WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 123
  1. #41
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default

    USFWS isn't obligated to assist in establishing a population of cougars of dubious and/or mixed genetic background any more than they are obligated to assist in establishing a population of feral, pet wolves.

    Extralimital species that turn up outside their normal range otherwise known as vagrants do not constitute a breeding population. If cougars expand their range on their own, that's a different issue.

    The Florida panther is a distinct population and continues to have full protection under the Endangered Species Act as it should.
    Last edited by emerald; 08-20-2011 at 10:05.

  2. #42
    Registered User scope's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-08-2006
    Location
    Chamblee, GA
    Age
    60
    Posts
    1,582
    Images
    34

    Default

    I know how to find big cats... get a helicopter with a spotlight!
    (move it around like a laser pen)
    "I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
    - Kate Chopin

  3. #43
    Registered User nathan2's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-29-2011
    Location
    Brooklyn, New York, United States
    Age
    44
    Posts
    63

    Default

    I love it!

  4. #44

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kerosene View Post
    You know of 4, Stumpy! I saw one on the AT about 40 yards ahead of me on a crisp, clear October day in 2001 about 4 miles south of Harpers Ferry.
    Dang....you too?? Good for you!! The other three I know of that has seen one on the AT was Rambunny, Trek and Doc & Wounded Knee. I heard the one Doc & Wounded Knee saw, but I never saw it.

    I really have been watching for one out west on the CDT, but haven't been lucky enough to actually lay eyes on one yet. Mrs Gorp saw one from the truck this year, but I was driving and couldn't turn fast enough to see it. That doesn't count as seeing one on a trail anyways.

    My best sighting out west has been a wolverine.
    Stumpknocker
    Appalachian Trail is 35.9% complete.

  5. #45
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-22-2009
    Location
    Ashburnham, MA
    Age
    80
    Posts
    1,951
    Images
    2

    Default

    There's been a small number of cougars that have been verified in New England and Quebec. Where DNA testing was done, I think all have been South American except the Greenwich, CT, animal. This means they've been captive animals that were released or escaped. The Conn. animal was from the Dakotas. I've read a report by a reliable person of a cougar in the Adirondacks, but I'm skeptical.

    There was a cougar shot in northern Georgia; this was genetically a Florida panther. Mt. Rogers would be a couple hundred miles further; that's a bit far for it to wander, but young males do travel.

    I'm skeptical that what Vamelungeon saw was a cougar, but it's possible. I also don't think it was a fisher because that's outside their known range, and V. would not have mistaken a fisher for a cougar.

    If it really was a cougar, congratulations!! Not many people in the east have seen one in the wild.

  6. #46
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-11-2008
    Location
    Hiawassee, GA
    Posts
    267
    Images
    11

    Default

    DON'T SAY THAT! We'll have to deal with another "Animal Planet" tv show looking for mountain lions this time ... down here in GA !

    Quote Originally Posted by vamelungeon View Post
    I was hiking north to the Mt. Rogers NRA HQ today and at about 1pm I saw a mountain lion cross the trail about 75 yards ahead of me. It ran across the trail then jumped up on a fallen tree and paused, then jumped down into the woods. My view of it was clear and unobstructed. There was no doubt about what it was, from the super long tail, the tawny color, the huge but low slung body. I've seen one in a zoo and of course on film but never in person before. I've been a lifelong hunter in southwest Virginia and I've seen a lot of wildlife but this cougar was a new experience. It wasn't a bobcat or Aunt Tilly's housecat. I only wish I'd had a camera in my hand.

  7. #47
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-11-2008
    Location
    Hiawassee, GA
    Posts
    267
    Images
    11

    Default

    All cracks aside though (and it sounds like you were ready for them vamelungeon) - I have knowledgable friends that I believe have seen a mountain lion in a remote areas of the North GA mountains - so why not you in VA? There food source is back - and they are the wiliest, most agile and possibly most intelligent big mammals that used to frequent these hills. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park - "Nature will find a way". I just hope that some of the things I'm hearing being whispered are NOT true though ... and that is ... that "the hunters have found a way" to keep this small population that is on a slow comeback from being recognized - to increase their chances of bagging one before the situation becomes regulated by the authorities. I hope that rumour is MORE unreliable than the bigfoot rumours...
    Quote Originally Posted by Sir-Packs-Alot View Post
    DON'T SAY THAT! We'll have to deal with another "Animal Planet" tv show looking for mountain lions this time ... down here in GA !

  8. #48
    Registered User vamelungeon's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-24-2009
    Location
    Wise, Va
    Age
    63
    Posts
    968
    Images
    24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sir-Packs-Alot View Post
    All cracks aside though (and it sounds like you were ready for them vamelungeon) - I have knowledgable friends that I believe have seen a mountain lion in a remote areas of the North GA mountains - so why not you in VA? There food source is back - and they are the wiliest, most agile and possibly most intelligent big mammals that used to frequent these hills. As Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park - "Nature will find a way". I just hope that some of the things I'm hearing being whispered are NOT true though ... and that is ... that "the hunters have found a way" to keep this small population that is on a slow comeback from being recognized - to increase their chances of bagging one before the situation becomes regulated by the authorities. I hope that rumour is MORE unreliable than the bigfoot rumours...
    I haven't heard anyone say that here in Va. It could be true though. I know people who think that way.
    "You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."

  9. #49
    Registered User SassyWindsor's Avatar
    Join Date
    07-19-2007
    Location
    Knightsbridge, London UK
    Posts
    969

    Default

    One time, while at a Zoo, I saw a thru-hiker cross my path 30 meters in front of me.

  10. #50
    Registered User
    Join Date
    10-27-2005
    Location
    Berks County, PA
    Age
    62
    Posts
    7,159
    Images
    13

    Default

    I don't care if you saw someone who had a certificate of recognition from ATC in hand, that doesn't prove anything!

  11. #51
    Registered User DLANOIE's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-27-2005
    Location
    Salem, OR
    Age
    43
    Posts
    573
    Images
    20

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SassyWindsor View Post
    One time, while at a Zoo, I saw a thru-hiker cross my path 30 meters in front of me.
    Without a pic, it didnt happen.
    skinny d

  12. #52
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-22-2007
    Location
    Wilkesboro, NC
    Age
    65
    Posts
    1

    Default

    I would normally think this was pretty cool, but I am heading up tomorrow evening to do some hiking and overnighting just past Wilburn Ridge. Looks like I better bring some ear plugs, I will probably be a bit jumpy when things go bump in the night.

  13. #53

    Default

    75 yards is a long way but I do believe you. Or at least I believe you you saw what you saw. Though, one time I was sure I say lion (like in Africa) three times as I hike up some switchbacks even when I know you don't find them in the US and for sure not on the AT. It turned out to be a big golden retriever walking in the woods. That said, here in southern wisconsin my daughter almost hit a cougar last year and there has not been a confirmed sighting years. So it does not surprise me if you did see one. I wish I was there. I carry my camera out and ready to shoot.

    BTY - the cougar killed in Connecticut was known to have traveled all the way from Wisconsin.

  14. #54
    Registered User vamelungeon's Avatar
    Join Date
    03-24-2009
    Location
    Wise, Va
    Age
    63
    Posts
    968
    Images
    24

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mmccue View Post
    I would normally think this was pretty cool, but I am heading up tomorrow evening to do some hiking and overnighting just past Wilburn Ridge. Looks like I better bring some ear plugs, I will probably be a bit jumpy when things go bump in the night.
    As an insomniac I sometimes carry a small bottle of Nyquil. I used to use Ambien but started having that "Ambien Amnesia" and quit taking it. With a small dose of Nyquil you'll sleep soundly. An elephant could trumpet and you wouldn't hear it. I've never been all that scared in the woods except when a screech owl let loose with it's blood curdling cry a few times. That always scares the you-know-what out of me. As I understand it, if you are stalked by a mountain lion you won't know it until it's too late.
    "You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."

  15. #55
    Registered User SawnieRobertson's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-15-2002
    Location
    Sugar Grove, Virginia
    Age
    90
    Posts
    1,356
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    I do not welcome the mountain lion. They are not good neighbors. I would have preferred that V. keep his lion on the west side of I-81. On the other hand, the talk about fisher cats solved a mystery for me. A creature that looked like a marten, a mink, and ever so many other wildlife that like to be near creeks and other water sources, went quickly leaping (about 8 inches high at the most) in my duck pen when I went out to allow the ducks to forage. I had recently lost six ducks and immediately got a trap set up. I also went to the Internet to ID the mammal. No search ever reveal a photo that matched, chiefly because this fellow had a bushy tail as long as his Dashund-shaped body. (pardon the spelling) But there he is in the picture on the link about fishers. SO I have sighted a fisher at Sugar Grove, Virginia!

    But, back to the mountain lion, I believe you V., and I am glad you had the good sense not to run from or, for that matter, pursue it. I think it is time for PMags to chime in on how he enjoys hiking with lions in the Rockies and for that matter within Boulder.--Kinnickinic
    You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
    --Salaun

  16. #56
    Registered User
    Join Date
    08-01-2011
    Location
    Green Valley, TN
    Posts
    8

    Default

    An elderly friend of mine saw one in the early 1970s in the GSMNP - Twenty Mile area just after it got light enough to see clearly. He was a veternarian at the UTK veterinary hospital which treated the big cats from the Knoxville Zoo so he knew what he was seeing. He did not make it public because he was afraid someone would attempt to hunt the animal.

  17. #57
    Registered User Sir-Packs-Alot's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-11-2008
    Location
    Hiawassee, GA
    Posts
    267
    Images
    11

    Default

    I could understand feeling that way ...
    Quote Originally Posted by JollyMaiden View Post
    An elderly friend of mine saw one in the early 1970s in the GSMNP - Twenty Mile area just after it got light enough to see clearly. He was a veternarian at the UTK veterinary hospital which treated the big cats from the Knoxville Zoo so he knew what he was seeing. He did not make it public because he was afraid someone would attempt to hunt the animal.

  18. #58
    PCT, Sheltowee, Pinhoti, LT , BMT, AT, SHT, CDT, TRT 10-K's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-30-2007
    Location
    Erwin, TN
    Age
    62
    Posts
    8,492

    Default

    You're a lot more likely to be bit by a snake than attacked by a mountain lion.

  19. #59

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bronconite View Post
    There is no scientific evidence of the existence of mountain lions that are black. The cats we know as "black panthers" in North/Central/South America are melanistic jaguars.
    Well, how about that? Ya' learn something new everyday...Any scientific evidence of how they got here (southeastern U.S.?) Call it what you want, either way--he/she was a BIG Black kitty!! A memorable experience for me!
    Sunny aka Sunrise ga-me 02 aka Cody Zamora
    Have a bright and
    Sunny Day!

  20. #60

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Local View Post
    I'm going to go with vamelungeon on this, and accept that he saw either a mountain lion or something very close to one. In over 60 years of hiking these hills I've run up onto many strange things, including wild boar, moonshiners, meth labs, very large animals that ran away in the night, bobcat, and my latest favorite, a very large bear that tried to hide behind a tree that was at the most four inches wide. Once I went into an abandoned mountain cabin where the ceiling and walls had fallen in, and in the middle of it was an intact and lived-in room with a ticking clock. I didn't stay around.
    Did you get pics?
    Sunny aka Sunrise ga-me 02 aka Cody Zamora
    Have a bright and
    Sunny Day!

Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •