they are common and becoming pests.
Changing weather patterns and food sources cause all wildlife to be transient. Just another natural occurrence that liberals use to further their agendas.

[44man]

I don't care about wildlife but Muslim hordes are a danger worse then liberals. They will breed by the millions to take over. My friend lives in MI and cities are taken over so you dare not enter. Police will not go in. I am sorry any Muslim believes the Koran that says to kill. God made the ten commandments that says only he has that power, not us. Allah wrote his way, Jesus died for us. Allah was a man, not a god. He was like the Aztecs to sacrifice for rain or crops. He was Jones that many killed themselves for. 17 Virgins are goats. I see sad pictures in papers of children held by women in ha bibs, indoctrinated to wear a bomb.

[Blackwater]

Well, it seems the situation here isn't all that unusual across the nation. Our DNR in Ga. says there are no "panthers" (black or otherwise) here, but there's a law against shooting them. I asked a game warden once why they had a law against shooting something that didn't exist, and he had no good answer, but we both laughed it off.

And DNR also says that we have no bears this far south, on the coastal plain, but in the last few years, we've had 3 killed in town on the bypass road that surrounds the town. Believe it or not, ambulances hit two of those! But then, there's a guy here locally who has bear hides tacked to the back of his barn, and has had them for many years now. He hunts the Savannah and Ogeechee River swamps.

There really ARE things in the swamps that you don't often see. It's kind'a their last refuge, and if I saw one, I wouldn't shoot it, unless in self defense, which isn't likely. I used to hunt with a few guys on some land we rented close to the river, and it had a creek running through it. One of them shot a black long tailed cat of very large size, that was eating our turkeys up at an alarming rate. He's an old backwoods type who grew up on and literally IN the river, and didn't like ANYTHING taking his turkeys! So it was "country boy self defense" of a certain fashion, I guess? I never saw the cat, but saw where he'd buried it, clearly, and he's NOT the type to dig a hole just to tell a tale. He shot it in the head at about 175 yds. with his #1 .243. It came out, looked around, sat down and started preening itself in the full sun. He eased the gun into position, as was his custom, and lined up, and when it stopped preening and stood up, he put the bullet right between its ears, taking the top of its head off.

Here, black long tailed cats are legendary, but very few have ever seen one. I've only seen two, but only one could have been black. It's amazing how fluidly they move - like water in those clear mountain streams flowing over rocks. Both sightings were at night in locales of "big woods." One was pretty clearly tawny, but one was very dark and could have been black, but at the angle the partial moon was, it could have just been the darkness of the shadowed side, too. I'm still awaiting my first sighting of a bear, a black cat, and a sasquatch here. They sure are shy! But they ARE here ..... at least the cat and bear are, anyway. Not sure about the squatches, but they're legendary here too. Ya' jes' nevah know whatcha' goan find in dem big woods an' swamps!

[Texas by God]

Sadly a quail is a rare sighting here. We hear the Chupacabras at night. Best, Thomas.

[44man]

Smart critters abound. Not seen much but they are there. I once seen a bobcat in Ohio too. On the road to Chagrin Falls. Like seeing a UFO, nobody would believe me.

[44man]

Sadly a quail is a rare sighting here. We hear the Chupacabras at night. Best, Thomas.
Lost our quail due to deep snow and ice on top. No pheasants either. Few rabbits.
Is there a blood sucker? Must be from reports.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Cougars are not supposed to be in WV but I seen one farther west.
Big foot does not exist but we had experiences in Ohio with Grass Man.
Not supposed to be any cotton mouth snakes in Ohio either, explain how my brother and I killed two in Carollton Ohio? They punctured all our fish on a stringer.
The Neighbor here where the bear was seen, lost bee hives to a bear a few years back.

hey not too far away!! In Beaver Co PA .

Years ago My uncle and I had in object pass between us sounded like wind. We were in the woods on a south face grade. No wind, nice day and we were about 125-150 yards apart and then all hell broke loose. Sound was dishearting and the best I can say in was liken to a large animal on the move , with the sound of leaves in the air. Lasted about 30-45 sec. distance was 100-200 yards. Then there was no noise at all you would have heard a pin drop. We looked for one thing or an other thinking it was a deer ( herd ) but after two hours of looking, we found nothing over turned , no tracks, not broken trees, no path trough the under brush plants. We left shacking our heads. Only a few things it may have been, one a twister from the heat (there was not wind!!) , a bear ( No tracks), a bigger cat ( no tracks) , a group of turkey ( too early was back in 1985 or so and was no turkeys around , we should have been able to see them flush ), tree falling ( none looked fresh ) , A Ghost, big foot ??? That was the only time I have ever heard that type of sound. ???

[Smoke4320]

Lost our quail due to deep snow and ice on top. No pheasants either. Few rabbits.
Is there a blood sucker? Must be from reports.

Yes its called a Democrat

[fastdadio]

Talk about rare. We were coming home about 8:00 PM from a Farm Bureau meeting back in the late `60`s. As we passed a neighbors farm house near to us we saw a large black shape on his front porch tearing apart his boxes of bee honey he had worked all week to collect and jar. It was a bear, and here in the `Thumb` area where it had been 50+ years since one had been seen around here. In the last few years we have had blank panther sized creatures spotted and filmed, DNR is at a loss to explain it.Robert
Hey Hardcast, I'm over here in the Howell, Brighton, Pinckney area. Check out this video of a cat that doesn't exist here
http://www.freep.com/videos/sports/outdoors/2016/04/30/83773980/
Not the best quality cell phone video, but it's pretty obvious to me.

[Rufus Krile]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.
Did your DNR folks ever stop to wonder WHY they're called BOBcats? They don't have long tails...

[GhostHawk]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.

Yep, they deny it. Although I have seen video footage of one in a SW minnesota town captured by police dash cam.

I remember one day very very well. Good size patch of tree's, I was squirrel hunting. All of a sudden the hair went up on the back of my head. I got this feeling of being watched, sized up, and whatever decided I'd make good supper.

So I listened to my gut and hot footed back to my truck.

Went back a week later with the 20 gauge and a friend and we found a print too big for any bobcat to make.

This was NW Minnesota not too far from Ada.

They can deny all they want. I know better.

[quilbilly]

Ten years ago (maybe more) I was taking pictures on Weyerhaeuser land a few miles from Seattle and walked right into a band of three wolves rounding the bend of the old log road. From 30 feet my 22 Hornet felt a little small but the wolves fled. There are/were not supposed to be any wolves in Western Washington. The following week I told the Fish and Wildlife official and he said that if I ever told anyone else, I might never be able to fish, hunt, gold pan, or even go up there again. Nuff said!

[bullet maker 57]

No cougers in NY. Imagine that.

[RU shooter]

No cougers in NY. Imagine that.
They would never make it through Pa without getting killed ! Lol , there was a time there was the reason penn state has the Nittny lions and Pitt has the panthers as mascots about once a years or so there's a non confirmed by the game commission in Pa sighting of a eastern cougar /panther/ mountain lion there once was possibly still is but there's very few places in pa that hasn't seen a humam footstep and with as many hunters as we have even today not even counting in past generations that one hasn't been killed or other evidence of there still being around . Possible but unlikely but according to some big foot is all over the chestnut and laurel ridges ! Lol

[44man]

I would park on a gravel coal haul rd and something slammed my truck at about 12 midnight. I slept on an old door across the bed where the cap was. One night I was knocked off. Never seen damage or tracks. I thought it was deer. Silver truck.
Then we used my old Blazon camper at the cemetery across the road. One night Ken woke me and asked if it was me. I said 'What" but seen the camper drop in the front. He said it was shaking. I thought the wheel fell from the 4X4 I had it on. Went out to pee at 2 and it was on the wood OK. That camper was HEAVY. Next night we stayed up eating crackers and peanut butter with beer. We heard running down the hill and a slam into the camper side. Bigfoot ran around the truck and came on the other side to hit the steel steps that pulled out and let out a scream as it fell, ran back up and again came back to slam the side. When home my daughter found reddish hair on the step, Before DNA stuff so it was lost.
Ken wanted to go out and see but we only had bows, said NO, anything that can lift the trailer and shake it is not to be confronted.
This was at Cadiz Ohio, not far from Salt Fork. Coal mining area with high walls and lakes. Rough country. Loaded with monster deer. Salt Fork is known for the Grass man.

[dragon813gt]

They would never make it through Pa without getting killed ! Lol , there was a time there was the reason penn state has the Nittny lions and Pitt has the panthers as mascots about once a years or so there's a non confirmed by the game commission in Pa sighting of a eastern cougar /panther/ mountain lion there once was possibly still is but there's very few places in pa that hasn't seen a humam footstep and with as many hunters as we have even today not even counting in past generations that one hasn't been killed or other evidence of there still being around . Possible but unlikely but according to some big foot is all over the chestnut and laurel ridges ! Lol

They are still in the state. Friend has pics of one on a trail cam at his cabin in the northern tier. I've met his friend who was wounded by one. He was leaning up against a tree while hunting. He was not aware of the cougar in the tree. Well it decided it wanted down. It ripped up his shoulder pretty good on it's way down. This was a case wrong place at the wrong time.

PAGC would not admit there is a wild hog population in the south central part of the state. I don't think they officially have yet. But they have started to put shoot on site warnings in the hunting digest the past two years. If they aren't here then why add the warning? They are always slow to react.

[waksupi]

If I was worried about bears, I'd never be able to go to the outhouse!

[shdwlkr]

my sister lives in a small town in Upstate NY and she has had a black bear in her yard and has been told recently to expect to see bobcats along with deer and really any kind of wild creatures as their numbers are up. It has been over 50 years since bobcats were in the area where she lives.

[trapper9260]

I just came from seeing someone down the road from me and he had cat tracks in his front door in the snow.No it was not a small cat ,it is a cougar.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend of mine had an outdoor show on public TV that was shown as far North as into Canada. He had an on going spat with the local DNR about rattlesnakes (NOT MASSAUGAS) being here in the `Thumb` area of Michigan. He was stream fishing under an old wood bridge on a dirt road one day and nearly stepped on a rattler. He killed it, bagged it up and drove to a local DNR field office. Inside he asked again about rattlers, `No` he was told no rattlers. `Well what is this` he asked as he plopped the bag with dead snake on the desk counter? Since then they have grudgingly admitted that there `might` be rattlers in our Thumb area. He has heard of other sightings of cotton mouths in S. Michigan in recent years.Robert

[JimA]

My mother in law killed a rattlesnake with her hoe when she was tending the garden. This was near Redman in Huron County about 1965. There was also the wolverine that made Minden City swamp it's home from about 2003 until it died in 2010. Certainly a strange place to find a wolverine.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.

Wisconsin DNR did that also , till some one hit it with a car , then they told us how young males sometimes travel several hundred miles.

they changed their statement to they represent a statistically insignificant population and are not at breading population. Yet they didn't think it so funny when I said said then it will be Statistically Insignificant when I shoot it and put it out of it's non breeding misery.

then they added cougar to the list of Wisconsin protected species, if we don't have them and they are not supposed to be here why add them to the list ?

[tdoyka]

They would never make it through Pa without getting killed ! Lol , there was a time there was the reason penn state has the Nittny lions and Pitt has the panthers as mascots about once a years or so there's a non confirmed by the game commission in Pa sighting of a eastern cougar /panther/ mountain lion there once was possibly still is but there's very few places in pa that hasn't seen a humam footstep and with as many hunters as we have even today not even counting in past generations that one hasn't been killed or other evidence of there still being around . Possible but unlikely but according to some big foot is all over the chestnut and laurel ridges ! Lol

the PA gc does a horrible job of getting new(meaning a junior hunter) hunter into the sport. it was at an all time high of 1.1 million hunters in the 1980's to 2015-16 of 500-600,000 hunters. and yes i do belive that bigfoot can go thru the state. now if it does exist, you'll have to show me:wink:. panthers/mountian lions/cougars are rare or non-exist. wild pigs/boars already do exist, i've seen them in relvoc(cambria county), pa and supposedly in bedford county. i live in somerset county and years ago, we had to go up north(centre, potter...) to get a bear, but since the PAGC traps bears and sends down south, its nothing to see a bear. i think that a 700+lb bear was killed(7 or 8 miles from me). i've killed one(396lbs) about 3/4 mile from my house. coyotes have been around for years. i don't recall when the PAGC does consider the 'yote to be huntable/trapped, but it was years that the PAGC says 'yotes, their are no such thing.

[Iowa Fox]

I just came from seeing someone down the road from me and he had cat tracks in his front door in the snow.No it was not a small cat ,it is a cougar.

I hope they clean up the run away deer population. Should be like a smorgasbord for the big cats.

[Geezer in NH]

Wisconsin DNR did that also , till some one hit it with a car , then they told us how young males sometimes travel several hundred miles.

they changed their statement to they represent a statistically insignificant population and are not at breading population. Yet they didn't think it so funny when I said said then it will be Statistically Insignificant when I shoot it and put it out of it's non breeding misery.

then they added cougar to the list of Wisconsin protected species, if we don't have them and they are not supposed to be here why add them to the list ?
Wow NH has copied them all the way!

[44man]

We have yotes now, eastern panhandle of WV. Neighbor has pictures of a dozen and I seen one when deer hunting but could not get on it. No closed season on them in WV.

[dragon813gt]

We have yotes now, eastern panhandle of WV. Neighbor has pictures of a dozen and I seen one when deer hunting but could not get on it. No closed season on them in WV.

There is no closed season in PA either. It must have been a long time ago that the PAGC wouldn't admit they exist. Because I don't remember it. There have been talks off offering bounties on them but it was never passed. They're also the hybrids and are significantly larger.

[Love Life]

I see cougars all the time in Atlanta. You have to go to the right clubs to see them in their natural habitat.

[44man]

I see cougars all the time in Atlanta. You have to go to the right clubs to see them in their natural habitat.
You are a little crazy but can I tag along?

[mike69]

In 90 or 91 I saw what id say was a black panther while bow hunting. Heard something walking thought a deer was coming and this big cat showed up it sat just up the hill from the tree I was in for few minutes before walking away . Didn't make for a good walk out of the woods that night wondering where it was . Use to see bobcats but nothing like that . The yote are in northern panhandle of WV to and that's where I saw the cat .

[tdoyka]

In 90 or 91 I saw what id say was a black panther while bow hunting. Heard something walking thought a deer was coming and this big cat showed up it sat just up the hill from the tree I was in for few minutes before walking away . Didn't make for a good walk out of the woods that night wondering where it was . Use to see bobcats but nothing like that . The yote are in northern panhandle of WV to and that's where I saw the cat .

i used to hunt clarksburg to pleasant valley area. i've seen the 'yotes and also i've have seen pictures my little brother has taken of the bobcat.

[Blackwater]

As obsessed as most folks are today, they can often look straight at something, and not see it. It's amazing how much stuff we "filter" out from our perceptions. One of the first thing a young hunter has to do is develop his "woods eyes," and start taking everything in, and stop sorting stuff out unless it's really obvious. Whole deer, for instance, aren't usually seen. Rather, all we generally get to see is a nose (white patch helps here), head, antlers, or some small part of them through the bushes. And how they can move without being "seen" is almost scary!

Long ago, I learned if something sounds like a deer coming toward me, it's usually a squirrel or coon. If it sounds like a squirrel, it just might be a deer! And most folks can't see things, even when you point it out to them very precisely, until it moves. Then most can usually see it, if it's in the open. If it's in the bushes, most never really "see" it (perceive it for what it is) at all. Pretty fascinating, in a way.

When it comes to seeing things unusual, I've usually found it was folks who are hunters, and have good "woods eyes" who see them. Most folks won't even notice them, which is why I find it eminently believable that something like sasquatch or black panthers COULD exist. So few people would recognize them, even if they DID see them, that it really wouldn't be any big trick for a shy animal to appear to be non-existent to most people. Only those who can actually see what's there can actually know they're there. That's why I've never come down heavily on those who "see" unusual things in the outdoors. Most non-hunters are shocked when they see something they don't expect to, which explains why many won't even tell if they've seen something unusual.

The wild is still very much a "wild" place! I hope it always will be.

[44man]

I agree, a good hunter can pick up a deer leg and knows all the animals. I have been around many bears in PA and there is nothing else you can confuse them with.
I have never seen a squatch but believe they are there after what we experienced. I think they are just too smart and bury their dead. You will never find bones. They must have vision and hearing so good you can't enter where they live undetected.
I found that with deer, they know every branch, stump, whatever, in their living room. You don't move the coffee table. My friend want's to clear lanes and I said no, wait to shoot instead. No shot let the deer walk.

[MrWolf]

We have yotes now, eastern panhandle of WV. Neighbor has pictures of a dozen and I seen one when deer hunting but could not get on it. No closed season on them in WV.

Two weeks ago when my son and I were unloading the moving truck after dark, there were sirens in the distance. All of a sudden we hear answering howls in the woods above us. I just bought a place with 81 acres up a mountain. A few minutes later I shined a flashlight down the driveway/road and could have sworn I saw a cream colored big dog size something just vanish. We continued unloading till we hit the guns and ammo.

[44man]

I have no fear of black bears, yotes or bobcats, but a cougar can eat you right quick.
I think a neighbors dogs are worse. One will attack people, the other will kill small animals like my dog. He walks them up the road or should I say they drag him? Big, black things he can't control.

[44man]

Two weeks ago when my son and I were unloading the moving truck after dark, there were sirens in the distance. All of a sudden we hear answering howls in the woods above us. I just bought a place with 81 acres up a mountain. A few minutes later I shined a flashlight down the driveway/road and could have sworn I saw a cream colored big dog size something just vanish. We continued unloading till we hit the guns and ammo.
Maybe you live pretty close. Where are you?

[BrentD]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.

No, they flatly deny a POPULATION of lions, not the odd young male dispersing from South Dakota. All the Midwest and Mideast states get South Dakota lions dispersing through, though none have a functional population. Big difference.

[Blackwater]

Once quite a few years back, my FIL rented his old home place out to a young fellow who was a really great trapper. He live trapped most everything, and built boxes to hold his catches in. He once trapped a mountain lion ("panther" here) and took a Polaroid of it in the trap. A game warden came by the little hole in the wall gas station/restaurant my FIL and MIL ran on an intermittent bases. MIL made THE best burgers in the whole area, and anyone who stopped and ate one consistently came back whenever it was open, just for her burgers. The warden was one of those. The young trapper asked him (baitingly) about whether there were panthers in that area, and the warden said that there were none, and that reports were all mistaken identities. Then the young trapper pulled out of his shirt pocket that Polaroid of the cat in the trap, and asked the warden "Well, how do you explain this?" The warden looked at it, obviously intrigued, and asked the young trapper who'd live-trapped it. The trapper said he had, and that he'd turned it loose after taking the picture. He hadn't set it out for panthers, but for coyotes or fox, I believe it was, and the warden said, "You did good. Not many people can trap a panther. Glad you let it go." And the warden had a really good sense of humor about it. But he was tight lipped about whether it was common or not.

This mirrors what the DNR did with whitetails near that same time. They brought in some big bodied Wisconsin whitetails, and let some of them out (I found out much later) in that area, and all involved were sworn to secrecy about it. A warden much later I talked with told me about it when I told him the story of a huge buck I'd hunted and finally got to see after 3 years of hunting him and him alone. He explained that there's a phenomena that crops up occasionally where a 1st generation hybrid CAN be born that reaches huge size for that species.

So that was pretty satisfying. I'm sure that deer weighed over 300 lbs. on the hoof, and may have pushed 400. I missed at very long range because on seeing that deer, I literally went into shock at its size, and the heavy, wide rack. I'd been called a liar, but even today, I can see that deer in my mind so clearly that it's like a mental polaroid. One just doesn't see something like that and forget it, ever! I knew the size of the brush piles and other things where he was, and nothing "computed" about him. It was "impossible" that he was that big! But .... there he was.

The woods are full of exceptional things, I think, and I have no trouble believing at least some of the things folks report seeing. With folks' minds being so preoccupied all the time these days, it'd be no big trick for something with exceptional senses that didn't want to be seen, to be very rarely observed and perceived. We just don't really see what we look at any more. Indians used to be famous for their ability to spot game, as are most indigenous peoples, like pygmies, Aussie aborigines, etc., etc. And they LEARN to spot game because it MATTERS to them whether they see it or not, and it sometimes matters a lot. So .... they just learn to do it.

"Modern" man doesn't find much import in this, so ..... he can be "blind" to seeing an awful lot. This helps any species that doesn't want to be seen, to go incognito. Stealth helps, as do great senses of smell, hearing and sight. But any long time and good deer hunter knows that we probably pass by many more deer than we run up or see.

An old deer hunter once came by the little restaurant/gas station my MIL ran off and on, and he was wearing overalls and had some tobacco juice running down one corner of his mouth into his nearly white beard, and my FIL told me I ought to talk to him because he was an old deer hunter from way back. I went and introduced myself, and we got to talking about deer hunting. The look in his eye spoke more than words could about how much he loved it. I asked him, as a budding deer hunter, if he could give me one piece of advice about how and where to find deer, and he thought for a few moments, and looked up and told me this. "Son, an old deer, and especially the big ol' bucks, is just as likely to bed down right behind your house in a little broomsage patch or patch of low weeds, as anywhere else. And they'll lay right there unless you nearly step on them, too. They've learned that having people around isn't a threat, if they're close to their own home, and they just seem to know where they're safe and where they're in more danger. You just never really know what little ol' place they'll bed down in, and it might be right by the ol' shop out back."

This rang true, and I've never forgotten it. Especially since I'd scared up a small group of IIRC, three deer in a little patch of weeds no bigger than 15' across right by the shop/shelter! It's amazing how animals of all sorts can lay right near us and never be detected, because they won't move unless, like the old deer hunter said, we nearly step on them. It sure lends at least some credence to the possibility that rare species who have long been reputed to be "smart" can exist and rarely if ever be seen.

Vision and perception are not always the same things. I know I've long had trouble pointing out things to the young or women or non-hunters, even when they seem to me to be right out "in the open." I think it's just another case of not being "able to see the trees for the forest?" Sure keeps things interesting, doesn't it?

[John Boy]

Would you believe, in New Jersey of all states... the 2016 bear harvest was 607 !

[BrentD]

NJ is well known for its bears. So is North Carolina and many other eastern states.

[LeadPoisonTX]

Would you believe, in New Jersey of all states... the 2016 bear harvest was 607 !

Wow, I was under the impression that liberals were successful at stopping Bear Hunting in NJ. I am so glad to hear Bear Hunting is going strong in NJ. I killed my first Black Bear this season in NC. To say thatI am hooked, doesn't even give it justice.

[BrentD]

Wow, I was under the impression that liberals were successful at stopping Bear Hunting in NJ. I am so glad to hear Bear Hunting is going strong in NJ. I killed my first Black Bear this season in NC. To say thatI am hooked, doesn't even give it justice.

Jersey has long been known for great bears. It has nothing to do with politics - as with most things.

[farmerjim]

There are no cougars in Louisiana.
I have seen 2, and my wife has seen 3.
We also have coatimundi in the area where I live.

[BrentD]

There are no cougars in Louisiana.
I have seen 2, and my wife has seen 3.
We also have coatimundi in the area where I live.

How about jaguars? Wolves?

[farmerjim]

How about jaguars? Wolves?
No.
Coyote moved in about 30 years ago. I have had alligators in my pond.

[BrentD]

No.
Coyote moved in about 30 years ago. I have had alligators in my pond.
Well, I seriously doubt you have cougars. when one says there are "no cougars" they are referring to viable populations, not the occasional stray or escapee, both of which the species is infamous for.

The difference is lost on a lot of folks but it's a significant issue.

[farmerjim]

The first one I saw was a full grown one in my front yard. ( I live out in the country with lots of woods and swamp around me) The second one, also seen by my wife, was one year later and was a young one half the size of an adult, on the road about 1/4 mile from my house. I have not seen one in 15 years, so yes they are not a viable population, however I do believe the young one was born near here. The wife and I saw it a week apart on the road at night.

[Goatwhiskers]

But have you seen the legendary Bopotamus? Since they quit holding the annual hunt at Star Hill haven't heard much. GW

[farmerjim]

But have you seen the legendary Bopotamus? Since they quit holding the annual hunt at Star Hill haven't heard much. GW
No, but I have seen their tracks. over near Nauga airfield. Nauga field is off of hwy 966 just around the corner from me and is named for the little animal that they skin for Naugahyde (a google earth search will show it , The camp in the trees at the end of the runway had 4 feet of water inside it in the big flood. ). I was over at Ronnie's camp Saturday. He was cooking two of the 5 little pigs that he caught in his pig trap.
I think these wild pigs are better than the farm raised ones.

[BrentD]

The Minn. DNR flatly denies the existence of mountain lions in the state. They say that any pictures of long tailed cats are Bobcats.

No, that is flatly wrong. I don't know why folks insist on saying things like this.

Here are three very reasonable discussions of lions by the MN DNR.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/cougar/index.html

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/issues/2015/sep-oct/cougars-in-minnesota.html

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=AMAJH04010

[MrWolf]

Maybe you live pretty close. Where are you?

Sorry for not answering sooner but Dish did not want me as a customer for internet service which has been real bad since I got here. They could not maintain even their base speeds. I ended up using a signal booster, etc. for my cell phone and now am using Verizon's unlimited data. I live near the Hampshire County/Morgan County border near where 9 and 29 meet.

[44man]

Sorry for not answering sooner but Dish did not want me as a customer for internet service which has been real bad since I got here. They could not maintain even their base speeds. I ended up using a signal booster, etc. for my cell phone and now am using Verizon's unlimited data. I live near the Hampshire County/Morgan County border near where 9 and 29 meet.
I am close to Harpers Ferry, Little town of Bakerton. You are not that far. I am also near Charles Town. Some day we need to get together.

[kobeinu]

I'm near you two as well. Wife n I saw a mountain lion on the MD side of the river. No body from the State said it was possible except the rest of the people in the area who've seen it.

[randy_68]

In Indiana bobcats are common now. I've seen six myself in the last three years. 10 years ago people thought you were crazy if you said you saw one. Last summer my 30 yo son told me he swore that a black bear cross the road in front of him early one morning on his way home from work. Wasn't sure I believed him, but I guess it was possible. A few weeks later one was spotted about 60 miles away and was tracked over a period of several months by the DNR. Still around as far as I know. Had an Elk get him by a car 40 miles away. Not supposed to be any of them in Indiana either. Go figure.

[opos]

We have bobcats and lions (along with deer, etc) in the mountains near San Diego but our real wild life experience is along the coastal beaches in the summer time (normally when school lets out)...don't need a trail cam for these...they are plentiful and they tell me available (I'm old so it doesn't matter any more)

197775

[mold maker]

Yep, this time of year that kind of wildlife (eye candy) is abundant everywhere. Thank goodness!!
I even saw two does in my side yard this Spring. That's a first in 75 years.

[daniel lawecki]

Wife and myself was at Maumee State Park in NW Ohio. One winter about two years ago I got a picture of a Bobcat. It's still on the memory card in the camera. Last year coming home from BIL house on 96 just west of Lansing we saw a bull Elk. We were in the hammer lane headed east.

[aspangler]

Tennessee said last year "there are no cougars in the state" but they changed their tune this year. Wonder if it was the pictures fron my game cames that I sent them of two BIG black ones?

[BrentD]

Black cougars? Sure. They would be the first black cougars. Anywhere. Ever.

[Goatwhiskers]

opos, yep that sure is wildlife, but ya gotta buy a license for legal possession. And that's when the expenses start. GW

[opos]

opos, yep that sure is wildlife, but ya gotta buy a license for legal possession. And that's when the expenses start. GW

lots of them for rent just across the border...if your are fearless.

[woodbutcher]

:bigsmyl2:Hi opos."Just cause I`m on a diet,don`t mean I can`t look at the menu".;)
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo