Cougar Craze -- Resurgence in news stories
After a lull in the conversation of its existence, the elusive cougar has re-appeared in media across the Northeast. Why? You tell us.
Here's a recap of recent stories. Remember, back in March 2011, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that a specific subspecies, the eastern cougar, is extinct. We acknowledged that cougars of other subspecies origin have been seen in the Northeast, such as the one killed in Connecticut this past summer.
- MSNBC.com, Cougars extinct in East? No way, say those who claim sightings
Cougar sightings persist in the East nearly a year after the big predators were declared extinct in the region, a determination that some don't believe. Others want to make cougars' presence a big reality. - UK Daily Mail, Extinct? Cougar sightings on the rise in eastern United States
A recent increase in sightings of cougars may force wildlife officials to rethink the notion that they're extinct. A year ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that the big cat no longer existed in eastern states. - Gazette Virginian, Vernon Hill resident claims he’s captured elusive cats on camera
Are mountain lions, declared extinct in Virginia, making a comeback of sorts in Halifax County? One Vernon Hill landowner has no doubts they are, and he claims he has captured two of the elusive cats chasing a smaller prey animal that appears to be an unlucky raccoon on a game camera video. - Ammoland.com, The Quest of the Eastern Cougar
What is it about cougars? Why is there this controversy in the East about resident cougars or pumas living unobtrusively? - Greenwich WCBS 8880, Mountain Lion Sought In Connecticut
There is a mountain lion mystery in Connecticut, despite a declaration by the state that the Eastern Mountain Lion is extinct and there is no other native-born cougar population there. - Greenwich Time, Mountain lion fever has some in Conn. calling for answers
Sightings in Greenwich around state fuel residents' search for answers about mountain lions.
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Summer 2009 my neighbor told me see she saw a Mountain lion in my back yard living under a pile of limps. At that time my dogs would go nuts barking
in the evenings. One evening the dogs started barking crazy so I got a spot light and my 2 dogs and went to the fence. The mountain lion started
toward me and the dog that was next to me started barking. Mountain lion must not been able to see me because of the spot light. The mountain lion got
to about 10 to 15 yards when second dog started barking and the mountain lion ran and climbed up the first apple tree. Once the mountain lion saw that
the dogs were not after him he climbed out of the tree and went back into the woods. Later that weekend a different neighber said he saw the Mountain
lion but did not know what it was, another up on top of the mountain said he heard the mountain lion couple nights. Now I can say I have seen a
Mountain lion in Sabillasville, MD
# Posted By Pat Fritz
| 1/29/12 8:22 PM
In the winter muzzleloader season of 1994 for frederick county ,maryland, I saw and tracked in the snow a cougar for about a quarter mile, before she
went into mt laural to thick to follow. Approx. 5 months later while searching for morels in the spring and about 2 miles from the original siteing
I found a kill sight that contained 5 or 6 deer, just bones by now, but all had been biten where the spine met the skull. Upon further investigation
of site was able to find a very large tree that had blown into the v of another tree that was covered with claw marks, and was used to jump on the
deer when they passed under the tree.
# Posted By ronald fogle
| 1/30/12 8:32 PM
Sunday, 2/19/12, 11:30 AM. I was out on my back deck and about 50-75 yards out in the woods I saw a mountain lion. I have sen bobcats and this was
not a bobcat.
# Posted By
| 2/19/12 12:23 PM
I am Charles. I am from SC. I was playing golf at Sumter National right off I-95 and Hwy 378 near Turbeville, SC in 1993 or 1994. Five of us were
on the 17th green fixing to putt when a large brown cat with a long tail walked across the fairway 90 yards from us. It was bigger than a bobcat and
had the long tail. It didn't look as big as the pictures I have seen of the cougars. It was the one and only time I have seen a cat like this in SC.
The golf course was like a game preserve, so there were plenty of deer and other animals living there. I assume it is long gone, but we saw it that
day.
# Posted By Charles
| 2/23/12 7:25 AM
Yesterday in Lancaster, Ma. It was around 9:00 am when I saw a white cat way too big to be a house cat. I witnessed it near a barn with cows. The
cows had a few new borns and they were out side at the time. The cat must have been eyeing the young ones. When i noticed it he was going away from
the cows across a field headed into the woods.
# Posted By Mookie
| 3/6/12 8:17 AM
3:00 AM , 03-05-12, Under partial Moonlight in Buncombe County WNC near Asheville. I saw a Black Panther running near full speed. It was long and
black. Close in size to a med. dog. To narrow a shape to have been a bear. It traversed approx. 40 feet in 2-3 seconds and maybe 2-3 strides. It
passed close beneath me under my deck.It absolutely freaked me out.
# Posted By Glen
| 3/28/12 9:56 PM
Driving back from Rolex this weekend. East of Bloomington Il. saw courgar crossing highway 75. Two others saw the same thing.
# Posted By
| 4/30/12 2:41 PM
My wife called me today from Cat Hallow Park in Killingly, Ct. She was walking our rottie/shepard mix and he was lagging about 20 ft behing her. She
turned to call him and about 20 ft behind him crossing from one side of the trail to the other was a cat with a long swooping tail the same size has
our dog.....he is 85 lbs. The cat was tannish and didnt turn to look, just crossed from one side into the brush on the other.
# Posted By Kevin
| 6/7/12 4:44 PM
My wife called me today from Cat Hallow Park in Killingly, Ct. She was walking our rottie/shepard mix and he was lagging about 20 ft behing her. She
turned to call him and about 20 ft behind him crossing from one side of the trail to the other was a cat with a long swooping tail the same size has
our dog.....he is 85 lbs. The cat was tannish and didnt turn to look, just crossed from one side into the brush on the other.
# Posted By Kevin
| 6/7/12 4:45 PM
One day last month I was on my way to work. It was about 4:30 in the morning and I am always on the lookout for eye-shines to avoid potential
accidents. I was passing by a little farm in the Pisgah National Forest and off the side of Hwy 64 there was a large set of green glowing eyes. I
slowed down expecting some coyotes or deer to cross my path but instead saw something I couldn't identify. What looked like a large brown cat sank
down into the tall grass with its large green eyes still staring at me. It had rounded ears atop its head and a small cat-like muzzle. I passed it in
my car and immediately turned around to try to get a better look but it was gone before I got turned around. I can't tell you exactly what it was, but
I can tell you bobcats aren't the size of a deer.
# Posted By Owen
| 8/10/12 2:53 PM
I live in Swain County, NC. One evening last week, about sundown, while walking my two small dogs, I heard the most bone chilling scream coming from
what appeared to be about a hundred yards above me. I've heard these screams in the mid '70's while living in FL (panther). Many neighborhood dogs
here started barking non-stop. I'm wondering if this can be a cougar. It screamed three times.
# Posted By Betty Ball
| 5/8/13 6:03 PM
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