http://www.wsmv.com/story/30654135/cougar-spotted-on-camera-in-humphreys-county

My apologies if this was already posted.

I haven't seen it before. Very cool! Time to set up my game cam!

On local news early this year we had reports in Memphis TN, of dogs in open air kennel killed and partially eaten in certain neighborhoods. That has since stopped. There was another cougar caught on a game camera in west TN near Rilply in a Hatchie Wildlife Refuge in the summer.

This report doesn't surprise me at all. Although many disagree on this forum, I find it reasonable to assume cougars could range from Canada all the way to Florida along the East Coast - most of those states have sightings or tracks, too. The topography and forests lend themselves hiding a secretive apex predator, and the deer/turkey populations are strong enough to support a few I'd think.

Heck yeah!

TJ, I'm surprised you didn't throw Bigfoot in there!!

TJ will never have cat or bigfoot issues. They don't mix well with tannerite.

A good example of an increase in numbers of a large mammal -- where they were once extirpated -- is the fairly densely populated small state of Massachusetts (extremely dense in the eastern third) albeit with dense forest and 5000 natural ponds and reservoirs, has 850 to 900 moose mostly in northern part of one county!

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/moose-in-mass-generic.html


Unfortunately here's what happens when you hit one with a car!



Used to live in that county in the late 60's and early 70's and never saw one. Deer were scarce then too. The population has apparently exploded in the last few decades. Now you see moose crossing signs. There were no moose crossing signs when I lived there.


Update: Here is the rest of the info on the moose and more pics. Driver escaped with just a scratch. Thank you Bob on the Mass category of Myfishfinder.
http://www.smokeshowingphotography.com/p236848669

A few years back at one of the PB Cons, there was a presentation about mountain lions and how far they ranged.

It made it clear, to me at least, that a sighting was usually for an animal that was essentially passing through an area vs. actually living in that area, hence the relatively low number of sightings.

While I think this is true in some instances. I just wish science would acknowledge this as a possibility rather than just stand proudly back and say "See, told you there were no mountain lions living here...that cat was a transient from someplace else"

As far as I have noticed in most cases, the witness wasn't claiming the out of place animal was a resident, only that they had experienced a sighting. Too many times science gets caught up on explaining why a population of animals can't be living in an area, rather than just recognizing that a sighting has occurred. I feel that most times it doesn't matter to the witness that a breeding population hasn't yet established itself, only that someone in authority recognizes that they did indeed see something.

What gets me is the ridicule people were getting initially by so called experts when they said they saw a cougar in their respective states. But these arrogant experts had to eat their words thanks to the camera technolgy that is now available.

As far as "transient" I'm in agreement with you Tony. And it may take awhile but at some point those males will be joined by females albeit very slowly and gradually from where they are presently established. That's nature's directive and we can clearly see it with other species.

That doesn't say they will never establish themselves in areas that are not suited and move on.

Cecil, they are seeing more moose because of the signs. Take down the signs and the moose wouldn't know where to cross, so the sightings would be more spread out, if at all.

I'm with you Tony. Further I believe there exist resident populations of Jaguars in TX, NM, AZ - especially after watching a documentary where DNR officials were investigating reports of Jaguars coming up from Central America and Mexico with game cams, etc. While I don't fear Cougars, the Jaguar is the third largest cat and the 7th largest land predator in the world topping out at 300+, and humans are vulnerable and definitely on the menu. Along with the Longhorns football program, Africanized bees and the lack of SMB, WE, and YP in fisheries, it's yet another proof that anyone living in TX is crazy and solo encounters avoided at all costs.

And the Jaguar explanation would explain the continued reports of "black panthers" quite handily.

And Fire Ants. Or possibly Africanized Fire Ants. Hard to say what happens after dark down there.

No SMB and YP , some one needs to work on that

Between my cousin and I we have had 3 sightings of a cougar on the west Texas property within a 5 year period. All three sightings were within 1/2 mile of each other and in all three instances we were within 50-60 yards from the animal(very unusual).

I saw one run across the road in front of me on July 11th this year. No mistake, It was a Cougar. Pretty cool to see tho!

TJ, about 10 years ago we had 2 separate deer kills due to a mountain lion just over the dam of my large pond. My dad was scouting for deer season and he saw steam coming from a grass bed just below the dam. He walked over to check it out and a mountain lion ran off. Walked up to the steam and noticed it was coming from the hind quarters of a freshly killed buck (decent size). It was a pretty fascinating crime scene. The lion had jumped from a nearby tree onto the bucks back, slit it jugular, rode its back in circles for quite some time til it dropped, then began eating it. Several hundred yards down the creek we found a similar crime scene but the deer had been eaten down to the skeleton. That made for an interesting deer season knowing that you may be the hunted rather than the hunter.

Also had a confirmed sighting of 2 young cubs by my mother in law 7-8 years ago while deer hunting. Game warden came out and verified by looking at the tracks. Sightings were pretty common around here until disease killed most of the deer.

TJ, my lake home located in Marion Co. Texas and is 10 min from my farm property. Marion Co. has more Bigfoot reports than any other Co. in Texas. maybe, migration here also

Tracy

Awesome!

Tracy, don't get me started on Sasquatch. I'm impressed by your cougar sightings, and even happier you didn't make any efforts to shoot them. Now, if you could get in the field and collect some Squatch data for us, I'd be grateful! Photo of a Squatch walking a pet cougar on a leash made of willow twigs - this is your project.

My X Va neighbor moved to rural TN about 18 months ago . I sent him this link. He replied yes, he reported sighting to the University who I presume is studying them. Says he has seen him twice. "Him ? you musta been close to ID sex.
His reply was "15 feet to close."

We have had reports here of a black and also tan . But night time lighting makes tan objects look darker. No pics so far.

Speaking of big mammals how about this elk harvested in Kentucky?

http://bluegrasspreps.com/great-outdoors/new-record-ky-312998.html

TJ, I have a story, no pics, just an experience. let me know if you want to hear it, It's a good Squach story, Some others were interested in it.

Tracy

I'm amazed how many people I meet who have episodes to relate like this. I'm all ears - I love a good encounter story.

Here's your Nebraska sasquatch TJ. This is about 4 miles from where I hunt and was spotted just a few days after I hunted there

http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-re...e7a61ecb35.html

Few Squatch reports from NE, this is a good one with interesting evidence.

TJ, here you go Location was N. E. Texas @ Caddo Lake in Marion Co. and was about 5 yr's ago. Caddo lake is 27,000 acres of a Cypress tree forest or swamp and is the only natural lake in Texas. A good friend and I decided to go Bull Frog hunting one night while @ the lake. We are in the boat using a trolling motor to travel down a canal, and using two small flashlights for spotting the frogs. It's dead of the night with few if any sounds. Then, about 30 yards in front of us there was a loud sound of wood hitting against wood. Not the sound of a limb falling to the ground, or breaking of branches, but more of a sound of a large baseball bat hitting the side of a tree. it got Our Attention, It was LOUD. We continued down this canal toward this sound when we came to an strong pungent odor, an odor I have never smelled before, this odor is hard to describe, it stunk. As we continued down the canal another 25 feet we used the flash lights looking, when we saw two eyes, that were almond in color and were a little larger than human eyes. These eye's were behind some brush and we saw no body that belonged to the eyes. I kicked the trolling motor in High and as soon as I could, I started the big motor and got out of the area. Now, I ask, was it big foot? I don't know. But everything that took place falls into the sightings or reports of big foot. This is my story. I would like to remind you , I grew up on a farm and spent most of my life hunting and fishing. I know the outdoor sounds and smells.

Tracy

Great story Tracy! Sounds convincing! What do you think made the sound of wood hitting against wood? The big shadowy thing was hitting a tree with another log to warn you?

Tracy - Caddo historically has provided hundreds of reports of the Swamp Ape over the last 150 years. Either you're all hallucinating, or something is truly going on down there. Wood knocks are reportedly a common technique employed by Squatches meant as a warning, at least according to the "researchers". I assume you were a skeptic before this experience?

I have been on Caddo at night......it is SPOOKY!!!

Heck it looks prehistoric in the day time.

About 10 years ago there were reports of large hairy varmint sightings around Lake Texhoma. Heck, I figured it was Lusk.

TJ, Thanks for inviting me to tell my story, some people roll their eyes, lol. Prior to this, I did not think much about big foot one way or the other. Afterwards, I found out there is a local BF hunter who lives in the Caddo Lake area. I've not met him but have herd he is around. After my experience, when researching on the web, that is when I discovered most reports in Texas come out of Marion Co. And when looking at a map, and not far from Caddo Lake, there is the area known as Boggy Creek near Foulk Ark., that is the area where sightings inspired the movie back in the 70's "legend of Boggy Creek" a Big Foot story of sightings. As the crow fly's it is not very far from Caddo.

Tracy

I've met a lot of really conservative, grounded skeptics who before they saw something they couldn't explain would have rolled their eyes, too. Life shows us daily there's a lot more to reality than what we directly perceive. I've never had a UFO or Sasquatch encounter, but know doctors, attorneys, law enforcement, folks we'd consider reliable witnesses, that have experienced some really crazy stuff - even right here in Lincoln, NE. Our 1939 bungalow has had it's share of friendly paranormal activity - stuff witnessed by my entire family, that just can't be explained by physics as we understand it. We find it fascinating, frankly.

I value the arguments against the existence of a large primate and the lack of any hard core physical evidence, like a corpse, but also can't explain the thousands of eye witness accounts, footprints, recordings, photos, etc. either.

Yeah, the forum has some resident Sasquatches - lest we forget Dwight and Al.

I'm a skeptic at heart, but feeling the presence of a possible ghost in an old house that was the first house my wife and I owned, has me puzzled to this day.

I probably told this story before, but was sleeping in one Saturday morning and the wife had gone to the post office etc. I heard footsteps coming down from an upstairs room we never used, and it came to the room I was in. I felt an instant chill, and I'm ashamed to say as a grown man hid my head under the blankets and was a afraid to look. LOL

I chalked it up as me half dreaming and didn't think anything of it until a week or two later when the wife says, "I had this weird experience while you were gone." Turned out to be the exact same experience I had!"

We ended up selling the house back to the original owners and made a nice profit from the improvements we made. Didn't say anything about a ghost though. LOL

I'm going out on a limb with this one, and I absolutely do not intend to stir anyone up, remember also that my father and grandfather were Baptist ministers, and I grew up in the church.....

Having said that, I might gently submit that there exists more physical evidence for the existence of sasquatch, than there is for what most would consider a supreme being. Perhaps it depends upon where you place your faith.

"If it is a Miracle, any sort of evidence will answer, but if it is a Fact, proof is necessary."

Mark Twain

Nothing good happens after dark. It's scary.

"The freaks come out at night...."

Thanks for sharing Tracy.
Cmm

Was she running after her boy toy?