Cougars ( mountain lions)

There have been reports of mountain lions making a comeback along the trail. For many years these animals have been thought of all but extinct along the Appalachian Trail corridor. Anyone know anything about this or have any comments or experiences.

[EarlyRiser]

yeah one walked about seven feet by my head while i was sleeping in july. atleast i think it was, or it was a very large bobcat but i think it mighta been a mountain lion. it was pretty scary.

[Jumpstart]

We think we heard one, (but really, might be a bobcat, who knows?) At Quarry Gap Shelter in PA, at 3:00 in the morning. Scared the daylights out of me.

[highway]

I guess if I had to choose, I'd much prefer a black bear encounter than one with a cougar; they really hunt for a living!

[Kerosene]

I just read an on-line article about cougars supposedly in the Connecticut/Massachusetts area: Mountain Lions in Connecticut?

[Singletrack]

The hair on my head stood straight up when I ran upon 2 Black Panthers just before Carter Gap Shelter, hiking South in 2000. Their growling scared the $%#& out of me. Both ran off to the right of me, and I ran down the Trail, the other way. Later talked to a Forest Ranger friend in the Nantahalas, and he said they have quiet a few sightings. And are fairly common for the locals. They were the largest cats I have ever seen in person. So if you plan to stay around Carter Gap Shelter, sleep easy, you will probably have more problems with mice than Panthers.

[steve]

I took note of the black panther sightings near Carter Gap shelter since I was just in the area on a section hike. By the way as most know, there is no American species of a panther that is black. The only such species is the black leopard in Africa (and Asia?). Could these have escaped from captivity?

[Singletrack]

Steve, that was the question, I had for my Forest Ranger friend. He insisted he knows someone that a black panther visits their backyard occassionally.

[funkyfreddy]

I also heard this from someone who worked for the Smithsonion, that there were black panther sightings in Pa. and W. Virginia. There are black panthers in Central and South America. I believe they are black Jaguars. By the way, there are mountain lion threads on quite a few outdoor bulletin boards. Maybe I'll come back and post the links. If you're interested in mountain lions a good book to read is "The Beast In The Garden" by David Baron.

[cabalot]

Originally Posted by Kerosene

I just read an on-line article about cougars supposedly in the Connecticut/Massachusetts area: Mountain Lions in Connecticut?

i lived in CT from 94-03. my supervisor lived in washington,CT, very rural area in north west CT. he saw big cats in his back yard, not sure if cougar or mountain lion but definately a big wild cat.

black bears are shy scavengers, foragers. big wild cats look for prey. they hunt and are territorial. i dont think a camper cooking dinner has to worry but someone moving thru a cats habitat could be a target. in CA mountain bikers have recently been attacked. i think it was because the cats saw a fast moving target and attact by instinct. and they are used to people.

from what i have seen on discovery channel, animals that hunt do not like the taste of human flesh because of our diets, but attack because of they are territorial and instinctively take advantage of any chance of a meal.

[Youngblood]

Originally Posted by cabalot

from what i have seen on discovery channel, animals that hunt do not like the taste of human flesh because of our diets, but attack because of they are territorial and instinctively take advantage of any chance of a meal.

Just a simple question... how do they know what human flesh taste like?

Youngblood

[mdionne]

i've spotted several black panthers since the sixties. and it's never about hunting. it's about the white man did this and black power that. it's good to see they are congregating at carvers gap to put some unity back into their community

[tarbubble]

Originally Posted by cabalot

from what i have seen on discovery channel, animals that hunt do not like the taste of human flesh because of our diets, but attack because of they are territorial and instinctively take advantage of any chance of a meal.

doesn't stop them out here in CA. we just had a mountain biker killed & partially eaten in Orange County, and i just read about a body found near the Mount Laguna section of the PCT that had been partially eaten by a cougar (no word yet on cause of death).

so if you see a cougar stalking you, don't count on it thinking "nah, humans taste bad." of course, you'll probably never see it... (insert evil laugh)

[smokymtnsteve]

black panthers are usually seen near big foot.

[cabalot]

Originally Posted by Youngblood

Just a simple question... how do they know what human flesh taste like?

Youngblood

mostly instinct, i suppose smell to.

[smokymtnsteve]

Originally Posted by Youngblood

Just a simple question... how do they know what human flesh taste like?

Youngblood

from the big cat neighborhood pot-lucks????

you always have to watch what you eat at those get-togethers.

[Uncle Wayne]

Our shuttle guy last October, Eric, of "A Walk In The Woods" told us some tourist had videoed a panther / mountain lion in a remote area of the Smoky Mtn. park a year or so ago. The story goes that a copy of the video was given to the NPS but they wouldn't admit there were mountain lions in the park and according to them, they couldn't make a positive ID of the animal in the video. After a month or so of being ignored he carried his video to a local TV station and they aired the story and video. With public pressure, Eric said the NPS finally admitted there could be big cats in the park. He said the NPS has set up several "scratch posts" in the backcountry to get a hair sample or claw pattern. No update had been released by the NPS as of last October.
Have any of you that live in the area heard of this before?

[Jaybird]

Originally Posted by Former Admin

There have been reports of mountain lions making a comeback along the trail.............

from: www.museum.nhm.uga.edu/gawildlife

The Mountain Lion was once found throughout the United States in varied habitats from swamps to prairies, and mountains of the eastern and western states. Now it is restricted to wilderness areas of the American West and a remnant population in southern Florida. It is possible that the Mountain Lion may occur in wilderness areas of the Blue Ridge mountains (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee & Virginia) and within the Okefenokee Swamp.



there's MUCHO wildlife out there! dont bother them...& 99% of the time...they won't bother you!



see ya'll UP the trail!

[tlbj6142]

What what their numbers are like in Canada? For some reason I thought I read an article (in Outside?) a year ago that that talked about thier increasing numbers in Canada. And how they were slowly moving back into the eastern US. I believe Michigan was mentioned by name in the article.

Courgars (et al) are very reclusive anaimals. No one even knows how many there maybe out West. I've seen up to 64K. That's a lot of cats that no one ever sees. Some of them have to be working their way east in search of more space.

Besides, the deer population is insane in the East. You can almost hand feed them just about anywhere you go. So it seems like there is plenty of food for them.

[jojo0425]

A Florida panther attacked a day hiker last year. There was an article in the Florida Trail Association newsletter. The hiker got away, just scared and a ripped daypack, so hopefully if you leave them alone, they (the wild creatures in the woods) will leave you alone.
Of course if it gets too scary, you could always just lay on the sandy beaches of Florida, no panthers or bears, just big fat ugly tourists