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Out to prove the Eastern Big Cats

Va. town tries to prove existence of 'ghost cats'
Friday, September 19, 2008 7:36 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By DENA POTTER Associated Press Writer


BLACKSTONE, Va. (AP) — Like some other residents of this small town, Mary Elizabeth Goodwyn doesn't go outside after dark much anymore.

Goodwyn, 81, used to welcome the dusk under a red maple tree in her front yard every evening, but that was before cougars started showing up in Blackstone — at least in the local newspaper.

Since 2003, the Courier-Record has run at least 15 stories on cougar sightings in town and in the neighboring 41,000-acre Army National Guard training base.

Wildlife officials say that except for a known population of 100 in Florida, the large cats — also called mountain lions, pumas, panthers and the fitting "ghost cats" — were wiped out in the eastern United States by 1900. They claim sightings most likely are cases of mistaken identity — perhaps a bobcat, deer or even a Labrador retriever.

"The sense I get is there are a number of game commission people laughing, and that bothers me a bit because we've got good people here who aren't crazy," said Billy Coleburn, who as editor of the paper wrote most of the stories.

As mayor of the town of 3,700, he must also figure out a way to calm residents' fears.

While hundreds of cougar sightings are reported each year from Maine to the Carolinas, evidence of their presence is as elusive as the big cats themselves.

Since 1900, only 64 sightings have been confirmed in the East outside of Florida, despite tens of thousands of reported sightings, said Mark McCollough, an endangered species biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who is leading a review of the eastern cougar.

"People see an animal run quickly across the road in front of them at night in their headlights, and they might jump to the conclusion it's a cougar, but a number of those reports are inaccurate," McCollough said.

Mark Dowling, co-founder of The Cougar Network, a research organization, calls it "mountain lion mania," when one sighting spawns others.

It is easy to misjudge an animal's size from a distance, Dowling said. His organization often gets photos of housecats from people who believe they are seeing cougars.

Dowling and other experts say the stragglers that do turn up are former pets. Experts estimate there are at least 1,000 captive cougars in the East, although many states have outlawed having a cougar as a pet.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife review, due this winter, is expected to put to rest the question on whether mountain lions still roam eastern forests. If it finds the eastern cougar is extinct, it will be removed from the list of endangered species. If not, a plan could be put in place to manage the cougars that are here and possibly bring others in.

Those in favor of reintroducing cougars say it is a way to restore some of the natural balance to the ecosystem. The cougar's favorite meal is deer, which cause an estimated 1.5 million auto accidents and 150 deaths annually because of overpopulation.

McCollough said while the natural habitat is well-suited, the fears of easterners accustomed to life without the world's fourth-largest cats might be the bigger impediment to reintroduction.

"The biological issues are probably not as difficult to deal with as the social or political issues," he said.

Officials estimate there are as many as 35,000 mountain lions in the West, including in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. And some are inching eastward.

A cougar kitten was hit by a truck in Kentucky in 1997, one cougar was killed and another captured in West Virginia in 1976 and scientists verified droppings from Massachusetts in 1997.

Earlier this year, police killed a cougar in Chicago that was traced through Wisconsin from South Dakota. Sightings have been confirmed in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and down to Arkansas and Louisiana.

But experts say those are isolated incidents.

Hundreds of motion-activated cameras dot forests throughout the East, from Great Smoky Mountain National Park to an ongoing study along 600 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The results: hundreds of photos of bears, deer and other critters but no cougars.

"I don't want to come out and say that everybody who says they've seen a mountain lion is a crackpot or mistaken, but if the cats were there, I believe we would be confirming them" more through roadkill, trail cameras or other means, said Jay Tischendorf, president of the nonprofit Eastern Cougar Foundation.

Blackstone recently set up a handful of cameras in the woods with the hope of getting proof, and the town's lone animal control officer's hours were pushed back to patrol for the nocturnal cat.

Earlier this month, town officials made a cast of what they believed was a cougar track and sent it to state biologists.

The determination: inconclusive.

Sue Cobbs doesn't need proof. She knows what she saw twice near her Blackstone home. In June, a big brown cat with a long tail chased a deer through her back yard. A month later, she saw one outside her neighbor's house.

Like Goodwyn, she's now a little more careful when she goes outside.

"Every time I take my dogs out to go to the bathroom," she said, "I'm standing there watching the horizon."

———

On the Net:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Cougar Review: www.fws.gov/northeast/ECougar/

The Cougar Network: www.easterncougarnet.org/

Eastern Cougar Foundation: www.easterncougar.org/

Feline Conservation Federation: www.felineconservation.org/

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There are a few in Iowa- I was lucky enought to see one and watch him (?) for nearly five minutes as it walked along a field edge ~ 200 yards from me.
By and large most of the sightings are a joke. I had to check into a couple that ended up being dogs. People see what they want to see...

there

was 1 sean about 1 mile from my farm today,that makes 5 mountain lion that has been sean here in the last 2 years,by people that you can belive,david,,ps i think they put them here with the ealk heards and some just left,same as the wolfs here now shoot them all

well officially there are no big cats in NY, but after talking to a NYSDEC ( thats our DNR) Officer, he unofficially told me that there had been mating pairs released a number of years ago to control the raising deer population, and one was hit a couple months ago in Langford NY about 30 miles south of buffalo, but there are heavy rumors about that being true or not

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Some basics.

I live in a province that most likely holds the highest cougar population per thousand square miles. Would not even try too qualify a actual count. Due too their natural instinct towards elusiveness. In simple terms, "There are more then you care too know about" Even in a prolific population there are few actual reputable sightings. There is a "Eastern population" So too speak. There is a established population in Ontario Canada. And a DNA study of them too prove it. A university thesis that if required I can dig up again if I gotta.... lol... So it comes too reason that you rarely mistake a twenty pound house cat for a one hundred pound or better long tail. A population that can reasonably sustain itself under hunting pressure........ Maybe not.... Are they there? With a population that they can find real evidence of in Ontario, And the amount of ground they cover too call a home territory I would be less then amazed. If they relocated some "Supposed breeding pairs" There would be some record of it. That kind of policy they don't get too hide for long.... Look at all them wonderful Wolves that we were more then happy too remove from our own population and ever so generously donate too the reintroduction program in Yellowstone and all the other ground them hungry buggers are takin too their advantage. Have too check again and will correct myself if I am wrong but have pics of a mountain lion killed in Georgia. Know alot of hunters here that have never seen a lion in countless hours in the woods. So a qualified account stands up too me. Course would want too talk too the individual myself before I bought into it....lol....

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IN THE TREE OR DIE TRYIN!

I live in Eastern Ontario and it is amazing on how many cougar are sited in my area and yet we yote hunt all winter long all over and never see a cougar track in the snow. They must be the cougar that hibrinate during the winter months. When a siting is reported it just starts the ball running on more reports. All I say is show me the fur and I will be a believer for sure. If I ever do see a track or a cougar the blues will be on it even if I have to walk the track with them. JMO

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Black Rhino

Paul Currie here in Ontario , I sold some Bluetick hounds to Harold MacLean in Niton Junction , just wondered if you knew of him ? He runs those big cats .

tom lion on the move

tom scratch....

Did I hear something about a cat track? Well I'm with you on that one, and when my hounds strike a track or scratch they ususally get to go down it as well. Good luck on finding tht track and putting it in the tree..........

ike

No Cats in Bama

There aren't supposed to be any big cats in Bama according to the game and fish department. For some strang reason they couldn't explain why when one was killed 5 miles from my house last year they were there to pick it up in less than 2 hours. The cat was shot while attacking a horse. The man that killed it didn't call anyone to tell them he killed it and the game and fish folks just happened to show up. The tom weighed 94 pounds. They told him he would be fined but hasn't been yet. There has also been several more seen by people that know are very reputable. A man in his 50's was checking his cattle and found 2 of them with a calf down. When they saw him he was chased back into his truck he had just gotten out of. There have been several livestock attacks that the authorities can't explain what has done the attacking.

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Cats in Missouri

There are a few in southern Missouri.They are coming out of Arkansas.A lady hit one 2 years ago on I-435 in Kansas City.It was hit in front of an amusment park called Worlds of Fun.The Missouri river is near by and the Missouri Dept. of Conservation said that is was wild and must have followed the river from up north somewhere.

just wondering

has anybody ever treed or heard of anyone treeing a mountain lion in the northeast cause you'd think with all the houndsmen running dogs someone would tree one thanks Tim

lion

i have had few people tell me they have seen them but untill i see one up a tree or a dead one to me there not here with all the hounds out there and not one that i know of has yet to put one up i dont think we got any here rich

Hey Paul. I know Harold talk with him on occation. Really nice man.

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Some local guys here treed one for the dnr last winter,so they can't deny it here anymore.

There arnt supposed to be none in west tennessee atleast according to the TWRA but last summer we was cutting hay and my buddy said something about a big cat hangin around the edge of the woods at almost dark i didnt think nothin about it thought it was just a coydog but about 7 it was just enough light out to see the field i seen it about 50 yards away and it wouldnt no coydog it was a big black cat with one of those tracking collars that the TWRA uses.

States are releasing them much more than people realize. There is a breeding station in south east Georgia almost on the Florida line that has been breeding them for release for at least twenty years that I know of. And yes they are in Georgia because we treed one with a collar on it. Also one that was released in Florida was tracked to Eufaula(sp.?) Alabama and recaptured. It was released in the rough country just south of the Okeefenokee Swamp in north Florida along with several buddies. They were brought in from out west as an experiment. Last I heard they all left the swamps huntin' some "dry" ground. We saw them a lot for several weeks after thier release. This one was publicized but the FWC has been "involved" in a lot or releases that dont go public as well as Georgia DNR. So why would anyone think that it isnt happening in other eastern states as well.

psiskjr

No breeding ground in Georgia.

Even though there are no firm plans for any reintroduction into Georgia, some residents in Folkston, which bills itself as “The Gateway to the Okefenokee,” would rather not host the cats.

Some residents recall that during the experimental release, there were several attacks on family pets and livestock. Some of the cats were killed, too.

“The problem is if they turn them loose, they’ll go where they want to go,” said Henry Vanzandt, who runs a Folkston chain saw shop. “I’m not crazy about the idea of them being around my place because I’ve got cattle. A farmer’s got to protect what he’s got. I don’t imagine people around here will be that high for bringing them in.”

Such concerns aren’t lost on wildlife managers, who say any reintroduction program will come only after extensive efforts to enlist public support.

“Public acceptance is the most important factor in any future recovery plan,” said Paul Souza, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor involved in the effort to save the animals. “We want to establish a track record of public-private partnership in South Florida that can be a model for reintroduction into other areas.”

There was A experimental release in the Okan....whatever forest. Lions with tracking collars and they re-captured and removed them once they had finished their study. So once again I will state it.......... No government agency hauls large predators hundreds of miles for some kind of covert reintroduction program... That kind of expense does not just get swept under the table when their budgets are slashed as much as they have been in recent years.

Rhino.

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IN THE TREE OR DIE TRYIN!

Rhino think what you will. The ones being released in Florida and Georgia arent being hauled in from anywhere. They are being raised on White Oak plantation and have been for the last twenty plus years. They had a four year old male back in for rehab from a broken leg after being hit by a car. My buddy that works for White Oak wouldnt tell me where they picked him up at. So I say again think what you will.

And yes they recovered all but one of the cats that were hauled in from out west. Several were killed and none would stay in the Okefeenokee area. All went north or west.


Psiskjr

FOR YEARS

There have been sightins of these big cats in the SOUTHERN BLUE RIDGE MTS. We are a very remote county in the south west part of the state, and just the other day a local school school teacher got a picture of a cougar on a trail camera. THIS MAN IS A HONEST MAN AND A CHRISTIAN. I also grew up hearing stories of these big cats from other HONEST MEN. Even park rangers on the BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY have verified cougar tracks only to be told by the Virginia game commission they did not see what they thought they saw. SOMETHING IS UP AROUND HERE!! GOD BLESS YALL ALL.

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cats

There have been sightings here in the Allegheny Nat. Forest since the early 1990's. You can bet if I find a track I'm gonna be throwing some Plott power on it and load up the cameras

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CATS IN MD

I TALKED TO A GUY THE OTHER DAY WHO SAID AN ATTORNEY WHO OWNS PROPERTY HERE IN MARYLAND TOOK A PHOTO WITH HIS TRAIL CAMERA OF A MT. LION. HE SAID HE KNOWS IT IS A LION DUE TO THE LONG TAIL. TAKEN WITH A TRAIL CAM. I HAVE NOT SEEN THEM FOR MYSELF BUT I WILL TRY TO SEE THEM. MAYBE I CAN GET THEM PUT ON HERE. WHO KNOWS.

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me and my buddy saw one in the mnts of vermont last year while we were calling for bear walked 125yrds away on the powerlines we just looked at eachother and said wow there have been stories of them around but that was the first ive seen i figure it weighted about 125lbs or so

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NY

I attended the ny state houndsmans banquet in March 2009. They did a study on the reintroduction of the mountain lion to the Adirondacks, complete with no. of cats the deer herd could support, benefits for houndsman and local economy, ect. It was well done and well presented. My home state of PA has already brought back the fishers and bobcats which are coming back strong, bobcat has been a lottery tag for ten yrs, this yr will be 1 cat statewide per licensed furtaker,3 wk. season and a 6 day trap season for fisher, which havent been legal game in over 50 yrs. But deer hunting is king here, and folks are up in arms now over the dwindling deer herd. Between the highways ,coyotes, overhunting, and our 14000+ bear pop., I would be suprised if more than 2 out of 10 fawns reach age 2. The PGC is going to do a fawn mortality study soon, I'm interested to see the results. I doubt highly that the PGC would have very many friends if they suggested bringing back big cats, although I believe there are some here already .

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