Unexplained animals when out hunting???

[Horner]

I have been told a bunch of stories by hunters, of strange animals being sited. That should not be in that part of the county that they are hunting or fishing.  
I have not really had this happen to me.  The strangest thing I have ever seen was a bobcat last year.  It walked up to my blind when I was fall turkey hunting.  Guess he was hunting the same thing I was.  It was a cool but, they are a protected species here in Ohio, so I know there around.  Plus I have talked to a lot of other hunters who have seen them.
Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about.  These sightings have all been in Ohio and West Virgina.  My father told me he saw a mountain lion when he was trout fishing in the West Virgina mountains when he was in his 20's.  My wife has a family member who said that, he saw a mountain lion when he was out deer hunting in Ohio two years ago.  
I also have herd many people talk about seeing  black panthers in both states.
These things are hard for me to grasp.  I know my dad would not lie to me, ever.  So I really want to buy into it.  However, there is just a big part of me that does not believe.
Anyone else have any experiences like these?

[John Scifres]

A wild male mountain lion was shot and killed last year in Chicago.  A "pet" female mountain lion escaped in Terre Houte, IN last year.  It has never been recovered.  They are possible just about anywhere.

In 1983, I saw a Florida Panther while fishing on the St. John's River.

I saw a female bobcat and her 3 kittens in Martin County, IN in 2006.

[ArkyBob]

Several years ago I was out riding a dirt bike in the Ouachita National Forest and a black panther crossed the trail in front of me about 40 yards away.  I have no doubt in my mind that is was a panther.  I was riding alone and needless to say I high tailed it out of there.  The official Ark Game and Fish opinion is that there are no "wild" panthers or mtn. lions in Ark. but there may be some that have been released or gotten loose from captivity.  I don't care how it got there it stll scared the you know what out of me.

BOB

[Sharptop]

Here's one for you. Many reports here in GA about mountain lion seen in various locations. Seems like we would see one on a camera now that so many folks have them out in the woods.

   cougar killed in GA

[ishiwannabe]

Check out trackincats.com- a nifty little website with all sorts of info and opinions about where cougars are and arent.

Here in NY, they dont officially exist. Two in my household have seen them, and I have found tracks and a kill. There are literally hundreds of sighting reports.

In fairness, many people today arent educated in the wilderness and it's inhabitants. So a strange looking fisher could very well be a lion in their minds, etc. Also keep in mind how cats move, hunt and exist. Stealth is the name of the game...

[Mo. Huntin]

We are not supposed to have any in MO. but a few have been hit on the road and you can't deny a dead cougar laying in the road.  I am with Arkybob I don't think we have many but if they are a small breading pair or one that got loose it don't matter to me it is still there. There are a lot of stories about people seeing cougars around here but I never saw one or any sign of one.  If you just want to hear a good story a couple in there  50's said they saw a big cat with a long tail leap out of the woods and kill a goat in there back yard just a couple years ago.

[Mo. Huntin]

that is true we have a bunch of bobcats and fox here but I only see about 3 bobcats a year on average and I have only seen 3 fox in the wild in my life.

[Ray Hammond]

It all boils down to the allmighty dollar, ladies and gents.

If your game department declares that they exist they are then required by law to implement a management program for them.

If they deny they exist, they do not have to manage them.

Your game department, like all government entities (except for those that hand out stuff to anyone who will vote for democrats) are cash-strapped and therefore cannot afford to manage a new species.

So, no one has mountain lions east of the mississippi river. It's just a figment of your imagination, or some jerk released their pet.Yeah....that's it. My wife Morgan Fairchild told me so...and I believe her.

[SELFBOW19953]

Several years ago, I was dove hunting here in Delaware.  It was a contolled hunt on State property-12 hunting stations, 12 hunters, by lottery.  I shot a dove that sailed about 100 yards from me, so I went to retrieve it.  The field was on the edge of the salt marsh, so you could see for several miles.  As I walked to get my dove I was looking across the marsh and saw a PINK heron.  I s*** you not!!!!  I was stone cold sober.  I kept my mouth shut because I wasn't sure I wanted to tell anyone what I'd seen.  I got my bird and had to walk by one other hunter to get to my station.  He had the oddest expression on his face when I walked by him (it was the first of september, about 90 degrees, we're in the sun, and if you don't drink enough, you can be in trouble) so I asked if he was okay. He said he wasn't sure, he had just seen a big pink bird. I was saved, there was at least one other witness!!

I asked a wildlfie biologist at work on Monday about it and he said that I needed to call a guy at the University of Delaware.  I called and this guy was so excited-even asked if I'd seen a yellow heron.  It seems there was a study of nesting/feeding habits of heron in the area.  Herons had been dyed-pink from Delaware, yellow from New Jersey- to see where they nested, where they roosted, where they fed.

[Horner]

After writing this I have thought about it some more and wanted to through out another idea.  Could the DNR be releasing animals and not telling anyone?  I ask this because when I was a kid there where no coyotes in this part of Ohio and now they all over the place.  To put my age in perspective I am 29 and when I say kid I mean, when I can remember from lets say 10.

[Dartwick]

I saw a black mountain lion once here in north west PA be but I was driving. It was sitting right beside the road.
I ask around a bit and the locals there said many people had been seeing it.

The official postistion is that all mountain lions are the product of escaped animals(which probably is somewhat valid.)
This is important though because it means they arent protected as endangered species.

[SELFBOW19953]

I work for the Delaware Divison of Fish & Wildlife.  What Ray said is correct, sort of.  Here unless the animal is on the threatened or endangered species list, we don't manage for it.  We have documented videos of cougar here.  About 4 years ago they were seen quite a bit,  haven't heard much about them in a couple of years.  They were thought to have been released/escaped from a cage up along the Pennsylvania border.  We have gray and red fox.  The red fox is listed as a game animal and somewhat regulated, the gray isn't listed and is unprotected.  We have a few coyotes, they're not managed either.

To legally introduce a species now, requires so much paperwork, it's unbelievable, not to speak of the legal challenges.  Unless it's an extirpated species, like turkey were here, it ain't gonna happen anymore.

[ron w]

Ray said it all and said it best, If they exist, they [Fish and Game] have to manage them and with money like it is...not gonna happen!!!!!

[Deadsmple]

Not exactly an unexplained animal but there used to be a goat that got out of it's pen that hung around the local deer herd in a place I used to hunt.

[Killdeer]

I went to that site, Jamie. According to their map, every cougar in the country is within thirty miles of Albany, NY.

Must be after the bunnies.
Killdeer   :rolleyes:

[EricW]

For years there have been sighting mountian lions in eastern Nebraska. People were told they were crazy. Well they are here. They travel from the western states down the river systems. Peolpe wonder how they got here and blame the Game and Parks for planting them. There are no signs or fences that keep mountain lions out. They go where they are pushed or where the food supply is.

[Jerry Jeffer]

Vaughn, Send out the goat! Lol   Hey I just saw a Mt lion a few days ago in North Jersey, Warren county. Yep, they are all around.

[jack benson]

Mountain lions/cougars do not have a melaninistic phase. There are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars. None have ever been photographed or shot in the wild and none have been bred. There is wide consensus among breeders and biologists that the animal does not exist and is a cryptid (a creature whose existence has been suggested but lacks scientific support).

Jaguars and lepards  do have the genetics for black coats, so a "black panther" would most likely be of those species. There are reports of some melaninism  in bobcats, but observed specimines are very rare.

I live on acreage near Perry, MI.

My wife and son have seen both cougars and a "large black cat" in our area over the years, but most likely they were released/escaped exotics. MI made it illegal to own private felids, but did grandfather those who held and registered prior to the legal change.

A couple years ago, there was a report of a cougar shot just down the road. I investigated and found out that the farmer had shot it as it had attacked his horses and livestock and just buried it because of fear from legal repercussions. Found out a few months ago that a farmer friend had seen the carcass and helped bury it.

That said, a number of years back, I had a pair of breeding emus that had gotten out and ran loose for over a year. I saw them a couple of times in my hay field and observed tracks in mud and snow, but never had a chance to shoot one.

We did have a female black bear who regularly traveled down the I27 corridor from northern lower MI to this area. She had a tracking collar and the DNR used to catch her and return her back to her home territory. She was seen a few miles north of my home with cubs.

[ishiwannabe]

Killy....there arent THAT many rabbits around here....  :D

[mcgroundstalker]

I saw a Swamp Thing last summer at the Sawmill shoot!  :eek:  Does that count?  

... mike ...