Big cats in East TN

[Tnmountains]

Bobcats are thicker than the lions out here.No joke in Nov.-Dec. in the coastal mtns its not uncommon to see 5-10 bobcats a day

They see you and they know what you are even from a tree. The one I took with bow took a 30" form The biggest they make. It happened so fast I regretted it as soon as I let the arrow fly. I thought it was a coyote head down thru the cat tails. He busted out of cover and looked right at me. I was at full draw and released. It was instinct. I hate that skill sometimes. They have an open late season but I have never taken another. Enjoy watching them to much. Plus they kill a lot of the feral farm cats when they come in heat.

 

[Number9]

Number9

Chattanooga but i spend way to much time in Marion,Sequatchie and even in your county Bradley. I am on a quest for an artifact by the name of "Mouse Creek" from your fine city. I can not buy one though, I will have to find it.
HH
TnMtns

I lived in Jasper for 8 1/2 years... and Chattanooga, Rossville, and Cleveland.

I know the creek Mouse Creek.. but not the artifact by that name? Is it Civil War?

 

[Tnmountains]

I lived in Jasper for 8 1/2 years... and Chattanooga, Rossville, and Cleveland.

I know the creek Mouse Creek.. but not the artifact by that name? Is it Civil War?

No sir. It is a local ancient Indian artifact named for that little creek. It is a small triangular woodland era arrowhead. You have some good CW in your area as well.
HH

 

[Number9]

Great location in the area for arrowheads.. best of luck with your search!!

 

[pong12211]

Hello all new to this site but believe i found some people that share my interests.. As for the posts about the mountain lions.. I live in north central Pa. and have seen them up here and so have several of my friends.. We are avid hunters and outdoorsman and have been told everything from we saw a bobcat or a big house cat by our local Game Wardens.. But trust me we know the difference.. I saw one in the morning jump over a guiderail along the road and go under the guiderail on the other side of the road.. This things had a very long tail and the muscle structure of the animal was very noticeable unlike a bobcat.. My brother and two of our friends saw one when they were out spotting walking the edge of a cornfield and swear to this day it was a very real experience.. I'm not saying that my stories prove they're here or not.. But what I am saying is I for one am more likely to believe the local outdoorsman than the DCNR...

 

[Number9]

Hello all new to this site but believe i found some people that share my interests.. As for the posts about the mountain lions.. I live in north central Pa. and have seen them up here and so have several of my friends.. We are avid hunters and outdoorsman and have been told everything from we saw a bobcat or a big house cat by our local Game Wardens.. But trust me we know the difference.. I saw one in the morning jump over a guiderail along the road and go under the guiderail on the other side of the road.. This things had a very long tail and the muscle structure of the animal was very noticeable unlike a bobcat.. My brother and two of our friends saw one when they were out spotting walking the edge of a cornfield and swear to this day it was a very real experience.. I'm not saying that my stories prove they're here or not.. But what I am saying is I for one am more likely to believe the local outdoorsman than the DCNR...

Welcome!!

The cougar has been in the East for several years... some say they never left(Eastern Cougar). And yet, many state wildlife people say they are not here, why? I don't know? Even some of the people who hunt will try to tell you the big cats are not in the east?
But don't ever say you saw a black one! The funny thing is, I know the truth. I can't say it's a fact what others have seen, or how many? But I have seen one!

 

[pong12211]

It is very hotly debated subject up where i'm from.. I have met alot of people who swear up and down they have seen them.. They are not the kind of people you can look at and say liar.. They are educated very down to earth people who know what they saw.. What gets me is when people say it's impossible.. Well I for one believe nothing in nature is impossible where there is a will there's a way.. Animals are tough and adapt to their surroundings and if they don't want to bee seen they simply won't.. Like I said this is just what I believe sure there are skeptics but i'm not one of them...

 

[Tnmountains]

It is very hotly debated subject up where i'm from.. I have met alot of people who swear up and down they have seen them.. They are not the kind of people you can look at and say liar.. They are educated very down to earth people who know what they saw.. What gets me is when people say it's impossible.. Well I for one believe nothing in nature is impossible where there is a will there's a way.. Animals are tough and adapt to their surroundings and if they don't want to bee seen they simply won't.. Like I said this is just what I believe sure there are skeptics but i'm not one of them...

Welcome to T-net.

 

[kuger]

Welcome Pong!!You are right there is nothing that can scientifically say lions cant be in the East(I know they are)but science tells factually that there are not geat numbers of Black Mt. lions..........that is the diff #9 cant seem to grasp.Also I too would beleive the sportsman before the desk jockey's or green unwoodswise wardens

 

[0121stockpicker]

If I can just weigh in on one completely undeniable and undisputable truth - eyewitness reports are EXTREMELY unreliable - even from so called experts!!! Human vision, memory, etc is rife with issues. I can show you a million simple mind tricks that will prove to you that seeing "is not" believing. No one needs to be lying or hoaxing - just mistaken identification and or memory.

This is why we still have a ton of folks reporting ufos, big foots (or is that big feet?), ghosts, Loch Ness monsters, angels, devils, etc etc. I believe in most instances these people truly believe what they are seeing - but that doesn't matter. And most importantly the eyes and memories of "experts" can be fooled just as easily - same human eyes, ears and mind! So just because a cop sees a UFO does not make it more credible!!

My $0.02 I do believe the range of the big cats is "reexpanding". Bear, coyote, fisher, etc now common in New England and our dear population is growing like crazy!!

Great topic.

 

[Bum Luck]

Bum.......did you mean you were callingSorry if that is what you meant,I feel stupid for that not occuring to me sooner?If it is,yes Bobcats are very receptive to distress calling,ours out here are very gullible......and lots of them!!!!!!!!I had one a while back come in and I couldnt get him to leave!!!I have never ever had one act like he did,he bowed up and emitted this low gutteral growl,and all!!!!I actually snapped a photo of him/her

Well re reading again,I didnt mis understand.....days huh?Scared the cattle? huh

Yup, the bobcat was calling (I assumed it was a male), 4 or 5 nights as I recall. My dad identified it as a bobcat. He'd been hunting and trapping since he was a kid. I've trapped and hunted with him since I was a kid, muskrats, mink, coon, and fox for trapping, and everything under the sun for hunting. I lived on a farm, and spent every chance I could get in the woods and swamps - no city kid here, and much more exposure to that than the average farm kid even. We'd shoot up a carton of 22 shells every week. I had almost 30 snapping turtles at one time, and lots of frogs, and some snakes, of all kinds. My dad raised hawks, crows, and racoons as a kid.

I spend a lot of my professional time in the woods, and do pretty well as far as woods savvy.

Yeah, he did scare the cattle, no surprise if you own and care for them. That's why I took a shot at him; the reason I missed an easy shot is the closest effective gun I could get my hands on was my dad's deer rifle, which was not sighted in for me. Of course I know what his sight picture was, but not enough apparently. I routinely hit ducks at that distance with my 22, but a 22 is not an effective bobcat gun.

I certainly know what a fox sounds like, and every other woods sound out there, so I guess I'd like everyone to respect where I came from, and not lump me in with city kids. Try trapping fox if you think you know it all. I know it's easy to blog about anything, but I do think I know what I'm talking about in the outdoors, after a lifetime of being there.

I'm not doubting that you see a lot of bobcats. I respect that experience, and I believe you do mine - thanks for that.

I like to add to people's knowledge when I can.

 

[Bum Luck]

Just exactally what are we discussing here now are we talking about native American Wild Cats or sub species, released species or what As far as I am aware there are only three types of native American wild cat.. Bob Cat, Canadian Lynx and Cougar..none of these are Black

Kuger help me out here..

SS

I saw a black bobcat with my own eyes in Wisconsin in the 60s. See my posts.

 

[Number9]

"...but science tells factually that there are not geat numbers of Black Mt. lions..........that is the diff #9 cant seem to grasp."

But, I never said we had a great number of black cats... I did say a large number has been reported and I have seen true evidence of others besides the ONE I saw.

In the scientific world it's "fact" until we prove different. It's believed to be fact... but not in stone!

"Swamp Gas"!!! Not all the time!

 

[dirtscratcher]

I must be missing something, I googled black mountain lions and it says ther has never been a scientifically proven case ever.

 

[pong12211]

The black panther is a term people use because they usually have a misconception about what it really is.. I won't say that people who have claimed to see this creature crazy.. But I will say I believe they are misinformed with their information.. Black mountain lions or "balck panthers" are simply not what people are seeing.. They may believe this is what they say do to not having proper lighting or only catching a quick glimpse of and animal.. But to say it's a black panther is almost impossible in my opinion.. Not trying to discredit what people are saying they saw just trying to add a little logical thinking to the situation..

 

[Number9]

I must be missing something, I googled black mountain lions and it says ther has never been a scientifically proven case ever.

Things do not exist until "scientifically proven"... it has to be "documented"... or what you see is not real.

 

[Number9]

The black panther is a term people use because they usually have a misconception about what it really is.. I won't say that people who have claimed to see this creature crazy.. But I will say I believe they are misinformed with their information.. Black mountain lions or "balck panthers" are simply not what people are seeing.. They may believe this is what they say do to not having proper lighting or only catching a quick glimpse of and animal.. But to say it's a black panther is almost impossible in my opinion.. Not trying to discredit what people are saying they saw just trying to add a little logical thinking to the situation..

No.. I'm not "misinformed", as I stated early in this thread... "The large black cat I saw could have been a released pet." Is this possible?
Deputy kills jaguar ... or was it leopard? » Local News » The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Well.. you did say, "is almost impossible in my opinion."

Am I going to say that large black cats are impossible to be in the United States? No, I believe a slight chance they could exist.
Jaguars are in the United States.

Even the biologist can't agree about large black cats being here... so, you think our opinion means anything?

"Some biologists scoff at the idea that the South American jaguar could have migrated so far north. Many biologists claim jaguars do not come in black, but research has provided the information that 6% of the Brazilian Pantanol jaguars are melanistic, or black, and can weigh up to 300 lbs. It is fair to say that these cats fit the description given to the black panther sightings, but again countless biologists unite in their claim that a black jaguar has never been successfully documented anywhere north of Mexico. In reality, a female jaguar was documented in 1963, when a hunter shot and killed her in Arizona’s White Mountains. In 1965, a male jaguar was killed in the Patagonia Mountains, south of Tucson."

 

[pong12211]

No.. I'm not "misinformed", as I stated early in this thread... "The large black cat I saw could have been a released pet." Is this possible?
Deputy kills jaguar ... or was it leopard? » Local News » The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Well.. you did say, "is almost impossible in my opinion."

Am I going to say that large black cats are impossible to be in the United States? No, I believe a slight chance they could exist.
Jaguars are in the United States.

Even the biologist can't agree about large black cats being here... so, you think our opinion means anything?

"Some biologists scoff at the idea that the South American jaguar could have migrated so far north. Many biologists claim jaguars do not come in black, but research has provided the information that 6% of the Brazilian Pantanol jaguars are melanistic, or black, and can weigh up to 300 lbs. It is fair to say that these cats fit the description given to the black panther sightings, but again countless biologists unite in their claim that a black jaguar has never been successfully documented anywhere north of Mexico. In reality, a female jaguar was documented in 1963, when a hunter shot and killed her in Arizona’s White Mountains. In 1965, a male jaguar was killed in the Patagonia Mountains, south of Tucson."

Ok I can see I obviously offended you in some way that caused you to get aggervated and post this.. I simply said what I thought nothing more.. I never stated that it could'nt be a released pet or even a natural occurance.. Things in nature happen that sometimes can't be explained.. I simply said I took a logical take on this.. That's from my point of view.. Does'nt mean i'm right or wrong or anybody else is right or wrong.. Just my opinion.. You have obviously stated your case which I did not attack or try to discredit in anyway.. I also did'nt try to attack or discredit any of your posts.. I would apprecite the same in return.. I believe people believe what they claim to have seen.. Wether or not it can be proved or not they believe what they say.. I can respect that.. I expect the same courtisy in return...

 

[truckinbutch]

To all posters ,
It's necessary to understand that those of us in the Eastern Mountains , and country raised folks in many other places , are VERY sensitive about issues raised about their credibility . #9 said he saw a black lion . He's never given me cause to question his veracity , so I'll take him at his word . Kuger is an honorable man as well . He's spent a lifetime amongst the lions and has never seen one ...... Luck of the draw .
>Interesting thread that doesn't have to fall apart over perceived insults . Let's remain friends as we share information .

 

[Number9]

Ok I can see I obviously offended you in some way that caused you to get aggervated and post this.. I simply said what I thought nothing more.. I never stated that it could'nt be a released pet or even a natural occurance.. Things in nature happen that sometimes can't be explained.. I simply said I took a logical take on this.. That's from my point of view.. Does'nt mean i'm right or wrong or anybody else is right or wrong.. Just my opinion.. You have obviously stated your case which I did not attack or try to discredit in anyway.. I also did'nt try to attack or discredit any of your posts.. I would apprecite the same in return.. I believe people believe what they claim to have seen.. Wether or not it can be proved or not they believe what they say.. I can respect that.. I expect the same courtisy in return...

NO!!! I wasn't offended in any way!!! And your opinion is yours to say... no problem on my end!