Mountain Lions

[Mobasser]

Several years ago, my wife and I were driving home. It was dusk. A young deer ran across the road about 30 feet in front of us. I slowed down, and my wife said look at that! When I turned to look, a large cat was trotting up the embankment on the road, moving away from us. The cat had been chasing this deer. When it saw the headlights from our truck, it took off.             Two years ago,  in the winter, I stepped out on my back porch to check the snowfall. In the woods near our house, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming. I listened for a few  minutes. The screaming sound was loud, and high pitched. When I looked this up on our Missouri  conservation website, I learned that this is the sound female lions make when calling in a mate. I also learned that mountain lions range up to 100 miles.                         Ive read stories of people being attacked by them, but, I don't know that I believe this.ive also read that they've been known to circle behind hunters, hikers etc. Again, I don't know for sure about this. The big cats are very reclusive, and move around at dusk and in darkness.                                                As areas get developed, these big cats move to new places.                              Do you have mountain lions in your area. Have you ever seen or had an encounter with one?

 

[Jar11591]

No mountain lions in New York State for over a century. The DEC gets lots of reports of sightings each year but they are always a case of mistaken identity of a bobcat or Canadian lynx. Mountain lions are the most fearsome predator in the US in my opinion. Silent, stealthy, and deadly. They could sink their fangs into your neck before you even knew it was there. I love the idea of them living in NYS, but I may feel differently during a camping trip or a hike. The only thing we have to worry about in NY is the many black bears. But they want nothing to do with humans and I can’t recall ever hearing about an incident involving humans and black bears. 
 

 

[padlin]

The closest I’ve gotten is coming upon tracks while out hiking off trail, once in Zion, and once in Kodachrome SP. Just Bobcats here in Ma.

 

I’ve seen panther, or at least that’s what I’ve called them, in Florida near Naples, 40 years ago before the retirement community boom.

[Jig Man]

I’ve seen 1.  The wife of one of our farm hands saw one.  We never see one on the game cameras.

[Scott F]

While visiting The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge near Cape Cañaveral in Florida, we were on a wildlife drive when we saw what we thought was a deer lying on the side of the narrow road. As we got closer, the animal which was darker in color than a deer, stood up and started walking away from us down the road. We immediately knew then it wasn’t a deer as we could see the long, brown tail. The panther stopped, turned his head and looked at us for a few seconds before bounding off into the dense foliage. We later stopped into the visitor center and spoke to a ranger about what we saw. He said he wasn’t aware of any Florida panthers in the refuge. My wife and I were extremely lucky to have been privileged to see this rare and beautiful animal. 

[TOXIC]

Waiting for all of the California folks to chime in.  They are a problem there.  

[Glenn]

There are plenty in my area...even my neighborhood.  One was spotted just last week along a hiking trail just a 1/2 mile from me.  That's pretty cool.

 

Although I haven't encountered one in the wild, I know folks that have.  Generally they leave you alone, but if they're following you, making yourself "big" and standing your ground is the best defense from becoming a happy meal.

 

The game dept. used to be able to use dogs to track and tree problem cougars. A tranquilizer dart and a free ride to the wilderness was the prize.  However, an animal rights group got a measure on the ballot and used an animal cruelty campaign about "hunting" cougars with dogs to get it passed by voters who have no clue about wildlife and game management. 

 

Now, there are more human encounters than ever before, often resulting in euthanizing an innocent animal for just doing what its instincts tell them to do.  It's a tragic situation.  I have a hard time understanding how an "animal rights" group pushed an ordinance that ended up killing animals rather than setting them free.  But that's the kind of "logic" we live with now.

[GreenPig]

 Encountered YES. The DNR says we don't have them here in Ga.. Everytime I'm in Publix I'm concerned for my well-being with all the Cougars. I wear this gray beard but I'm pretty sure they can tell I'm younger than I look. It's a truly dangerous situation because you're not supposed to turn your back on them. But when there's dozens, what are gonna do?

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, GreenPig said:

 Encountered YES. The DNR says we don't have them here in Ga.. Everytime I'm in Publix I'm concerned for my well-being with all the Cougars. I wear this gray beard but I'm pretty sure they can tell I'm younger than I look. It's a truly dangerous situation because you're not supposed to turn your back on them. But when there's dozens, what are gonna do?

guess you kinda just have to go along for the ride?

 

7 hours ago, Mobasser said:

Several years ago, my wife and I were driving home. It was dusk. A young deer ran across the road about 30 feet in front of us. I slowed down, and my wife said look at that! When I turned to look, a large cat was trotting up the embankment on the road, moving away from us. The cat had been chasing this deer. When it saw the headlights from our truck, it took off.             Two years ago,  in the winter, I stepped out on my back porch to check the snowfall. In the woods near our house, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming. I listened for a few  minutes. The screaming sound was loud, and high pitched. When I looked this up on our Missouri  conservation website, I learned that this is the sound female lions make when calling in a mate. I also learned that mountain lions range up to 100 miles.                         Ive read stories of people being attacked by them, but, I don't know that I believe this.ive also read that they've been known to circle behind hunters, hikers etc. Again, I don't know for sure about this. The big cats are very reclusive, and move around at dusk and in darkness.                                                As areas get developed, these big cats move to new places.                              Do you have mountain lions in your area. Have you ever seen or had an encounter with one?

 

 

I'd love to see one but we certainly dont have any here.

[F14A-B]

They are in Indiana, courtesy of the States DNR.. southwestern-southern Indiana, Ohio river area. There has been a sighting in Clark county. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

This topic came up not too long ago at the local coffee shop. A few farmers swore that they had seen a huge cat on a sprinkler pivot, swinging his tail with not a care in the world. If the men had been less credible I wouldn’t have believed them, but they aren’t liars. 

[Swamp Girl]

I've never seen one. Wish I had. I've only seen two bobcats and I've spent a LOT of time in the woods.

[Rockhopper]

I have seen, hunted, harvested plenty of lions over the years.  Grew up hunting them with dogs.

[BassKat]

Wow, I spent several days looking for one backcountry in Glacier working on a lower-48 photographic grand slam and never could see one. 

[WRB]

California has a population of Mountain Lions that are protected species and over populating some areas.

The big cats need about 20 square miles of hunting area for each cat. Without any reduction in population they over whelm the natural hunting zones each cat stakes out so they invade neighbor hoods with live stock or pets to hunt. 
We have crazy animal lovers that promote building over passes on freeways so the cats can crossover. We have overpasses for cars the cats use why build special for cats to use to go into populated neighborhoods?

We have mountain lions collared every year near and released nearby.

Deer population is very low in our area so the big cats chased out of good area ends up in our neighbor hoods looking for prey, not a good situation.

Tom

[steve carpenter]

I have not seen one, but know people who have. There are quite a few of them in Texas and here in central Texas. The hill country is very rough and plenty of deer. My daughter is hiking tommorrow in a park that they have posted mountain lions are present.

[TnRiver46]

They said we didn’t have them in TN for a long time but a few folks have had them show up around middle and west TN so I guess we’ve got them now. I wouldn’t mind never seeing one 😂 

[gim]

Never seen one other than at the zoo. They occasionally roam through Minnesota. They are younger males seeking new territory. One was hit by a car in 2022 right here in the Twin Cities about 7 miles from my house. There has not been any evidence of a reproducing population here though. The nearest reproducing population is in the Black Hills.

 

Minnesota has the highest population of gray wolves in the country. I’ve never seen one of them either, even after spending 25 years hunting deer in prime wolf country every fall.

 

These are elusive, wary predators that cover a lot of ground so the chances of encountering one is very rare.

[BassKat]

@TnRiver46  My best friend's from Brownsville and is a big hunter with his ear permanently nailed to the tracks. He said there have been 4 west TN sightings verifies by the TWRA. Just so many deer, bound to happen I guess.

Check out this video about cougars coming across the MS river into west TN and TWRA saying they're there to stay