The closest description I could find was the cry of the cougar or the mountain lion. This had Caroline County, on the bottom of the screen. the cougar. But shes also realistic. Today is Sept. 29, 2008. But recent expert-confirmed sightingswhich have involved photographs, videos, and DNAin Tennessee support a theory that mountain lions, whose populations out west have continued to expand, are slowly making their way back to this side of the country. In reply to D. Racey we would like to review your photo of the track. rick_freer@yahoo.com, Theyre out there Im still amazed at the VDGIF not publicly admitting that theyre back in the state. We couldnt figure out what it was so we did a little research and felt the sounds couldnt be anything other than a cougar. In November of last year, a giant cat with a long tail wandered in front of Tennessee resident Austin Burtons deer camera on his familys farm in Humphreys County. https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Mountain-lion-attack-reported-near-Humpback-Rock-385246261.html Its been confirmed by by fish and game. He never saw the cat again but never went out at night without a gun. I myself saw 2 big black cats with a tawny one run out of an abandoned barn back in the late 1970s in upstate NY. I think its all the same.. John, This is interesting as authorities keep saying the big black cats dont exist unless they are transplants or escaped pets, etc??? The tail was furry but with short hair like the rest of the body that I saw and was round kind of curving down and out like my house cats tail when he hunts birds. It was about the size of a friends dog, which is about 15 tall and 2 1/2 feet long. He said it was from the Mattaponi Trial in Caroline County. Mountain Lion. Nobody even thinks anything of it because of its regularity. My father a retired Secret Service agent who used to shoot alot with Regan spotted a mountain lion on the side of rt. So I guess its up in the air. The West Virginia Wildlife Center . Email me. shortly after this, it was reported in the article, a puma was killed by a sheep rancher in an adjoining W.VA county. Motion-sensitive infrared cameras have been deployed near Appalachian Trail to try to determine whether cougars are back. Her views represent another twist in the ecological controversy. Anyone with info local to south central VA, email me at austinsandsons@verizon.net. The last one seen was last summer. Fish & Wildlife Resource. 1001 Virginia St. East Charleston, WV 25301 Phone: 304-348-5140 They had their minds set and there was nothing that was going to change their minds. Officials explained the deceased animal must have wandered from the Black Hills of South Dakota. No more mountain lions in Virginia, only bobcats. Remember this post from February 28, 2005. My farm helper saw one at approximately the same location yesterday. Once they described an animal that was nearly the same color as a deer but knew it couldnt be because it had a long tail. Lil Rose/flickr. In October, 1987, a cougar & cub was seen by a U.S. Forest Service crew in western Shenadoah County. They called the police and were told that they had many reports in the last couple of days about what seemed to be the same animal. I grew up in North Georgia. And while common throughout the state . Dont know what it was, but I have always wondered if it was a big cat or not. Im not suggesting this a farm animal. In 1994 a friend and I were driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway on our way to Panther Hollow. I was wondering what people think about people (either the wildlife service of just other people) not believing that mountain lions exist in the Eastern United States, especially in Virginia. Others have been clustered in the Valley. Since 1970, 121 sightings have been identified as possible mountain lions, but have not been officially confirmed. It took another 3 minutes or so before all the fogs quieted down. Long may they thrive. I have neighbors that say they have seen them. According to Donald W. Linzey's notes in Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1995), the last mountain lion killed in the Great Smokies was back in the early winter of 1920: "Tom Sparks was said to have been attacked by a panther while herding sheep on Spence Field. Thankfully we were vindicated by a clear trail cam sighting a couple years later. I think the nuts are attracting game, and a lion is preying. I expect they will confirm puma presence. i recently moved to Martinsville from Ct. My folks have lived in Stuart for the past 11 years. "We've seen some examples of that. ANY REPLY IS WELCOME, Dont know if you have any cougar there, but it sure sounds like a good place for wolves. While 4 wheeling in our Bronco on Buffalo Creek in Logan County, WV. they may have migrated there by way of fractured habitat that has forced them into the area due to encroachment. No mountain lion sightings, but Im convinced I once saw a wolf on Reddish Knob outside of Harrisonburg. I saw them 11 times within 3 weeks. "They've been found as far east as western Tennessee," Fies said. My wife and I have seen two cougars in Patrick County, VA. Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Eastern Cougar Recovery Plan (page 2), http://mountainlion.org/us/NC/-NC-history.asp, https://blog.wildlife.virginia.gov/outdoor-report/2016/03/the-myth-of-mountain-lions-in-virginia/, https://www.fws.gov/northeast/ecougar/pdf/Cougar_News_Bulletin_Final_1_18.pdf, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/23/2018-01127/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removing-the-eastern-puma-cougar-from-the-federal-list, https://www.fws.gov/refuge/florida_panther/wah/panther.html, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/opinion/the-cougar-behind-your-trash-can.html, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030333, https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/issues/2015/sep-oct/cougars-in-minnesota.html, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comission, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. On thursday October 16,2008 at 5:30/5:45 pm, my folks wanted to show me the Blue Ridge Parkways scenic fall views. Yet, this evidence has never been documented by biologists. In Dec, 1981 my husband, sons and I were out in the woods on our property target shooting with bows. Others saw those cats too; so it was not my mistaking them for anything else! Does it follow a path through the woods like a deer sometimes does?? The size of a lion's territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality. I, on more than one occassion heard the screams of what sounded like a woman who needed help. She was never spotted, but that sound is something that you never can forget or confuse for anything else. The fur was short and the common light red-brown hue of a cougar. Male cougar territories are pretty big, and thats why they have to disperse farther than females, LaRue said. The left rare flank was eaten and the entrails were gone. They are also known as . I have chickens, belgian mules (not worried about them) and a herd of miniature donkeys but Im far more concerned about marauding bears than a mountain lion. He was licking his coat. On Monday, the state agency . We got a phone call last night that one of our neighbors (in Midlothian, VA) saw a lion in the back yard. Are Mountain Lions Back in the Blue Ridge? Never have seen the cat again. It was not afraid of the dog at all, it walked back up in the woods and paced back in forth on a log. Holly Kuchera/Shutterstock.com. However, the nature center at Peaks of Otter did have a framed pic from a deer hunters trail camera just off the Parkway in Botetourt county last summer (dont know if it is still there). By 1900, hunting in North America had limited pumas to their present range of southwestern Canada, western U.S. wilderness areas, southern Florida, and isolated areas in Mexico. Look forward to talking more. I would guess that the overbundance of whitetail deer could have contributed to the return? of the puma. Since there are no breeding populations in Virginia, the likelihood of a secretive population that has existed since 1880 is very unlikely. Reason being: If mountain lions are show to exist east of the Mississippi River, the states game departments may be liable for livestock damages. Last year I was outside with my lab and I heard that scream that sent my dog running frantically away and stopped me in my tracks. Our youngest daughter was hysterical thinking that her mule would be attacked. Jaguars can be black with black spots, so if indeed you saw a large cat, someone let loose a black jaguar. I think we have coywolves. I know another person in Albemarle Co. who sees them sunning regularly there and has for years. I just wonder if I have the same picture, & also if it is true. kind of beige, dark grey at tip of tail, white underbelly. According to LaRue and her research, lions recolonize by stepping stone dispersal, which essentially means they start traveling, find a nice habitat to set up shop for a little while, then move on to the next area with a suitable habitatand theyll do this for hundreds, even up to thousands of miles. I knew not to run, so I just stood there and waited. It was standing next to a large hill in the median and looked at my car as I passed. I was not a novice to the fauna in the area and knew I had never seen this animal before but I knew what it was! Then I heard Coyotes doing their eerie little howls. I knew we a small population of bobcats in this area and asked her if it could have been that. Learn more about us & read our affiliate disclosure. It was one of the scariest sounds I have ever heard. It stoped for a moment and watched us and then moved on through the woods. I had my food hanging ten feet in the air so i thought it was a bear. We searched for bones, but we had waited too long and could not find anything. The graceful animal was golden brown in color. Yep, The big cats have been in Virginia for a good while. It was moving through the woods twards a water source but not in the open. But it was very odd because the scream wouldnt quite finish and then it would start again. Mountain lions are definitely coming to Virginia. Their conclusion: "Sir, you don't have a mountain lion.". The deer have been congregating down there. I really took offense to that.. My wife, dog, and I were walking on a dead end street no houses in Stratford Habour this morning (11/8/07). Our sleep was disturbed any more that night. Published: Oct. 12, 2022 at 9:17 AM PDT. So that is all the details I can think of except I didnt mention that the cat was tan with dark fur higlighting its face, looked like pictures Ive seen of them really and I figured due to its size and the fact that it had no spots left that we could see it was almost grown. Each year, deer-car collisions kill approximately 200 people.7, the Eastern Cougar was extirpated by excessive hunting pressure, as well as severe reduction in their prime food source of white-tailed deer Both went into the woods without any fuss. This normal school was founded by veterans of both the Union and the Confederacy, Concord is named for the ideal of "harmony and sweet . Oh maybe some of the lazy hacks have finally retired., Another commenter speculated that the agency may have intentionally downplayed past sightings as they result in new study and staffing expenses.. 26 Sep 16. 12. Approximately 4 feet long near Midlothian. It was approx 3 ft high (estimation). As I inched my way down the road I saw the tall grass to my left move as if something was approaching the road. It was just too big to be a bobcat nor did it have bobcat coloring. We were tracking a deer one night and ended up lost for 6 hours and found a small field. Description of the Mountain Lion. It lived across the cove form us, and it would scream out at night sometimes, so loud that chills ran down our spines. The mountain lion (Puma concolor) is sometimes called cougar, puma, catamount, and panther. When i shined my mag light acrossed it we noticed eyes and it was like nothing else we have seen before. He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." And yet, there have been more than a few bizarre sightings over the past few decades that have us scratching our heads. The West Virginia Wildlife Center . My husband quickly put our dog into his pen. We have spotted a mother black bear and cub over by the damn while hiking, scary sight but very awsome. Im of the opinion that there really never was a big difference between the eastern cats and whats in existence now, she said. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. We gathered the kids and went to retrieve them. He got up and armed with only a flashlight he ventured outside to see why the horses were so restless and upset. I believe it was 2006 or 2007. 0. How many people have actually saw a bobcat in the wild? They can stand up to 35 in. (Shooting a mountain lion is illegal in Tennessee, given that theres no hunting or trapping season for the animal, but Alan Peterson said the hunter didnt believe hed mortally wounded the animal, and the case has been turned over to a District Attorneys office to determine whether or not the hunter will be charged.). Even though the WV DNR says there are no wild mountain lions in the state, there are some held in captivity at the West Virginia Wildlife Center in French Creek. This also was a sighting near Callands, VA: my wife was out jogging on our dirt road and came across a very large bobcat, about the size of a large dog, stubby tail, brown color, only about fifty yards from her, just staring at her. I was wrestles camping (alone) and decided to hike over Big Hump Mountain to the next campsite. All of this happened just out of bow range and its heart wrenching knowing there is nothing you can do. Unfortunately, we lost our big barn cat to these predators and continue to see and hear them on a regular basis. The road in paved, but long(14 miles+) winding and has very few streets that are off it back here. About a month ago I was visiting a local sheep farmer (more gentleman farmer than actual make-money-farming farmer). Fish & Wildlife Resource declared the eastern cougar extinct, LaRue said. its mate was said to have been heard wailing, for a time, in the distance. I went out to get something from my car, and about five to ten yards away I see a huge black cat slowly cross the street, pause, look around and go into the surrounding woods. Today, there are less than 200 Florida panthers remaining. Well, then dont dress them up like sheep, he said with a chuckle. Because I was at a B-day party, I had my camera, and took the picture off his phone. It wasnt a very old cat, and Im pretty sure it wasnt fully grown. We got a clear enough look at it to even distinguish what appeared to be some some kind of scarring, or maybe it was just dirt streaks, on its upper right hind leg. Cougars, also known as mountain lions, were once common here and they have left a legacy of place names throughout the state indeed, the entire Southeast. Period. In fact, bobcats take down prey that weighs as much as 8 times their weight when the situation arises. But the majesty and strength of the Mountain Lion was still apparent! Large aggressive alpha predator spotted in Central Virginia near Fredericksburg on july, 17 2018 Mountain Lion. At a second glance, we knew that it couldnt be deer. We made eye contact. If an animal approaches, prepare to fight and protect your head and neck from the attack. My mother lives in Orange, and has seen a mountain lion in the past couple of weeks, as well as several years ago. How do we find out about sightings of this mountain lion(s). The print is about 3 1/2 x 4 inches with 4 distinct toes no nails. I just saw one a couple of hourse ago. ", Yellowstone bison are a globally unique animal. From a wildlife biology perspective, though, its going to take more than a storyno matter how convincing it may beto determine whether these cats are there and where theyre coming from. Cat scratching (claw marks) in a 60 deg arc, drawing back to a point about 2.5 3 feet from the edge of the 4 foot arc. Bull sharks are one of the few species that can tolerate fresh water, which allows them to flow from ocean to river relatively easily. Fish and Wildlife Services declaration of extinction moot? When I told another fellow that lives near there, he said he had seen tracks. Wed love to hear about it! Free shipping for many products! Many mountain lions used to roam the West Virginia wilderness. As we came to a stop, it calmly walked away crossing a short grass field, into the woods. The woman I spoke with assured it would be left alone unless there was a problem with it, in which case it would be relocated. He didnt rule out the possibility of an individual wandering into Virginia, as that has happened before. Which could be a pretty big deal, because up until now, the confirmed sightings in the east have been of male cats. 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