Cougar near Hogpen!

[Frick Frack]

My wife and I were on a road bike ride in the gaps (Neel's, Wolfpen, Woodys) yesterday and I had to cut it short and head back to work. My wife and a few others went on to Craig's Gap off 180 and one of the guys had a punture on Craig's Gap Road. As they were replacing the tube they heard a loud cougar cry and looked up across the road and not but 10ft off the road was a cougar looking at them. It stood up against the tree and growled again before walking off. They couldn't believe it! She said it was as big as me maybe bigger! She said the sound that it made was amazing (loud and deep). That would be the approximate area of Poplar Stomp Gap, Low Gap, Hog Pen Gap, Tesnatee Gap on the AT. Anyone else seen such a cat in that area around the AT? I'm so mad I missed it!

[Bulldawg]

My wife and I were on a road bike ride in the gaps (Neel's, Wolfpen, Woodys) yesterday and I had to cut it short and head back to work. My wife and a few others went on to Craig's Gap off 180 and one of the guys had a punture on Craig's Gap Road. As they were replacing the tube they heard a loud cougar cry and looked up across the road and not but 10ft off the road was a cougar looking at them. It stood up against the tree and growled again before walking off. They couldn't believe it! She said it was as big as me maybe bigger! She said the sound that it made was amazing (loud and deep). That would be the approximate area of Poplar Stomp Gap, Low Gap, Hog Pen Gap, Tesnatee Gap on the AT. Anyone else seen such a cat in that area around the AT? I'm so mad I missed it!

I've been hearing about a cougar in that area for about 2 years now.

[max patch]

I've been hearing about a cougar in that area for about 2 years now.

Shes about 45 years old and looks a little rough around the edges.

[Maddog]

shes About 45 Years Old And Looks A Little Rough Around The Edges.

lmao!!!!!!!!!!

[bigmac_in]

I'll believe it when I see pictures . . .

[Frick Frack]

Shes about 45 years old and looks a little rough around the edges.

lmao!!!!!!!!!!

I'm too old to understand what the heck you all are talking about.

[Yahtzee]

Sucks you missed the cougar, that would be an amazing sight to see.

If you really don't know, a "cougar" is a term for a middle-aged woman who prowls for much younger men.

[Frick Frack]

Sucks you missed the cougar, that would be an amazing sight to see.

If you really don't know, a "cougar" is a term for a middle-aged woman who prowls for much younger men.

Yeah, as usual I had the camera and was not there. My wife has seen two of them now & I have only heard them....one of the few native animal's I have yet to see. My aunt & uncle also saw one up in the woods behind a cabin my family used to have that bordered the GSMNP.

Those guys must have smoked their breakfast.....

[Reid]

They caught a 250 lb one in mid state SC about a year or two ago. Said it was eating livestock from the surronding farms. I don't doubt there are some big cats up there. Everybody who has a cat can tell you that they can hide inside a small house and not be found regardless of how long you look for them so to go unseen in a large outdoor area is not much to believe.

[rhjanes]

Could be a good thing?

[Dances with Mice]

What a cool sighting.

Refresh my memory, it's been a while since I moseyed down that road: Isn't Craig's Gap Rd right before the intersection of the Richard B and GA-180? Real close to the village of Choestoe? It's pretty much right at the edge of the National Forest, and Craigs Gap travels past a lot of farms, doesn't it?

What I'm trying to say is, isn't that area more farmland than wilderness?

[bigmac_in]

They caught a 250 lb one in mid state SC about a year or two ago. Said it was eating livestock from the surronding farms. I don't doubt there are some big cats up there. Everybody who has a cat can tell you that they can hide inside a small house and not be found regardless of how long you look for them so to go unseen in a large outdoor area is not much to believe.

I'd like to see pictures of that one too.

[Frick Frack]

What a cool sighting.

Refresh my memory, it's been a while since I moseyed down that road: Isn't Craig's Gap Rd right before the intersection of the Richard B and GA-180? Real close to the village of Choestoe? It's pretty much right at the edge of the National Forest, and Craigs Gap travels past a lot of farms, doesn't it?

What I'm trying to say is, isn't that area more farmland than wilderness?

They saw the cougar right at the intersection of Richard B (348) and Craig's Gap Road (they were actually at the stop sign). They were right infront of someone's house. That particular area is indeed farmland, or rural, at the base of all the surrounding wilderness......not exactally where i would ever dream of a cougar encounter....esp one that was not bothered by 3 wet, muddy road bikers. When my wife & I went through the VA highlands on our SOBO last year another hiker had spotted a cougar & I can see one hanging out there in the wilderness, perched on rocks, hidden from everthing & everyone but not right in someones front yard by a tree watching roadies change a tire. Crazy!

[John Klein]

...3 wet, muddy road bikers...right in someones front yard by a tree watching roadies change a tire...

Are you kidding? That kind of scenery is right up a real cougar's alley! Did the cougar have a car tag from Fulton or Forsyth county? Was it a Southern cougar or a Northeast transplant? Was it one of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"?

Saturday Night Live has a recurring skit about cougars so Tivo it if you're still not sure what a cougar is. Cameron Diaz plays one of them...

[Egads]

Saturday Night Live has a recurring skit about cougars so Tivo it if you're still not sure what a cougar is. Cameron Diaz plays one of them...

Cameron Diaz, that's the kind of cougar I'd like to see on the trail

[John Klein]

Cameron Diaz, that's the kind of cougar I'd like to see on the trail

She might even buy you a Playstation...

[Tinker]

I've never seen a cougar, but I've seen Cameron Diaz. That's not her. Looks more like Demi Moore, but not quite.
Who is she?

[Cool AT Breeze]

Someone in that area got a picture of a panther with a game camera this spring.

[dreamsoftrails]

Shes about 45 years old and looks a little rough around the edges.

beat me to it!

[Bulldawg]

Someone in that area got a picture of a panther with a game camera this spring.

Like I said, I've now heard of four sightings in this general area in the last 24 months. I've heard, NOT SEEN MYSELF, only HEARD, of sightings in four places in this general area.

1. North of Woody Gap on the AT, coming down Big Cedar--I heard of this one in August 2007.
2. Between Hogpen and Low Gap on the AT--I heard of this sighting in August 2008.
3. I had a local I met on the trail (he was local and running hogs with dogs, I met him between Low Gap and Chattahoochee Gap this past spring) tell me he had seen a cougar while hunting hogs in the winter of 2008.
4. Now this sighting.

All four of these are probably a 20-25 mile radius by the crow flies. Quite possibly the same cougar, who knows. But like someone else said; anyone with a cat can tell you that if a cat doesn't want to be found, you won't find it. Give a big cat several thousand acres to hide in, who knows how long a few could stay hidden.