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View Full Version : Has anybody seen a mountain lion on/near the AT?



turtle fast
03-18-2008, 10:18
I was watching a tv program that talked about the possibility of mountain lions being in the Appalachians....has anyone seen one on or near the AT?

tlbj6142
03-18-2008, 10:28
There is a very old thread on this subject, somewhere....

tlbj6142
03-18-2008, 10:31
There is a very old thread on this subject, somewhere....Here it is... http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=282

ki0eh
03-18-2008, 11:08
I attended a talk once where there was a representative of the PA Game Commission. Someone asked if he believed mountain lions were in PA. The fellow said something like: "That's PA's most successful reintroduction program. People who report sightings to us seem to enjoy seeing them, but there are no dead livestock, no human injuries, and certainly no funds spent from hunting license revenues on them."

(And that's also the only hint of a sense of humor I've yet seen from an official PGC representative. :D )

buff_jeff
03-18-2008, 11:32
Yeah, it said it's name was Lone Wolf.

turtle fast
03-18-2008, 11:49
After reading some of the old thread stuff I think when I was solo hiking on the NCT in the UP of Michigan,I heard something like that "woman screaming" and growling up on a ridge and it scared the pants off of me...I mean I never heard anything like it and I really was nervous ....I chalked it up to an animal like a wolverine or fischer eating a bird and that it was the bird screaming...but now looking back it could of been a bobcat or cougar...the growling was very "breathy"....deep and not too far away.

sheepdog
03-18-2008, 12:17
There are mountain lions both in the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. The debate rages weather they are natural lions returning to range or domestic cats let go. They are definately here and there was some news of a horse being attacked in the Traverse City area a couple years ago.

hobojoe
03-18-2008, 12:43
I've heard of a spirit mountain lion who lives on Unaka mountain. Just a rumor though

quasarr
03-18-2008, 12:57
My friend showed me a picture taken on a boy scout hike on the AT. I don't remember where exactly it was, probably NC somewhere. In the background of the picture, there's this shadowy animal that looks like it could be a mountain lion. :eek:

The only other animal it could be is a dog, but the tail seems to be too long and curved like a mountain lion. The crazy thing is, they didn't notice the animal at the time when they took the picture! :eek::eek:

I should try and get a scan of that picture to see what Whiteblaze thinks :-?

hacksaw
03-18-2008, 13:04
Yes. (Refer to the thread in post # 3)

Blissful
03-18-2008, 13:09
I thought I saw one in SNP near the Skyline Drive many years ago (like 20).

canoehead
03-18-2008, 14:41
Just had a sighting in Chicoppee, MA. Last week or so, not to far from the AT in Lee & Rt 20. They are using the waterways as corridors.

Jason of the Woods
03-18-2008, 15:01
We had an encounter here locally in KY at The Red River Gorge!

Creek Dancer
03-18-2008, 15:05
I definately heard one in the SNP about three years ago.

chief
03-18-2008, 16:19
Careful of those Eastern mountain lions, they are almost always accompanied by a Big Foot, who is being telepathically controlled by aliens.

canoehead
03-18-2008, 16:22
then you've seen'em

Jail Break
03-18-2008, 17:52
After reading some of the old thread stuff I think when I was solo hiking on the NCT in the UP of Michigan,I heard something like that "woman screaming" and growling up on a ridge and it scared the pants off of me...I mean I never heard anything like it and I really was nervous ....I chalked it up to an animal like a wolverine or fischer eating a bird and that it was the bird screaming...but now looking back it could of been a bobcat or cougar...the growling was very "breathy"....deep and not too far away.

The "woman screaming" claim often turns out to be a fox. They sound like a woman being butchered. Evil sounding.

There are a couple bobcats (mountain lions, whatever) running around in Columbia, NJ, off the Kittatinny Ridge.

Darwin again
03-18-2008, 20:55
Saw one a day north of Pearisburg in '05. Couldn't believe my eyes.

Grumpy Ol' Pops
03-18-2008, 22:17
Careful of those Eastern mountain lions, they are almost always accompanied by a Big Foot, who is being telepathically controlled by aliens.
Send all these little pussycats here to New Jersey! Our Jersey Devil will take care of them!

Grumpy Ol' Pops
03-18-2008, 22:19
The "woman screaming" claim often turns out to be a fox. They sound like a woman being butchered. Evil sounding.

There are a couple bobcats (mountain lions, whatever) running around in Columbia, NJ, off the Kittatinny Ridge.
We've been seeing bobcats (without the tails!) off and on for more that 50 years along the ridges along the Old Mine Road. Sometimes none for five or six years, then too often to even take a second look.

chief
03-19-2008, 01:05
then you've seen'emNot since I laid off the acid.

MoBill122
03-19-2008, 11:10
If you see one be sure to get a picture !! You'll probably be famous for a while, especially if its a picture of that last pounce as it jumps you !

Kerosene
03-19-2008, 11:29
Yes, just south of Harpers Ferry in October 2001. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready when I rounded a corner and came up over a small hillock. The small-ish cougar was perhaps 40 yards ahead of me, right on the trail. For some reason I clapped my hands to scare it off, thinking it was a dog or something, but it quickly left the scene with the kind of feline grace and coloring that could have only been a mountain lion. Needless to say, I kept my eyes peeled to make sure it wasn't stalking me!

Big Blue
03-19-2008, 19:42
Rangers in the SNP say they occasionally find deer carcasas in trees. Although, that could also be from the Manbearpigs.

Jaybird62
03-19-2008, 19:49
Yes, just south of Harpers Ferry in October 2001. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready when I rounded a corner and came up over a small hillock. The small-ish cougar was perhaps 40 yards ahead of me, right on the trail. For some reason I clapped my hands to scare it off, thinking it was a dog or something, but it quickly left the scene with the kind of feline grace and coloring that could have only been a mountain lion. Needless to say, I kept my eyes peeled to make sure it wasn't stalking me!
I was not going to mention this, but I was camping out just south of h.f. about a week ago. Sometime in the middle of the night I was laying there awake, when I heard what sounded like something moving through the leaves towards where I was camped. I sat up in the tent, which of course made some noise. Whatever it was that was approaching hauled butt away for a few seconds and then stopped. It then made a very loud screaming kind of sound. Don't know if it was a mountain lion or maybe a bobcat, but it certainly made a terrible soundin noise. Scared the **** out of me- gotta remember to bring those darn earplugs:(:rolleyes:

warraghiyagey
03-19-2008, 20:23
Actually I've seen lots of mountains lyin on or near the AT.


http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/laughing001.gif

Jaybird62
03-19-2008, 21:38
Actually I've seen lots of mountains lyin on or near the AT.


http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/laughing001.gif
Heeeeeheeeeeeheeeeeeeeheeeeeeeeeeee:p:p:p:p;)

Wise Old Owl
03-19-2008, 21:53
More likely to see the rare Eastern Coyote than a ML - way too rare... Make sure your camera is ready.. You will only get one shot.

Gray Blazer
03-19-2008, 22:48
More likely to see the rare Eastern Coyote than a ML - way too rare... Make sure your camera is ready.. You will only get one shot.

I think it takes a lot of luck and a lot of nerve to get a pic of a big animal in the woods. I had a chance to take some pics of bigfoot footprints on the FT last July (I had the camera in my front pocket).....I was so freaked to see the fresh huge prints that my only thoughts were on survival and getting the h*** out of there.

I could have had a bear shot, but my camera's little happy tune when it turns on scared the bejeezus out of the bear.

Wise Old Owl
03-19-2008, 23:02
that's why I said U only get one shot! - cant argue with that - On the other hand they are skittish with confident humans that arn't running.

jrwiesz
03-20-2008, 09:04
There are mountain lions both in the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. The debate rages weather they are natural lions returning to range or domestic cats let go. They are definately here and there was some news of a horse being attacked in the Traverse City area a couple years ago.

Recent Michigan DNR article.

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/

Last year, there was an unconfirmed report of a cougar being seen in Mid-Forest-Lodge, a private club south of Houghton Lake in the lower penisula. I don't believe it was reported to the DNR, so no investigation was initiated.
I have no reason, not to believe, that the cats are on their way back to lost habitats. I think a lot of critters are on their way back to reclaim what humans have taken from them.:sun

wudhipy
03-20-2008, 09:17
We have them here in E. Kentucky. I've actually seen one in the RRG. Along Hwy 36 in Menifee co. in E. Ky we spotted a large black one crossing the road on 5 seperate occasions. If they are in Ky. it stands to reason they would be along the AT corridor. When talking to Forrest service folks their response was, if we admit they are there we would have to protect them. At any rate using back country precautions to prevent tempting Bears probably works for the cats as well. Keep the cameras ready, and enjoy the woods

wudhipy

littlejon
03-20-2008, 09:28
For what it's worth, my parents own a farm in Creston, NC, just a few air miles from Whitetop and Mt Rogers. For several years now farmers and hunters in that area have been reporting "big kitty" sightings.
I personally have seen 3 1/2 inch dia cat tracks near Elk Garden, though they could have been made by an exceptional bobcat. On another occasion, (same area) I found a calf's carcass that had been "cached" under brush and leaves. My biologist friend said that could be typical of cougar or black bear. In the absence of tracks there was no way to tell.
I think that particular place would be attractive to a predator/scavenger, since they (at least used to) run cattle in the big field near the road.

HikerMan36
03-20-2008, 11:25
What people hear as "A woman screaming" is a bobcat folks!! Not a Mtn. Lion. I have lived near the Mtns. in East TN. all my life and have spent many, many days in them from camping to backpacking to hunting and have never seen one or any signs of one. If a large predator like a Mtn. Lion was active there would be ample signs of them e.g.(footprints,carcasses of lions or their prey,roadkill). I have heard a bobcat's scream several times and it sounds like it is coming from a much larger animal but it is just a bobcat. The mind tends to play tricks on you when you are alone in the deep dark woods:)

Patrickjd9
03-21-2008, 01:34
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=523615&postcount=16

I've seen one about 25 miles west of the AT.

bfitz
03-21-2008, 02:48
I've heard of a spirit mountain lion who lives on Unaka mountain. Just a rumor thoughSumma kai. I've heard stories from a witness.

warraghiyagey
03-21-2008, 03:20
Summa kai. I've heard stories from a witness.

I haven't heard of this. Would like to. Anyone want to share it??

bfitz
03-21-2008, 03:25
I haven't heard of this. Would like to. Anyone want to share it??Some who hike over Unaka mountain by the full moon will be stalked by summa kai, the lion-spirit, an old indian legend says it's so, and a buddy of mine said it happened to him one night by the light o' the moonshine.

warraghiyagey
03-21-2008, 03:28
Do you know what tribe?? In your area I'm guessing possible Cherokee or Creek ?

Heater
03-21-2008, 04:31
More likely to see the rare Eastern Coyote than a ML - way too rare... Make sure your camera is ready.. You will only get one shot.

Nice avatar! That Owl looks very familiar! ;) :D

Pony
03-21-2008, 13:03
What people hear as "A woman screaming" is a bobcat folks!! Not a Mtn. Lion. I have lived near the Mtns. in East TN. all my life and have spent many, many days in them from camping to backpacking to hunting and have never seen one or any signs of one. If a large predator like a Mtn. Lion was active there would be ample signs of them e.g.(footprints,carcasses of lions or their prey,roadkill). I have heard a bobcat's scream several times and it sounds like it is coming from a much larger animal but it is just a bobcat. The mind tends to play tricks on you when you are alone in the deep dark woods:)


If Bobcats are anything like other large cats, then they are really loud. I was at the zoo last fall and one of the lions started roaring. It was so loud that I thought it was a recording over the PA system. There was also another smaller cat that roared that was almost as loud. I gotta think if I heard that in the woods by myself I would be a little freaked out.

warraghiyagey
03-21-2008, 14:14
Some who hike over Unaka mountain by the full moon will be stalked by summa kai, the lion-spirit, an old indian legend says it's so, and a buddy of mine said it happened to him one night by the light o' the moonshine.
Anyone know which two mountains are referred to as the "Sleeping Woman" in Cherokee lore? Supposed to be visible from Okelogee.

Pootz
03-21-2008, 14:19
Bigfoot is not controlled by Aliens, everyone know that Bigfoot is controlled by Al Gore using the Internet. Why else would he have invented it. It is Al Gore that is controlled by Aliens or Tom Cruise I am not sure witch.

Cherokee Bill
03-21-2008, 19:26
Over the past year there have been sightings in VA. The "AT" crosses Rt 60 a few miles -N- of Brown Mtn Creek Shelter. Now going -N- to the top of the mountain, from there to the next shelter, is a good chance for seeing one :eek:

Blue Ridge Parkway area thru Central VA is loaded with Black-Bear & Bob-Cats ;)

Enjoy! Never had a problem with any of the animals :o

geoffrey morris
04-12-2008, 00:08
I live along the AT and have seen a mountain loin here twice in 15 years. When there are around we ofter hear them rather then see them. lol it will make ya think twice about hiking at night.

saimyoji
04-12-2008, 08:32
I heard that "woman screaming" sound near a tent site on the trail in (I think) PA. I've heard them in other places, including a campground in Orange County (California). It always sounds really heart-wrenching to me, like a woman who's just come upon the murdered body of her lover or something. It's a very disturbing sound, especially over and over in the middle of the woods late at night.

Barn owls perhaps?

CaseyB
04-12-2008, 08:40
Some who hike over Unaka mountain by the full moon will be stalked by summa kai, the lion-spirit, an old indian legend says it's so, and a buddy of mine said it happened to him one night by the light o' the moonshine.

Same thing as a wampus cat?:eek:
http://www.americanfolklore.net/folktales/tn3.html

minnesotasmith
04-12-2008, 09:44
In the summer of 1983, right at dusk in a remote wooded section of University of West Florida property (NW FL), I had something large repeatedly make a wide circle around myself and my walking partner, with it hissing and spitting the whole time. It was too large to to be a bobcat/lynx. I never really got a good look at it other than its (reflective) eyes, but it was pretty good size. Florida panther, perhaps, even though those weren't supposed to be in that area?

CBSSTony
04-12-2008, 09:53
One day last week, Tuesday or so,I had taken my Mother on a ride. We went out Richard Russell past Hogpen Gap going South. After pulling into the first lookout past the gap, I was going about 10 or 15 mph so she see the view, and the was movement on the side of the road. Then a Bobcat just shot about half way across the road, stopped looked at us and finished crossing the road and climbed up the hill and was gone. No camera at hand, but did get a good look at the tufted ears and bobbed tail.

Quoddy
04-12-2008, 09:59
My house is on 3 acres which backs onto a couple of thousand acres of wild mountain woodland about 6 miles west of the AT and southern LT. I've seen just about everything in my "back yard" including a mountain lion (called a catamount in this area) and her cubs early last fall. It was my only sighting of the group. I've also seen moose, many coyotes, lots of deer, one bobcat, and one bear.

TIDE-HSV
04-12-2008, 11:26
Around ten years ago, my wife and I had one cross in front of us on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had just turned on the Parkway, coming up from Brevard, heading for the Pisgah Inn, and it was around ten o'clock in the evening. It was a sizable animal, long tail, which was black on the end. And I do know what a bobcat looks like. The posts above are correct about foxes and bobcats - both can make a sound which'll make your blood run cold...

1srelluc
04-13-2008, 15:49
I saw the same Lion twice in three days while deer hunting a mtn near the Shenandoah National Park. As the crow flies it was about 5 miles from Mosby Shelter (or whatever it is called now) on the AT. I was in one of my deer stands and saw the Lion come down a old logging road and go into some mtn laural one afternoon. It was about 75yds away.

The next time I saw the Lion it came off the logging road above me and worked down a old deer trail about 20 yds from the stand I was in. It was roughly 100 lbs so I guess it was a young one. It sure was a nice looking animal. I had the rifle up and on it incase it got ideas on the fat man in the tree but it never noticed me and went down and used the same trail into the laural it did before. I am sure it was the same one.

When it got too dark to shoot I went down and looked where it went up the trail and the tracks were clearly visible. I chuckle to myself when folks say there are no Mountain Lions in Virginia.

mudhead
04-13-2008, 17:02
In the summer of 1983, right at dusk in a remote wooded section of University of West Florida property (NW FL), I had something large repeatedly make a wide circle around myself and my walking partner, with it hissing and spitting the whole time. It was too large to to be a bobcat/lynx. I never really got a good look at it other than its (reflective) eyes, but it was pretty good size. Florida panther, perhaps, even though those weren't supposed to be in that area?

Were you pissing off women 25 years ago, too?

minnesotasmith
04-13-2008, 17:14
Were you pissing off women 25 years ago, too?

common women, MH. ;)

Bulldawg
04-13-2008, 17:23
common women, MH. ;)


What does that mean?

Jim Adams
04-13-2008, 20:11
Careful of those Eastern mountain lions, they are almost always accompanied by a Big Foot, who is being telepathically controlled by aliens.

...you been talk'in to Elvis again?:eek:

geek

SNP in 1990

Montego
04-13-2008, 21:17
In the summer of 1983, right at dusk in a remote wooded section of University of West Florida property (NW FL), I had something large repeatedly make a wide circle around myself and my walking partner, with it hissing and spitting the whole time. It was too large to to be a bobcat/lynx. I never really got a good look at it other than its (reflective) eyes, but it was pretty good size. Florida panther, perhaps, even though those weren't supposed to be in that area?

common women, MH. ;)
__________________

Never met any "common women" with reflective eyes, but then again, there was that time I ran across a bunch of Gypsys in the Black Forest of Germany...................................:D

chief
04-13-2008, 22:53
...you been talk'in to Elvis again?:eek:

geek

SNP in 1990Might as well, I'd fit right in with this crowd!

FIRFTR911
04-15-2008, 08:22
If we have them in Chicago alleys, they must be all over the AT area.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172934

Bulldawg
04-15-2008, 20:09
If we have them in Chicago alleys, they must be all over the AT area.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172934


Dang, you beat me to the story!!!!

Bulldawg
04-15-2008, 20:10
If we have them in Chicago alleys, they must be all over the AT area.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=172934

And by the way, I saw this cat on FOX news, it was definitely a cougar/mountain lion. They were hinting that it was someone's pet escaped or turned loose. I think it was wild, but who am I to say???

Heater
04-15-2008, 20:26
They were hinting that it was someone's pet escaped or turned loose. I think it was wild, but who am I to say???

They should have been able to tell right away.

Bulldawg
04-15-2008, 20:32
They should have been able to tell right away.

I honestly think FOX was hinting at that possibility to stop the general public from thinking a wild Cougar was actually in downtown Chicago.

Wasn't the presence of Cougar recently confirmed in Wisconsin? Chicago is not far from there as we all know.

-Ghost-
04-15-2008, 21:37
Here in Morgantown, WV a few months ago we had a supposed cougar attack just outside of town. The attack however was on a dog, bit the poor pups tail clean off. Apparently they found tracks that looked like cougar tracks but i guess no one ever saw it. The attack was in the middle of the afternoon too. Big cougars scare me way more than bears. :0

TIDE-HSV
04-16-2008, 01:11
The late news said that examination of the cat indicated that it was a wild animal and not an escaped pet. In fact, they said that a search was instituted for a mate, in case there were two??? Amazing that they couldn't stop to consult a feline expert or take the time to go to their laptops and type in "cougar mating patterns."

FIRFTR911
04-16-2008, 07:18
They have the DNA from the cougar seen in Southern Wisconsin a few weeks back, and they are determining if it is indeed the same cat. If it's not, there may well be more outside of their native area (Black Hills, SD) than people want to admit.