LightningTim

never been in PA enough to see a mountain lion, but i hunted one week in west virginia a few years back on a farm with lots of cows. well in the weeks preceding deer season the farmer complained of 2 calves being kills and mutilated. well on the last day as we drove down off the mountain through the pasture, i noticed something big and black in the field. i first said " look at that huge bear" but then my uncle said bears don' t have 6 ft long tails. it turned out to be a black panther and it was as wild as can be. we tried to shoot it before it went back into the woods but we didn' t get a shot. we heard from a relative that the game warden finally killed it later in the winter because it was killing too many cows. they had an article that said it was well over 300 pounds and was over 12 ft long from nose to tail. a black panther is something that i will probably never ever see in the wild again, and i bet very few of you have ever seen one.

MikeE51848

[]Looks like your friend has played a big joke on you!

Jimimac

I really don' t think there are any mountain lions in Pennsylvania. Sorry guys. These stories seem to persist. Urban legend. If there are cougars in PA how come we never hear or read of any farmers losing livestock because of a big cat?
A sheep or cow is easier prey than than a deer, so why no outrage by farmers? It would be big news in this state if some farmer started losing his cows to a mountain lion. I was recently in Omaha Nebraska and there was a report about a mountain lion killing some farmers horse. At the time, the remains of the horse were being tested to determine if the critter was indeed killed by a cougar. That was big news folks, because according to the report, it is extremely rare for a mountain lion to be that far east. Here we are, a good 800 miles or so farther east just to get to the western PA border. Thats an awful long way folks.

I' m not trying to pick a fight and have you all mad at me but I just don' t buy it. I too have heard of cougar sightings and what not but it' s hard for me to swallow. They may eventually make it back this far east, (there are some in remote areas of Florida) but it' s not happening right now in my opinion. It would be big news...not some stuff you hear around the campfire and then the legend spreads and persists. Jim

liquidorange

i will have to add to the legend. i have a cabin at lake wallenpaupack and late on night about 4 or 5 years ago a heard the typical roar you hear on the nature shows. im pretty sure it was a lion.

MikeE51848

Bobcats make a horific scream.

wulff

I don' t know about anyone else but if i would see a cat like the one in that photo above while i was out hunting i think i would soil my drawers

A.K.A eastwood

i can believe it. i saw these two critters running across the turnpike about 10 miles west of philadelphia. i got my dig camera and snapped a few pics because i was sure no one would believe me.

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

Like I said didnt know if it was true or not, I dont think they would get that big around here if there were some. I know a guy down by fleetwood PA that has seen one several times. No not the same friend who sent the pic.

Here is a story I found.

http://www.outdoortalknetwork.com/art142.html

Matt / PA

If my wife' s fluffy declawed Himylayan house cat purred in the pre-dawn darkness on your way to stand, half you guys would probably swear that you were Sigfried or Roy.
Yeah Bobcats make some nasty noises.......a real treat with a dim flashlight and a bow in your hand.[]

Seriously does anyone here REALLY believe that there is a viable population of wild Mountain Lions in PA? I can see a stray " Raised in Captivity" exception now and then that gets loose........but not a real native to our woods.

Just look at how many people over the last year (And this thread alone) were convinced that the ' Harrisburg Cougar' is proof and people know people who know its real and that there' s a big PGC conspiracy etc etc.
I don' t care how many brothers, uncles, friends, cousins SAW one.........let' s see it!?
One.....I' m going to need a body. Same goes for the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. If I can' t walk up to it and scratch it' s dead chin to me it' s just a legend.
Do you guys really think that in all the years of a million pumpkin clad hunters toting high powered rifles that a few wouldn' t be popped every year?
Until someone shows me a nice clear picture of one sitting with a PA Turnpike sign in the background or drags one up to my doorstep, cougars are nothing more than " PA Bigfoot"

And don' t get me wrong......even though it might make for a nervous walk to stand in the AM, I love the IDEA that they could be out there.......I' m just convinced that they aren' t. It is a romantic thought to picture such a majestic and wild animal could be among us. If they really were.......I think we' d ALL know.

bearklr

Jimimac,
I' m really not asking if they are here or not. I know for a FACT they are. I have seen 2 with my own 2 eyes. 1 of which was only 3 feet away laying dead along the road. Even a blind man couldn' t have missed it. The other was spotting in a field where the next day we found cat prints and a half eaten buck. We have also found deer hanging in trees where the cats have carried them up and paw prints around the base of the tree. And personally I don' t think it would be big news until someone got some good footage. All the game commission does is deny it. I have offered them proof, including hair, prints, carcasses and the actual locations of cougar kills. There only response is " you didn' t see anything" . They are trying to keep the general public in the dark and from your post they must be doing a pretty good job.