View Full Version : Cougar Hysteria!!
Here is a great article that attempts to describe the cougar hysteria phenomenon, just as we participated at some length on a few threads here on Whiteblaze, and just why so many believe they have seen what really wasn't there.
My favorite was the 'mystical' black panther.
Here is a great article that attempts to describe the cougar hysteria phenomenon, just as we participated at some length on a few threads here on Whiteblaze, and just why so many believe they have seen what really wasn't there.
My favorite was the 'mystical' black panther.
http://www.cougarnet.org/12-06newsletter/IndArticles/Cougar%20Hysteria.pdf
oops, forgot the link:D
Snopes on the mountain lion topic:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/patiomountainlion.asp
So, for those who think they saw one, it most likely wasn't one at all-just an over-active imagination conjuring up a dose of 'wishful thinking'! Those mystical 'black' ones were especially intriguing for me.
What is particularly striking is just how pervasive this phenomenon has become, not only in the US, but in other countries like England and Australia where they have never existed at all, yet have been reported as being seen there.
The article further explains how the media jumps in to reinforce the myth with unsubstantiated, often exaggerated reporting and included into that media category internet chat rooms and forums like ours. In fact, I kept thinking they would single out whiteblaze specifically but didn't.
It is a peculiar phenomenon that so many seem to have fallen blindly into.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
03-06-2007, 07:39
I saw one of the cougars back in the mid-1970's in a very remote section of the GSMNP - about midway between Twentymile Ranger station and Siler's Bald on Bone Valley Trail. I have seen many bobcats, feral domestic cats and mixed bobcat / domestics in the woods and near the woods. The animal I saw was twice the size of the biggest bobcat I've ever seen, was a light tan or gold with some lighter area on its chest and had a long tail. It looked like female lions I've seen at the zoo.
I also saw some very large cat paw prints at the creek - the distinctive cat pad, four toes without claws and about 3" across.
saimyoji
03-06-2007, 08:43
Camped for two weeks in the Black Hills, SD when I was in college. Heard lots of coyote, never saw any cougar. In fact, had we known it was prime cougar territory, we may not have done some of the things we did....:-?
I saw a dead cougar on the highway 3 miles south of the Virginia/North Carolina border on I-95. That was in 2000. It wasn't a figment...it was real. My wife was with me. She saw it, too.
Unfortunately, for all my years in Florida, I never saw a Florida panther.
I was lucky enough to see a Florida Panther in Big Cypress Preserve while on my way down for a hike there last year. It was maybe 3am or sometime in the very late evening/early morning hours. We had just passed a 'Panther Crossing' sign and I commented how cool it would be if we saw one. My hiking partner laughed and said 'Not likely'..then she hit the brakes. We saw the panther's eyes glowing in the headlights first, then a very quick glimpse of the whole animal before it took off. Totally awesome stroke of luck.
Pedaling Fool
03-06-2007, 11:30
I've never seen one, but I believe there is a real good possibility they are out there (were not talking about BIGFOOT). Although, some idiots do treat this issue as a BIGFOOT thing. As far as I'm concerned, I hope this remains a mystery, it's best for the mountain lions, if they are out there. If NEWB did see one along I-95, I'm glad he did not call the authorities for investigation.
I agree that they may be out there, but I see the point of the article, for sure. I also heard the countless 'cougar' or 'black panther' stories as a kid living in upstate NY. One theory was that people were seeing fishers and mistaking them for black panthers. Who knows.
It's a shame for the people who maybe actually did see one. I guess it's like the UFO thing... there are so many hoaxes and explainable phenomena that is mistaken for something else that it muddies the waters and makes it hard to tell if a sighting is the real thing.
Gray Blazer
03-06-2007, 12:12
Those pics at the bottom look familiar. I saw a black cat (I'm not saying it was a cougar or puma, but it was big). If you come down to Shiloh, FL, I'll show you the abandoned house the locals say it lives in.