# Cougar in Tennessee



## trwaller (Mar 25, 2009)

Yestserday afternoon around dusk I saw a cougar. I like in Middle Tennessee. People do not believe me when I tell them what I saw. Has anyone else in the Middle Tennesse area seen a cougar or know about a sighting?


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## ropensaddle (Mar 25, 2009)

trwaller said:


> Yestserday afternoon around dusk I saw a cougar. I like in Middle Tennessee. People do not believe me when I tell them what I saw. Has anyone else in the Middle Tennesse area seen a cougar or know about a sighting?



They see them here frequently! I just imagine they would be there as well mountainous regions rugged ground is where they like to hang out. I have seen some nice hills in your state condusive to their habitat.


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## tree md (Mar 25, 2009)

I hunted in Hickman Co when I was a kid and heard stories of people hearing and seeing big cats (this was back in the 70's). Never saw one myself. I always figured the stories was just the old folks putting a kid on. Never know though. Cats on on the move and reclaiming their historic territory. The DNR tried to deny we had them here until the 6 o'clock news got footage of one running through the suburbs here. I have seen two since I've been here in OK.


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## KD57 (Mar 25, 2009)

I would think TN would be perfect for them. We have a few around here, but they are seldom seen. I have only seen 3 in my life, and I'm out in the woods a lot.


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## tlandrum (Mar 25, 2009)

i have seen cat tracks over the years but no cats,starting to see bear and often a few elk. lots of hogs now a days.the wildlife seem to be getting more abundant in middle east TN


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## dave bain (Mar 25, 2009)

i seen a cougar today behind the till at our local wally mart


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## TheLazyBFarm (Mar 25, 2009)

tlandrum2002 said:


> i have seen cat tracks over the years but no cats,starting to see bear and often a few elk. lots of hogs now a days.the wildlife seem to be getting more abundant in middle east TN



Where be the hogs, if I might ask? :arg:


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## ShoerFast (Mar 25, 2009)

Lions are somewhat common in here in Colorado, I am about do for seeing one. 

Starting an antler hunting thread here in Great Outdoors, a friend of mine and I were hunting maybe 4 miles or so out of Idledale , here is sort of a hair-raising story! 

Link:


> *Mountain Lion Kills Family Pet
> Posted By: Gary Detman * Created: 8/6/2008 6:15:57 PM Updated: 8/6/2008 6:27:02 PM
> 
> IDLEDALE, CO -- A family in Colorado is mourning the loss of their pet, after a mountain lion came into their home and killed it.
> ...


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## tree md (Mar 26, 2009)

Some lady's doberman was killed about a mile or two from my folks place by a long tail. They've got posters up at the local stores saying to kill the cat and call the game warden. Not sure if you've got to call him to get a special cat permit or what. Lions are protected here but I don't think it means a lot to the local ranchers. This is cattle country and most predators are shot on sight without a word said.

A buddy of mine lost a deer a couple of years back and eventually found it under a mound of leaves where a cat had covered it up. He knew the deer was dead because he saw it drop and went to get his ATV. This happened on our deer lease. I saw a young cat there about 3 years ago.


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## yooper (Mar 26, 2009)

we have them here in the U.P. also the retarded DNR finally accepted it. the morons that they are had to have the public prove it because they where too dumb to be able to find any facts them selves for many years.......talk about the government working for you.....dumb-asses! I have watched and seen a family of lions by my house and know the areas of there den for over 10 years but I would never tell the tards of the DNR. It probably have ruined my deer hunting if I would have.


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## dingeryote (Mar 26, 2009)

We got 'em up here, so odds are y'all got 'em down there, but without our funny accent.

Ya ain't going nuts. They have been expanding thier territory and numbers for years now, taking back where they were eliminated long ago.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## dingeryote (Mar 26, 2009)

yooper said:


> we have them here in the U.P. also the retarded DNR finally accepted it. the morons that they are had to have the public prove it because they where too dumb to be able to find any facts them selves for many years.......talk about the government working for you.....dumb-asses!



Same here. Had to hold public meetings and slap the idiots upside the heads with facts, photo's, track castings, and expert testimony.

Finally they admitted it, but included that the population could not be estimated at this time, in order to dodge spending the $$$ mandated by the Feds. It's always something with the DNR, and never the truth.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## yooper (Mar 26, 2009)

dingeryote said:


> We got 'em up here, so odds are y'all got 'em down there, but without our funny accent.
> 
> Ya ain't going nuts. They have been expanding thier territory and numbers for years now, taking back where they were eliminated long ago.
> 
> ...



funny accent...aint you a troll? i thought we all had the funny accent here.


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## dingeryote (Mar 26, 2009)

yooper said:


> funny accent...aint you a troll? i thought we all had the funny accent here.



I said funny accent, not Really funny Lutefisk eatin' Yooper accent! 
Most folks around here sound quite a bit like northern Cheeseheads.
It's around D town where the ugly funny accent is obvious and you're likely more accustomed to.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## yooper (Mar 26, 2009)

ubetcha I gotcha dar my troll friend now..dem D town mudder fokers ya can kiss ma ass ya , ya know!...cheezhead talk aint all to bad ya know!


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## dingeryote (Mar 26, 2009)

A little snippet of the fun we had around here with the DNR and Big Kittys that have a Michigan accent.

The story came shortly after a neighbors horse ended up on Kittys menu.

http://www.dowagiacnews.com/articles/2006/01/24/news/dnnews3.txt

I trust rural folks Down south know the three "S" rule, and wont bother thier DNR with the facts.

"Nope, the DNR is right. No Cougars Living around here".:hmm3grin2orange:


Stay safe eh!
Dingeryote


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## chainsawboy1996 (Mar 26, 2009)

just during hunting season of '80 i saw 3 cats all within a short distance i'll tell the story of each.

my most frightening one was less than 20 feet from me.i was riing on the quad on my way back to camp on the property and came around a corner to a big ol' mountain lion..i grabbed the foot brake n front brake while at the same moment grabbing the .357 mag.then i stopped he ran and ya know that moment when you realize how majestic an animal is and you focus souley on that thing well that happend to me.as he bounded of into the trees i realized how awesome that sight was,how his tail flew as he jumped and body gracefully flew threw the thick brush,his golden fir glimmered in the sun.that was a scray and awsome day.

Now the next,i was on the way back from a hill walk witha couple of hunting buddies in the truck,i and a few other guys were riding in back guns on shoulder just eyeballing around and not 100 yards from our camp is a grey cougar,the driver hits the gas and the cat and us all go haulling :censored: forward towards the cat,the cat jumps into the washout and climbes a tree on the other side in the mean time i have my 257 roberts witha bead on that cat just waiting to get the word fire.but it was a cool day nothing shot or killed.

now the last,this ocured on my way home from school in the car on the 40 mile drive home.i was riding in the back of the truck and see a glimmer in a tree so i focus on that spot and see a big ol cat just chillin in the late noon sun relaxing. 

i rely like to take time reflect back on those days of awe because i know i may never see a big cat again.


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## 2000ssm6 (Mar 26, 2009)

Looks like we are getting them in the flats here in NC. I just heard a story of one shot on the shore off the Pee Dee river in Richmond/Anson county, the cat was about to pounce on a feller so he blasted it. It was 7ft. and over 200lbs.


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## bogiemsn (Mar 26, 2009)

yooper said:


> ubetcha I gotcha dar my troll friend now..dem D town mudder fokers ya can kiss ma ass ya , ya know!...cheezhead talk aint all to bad ya know!



Ah cripes, we even got some in Cheesehead land, up nort der by da UP.

Say Ja, to da UP eh? Shoot, shovel and shutup, that's we call da yooper hunting license.

We even get the occasional bear and wolf down in S. WI.


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## mowrey1999 (Mar 28, 2009)

*bobcats*

My wife says they have bobcats here in southern missouri , I guess she,s right since they come right up to the house and look right in.


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## 2000ssm6 (Mar 28, 2009)

mowrey1999 said:


> My wife says they have bobcats here in southern missouri , I guess she,s right since they come right up to the house and look right in.



That's no bobcat, unless it belongs to Mark Mcgwire....


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## tree md (Mar 28, 2009)

Awesome pic!!!

No mistaking these cats for a bobcat when you see one!


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## mowrey1999 (Mar 28, 2009)

*Cougars*

My wife came and got me and said there was a bob cat outside , I took 2 steps down stairs and saw the cat looking in and went and got the camera, I called the dog up stairs and then took some pics of him walking along the porch and then jumping down ,I have seen a couple of them around our place for the last few years ,We have a lot of deer and its not uncommon to see 10-15 deer walking up to the house and eating the clover I have planted in the yard , I have also seen 1 chasing one of the deer before and the deer wasnt missing any steps so I dont, think he caught him, but he wasnt far behind and I was only about 50 yards away when they both flew across my path where I was walking ,


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## 2000ssm6 (Mar 29, 2009)

Unless ya'll have HUGE bobcats you must be talking about a bigger cat. We got bobs everywhere out here and they sure don't chase deer, maybe a tiny fawn if it's wounded/hurt but I've never seen it. I will say a bob makes a erie cry and a .270wsm messes them up pretty bad.


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## Stihl Does It (Apr 14, 2009)

mowrey1999 said:


> My wife says they have bobcats here in southern missouri , I guess she,s right since they come right up to the house and look right in.



I've seen that pic many times. I've heard numerous stories from locals who live in the mountianous Ozarks just south of us. They've seen and heard the big cats howl at different times of the year, but the AR Game & Fish deny that those big cats are here.
Missouri has had at least one killed amongst the numerous sightings and their Game & Fish also denies the presence of these animals.
Go figure.

:deadhorse:


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## CLEARVIEW TREE (Apr 19, 2009)

*The cougar lowdown*

neat photos of that cat in the door. But, here he'd be dead. That's a lil close for comfort! Big cats have been here in the eastern us and abroad forever. They do make SOME travels to the east form the west. A study in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the 70's indicated a group of 10-12 cougar in a very remote virgin stand of timber. To date a couple of friends that are rangers and the GSMNP Biologist Kim Delozier, admit to seeing often cougar in the park, usually near Cades Cove. Ironically, Cades Cove is prime deer habitat, and the most deer can be found there.

But, to ask the folks with TWRA, they know everything...."Well they are just escaped pets that have gone wild"! That's the same BS story given by every agency east of the mississippi river! I've dealt with hundreds, if not thousands of people in my few short years in biz...but never met anyone with a pet cougar and if all the hundreds of sightings, video, pictures are of released pets , then there's a hell of a lot of big cat owners out there! A friend John Lutz (Dir. of Eastern Puma Research Network)maysville,WV. is trying to prove the growing existence of these big cats. There tracks look just like a big dog track, but the heel pad is reversed, looks like the letterM, and produces no dew claws or claw marks in the track. Right now Arizona DNR has photo/video evidence of Wild Jaguar and mtn lion in the state. Mtn lion leave kills on ground covered in debris, where as leapord and jags leave them hangin or wedged in trees! Recent evidence may indicate that the florida panther is actually mountain lion that have been isolated down south!


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## John Ellison (Apr 19, 2009)

I believe there is a very good reason the state gov. will not admit to a wild pop. of cougar,,,MONEY. If they say we have a wild population here the fed gov. will make them share in the costs of study...study ...study.


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## CLEARVIEW TREE (Apr 19, 2009)

John Ellison said:


> I believe there is a very good reason the state gov. will not admit to a wild pop. of cougar,,,MONEY. If they say we have a wild population here the fed gov. will make them share in the costs of study...study ...study.


 exactly, if they admitted that an endangered mountain lion population existed it would mess up a lot of things. They'd have to close mining and logging lands for one. They'd have to train personnel in the proper handling of large wild mountain lion. Where i live in e. tn., tourism would slow to a crawl in the GSMNP when tourists found out that we've got cougar here in the east. it's a shame for such a neat animal that's made it this far from almost extinction to be denied.


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## indiansprings (Apr 19, 2009)

Here in SW Missouri the dept of conservation has finally acknowledged the presence of the big cats after several video's have been turned in and several road kills, hope they make it. Wild hogs are becoming a bigger problem, hope they make good kitty food.


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