mountain lions in pa
 

I was just curious as to wether or not someone has seen any lions here in pa. I have seen two in my life. One was while spotting in Juniata county. We thought it might be an albino deer until he stood up and started walking. Man was he big. His tail had to be 4 feet long. We went back the next day and found a nice 8 point half eaten with paw prints all around it. The only other one I saw was along 78 coming out of Allentown. I was heading home from work and saw him laying dead along the road. I still kick myself for not stopping because the next day he was gone.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

I haven' t seen any, but my wife' s grandfather says he has one around his house in the Poconos (Wallenpaupak).

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

I have heard many people tell me that they are here and I believe them.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

to find one hit is rare...they a canny to say the least. very stealthy animals wiht almost a 6th sense, but not really, they have good senses:) they are there along with the yotes' :) draw quick

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

I hope someday I will be lucky enough to see one out in the wild. That would be a great experience. I did a search on the web and found an interesting article from this past October. This quote in particular caught my attention.

Taken from this article : http://www.thewgalchannel.com/news/2574295/detail.html

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Bearklr, that' s a mighty fine signature you have there! It rings a bell with me, I just don' t know where I' ve seen that before! ;)

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Where in Juniata county did you see it. I live in juniata county. But anyhow there have been paw prints found behind my house and my neighbors have them in plaster. I know of numerous sightings of them around here and of many people hearing them scream. Most of these sighting have been close to the Shade mtn. I don' t know if you are familiar w/ that mtn. But of course there are no mtn. lions in pa. according to some people[X(]

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

i talked to a couple guy who live up in the mtns here in fayette county and they swear they have seen a big cat on more than one occasion, after all there had to be some at one time ,thats where penn state got the nittany lion from !

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

This is one a freind sent me that was said to be shot down by harrisburg. Dont know if it true or not but my friend knows the guy. It looks a little big to me, but I never saw one in the wild.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Never saw one in the woods in 28 years of hunting. Heard that they exist though. I remember years ago bowhunting in Tiadaughton Swamp of Tioga Cnty and hearing some god-awful screams around dark. That might have been bobcat though. I vaugely remember hearing/reading something about your Lehigh cnty sighting.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

What did the PGC have to say about it? That' s a huge/well fed animal.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

MY FRIEND' S CO-WORKER WAS BOWHUNTING HIS PROPERTY IN OCTOBER SOMEWHERE IN THE POCONOS. HE SAW A DOE WALKING TOWARDS HIM, AND HE STATED A LARGE CAT JUMPED FROM THE UNDERGROWTH ONTO THE DOE, BUT SHE MANAGED TO GET AWAY. HE WAS NERVOUS TO GET OUT OF HIS STAND, NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON!!!!

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

I saw the lion just outside of mifflintown. We get off of 322 one exit north of port royal and stay on that road straight through mifflintown and go a couple miles out the other side of town. As far as the pic, we have that same pic hanging in a club here in town. The guy is 6' 2" tall so that' s a pretty big cat and I too heard it was shot just south of harrisburg. Which is pretty close considering I only live a couple miles south of Harrisburg. We reported our sightings to the pgc and they always say the same thing. " there are no lions in PA" . What a crock of $@#!&. I guess that makes them fair game. How can you get arrested for shooting and animal that " doesn' t exist" in PA. Oh yeah, I just talked to my uncle about this and he saw one in Lycoming county. He said it was dragging a deer up a tree. Everyone in camp said he was nuts until they saw the doe hanging 20 feet up a pine tree.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Jimbo,
I almost forgot. I saw that slogan on a bumper sticker the other day and I thought it was pretty cool.

Eric

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

There have been sightings in Delaware and they have been legitimized as cougars. one near Christiana Mall , another in a woods where I walk every day, but that was a few years (4) ago. I would swear that one ran across a road in front of me coming home late one evening, but I never pushed the issue didnt want to be declared mentally incompetent so I kept m mouth shut about it. Maybe next week I will see one in Clinton County on Beech Creek mountain. I am afraid of the decision I would have to make if I saw one....

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

That was just a rumor. That mountain lion was shot at west - i' ve seen that picture surface several times over the past 6 months. I can' t remember what state/story but I' ll look to see if I can' t dig up the details of that mt lion.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Here is the B&C link to the story/pciture behind that cat.

http://www.boone-crockett.org/news/t...D-EE4842DEDA07


FYI - if you ask the PGC....they will deny Mt lions are in PA and if there are any, that they were someone' s pet that was released.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Thanks for the clarification.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

I have heard of 2 sightings of mountain lions in the Poconos. I live on top of the mountain in the Poconos, about 2,000 feet in elevation. Anyway, my neighbor up the block told me he was driving home one evening when he saw a mountain lion run accross the road in front of him. I had mentioned I did see some Bob cats and he said, no, it was tan and had a long tail. He saw it between mine and his house. There is a lake with all woods surrounding it, plus Game Lands, over 700 acres total so you never know.

I also heard of another sighting, this guy a friend knows was traveling south on 196 in the Poconos when a deer ran out in front of him and cross the road, than a mountain lion ran out after the deer.

Tomster

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

SOME HUNTERS I KNOW CLAIM TO HAVE SAW ONE IN NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY, NOT FAR FROM THE MILFORD BRIDGE, I' VE BEEN HUNTING THAT AREA FOR ALMOST 8 YEARS BUT NEVER SAW ONE MYSELF

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Bobcats make a horific scream.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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:D

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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

RE: mountain lions in 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.;):D
Yeah Bobcats make some nasty noises.......a real treat with a dim flashlight and a bow in your hand.[:o]

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.:D

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

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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?

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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! :D:D

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

Guess where Penn State got the Nittany Lions from[:o]

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.

RE: mountain lions in pa
 

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.