Mountain Lions/ Cougars back in Kentucky! (Ashland, London: house, middle school, camp)

[cpcc13]

i saw a black panther a couple of yrs back,on the edge of a woods line.i shot at it but missed.and a few more people have seen it two,over a four yr period.and i live in ozark al.

[Cetawin]

Originally Posted by cpcc13

i saw a black panther a couple of yrs back,on the edge of a woods line.i shot at it but missed.and a few more people have seen it two,over a four yr period.and i live in ozark al.

Why shoot at it? They are so rare in this country killing them because they are at the woodline is senseless really.

[rnc76]

Yeah, but if you kill one of these mythical "black panthers" you automatically get promoted to Redneck in Chief.

[drhuntersbecker]

Originally Posted by therickster

Last week while scouting for Deer on the farm in Lewis County, after a hard rain, found fresh Mt. lion tracks in soft mud. Looked as if I pushed it down the hill in the woods. I have seen Bobcats and their tracks are a lot smaller than these prints. I'm going to put out a couple of trail cams to see if it is hanging around or passed through. As we are managing this property for Big Deer, our concern is how many Deer would be taken by a big cat or cats? Very exciting but at the same time uneasy moving around in the woods and hills.

Rickster, you have tracks , i have tracks and photos of painter, catamount, cougar. taken in lewis co 2011.


Dr hunter s becker

ps what part of lewis co did you see it

[EclecticEars]

I have some Kentucky cougar sightings for y'all.


(Source: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runnin...ican%20pie.jpg)



I like the one on the left myself.
(Source: http://www.nastyhobbit.org/data/media/1/cougars.jpg)

My favorite:

YouTube - How To Survive a Cougar Attack

[HeatherDanielle85]

For bobcats to be "nearly extinct" in Kentucky, it's odd that since November over 2000 have been harvested. This is the official fish and wildlife harvest record:

[url=http://fw.ky.gov/app1/bobcatresults.aspx]Bobcat Telecheck Results[/url]

[AuburnAL]

Originally Posted by dixiegirl7

A panther is black, a wildcat is brown spotted and mingled. UK's mascot is a Kentucky wildcat which is known as a bobcat also.

And while melanistic (all black) mountain lions do occur, it is a very rare mutation. It only shows up about once out of every 200000 individuals if I remember correctly.

[CraigCreek]

Bobcats are much smaller than cougars, and have a lot in common with domestic cats as far as temperament is concerned, I discovered, at least in the case of "Bob", who lives in the Reflections Ridings Nature Center in Chattanooga, TN.

Bob, who is now about ten years old, was illegally acquired as a pet when a kitten. When he was removed from his owner, he was unable to be returned to the wild because of imprinting. So now he has a very nice large enclosure with trees, large boulders to climb on, an enclosed shelter for bad weather, and nutritious meals twice a day (which get tossed around and "caught"). He is very social, and loves to interact with visitors who toss pinecones into his enclosure for him to chase and bat around.

I also discovered that like domestic cats, Bob will squint back at people he likes if they squint at him first (try this: cats are always surprised and delighted to find that people "speak" their "language"! Squinting means "I like you", in cat body language). True, Bob is imprinted onto people - but his very charming personality speaks volumes for his species.

It saddens me that people find hunting such highly intelligent and responsive animals to be sportsmanlike and a form of recreation, when learning about bobcats and their ways is far more entertaining. As for being rare in the wild, bobcats are not - they are naturally nocturnal and very reclusive, and they fill a necessary function in the food chain as predators.

Where bobcats thrive, so will other species. Where there are no bobcats or other smaller predators (foxes, weasels, minks - and nowadays, coyotes, which are filling the oft-times vacated roles of more native small predators which have been overhunted), prey species will experience booms in population, which lead to sickness and starvation once the environment is no longer able to support such unnaturally increased numbers.

Such population booms and busts are not desirable in any way, so rather than hunting bobcats and other smaller predators, it would be far wiser to encourage their presence by public and in particular, hunter education. Hunting could still take place - but more knowledge of natural cycles should lead to more intelligent seasons and bag limits.

[Dumbdowndemocrats]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Ain't we Kentuckians supposed to call them "panthers"?

A co-worker swore he saw a jet black panther on the Wolf Creek Branch of the NS RR in Eastern Kentucky funny thing is I was reading an old Norfolk and Western Magazine my father had telling about a circus train that derailed on the old N&W 12 pole line a long time ago and some of the animals escaped including a Black Panther.

Maybe a decendant?

Seen lots of wildlife in Kentucky like Elk, Bobcats or Lynx, Black Bear but never a Black Panther

[masonsdaughter]

Mountian lions and panthers have always been in Kentucky, they mostly hunt at night but when they are out in the daytime they are masters at camoflage, so you don't see them much.
When I moved back in 91, I saw a black panther several times. Last year I saw a mountian lion or cougar. Whatever you want to call him, he was big and tan. I drove within 150 feet of him and stopped to watch him. He showed absolutely no fear of me.