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  1. #41
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    Golden Bear is right ...They are a rare sight on the AT.

    So here is what you do...

    First don't run at the first sight or scream of a cougar - they rarely expose their presence. Pretend you ran into them and it was an accident.... In short-don't move.
    Second talk softly ... continue...say kind things..
    Follow this with wine or cheese....Then let them follow you home.... front seat is preferable.


    Papa D that most likely was a bobcat if it was close to dusk or dawn
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  2. #42

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    another big cat spotted in eastern nebraska yesterday
    not usually spotted in the eastern half of the state.

  3. #43
    Registered User Papa D's Avatar
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    thanks Wise Old Owl - I figured the one in NC was a big bobcat, but the one in VT was huge - I mean like a circus lion in size - I suppose it could have been a bobcat - I had had about 1/2 bottle of wine but damn that thing was big and powerful and moved fast - it handled the chicken with ease.

  4. #44
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    "Stay furry my freinds........" Quote from Puss in boots
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  5. #45

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    bobcats have a very short tail and weigh 20-30 pounds.
    mountain lions have a very long tail (2/3 length of their body) and weight 60-100 pounds.
    bobcat is brown and gray with black trim.
    mountain lions are tan to light brown.
    bobcats have longer facial hair and mountain lions have very short hair around their face.

    no reason to confuse them.

    geek

  6. #46
    Registered User johnnybgood's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    Might not have a breeding colony, might not have the numbers to sustain but they are out there and have been for some time. I saw one walking up the AT in front of me just before Waynesboro in 1990.....walked into town and told the story and was told that I was imagining things...none in Va. Two hours later another hiker came into town with the same story and pictures on film (he had them developed in Waynesboro)....people still refused to believe the photos. 21 years later and people are still seeing them in that vicinity and people are still argueing that they don't exist.

    geek
    The one I saw was opposite end of SNP , same year -- several miles south of Dickey's Ridge.

    Same cat ?
    Getting lost is a way to find yourself.

  7. #47
    Registered User Wise Old Owl's Avatar
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    bobcats - cats all the same..................
    Its OK Jim my attitude is about a gator.....
    Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.

    Woo

  8. #48
    Registered User Driver8's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    bobcats have a very short tail and weigh 20-30 pounds.
    mountain lions have a very long tail (2/3 length of their body) and weight 60-100 pounds.
    Not to be contrary, but the Wikipedia articles for bobcat and mountain lion say, respectively, that adult male bobcats weigh about 16-40 lbs, with a maximum verified specimen weight of 49 lbs, and that adult male mountain lions weigh 113-220 lbs, with the largest verified specimen being about 300 lbs. Mountain lions, the article says, rarely attack people, though the reported frequency of attacks has gone up in recent years.
    The more miles, the merrier!

    NH4K: 21/48; N.E.4K: 25/67; NEHH: 28/100; Northeast 4K: 27/115; AT: 124/2191

  9. #49
    Baron
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    How many "pets" or civilized cats do you think are out there?

    geek

    Seeing as there could be up to 10,000 Tigers in capitivity in the States as pets or in roadside zoos, I find it very possible that these mountain lion sightings in the Eastern US are mostly former pets/escapees.
    ‎"You know your camping trip really isn't going well when you find yourself hoping to stave off sepsis with a six-pack of Icehouse. "

    "Age is not an accomplishment, and youth is not a sin."

  10. #50
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    Anybody know anyone with a pet mountian lion or bobcat? and if so, when they hike do they keep it on a leash or violate leash laws?

  11. #51

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    Quote Originally Posted by scissor View Post
    Civilized meaning claws have been clipped. IIRC its a requirement for when big cats get domesticated and they never grow back so they are very easy to spot. We can exchange experiences and valid points back and forth all day but nothing will change the fact the forest service hasn't had any confirmed cases. To me that proves that modern day mountain lion talk isn't much more than just a wives tale.
    Quote Originally Posted by scissor View Post
    “This is the first evidence of a mountain lion making its way to Connecticut from western states, and there is still no evidence indicating that there is a native population of mountain lions in Connecticut,” he said.

    "That means that the animal traveled more than 1,500 miles to Connecticut, more than twice as far as the longest dispersal pattern ever recorded for a mountain lion."
    I wasn't making a case for them being established here; I agree there is no evidence that they are established -- I'm not convinced that are establish, but also not convinced that cubs have not been born in the east. I know that doesn't mean there is a sustainable breeding population, but it is significant; it is much more significant than the tired old line of these so called experts that are alway attributing any sighting as either misidentified animal or an escaped pet.

  12. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by john gault View Post
    I wasn't making a case for them being established here; I agree there is no evidence that they are established -- I'm not convinced that are establish, but also not convinced that cubs have not been born in the east. I know that doesn't mean there is a sustainable breeding population, but it is significant; it is much more significant than the tired old line of these so called experts that are alway attributing any sighting as either misidentified animal or an escaped pet.
    How did you come to the conclusion that it is significant? The Conn finding was this July but that Cat was proven to not even be born on the East coast. The info I read was before that. So the forest service still does not have one Wild northeastern born Panther sighting North of South Carolina since the 50s. And only one wild has ever even made it to the East Coast.

    Aside of that point... look around us. What large wild animals are out in the East that aren't kept there for hunting? They just aren't there anymore and it gets worse every year humans are on this planet. Fossil records have shown that 75% of large animal species are extinct because of human interference (much because of Native American influence). But we should believe that for some reason, in one of the most populated regions of the world in the most populated time ever in the world, we expect a comeback of a 150 pound carnivorous cat? Thats very hard to believe. Again, much of native Mountain Lion talk is not much more than a wives tale. You would probably be more likely to find an Alligator or Croc in Connecticut than a Mountain Lion.

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8e4_1237826906
    http://www.theday.com/article/201107...110729667/1070
    http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-Engla...247173177.html

  13. #53

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    Quote Originally Posted by Migrating Bird View Post
    Anybody know anyone with a pet mountian lion or bobcat? and if so, when they hike do they keep it on a leash or violate leash laws?
    Probably no mouse problems in the shelters. They probably don't have to put up with other hikers snoring either!

  14. #54

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    Quote Originally Posted by Driver8 View Post
    Not to be contrary, but the Wikipedia articles for bobcat and mountain lion say, respectively, that adult male bobcats weigh about 16-40 lbs, with a maximum verified specimen weight of 49 lbs, and that adult male mountain lions weigh 113-220 lbs, with the largest verified specimen being about 300 lbs. Mountain lions, the article says, rarely attack people, though the reported frequency of attacks has gone up in recent years.
    ...just using the figures supplied to me by a mountain lion biologist at a class on mountain lions at the PCT kick off. He pointed out that most mountain lion attacks on humans are a cat and mouse reflex. He said that mountain lions typically don't like the taste of humans and that unless you are running, jogging, bike riding etc., you are too slow and they are bored of you. BTW, he showed a map of southern california with hundreds of push pins locating the mountain lions with radio collars...he had no idea how many more were out there. If they can survive in that populated environment and only be spotted occassionally, I feel sure that a small population in the east could do the same....which seems to be the case.

    ...if there are that many "civilized" mountain lions out there then according to other posts, they are de-clawed so they would probably die of starvation.


    Pa. doesn't have alligators either but the authorities are having trouble trapping an 8 footer in a resevior north of Pittsburgh.


    ...sure people do have exotic pets and when they get tired of them or they become too much to handle they unfortunately for the animal release them into the public.
    I don't think that there are thousands of mountain lions released into the public...figures that large would be too easy to uncover but if just 1 male and 1 female of breeding ages meet in the woods, chances are that they will stay close until mating and offspring are born.....maybe not thousands but if 2 cats produce 2 more every 2 years, in their lifetime they may produce enough to occassionally be spotted in the woods by hikers...just say'in.

    ....besides, the government says that the eastern mountain lion is extint....do you believe everything the government releases statements about?

  15. #55

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    .

    ....besides, the government says that the eastern mountain lion is extint...
    Doesn't make a darned bit of difference if the "eastern mountain lion" as a species is extinct. If there are cats out there (and I've seen one, so I know they are out there) - his pedigree doesn't matter a lot. What are you going to do, tell him to go home?
    Quilteresq
    2013, hopefully.

  16. #56

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    Quote Originally Posted by quilteresq View Post
    Doesn't make a darned bit of difference if the "eastern mountain lion" as a species is extinct. If there are cats out there (and I've seen one, so I know they are out there) - his pedigree doesn't matter a lot. What are you going to do, tell him to go home?
    Exactly!

    geek

  17. #57
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    Would love to see one be a heck of a way to die.

  18. #58
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    I saw one this summer near Mt. Rogers Nat. Rec. Area, and I have no doubt about what I saw. I sort have a different attitude than most I see on here in that I hope they don't make a comeback here. A lot of people on WB seem to be really afraid of black bears, but I have to say mountain lions are a lot more scary to me. I've heard too many news reports about people being killed by them I suppose.
    "You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."

  19. #59
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    In North Fl a few days ago. Near the Florida Trail along the Suwannee. Fair size bobcat. They're out there.
    Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other.
    —M. C. Richards

  20. #60
    Registered User Driver8's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Adams View Post
    ...just using the figures supplied to me by a mountain lion biologist at a class on mountain lions at the PCT kick off.
    IIRC the article says that there's a north-south size gradient in mountain lions, with north larger than south (I'm guessing b/c of need to put on weight for cold winters), so the prof. might've been talking about those in the more southerly reaches of California.
    The more miles, the merrier!

    NH4K: 21/48; N.E.4K: 25/67; NEHH: 28/100; Northeast 4K: 27/115; AT: 124/2191

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