Cougers in Middle Tenn

I've seen several believe it or not. It's been a year or two now, but there were several of different sizes (ages) hanging around for a while. Usually saw them crossing the road. We live along a river in Hickman county, TN. They are out there, but rare to see one.

Chris is right, the scream will stand the hair up on the back of your neck. We couldn't figure out what the screaming was coming from one of our hollows. My husband walked up there and about 100 ft in front of him was the male. The female was up in a hickory tree perched above him. We are in S.Central Ky. We don't tell any one around here about them for fear they will hunt them down. We've never in the 9 years we've been here ever lost cattle or horses to them. We do find dead deer up that hollow pretty often. I love the fact that this place is so wild. I am not afraid to have them here because they obviously are getting enough to eat and don't feel threatened.

I had heard several stories of sightings over the years and was open minded. I never believe them or dis-believed them. Then a couple years ago I was comig home from work one afternoon and saw what at first I thought was my neighbor's large chocolate lab lope across the road. I then realized it was no dog, but a large (100lb or so ) dark cougar. It was quartering across a 100 yrd wide flood plain and then I watched it run up into the woods. I oly told my wife about it. A couple months later and about 5 miles away, early one morning about sun up, she saw one. Her's crossed right in front of her, went up the hill about 20 yard and sat down behind a log and looked at her. They looked at each other for a minute or so. We live in central WV and they say we don't have panthers. I know we do.

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Vicker
If you're born to hang, you'll never drown.

My friend, who lives across from Short Mtn, had a cougar run across the trail in front of her when she was conditioning her endurance horse, several years ago.

One Sunday last July, my husband had one cross the road in front of him around noon, less than a mile from our house. We live in Fayette County. Different members of his family have seen/heard them for years around here. Both he and his father have walked up on one out in the bottoms while hunting, several years ago.

North central Missouri.
I saw what appeared to be a cougar or a black panther crossing our back roads just last week. Biggest cat I've ever seen out of captivity.
All my neighbors have reported sightings also.

Sadly our neighbors dog "Elmer" was mauled by something a couple nights ago.
From the 12 foot clearing that he and his assailant made in the hay field it looked like he put up one heck of a fight. He was an 80 pound dog.

I feel rather lucky that I own two black labs and they keep my yard safe.

25 years ago, Gulf Coast Mississippi (Pearlington, Waveland area): Black panther, several sightings (saw it crossing road, plus numerous tracks while bowhunting).

Current: Mountain lion (not black) in Ouachita Mountains near Oklahoma/Arkansas border (saw/heard numerous times). Arkansas & Oklahoma Game & Fish are in total denial, of cour$e. Horse, goats, dogs killed, so far...

Oh, and let's not forget the woman who was killed by One Big Cat in Leslie, AR a few years back. Story in Countryside Magazine and plastered around the internet. AG&F denial there too, in spite of overwhelming evidence.

--Sharon

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A few years ago exDH's nephew shot and wounded one that was stalking his son who was up in a deer stand. they trailed it to a huge dozed up brush pile but by the time they got a dozer in there to start moving the pile the panther(it was black) was gone. Also rumour has it that there have been sightings of a black panther crossing a main road not far from where this happened. I am in NWTN in Weakley Co. Oh yeah, Fish and Game wouldn't even come out and look a the tracks or anything cause we don't have any panther/cougars in this area.

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SWF 46

kinda reminds me of the three black bears caught in the last five years in Walker, Winston and Jefferson counties that were trapped and relocated to some wiilderness area in another state because "there are no resident black bear populations in this portion of the state only on the Gulf Coast three hundred miles away"

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What we have here...is a failure to communicate.

The thing is that there's no picture of a solid black cougar or so everyone says. If it's black, then it's more than likely a jaguar. They're known to come in black (you can still see the spots under the black hair!). Anyone have a picture of a solid black cougar? I would love to see it.

Also heard of this when I was doing cryptozoology (study of undocumented animals and stuff) stuff..apparently there is a blue phase of tigers in a very remote part of Asia. That would be interesting to see!

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/piq...destroyed+1428

This is an article about a cougar stalking golfers.

The dairy where I get milk from swears that there are cougars here. she kept loosing goats and calves to something big enough to carry/drag them off. she never could spot it but said she heard it a few times.

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Ginnie..
http://ginniequilts.blogspot.com/
You can say what you want about the South,
But you never hear of anyone retiring and moving North.

Here is an interesting article...it seems that cougars will hunt just for the sake of hunting.
http://www.aws.vcn.com/mountain_lion_fact_sheet.html

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SWF 46

Are panthers and cougers the same species?

I suspect at one time panthers ranged through most of the Southeast.

Speaking of black panthers...

In the coastal area of South Mississippi, (Waveland, Pearlington and the Pearl River areas), local legend tells of a circus outfit that passed through the area on Highway 90 in the 1950's. They were either going to, or coming from New Orleans, when the trailers housing some of the circus critters overturned in an accident. Some of the monkeys, lions and a couple of black panthers escaped. The lions and a few of the monkeys were recovered from the thick woods nearby. The panthers were never recovered. Ever since then, black panthers have been sighted in the area. Over the years, that area has widened further north, east and west...along with more sightings by "certifiably credible" folks. Apparently the circus cats survived, and their offspring thrived...

--Sharon

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--Sharon Love, laugh, live...Joie de vivre!
http://purecajunsunshine.blogspot.com/ (I'm unable to get back into blog to post...experiencing 'technical difficulties'...)

Panthers, cougars, mountain lions, catamounts are all the same animal, depending where you are. Here in Florida, they are called Florida Panthers.
Jo

There have been panther sightings where I live and I have seen large cat tracks on my property.

And cats hunt for fun. This is probably why deer populations are out of control in WI, MI, and other states.

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A few years ago my husband saw one cross the road right in front of his truck in Miami county,Kansas. I saw some very large tracks down by a pond right by our house a few months back. My Pyr has went missing, after going wild on the night of the 4th of July... he was after something in the woods. He never did that when the coyotes were in the woods. No trace of him,am wondering if it was whatever made those huge tracks.

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Ted H., I have seen VIDEO of the black panther in NW Alabama. Cat was casually walking around a backyard while the camera rolled from inside the house. As I posted before, it was shown to an Alabama Wildlife state employee, who confirmed what he saw.

No spots. This cat was black.

I'm sure my buddy Greg still has it...this was 10 years ago...

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

The woman I work with lost 8 full-grown hogs last spring to what DNR called "something big". They weren't eaten, but very slashed up. Of course, there are no big cats in IL.

This spring, she saw one running across a pasture on her way to work. Her neighbors have seen it, too. They've also seen one similar that is black.

Recently a black panther that was owned by a small time circus or whatever escaped just over the IN state line. They still haven't caught it.

Who knows how many people in this country have privately owned such wild animals, legally or illegally, and "lost" them? Think about how fast feral house cats can breed. Just my .02.