Big cats in East TN

[arnofarrell]

Cougars are taking back there former territory. With bigger game making a huge come back all across the states predators always follow. Cougars are moving from the west to the east because the population boom from restrictions on hunting. Here in my state the restored the river otter maybe 15 years ago and now we can trap them again, the same goes with bobcats but they moved back in naturally. Elk move in slowly from outwest and probably the south soon. Supposably moose and black bear have been moving into the north east following the Missisippi river south. Wolves have been spotted in south Minnesota close to the boarder of Iowa. They are slowly taking back the country.

 

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[Debsdjw]

It seems that no one has posted here for a while but Im gonna try NEway. So here goes... Ive been researching large cats in Northeast Alabama because we have had some unsual things happening lately. First my pet cat was attacked. He was missing for a day and when I found him he couldnt pick himself up. He had no fur left on his belly or either side and had multiple puncture wounds and scratch marks all over. I thought a coyote had got him b/c we have a large pop. of them. I took him to the vet where he stayed a few days. The vet said he was attacked by a large cat and was very lucky to survive. The next week a neighbor we didnt know came to our house and showed us a picture of a large paw print beside his wifes foot (for comparrison). The print was bigger than his wifes foot. He said that some of his chickens and a newborn calf had dissapeared and he thinks this print belongs to the cat that is responsible. He called the Alabama Wildlife Management and The to report the incident. They laughed at him saying we do not have "large cats" here except maybe a overfed house cat. However if he did shoot an animal such as this he would be arrested b/c they are protected in Alabama. This made absolutely no sence to me. They either exist or they dont. I do remember last summer sitting in my livingroom watching T.V. and I began hearing a baby cry. I thought it was on my sons T.V. in the other room. The baby cry got louder and continued untill my son and I met in the hallway asking eachother the same question; where is the baby cry comming from, we dont have a baby. It was comming from outside and I chose to not venture out in the dark to investigate. We would hear this at least once a week for a while after that night. A man at my church said it was a bobcat mating call. Ive not seen a bobcat, we only heard this sound. Then I remember in 1981 we lived about 20 miles from our present home. We lived in Hammondville, Alabama on my uncles Christmass Tree farm, isolated and very private. We frequently saw deer in our yard and would throw out leftovers for the animals. We had been there about a week and I was awaken by a lady screaming like she was being murdered. I jumped up to run outside to help her and my husband held the door preventing me from going out. He said it wasnt a person that it was a panther. He had seen it when he was up in his treestand in the woods beside our house. I was upset that he haddnt told me about this but his reasoning was he didnt want to worry me. He said if we leave them alone they will leave us alone. I never seemed to get use to that screaming it sounded so real. I always felt that I needed to help whoever was screaming. We never found anyone injured in the daylight so I resigned to trust my husbands explination. I guess my delima now is finding out what kind of "Cats" we have around here and why the local Game Warden and Wildlife Management deny their existance, and are we safe outside at night, and are my animals safe outside. I keep my cat inside at night now but he really wants to be outside. Im afraid to leave him out.. Can NEone give me information that will help me find out what is out there in the dark?

 

[kuger]

Deb........please take what I am going to tell you as the honest truth from somebody who has worked with and around Lions,for over 30 years and proffessionally for over 20.You have been fed some myths.........none I have not heard before.First of all,any proffessional cant honestly tell you that there is not a chance of anybody seeing a lion any where...they are nomadic travelers(the males,or Toms)although in most normal seetings a female lion will live within a 20 mile radius her entire life.Second,although its not out of the realm of possibility,its is doubtful your cat survived a lion attack.Its not normal for a lion to prey on a cat,and very unlikely a cat would survive such an attack(I have personally witnessed a lion snap the neck of a 500 lb bull elk)Bobcats will prey on cats and it is plausible that a cat may be lucky and escape alive.
Third,your friend is full of fooey,unless his wife's foot is smaller than that of a child...the average track is 3"x3.5,I have seen hundreds if not thousands...including record class and never have seen one over 5"....I would like to see a picture of this track,I bet its not a lion.......chickens disappearing....possible....but again,not real likely,were they in a pen?Bobcats love chickens.Newborn calf disappeared?Lions will cover a kill with pine needles,grass or dirt/duff.They generally will not take the kill very far.They do not like being in the wide open and will drag/carry the kill to cover,where they will consume the heart,liver and lungs....often thats it...especially a Tom.A female with young will smetimes clean up the carcass(deer sized) completly,but will not eat anything that has rotted.They also do not like hair,and will lick hair away before consuming the meat.Look for a mound of material within the general area......I have to go be back

....cats protected in your state.......I am in Calif,where everything is protected except the white working man.....sorry.....including lions(this state has one of the highest populations in the US by the way....but anyway...even here when a lion kills your livestock t may be killed under a depredation permit,but if you witness an attack you have the right to protect your livestock....I would look into that in your state because I would venture to say its the same in Alabama.

The age old cat call..............I will totally honest with you when I tell you I have spent most of my life in the "bush",under the stars....all over the Western United States,Mexico,and Canada,and have been a student of the most prolific Lion men to ever live........I HAVE NEVER,EVER heard a lion scream like a woman....I have asked a great many lion men if they have...."NO"........I have heard lions breeding and its no quiet ocassion,but a solo woman scream...I have not.I will not say they dont........but by golly,one would think I or the top lion guys would have heard this.....We had two lion cubs when I was a kid,that would make a sound like babies crying...sort of...


Do you have Gray Fox in your area?They make a sound that you would never dream a small animal could make,and 90% of my calls of "lions sounds",turn out to be Gray Fox.......also Gray Fox LOVE to eat House cats and are the only fox that actualy can climb a tree....about as fast as a cat can....As far as your cat.....if you care about your cat that much,do keep it in.......in the wild there any any number of things that can and will injure a cat.....including coyotes.....only the strong and smart survive,and house cats dont belong in the wild any how...

 

[kuger]

....I did a quick search to try and find a quick pic of a lion and a dog track(which large dog tracks are an astronomically large amount of the time mistaken for lion tracks) and came across several that clamed were lion tracks........and they ARE NOT....here is a prime example
View attachment 879567
This is a DOG track.............

 

[TNGUNS]

Kuger, I have tried to find tracks since ha ha, As you know I started this thread about this time last year. The field where I saw what ever it was, has been in sweet peppers again and am now waiting for them to pull the plastic off the mounds so I can hunt the site. I hunted the Ag road a little and got a couple of flat buttons.......... anyway, like I said before, I certainly could not say for sure that it was a cat at that distance and near dark, but I still walk off the main road as it borders woods when it is near dark and still unsnap the pouch I have the Glock in knowing in reality I probably couldn't draw and use it in time with 25 to 40 yards between us. I have walked that road no less than 15 times since and not one track. NADA. As a matter of fact I hunt the same area very often and keep it on my mind to look for tracks. I love to coyote hunt anyway so am often watching for sign. I even intentionally walked it after a rain this spring looking for tracks. I have no doubt you know exactly what you are talking about, but still in my mind it sure looked like a Cougar.

 

[kuger]

View attachment 879573
^^^DOG!!!!^^^^^
View attachment 879574
^^^LION^^^

in the mud,and melted out snow tracks will look bigger than they originally are/were as well.....TOE NAIL marks and BI-Lobes on the rear of the pad are tell tell CANINE

 

[kuger]

TN,as I said,no one can tell you you did not see one.....they are not Sasquatche's....Look for tracks as you are...they dont fly!!LOL,where there is a lion,there will be tracks!As far a personal protection.......a dog is your best bet,a gun will help you little.Lions attack from the back,and hit with an EXTREME amount of force(ever see natives in Tiger country.....with mask's on the back of their heads.....there is a reason...)A dog will alert you that something isnt right...trust me all dog hate lions.....once a lion knows it cover is blown they seldom will continue with an attack.If you do feel that a lion may be near your home,do not allow small children to play by them selves,especially ealy dawn and near dusk.As I said I have spent my entire life in lion country....often times pursuing problem cats and several man killers......I have a great respect for them bt have never ever feared them....a few I have givin a bit more respect,but no fear.No one else should fear them either,they are not viscious animals,but do not have anything against human flesh.More people are attacked and killed by Grizzlies.....I fear Grizzlies and have worked with and around them for MANY years as well

 

[Number9]

"He had seen it when he was up in his treestand in the woods beside our house."
What color was the cat? Size? Details?

I haven't seen a large cats in almost two years now... they must be rare!?

 

[Number9]

"No Restriction in Alabama, it is lawful to possess big cats. Alabama law places no restrictions on the private possession of big cats. Public display of big cats is permitted only with a permit issued by the Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources. This twenty-five dollar annual permit allows individuals to possess big cats for the purpose of public display with a showing of adequate facilities, care and handling experience by the applicant, and consent to an inspection of the facilities. Any municipal, county, state or other publicly owned zoo or wildlife exhibit, privately owned traveling zoo or circus or pet shop is exempt from this permit requirement for public display."

With over 10,000 large cats(known) in captivity here in the USA and most not in adequate facilities... it's a wonder sighting aren't more common!
Many have said that more cats are in captivity here than in the wild in the rest of the world.

 

[diggerdoug33]

TNGUN, I have seen Bobcat on the Cumberland Plateau while hunting Gensing. Some of my friends have sworn there are bigger cats in the Cumberlands, Big Fork, and in Telico but I have not seen one yet

 

[roaddust66]

one killed a horse and ate it in Nashville.

 

[roaddust66]

I was coming out of a wilderness area at night fall one night when something ran out in front of me. I was in the big frog wilderness and saw one of these. It was scary because I was not expecting to see a big black cougar with a long tail cross out in front of my headlights. true story. It was a dumped dog. If you want to have a heart attack , then run into one of these in the wilderness ! http://www.dogwallpapers.net/wallpapers/black-great-dane-dog-wallpaper.jpg

 

[Hunter612]

I live closer to middle Tennessee. I swear I saw one too. My mom and her friend saw it too when they were walking. I know for sure it wasn't a deer.

 

[Number9]

I have no idea where they come from? I believe many could be "pets" that were put-out by their owners, but I'm not sure.
I do know for a fact that large cats are out there!

To say they are not "native" really doesn't apply... and why it seems the first reply is, "you didn't really see one, it had to be a dog, house cat, or bear" is pure BS!

A close encounter of the first kind is a unidentified sighting...
A close encounter of the second kind is an observation of physical evidence...
A close encounter of the third kind is an observation of one or more...
But, a real close encounter is when you help bury one on Signal Mountain, Tennessee!

...and you grin when "they say" it's not possible!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

That picture looks more like a dog to me.

However, my farm is on the base of a mountain in Southwest Virginia with over 5,000 acres of forest around me up the North Slope with as much down the South slope.

My mother has taken pictures of bear in my yard, twice in the last few weeks I've heard something very large on hooves running through the woods above my house, and from the high pitched grunts with its' front hooves landing - I believe that's a very large wild pig.

And last Summer Mom said a mountain lion much larger than she expected they would be, came up in the front yard. She didn't get a picture of that one, and she doesn't live in "Disneyland". She's credible. And she doesn't walk to the mailbox on my one kilometer (6/10's of a mile) driveway.

 

[kuger]

I will say it again.....if you folks lived out west,with your fears you would never leave the house!!!They are thicker than flea's out here....hell a picture of one in the post office last week....was across the street from the PO...DOWNTOWN.We had one radio collared that would send GPS cords every few hours tracking where the cat was and where it traveled....that lion lived in a large city for several weeks,crossed a major freeway 6 times....and not one time was reported...and trust me,if anybody would have seen it we would have got the report...then it would have been in the news...THEN...everybody would claim they seen one too....happens everytime...not one report.How many lbs do yall figure an adult lion weigh's?

 

[Silver Searcher]

What about this paw print Kuger...

SS

 

[Peyton Manning]

one killed a horse and ate it in Nashville.

I think I ate horse in Nashville once, but it was served as steak in a restaurant

 

[Peyton Manning]

If I thought one was living near me I would put up a couple of game cameras to be sure.

 

[TNGUNS]

I often see Bobcat tracks in this area, especially around the TN River. Amazing how seldom you actually see them though. I will occasionally call one in Coyote hunting. Love to watch em. I have never even thought of pulling the trigger on one even though we have a season. Beautiful animals.