Big cats in East TN

[TNGUNS]

Well......gonna post this and probably get laughed at, but here goes. I went metal detecting a few weeks ago and swore I saw a mountain lion enter the woods from a brushy area about 150 yards directly ahead of me while walking out at dusk. For those not familiar with the area it is believed they have been gone from here for over a century. I see deer in this area almost every day if I hunt in the evenings or early mornings but felt pretty sure that was not what I saw. This is not the first time I think I have seen one this year, but just a quick glimpse each time. Concerned me enough to walk out with Glock in hand. I hunt coyotes with a retired TWRA officer ( Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency ) and he said he bet was a deer and had heard the BS over the sightings for years but had never seen one or even tracks. I kind of kept it quit and was almost doubting my own sanity when a buddy said a hunter had seen one on his farm and was able to watch it for several minutes. The hunter is also a friend and about as credible as you could find anywhere. Well ......I just got a call that one had been caught one on a game cam about a mile from my sighting and TWRA had confirmed that it was indeed a mountain lion but wants to confirm the authenticity of the picture as far as location. It was recently confirmed that black bears are back in the area for the first time in nearly 50 years. Does my heart good to think some of our natural predators are making a return. I do a lot of walking in and out of the rural areas that I hunt and am going to use a little more caution, but am thrilled over their return and the confirmation on my sighting.

 

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[spartacus53]

I won't laugh, but I'll give you sound advice

I suggest that you carry a bag of catnip while detecting

 

[Dixiegal]

Don't feel lonely. The game and fish boys will tell you all day long that there are no Black Panthers in GA but last year my fiancee' saw 2 juvenile Black Panthers walking down the middle of the street at 1:00 AM in the morning. I missed it because I was out on the deck listening for the sounds that had woken me up. It was like a child crying or something. I think the mother was out behind our neighborhood hunting in the greenbelt and they were calling out to her.

 

[kuger]

We are covered up with em out here.Here is one last week

 

[kuger]

Don't feel lonely. The game and fish boys will tell you all day long that there are no Black Panthers in GA but last year my fiancee' saw 2 juvenile Black Panthers walking down the middle of the street at 1:00 AM in the morning. I missed it because I was out on the deck listening for the sounds that had woken me up. It was like a child crying or something. I think the mother was out behind our neighborhood hunting in the greenbelt and they were calling out to her.

I think your Fiancee was seeing something else....Black "Panthers",are Melanistic lions....there is no way there was two Black cubs....its like an Albino......one in a million

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Ok, I'll give it to you straight from the cats mouth - meow!

In S. America, jungle hunting expeditions can encounter big jungle cats. The last man in line will usually wear a childs face mask or simple Halloween face mask, turned backwards on his head. Most cats will attack from behind for surprise effect, if they think you are facing them, you may stand better chance to get off a shot.
That Glock ain't gonna do you no good, after that cat has swiped and pounced on your butt, and it goes flying off to, god knows where.

If I lived in mountain lion country and jogged or biked it, yeah, I'd have a gun and a mask! LOL!
Lone Ranger Kitty! LOL!

 

[the bone]

Ok, I'll give it to you straight from the cats mouth - meow!

In S. America, jungle hunting expeditions can encounter big jungle cats. The last man in line will usually wear a childs face mask or simple Halloween face mask, turned backwards on his head. Most cats will attack from behind for surprise effect, if they think you are facing them, you may stand better chance to get off a shot.
That Glock ain't gonna do you no good, after that cat has swiped and pounced on your butt, and it goes flying off to, god knows where.

If I lived in mountain lion country and jogged or biked it, yeah, I'd have a gun and a mask! LOL!
Lone Ranger Kitty! LOL!

View attachment 699547

Thats cool to know I remember seeing a group of tribal hunters do the same thing on some show back in the day I thought it was just some custom but as usual most customs or superstitions in a culture have or had a real purpose at sometime.

Also for years they have denied that mountain lions are in michigan as well, but finally after all the eyewitness sightings and game cam photos the dnr is admitting they are here.

 

[Dixiegal]

Black Panthers have been sighted all around the outlying Atlanta burbs. I They have lived in the mountains of the South forever. My fiancee' who is originally from your area used to be a govt bounty hunter for years. He has seen a lot of big cats. He saw another Black Panther years ago when he was hunting with his relatives in ALA. The ones he saw out in front of our house were not full grown. In fact at first he thought they were Bobcats but then realized they had long tails and were solid black. He opened the front door to get a better look and they just melted away into the darkness.

 

[worldtalker]

We've got them here in Mass.my wife works at a nursing home,one day she had the patients on her wing outside,woodsy around there,one was in a tree,3 aides 2 nurses and 15 patients saw it,she called the police,when they arrived they asked"do you have mandatory drug testing here",until one of them discovered the tracks at the base of the tree,surprized the hell out of them!!

 

[kuger]

Black Panthers have been sighted all around the outlying Atlanta burbs. I They have lived in the mountains of the South forever. My fiancee' who is originally from your area used to be a govt bounty hunter for years. He has seen a lot of big cats. He saw another Black Panther years ago when he was hunting with his relatives in ALA. The ones he saw out in front of our house were not full grown. In fact at first he thought they were Bobcats but then realized they had long tails and were solid black. He opened the front door to get a better look and they just melted away into the darkness.

Dixie.....I too was a Government "Bounty Hunter",and Mt. Lion Specialist for nearly 20 years and have studied them for nearly 30.Look it up,there is no breed of Black Panther!Panther is another name for Lion like Puma,and the black color is Melanism which exists in all animals even deer.I can tell you first hand that %95 of reported Mt. Lion sightings EVERY WHERE are false..............especially Black Panther sightings
Are black panthers real
Black panther - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[kuger]

.................years ago,I was called to the area around Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch for a Black Panther sighting.Being three hours away and knowing it was not true,I declined.....it being my job and it being determined to be a public safety concern,I was obligated against my wishes to respond...........I was shocked to find that indeed it was a Black Cougar,which Jackson had,and allowed to escape....beautiful animal

 

[TNGUNS]

I wish I could take a stance that I saw a mountain lion PERIOD. But I can't . It was dusk and a pretty good ways ahead of me but I have been an avid outdoorsman my whole life and believe it was a mountain lion. I do not believe it was a deer and way too big to be a domestic cat. It was moving when it caught my attention and slinked like a cat. Like I said I believe it was a mountain lion but I also said no way the idiot will get elected again after the train wreck of the last four years. My being certain has been proven wrong lately.

 

[kuger]

I wish I could take a stance that I saw a mountain lion PERIOD. But I can't . It was dusk and a pretty good ways ahead of me but I have been an avid outdoorsman my whole life and believe it was a mountain lion. I do not believe it was a deer and way too big to be a domestic cat. It was moving when it caught my attention and slinked like a cat. Like I said I believe it was a mountain lion but I also said no way the idiot will get elected again after the train wreck of the last four years. My being certain has been proven wrong lately.

.....not at all saying you didnt see one.....heck California doesnt even know how many lions they have....not a clue!Lions are in many States that the "Brass",deny,because they dont actively study to find out...that is fact!

 

[Talon]

The cougars we are seeing in Michigan are actually roving males that are looking for new territory that are ranging all the way from the Colorado population. They have radio collar tracking data on at least one and then DNA tying them to the Colorado population. It's possible that if you see one in TN it could also be a roving male. Some of those cougars are traveling over 800 miles! However, the females don't range as far so it's not a true population in Michigan and surrounding states.

 

[kuger]

The cougars we are seeing in Michigan are actually roving males that are looking for new territory that are ranging all the way from the Colorado population. They have radio collar tracking data on at least one and then DNA tying them to the Colorado population. It's possible that if you see one in TN it could also be a roving male. Some of those cougars are traveling over 800 miles! However, the females don't range as far so it's not a true population in Michigan and surrounding states.

Great,accurate info Talon.On average a female will stay within a 20 mile radius of her birth place her whole life.....males as said will range far and wide....as populations of lions rise as will the activity of lions appear in places they historically did not exist.

 

[normalizer]

My parents have a house on KY near Dover, TN and both my father and I have seen mountain lions on the property on two different occasions.

 

[Silver Searcher]

We are covered up with em out here.Here is one last week

He Mate.....what a beautifull animal that is, he looks like he's been eating plenty deer.

SS

 

[kuger]

They are beautiful,and amazing Colin

 

[Phanntom]

I spent a lot outdoors in So. Cal which has a healthy cougar population and was always in hopes of seeing one, but never did. They're very shy and stealthy...they'll be watching you and you don't even know they're there. They're ambushers and can easily dispatch an adult male from ambush. Not only are they very fast with lethal claws, they're incredibly strong...look at the musculature in that photo on here. They're a magnificant animal and I'm glad they're making a comeback.

I did finally see...not one, but two within about 10 minutes of each other. Both in simialr circumstances. While driving a backroad between Santa Barbara and Long Valley I came around a curve and one just just jumping down from a giant bolder onto another....I slowed and it just plopped down to soak up the sun....a few miles down the road I saw movement to my left. It was another one, lying on a giant rock outcropping sunning itself....I'd seen the motion of it flicking it's tail. Both were beautiful.

 

[TNGUNS]

Really would love to see them get a foothold in TN again. As odd as it sounds I have only gotten to watch a hand full of bobcats and as I said before I spend more time in the woods than about anybody I know who doesn't have a job that requires it. We are covered up with bobcats and call in a few while coyote hunting but they make tracks pretty fast. The few I have gotten to watch from an undetected location have been an awesome thing to see. Amazing how reclusive they are as I assume the mountain lion would be as well. Big difference in the fact bobcats don't view ya as prey.

Kruger....the lion in the pic is nothing short of spectacular. God knew what he was doing when he painted that picture.