i'm sure the topic has been brought up before, but here goes anyways.
i've never personally seen a mountain lion nor any tracks but i've been doing some research and there has been many many mountain lion sightings by upstanding citizens of pennsylvania. the pennsylvania game commission said these sightings are absolutely not true. here are some of the excuses they give:
it must have been a bobcat
it must have been a big house cat
it must been a coyote
it must have been somebody's pet that escaped
it must have been a dog
well PA has a lot of untamed woods. i've never seen a bobcat either and only seen a few coyotes in my day. nobody can tell me that it's impossible for mountain lions to be roaming the forests of pennsylvania. i believe there is WILD mountain lions living and breathing in PA.
ANYTHING is possible, and I don't want to call anyone a liar, but I remain skeptical about these lion sightings...To hear some people talk locally, the things are running all over the place..!!.... I just can't help but wonder why none of these upstanding citizens who see these critters have never bothered to SHOOT one..?? Since , according to the PA Game commision AND the NYDEC, they don't exist, it certainly would not be illegal to shoot one..... And how come there haven't been any roadkills..?? In Florida, where the Florida panther is listed as endangered, there have been a number of roadkills...
Show me a carcass, and I'll become a believer... And trust me, should I ever see one while hunting, there will be PROOF that they exist, lying right there on the ground...
Well I also have never seen a mountain lion, but my brother two years ago swears on our mother that he and a buddy of ours saw one while turkey hunting. I saw them about 20 minutes after they saw it and I believe them 100%. We were hunting the the Catskills of NY. Two other people in the area have also seen the same thing. When the DEC was contacted they said that it was most likely a bobcat or a deer. We were totally blown off. Now I think that they are probably extremely rare, but I think it is possible for them to be a few of them still in the east.
MY GRAND FATHER HAS A CABIN N TIOGA CUNTY AND WE SEE A MOUNTAIN LION THERE. IT WAS SEEN BY EVERYNE IN THE FAMILY. WE USED TO PUT FOOD OUT FOR ANIMALS AND HE CAME DOWN. WISH WE HAD A VIDEO RECORDER WITH US. BUT WE HAVE SEEN THEM AND I SWEAR THAT ON THE SKY AND SUN.
Would it be legal to shoot one in PA?
Let's make it common knowledge among hunters if it is legal so someone can pop one and we will have proof. I think that most people who see one are afraid to shoot them for fear of being prosecuted.
Just because it is an animal does not mean you can shoot it. Per John Shutter, head of the Law Enforcement division of the PGC, it is protected. Just like a porcupine is...
I don't hunt PA, but my friends co-woker does, he has a few hundred acres in Tioga County. I was talking to this guy, after he had hunted opening day of the PA archery season 2003. He said that in all his years hunting his property he never seen what he saw. He was in his treestand, and saw a doe coming, all of sudden a large cat jumped on the deer, but the deer got away, he said the cat walked under him, and he was scared to get down to go back to his house. As far as a moose in PIKE Co a few years ago, thats true. It was spotted on the New Jersey side just south of the Milford Bridge.
actually to tell you the truth, i wouldn't care if anybody believed me or not if i saw a mountain lion........ i wouldn't shoot it just because i wanted to prove to people that they exist. i would leave it in the woods for somebody else to see.
Mountain Lion Sightings in PENNSYLVANIA
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thats what im tryin to say...
