Originally Posted by 3seasons

Came across this looking thru these forums, thought I'd give my .02

When I lived out on the west coast we did alot of mountain biking; one thing we had to keep in mind was cougar attacks-it's an instinct to chase the moving bike kinda like a dog, I suppose.

Well, when I moved back home here to NY I was a little surprised one morning to see a cougar crossing the road on my way to the lumber yard. When I mentioned it casually to the guys at the counter I first became aware of the contentious debate over whether or not they exist in the east.
I've seen one myself, know of a handful of people who have also. As I mentioned, it was simply the way it was every day in CA.
My feeling is they are living here now, perhaps not in great numbers. Even if they weren't currently, they would be in the future.

So, why the great debate? It's not as though someone claims to have seen Bigfoot...it's a naturally occurring predator which once roamed the eastern US freely & seems to be making its' return.