Jimimac

When I posted, I knew it was gonna come out bad so I should have just left my mouth shut. Dang it...I wish I would have, but I didn' t, so here goes.

I don' t want to be caught up in an argument with you bearklr, but it' s not as if I' m letting the game commission dictate how I think and feel, so you are way off base with that one. I' m my own man and am perfectly capable of making decisions and formulating my own opinions without having to be spoon fed by a public or private entity, so I came to this conclusion by my own devices. Hard to believe isn' t it. I could care less what the game commission' s position is on this matter. Their position didn' t even come into play when I previously posted. But since you mentioned it...I' m glad they agree with me on this one.

As far as newsworthy...It would be HUGE news so don' t kid yourself. In your wildest dreams can you actually believe that if a bunch of livestock were being killed by a lion this would not be newsworthy. How many outdoor writers and news people do you think are in this state. I guess, they would just let a story like this go by the wayside. A couple years ago their was a bear roaming around not far from the city limits of Pittsburgh. It was all bear TV all the time on the local news telecasts, so I' m sure they would just gloss over some frivilous mountain lion attack without covering the story. Yeah right. It was a freakin bear and that was big news...And we have a bunch of those in this state.

Additionally, with about 1,000,000 deer hunters in the woods on opening day of buck season how come no one kills a cougar. They must be REALLY elusive. Like so elusive that there really aren' t any.

If you know for a FACT as you say that they are here...that' s cool. Believe whatever you want....I still don' t. Jim

Bearclaw Crislap

When I lived in Western Massachusetts, the outdoor column of the local newspaper contained persistent reports of lion sightings in the central part of the state especially in the watershed of the Quabbin Resevoir, a large very remote uninhabited region with very restricted access as it was the prime water supply for the city of Boston. I do recall that a wildlife biologist from the University of Massachusetts did confirm that scat taken from that area did indeed come from a mountain lion. Does that " prove" the existence of an indigenous, self-sustaining lion population? No. But other sightings in other parts of the state, as reported to the outdoor writer, seemed lend support to the possibility. Besides, wolves and moose are moving back into ranges from which they were previously exterminated. Why not cats? I now live in VA and haven' t heard of any big cats in these parts which is not to say no reports haven' t been filed. I have heard about Sasquatch sightings in the Blue Ridge. Anyone wanna open that can-o-worms?

Caliper

SchuylkillOutdoorsman , I can certainly believe your friend in Fleetwood since there are alot of hardwoods and swamp type land in the area. I could believe it more if you i heard that cattle were missing from the some of the small farms out there.

And like the guy earlier who stated if he saw a mountain lion of that size even one half the size I know I would soil my pants.

these pictures remind me that perhaps I should carry a small pistol in the woods with me when just walking around. Even then that migt not help.

Jimimac

Bearclaw...I agree that many species are making a comeback, just as I mentioned in my original post that it may be possible for cougars to return to this part of the country in the future. I have my doubts about that too, because I' m not sure we have enough available habitat here in the very populated state of Pennsylvania for the cats to survive as a viable population. I never said it was impossible.

Is it possible to have a cougar running loose somewhere in the state? Yes, but only if someone had one as a pet and got rid of it. But how does it find a mate? Or how does it not get shot by a hunter? Or hit by a car? Or get killed or trapped by the really P.O' d farmer who has had enough of this thing killing off his stock? I stand by my convictions on this one until someone can prove me wrong. Call me bullheaded and stubborn.

As a side note...I' ve heard that people have seen wolves in PA also. I' m not buying into that one either. More campfire or internet stuff as far as I' m concerned.

Bearclaw Crislap

I am not prepared to believe in the absolute certainty of the existence of big cats in the Northeast. It is, of course, an open question. What intrigues me is the number and nature of the reported sightings which continue to flow into this and other forums. One man can be delusional, mistaken, or lying. But hundreds??? There have got to be many sightings which go unreported except among neighbors and residents of the areas where the alleged sightings ocurr. What are they seeing and describing? On the other hand, with the proliferation of digital cameras, palm sized digital camcorders and the like, you' d expect more in the way or recorded evidence. The couger, if it is here at all must be part of a very small, barely surviving population.

xibowhunter

we have two places around here ,both are run by vets, that take in big cats that someone had as pets or sigfried and roy ran amok whatever ,and even though it' s never been in the paper i' d bet that some of them got loose , they have lions and a few tigers and i know they have cougars , they are probably ones that got loose or someone set loose , i know we don' t have a viable population , but there could be a couple floating around ,until the pgc says something we are going to just have to speculate , i did hear that next year there will be a bigfoot season in some of the northern counties they' re getting into peoples garbage and pooping on peoples lawns and just being a general pest!

JeramyK

I talked to a friend of mine at work about mountain lions. He said that they' ve seen a mountain lion on two separate occasions. They have a camp in McKean county.

PAhunter86

Guess where Penn State got the Nittany Lions from[]

BCEncorePA

Hey guys, This is my first post. I have been reading as a guest now for about 2 years. I enjoy the sight, i get a kick out of you guys going back and forth as well as some useful information. I saw this post and finally had to join and respond. I am a Pa resident and I used to, I repeat used to work for the PGC. When working for the PGC the first thing the public says to you is " how about those mountain lions" Now I worked for the PGC for 3 years, still have some very close friends in the PGC including the furbearer biologist. I have been from Black Moshannon state forest, sproul state forest, the poconos, down and live in SE Pa. I personally have NEVER seen a mountain lion, nor have any of my friends who have logged thousands of hours all over the PA woods doing research. Now Pa is a large heavely wooded state. Who knows just maybe, MAYBE, there could be a few. In my opinion, I would say there are none. The spottings you hear of are always through a chain of friends. The pictures can never be proven. Including the one on this post. I know people that have said they are going to kill one and drop it on the door step at the PGC office in Harrisburg. It may take that to prove it. People do have mountain lions as pets as crazy as it seems and sometimes they get lose. Big house cats can be confused at night, the most common confusion is probably the bobcat. Now I am not trying to start off making any enemies. If you think you saw one all the power to ya. The PGC probably wont recognize one till they get one in their hands. I am just giving my personal opinion on the situation. You are all entitled to yours. Good luck and keep enjoying PA.

ilbback

I personally have never seen one. My best friends father swore to god he saw one walk across his back yard. He has seen many bobacts before and he told me that there is nothing in the wild that you could confuse a mountain lion with due to the size and long tail.

I know of a person that has a mountain lion that lives in Laquin in Bradford county which is probably one of the more mountainous areas of bradford county. I asked him one day when I took the kids to see it if he had any visitors in the past around her cage. He said twice... Both times were when she was in heat. She makes loud rours our calls when she was in heat. SHe got answered once from up on an adjacent ridge and the other time he said that the lion was just back of house answering her but he never saw it. He is 100% convinced they exist as he raises one and knows what they sound like. He says no doubt they exist in PA.