OUR DEER POPULATION IS SO RIDICULOUS THAT A COUGARE WOULD HAVE PLENTY TO FEED ON-JUST WONDERING WITH THE LAKE AND HIGH POPULATION OF DEER, IS THIS POSSIBLE. It was misty, and had rained the night before. Then what? The population of cougars west of the Mississippi River was large enough that it was not listed. The only confirmed mountain . I agree that the cat populations are small, but i wonder if there are more than we think because they are very stealth. I aimed my light in the direction and it was a huge cat halfway up the tree staring at me. It was light brown and was definitely a cat, and it had a long tail. The graceful animal was golden brown in color. THAT GOT HIT BY A CAR AND,THE LADY WAS FAILING MENTALLY WITH ALZHEIMERS AND WOULD PUT FOOD OUT ON HER SCREEND IN BACK PORCH LIKE THE DOG WAS STILL THERE. One night our mules and horses had broken through the fence. Sadly, mountain lions no longer live in Virginia. Cougar, Mountain Lion, Catamount, Panther, and Puma, (Some of the names for this great cat) and is found principally in the mountains. I also am wondering what others think about the fact that so far a documented photo of a cougar in Virginia has not been taken by any of the ECFs cameras. It was slinking off up a hill after crossing the road, he said it was 100 + lbs. After all, a three-year-old male lion was struck and killed by car in Connecticut in 2011. I looked outside & about 300 ft. behind my house was a panther. This animal was a good thirty inches at the shoulder and must have weighted 150 pounds. Does this mean they do not exist? into the places they were often in but not noticed until recently. My first thought was, I gotta chase this thing, Marchibroda said. Harsh winters can[], Thanks for dropping by! I made deep, loud noises and threw my hands up and used my flashlight to look large. They have been absent from this state since the late 1800s; however, there have been a few isolated sightings. 28-Aug-08. Other interests include hiking, songwriting, and spending time in the mountains. The animal has been determined extinct, and thats just a shame, she said. In the subsequent photos weve gotten of cougars, there wasnt any evidence of any kind of wound or anything on it, Peterson said. Mr. Lutz do you have internet picture of the Virginia cougar that you show arround? There has been speculation of the cougars being in Rockingham county so I am very excited to hear from the commmunity on any other possible sightings. And add to that the fact that someone may have actually been wrong. Now, after a reintroduction that began in 2012, these magical creatures have made their way back. Is it safe to go out there and will it come back. Its near a nature preserve so noone ever calls to report it . If they are in Virginia, shouldnt there be a photo by now from a camera trap? The last mountain lion in Virginia was killed In 1882! It was approx 3 ft high (estimation). Unless of course you already know this and are relieved to know that it is not that of the great puma . The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Association (TWRA) confirmed that the cat, which sniffed around on the ground and in a low-hanging tree branch before looking square into the camera with its mouth wide open, was in fact a mountain lion. At first I thought it might be a big black dog like a mastiff or something but I saw the tail and it was just like a bigger version of my house cats tail. You'll receive your first newsletter soon! Both went into the woods without any fuss. I walked w/n 40 yards and took one more photo. I have a house about 3 miles from Orlean, VA in Fauquier County. We got a glimpse of the cat early this morning, as it paced back and forth, squaling every breathe, on the other side of our riding ring. Since 1970, 121 sightings have been identified as possible mountain lions, but have not been officially confirmed. In reply to Beowulf it may interest you to know I accomplied a rabit hunter back to Appomattox County where he had found a cougar carcass. My house was in a very wooded area and driveway led off into those woods about 1/2 mile from the main road (which was a dirt/gravel road about 1 mile from a paved road). Our family moved to the Manassas National Battlefield area in 1983. My mother lives in Orange, and has seen a mountain lion in the past couple of weeks, as well as several years ago. He said, I went out at about dusk and I was looking around my property and at the edge of the woods I saw a mountain lion with a half dead groundhog in its mouth and it was tossing it into the air and catching it.. Which could be a pretty big deal, because up until now, the confirmed sightings in the east have been of male cats. THE BOBCAT: on the other hand actualy has a more shrill high pitched terrified scream that sounds like a woman being murdered much like on a horror film or somethng like the screams at that halloween fright night you may have been to. If was about 50 . Good Cat food. But I never CLEARLY & TRULY actually encountered one until a few weeks ago! I bearly got a glimpse, thought at first it was a deer. It was in the early evening but well before dark. Females have gradually made their way into states like Nebraska, South Dakota, Arkansas, and Missouri, but according to LaRue, it turns out the midwest largely is not a great habitat. So its not unreasonable to assume that theyll continue on and eventually end up in states near and on the eastern seaboard, where lush mountain ranges like the Blue Ridge and Smokies offer prime habitat and sustenance (deer, primarily) for the cats. They produced over 20 kittens, expanding the gene pool successfully.5, the Eastern Cougar is prefers a habitat with trees It looked to be about 90 to 100 pounds. It was about 8:00 am on Saturday 8/8/09 and I noticed a black animal in a fenced pasture just ahead of me. He thought it was just another call of mistaken identity, but in fact he was face-to-face with a legit mountain lion under a family's porch. If you know anything about mt lions, you know there is a lot of sign if there is a breeding population. A lifelong Virginia resident, Beth loves exploring different parts of the world and currently resides in Alexandria. He didnt rule out the possibility of an individual wandering into Virginia, as that has happened before. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. I quickly realized it couldnt be human. Interestingly, the does seem to have very new fawns (twins generally). For years people have reported mountain lion sightings in the Valley, but, according to local DWR officials, they've been extinct in our area since 1882. And shes not alone in that belief. lions in the area for years. In the case where two mountain lions had been found locally, it didn't take long for them to stir up trouble. I went back to the area for my job maybe 3 weeks later and saw nothing. (Shooting a mountain lion is illegal in Tennessee, given that theres no hunting or trapping season for the animal, but Alan Peterson said the hunter didnt believe hed mortally wounded the animal, and the case has been turned over to a District Attorneys office to determine whether or not the hunter will be charged.). Published: Oct. 12, 2022 at 9:17 AM PDT. A mountain lion sighting was reported at, Showshoe West Virginia. Thank you! I see no reason to question them. I knew we a small population of bobcats in this area and asked her if it could have been that. They still occur in parts of Central and South America. I told him I had no doubt that he had seen a mountain lion. Comments have now closed permanently, however. Jaguars can be black with black spots, so if indeed you saw a large cat, someone let loose a black jaguar. Mountain Lion. Are there mountain lions in the Shenandoah Valley? If some one ask if there are lions in Danville, Va tell them hell yes! Red wolves have been reintroduced into the state. The folks living in those areas, at least in WV, mostly keep to themselves and most of those folks do not have computers. I havent seen it or signs of it since my 15 May report. No more mountain lions in Virginia, only bobcats. "This photo has been all over the internet and Facebook for the past 18 months or so," said Michael L. Fies, furbearer project leader for the Virginia . Biologists and wildlife specialists speculate that cougars will reestablish themselves in states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia within the next 25 to 50 years. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. They say the last mountain lion in Virginia was killed in 1882. Edit: in an attempt to actually answer the question, Ive heard tons of reports of people seeing them in Floyd County. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. In fact, bobcats take down prey that weighs as much as 8 times their weight when the situation arises. It was extremely cold out, maybe -20F and we had just come out of the portal against the strong winds of the ventilation fans. But these cats are on experts radars, and the TWRA has even established a Cougar Response Committee to answer questions and sift through reported sightingsof which Peterson said he expects to see an influx later in the year. Every year there were a few here and there.. We made eye contact. Lystrosaurus was one of the few terrestial species that survived the permian extinction. These felines are quite large. This seems strange for late in the summer. ), Bobcat kittens!- They were just thicker-coated & boned kittens with a bobby tail and whisky ears for the most part. Though, they grew large quickly, and set themselves apart from the domesticated cat with ease They eventually returned back to the woods. I have since seen a picture of a lion spotted in Buckingham co. and realize that was the animal I saw. I stopped by a local gas station and 10 minutes later and I was told I was not the first to report seeing the cats. Not much rain in these parts since early August. It didnt appear to be hunting, or have any kind of agenda, just comfortable in its surroundings. Whats exciting is the fact that it came up from the deep in the valley, and obviously followed my scent and sounds. In another leap, the cat was up the bank on the right hand side of the road and off into the woods. My dog is small but the one my neighboor has is a german shepard and I think thats the one I heard yelp. Which is the only large native cat that we have.. About 1987 I lived across the river from Holy Cross Monastery. Eastern cougars (mountain lions) do not have a native, self sustaining population in New York State. Thanks for any help, as plenty claim they are here also. At first I thought it was a bob cat but it was larger and the color was not right. Their typical prey includes rabbits and squirrels, but they can kill deer when they are feeling up to it. "Mountain lions existed statewide at the time of European settlement, but presumably were extirpated from the state by the 1880s," a DGIF blog stated. Last year the U.S. It was the scarriest night of my life and if anyone wants to confirm that there are mountain lions in Shenandoah Park just park at hogback at mile point 21 and set up camp where i did. Im not 100% sure but thats what i feel it was a COUGAR. My wife and I have seen two cougars in Patrick County, VA. The closest description I could find was the cry of the cougar or the mountain lion. The West Virginia Wildlife Center . This evening my husband and I were driving up our country lane in western Amherst county when a large, dark brown (black?) "On average, DGIF has received approximately three to foursightings of large cats a month in recent years," the blog post stated. We still hear these screams from time to time but most recently (Dec 26, 2006) our grand daughter spotted a coyote digging in our manure pile for varmits! They might even been reproducing. In reality, the mountain lion had escaped from a nearby property, where it was being held captive along with three other mountain lions. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. Lets explore: are there mountain lions in Virginia? I know mom & dad said they saw it & I do believe them but why, if they are, people denying them being here? As I inched my way down the road I saw the tall grass to my left move as if something was approaching the road. 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But then again, no one would come forward if they killed one because its illegal to kill an endangered species. Neither Marchibroda nor her canine hiking companion made a peep, and as soon as the cat caught sight of its awe-struck onlookers, it scampered back into the woods, swift and silent. We saw the first one on route 610 (Busted Rock Road) just southeast of Vesta. The sound finally drifted off and I decided to do some internet investigating to describe the sound I heard. Some of the Forest Service questioned whether or not it was just a wild cat. I couldnt believe it! Our sleep was disturbed any more that night. the cougar tail almost sweeps the ground and might have some markings on the tip of gray/white, the rest of the tail looks like short hair and is not bushy. Today I looked outside and in the middle of the yard was a large looking black cat with a long tail, much larger then any cat. There are certainly plenty of remote areas for them in VA and W.VA. I live in Springfield VA in a subdivision, but there are wooded stream areas close by that are often used by deer and other animals to move through the area. Motion-sensitive infrared cameras have been deployed near Appalachian Trail to try to determine whether cougars are back. Mountain Lions in Virginia: How Theyre Here and Why Its Denied. I believe that area was once habitat for the red wolf. The bobcat is a resilient cat that has managed to keep under cover and establish territory across most of the United States. There are an estimated 3,000 - 7,000 Mountain lions in Colorado. of Game and Inland Fisheries web site on the eastern cougar. Mountain Lions at the West Virginia Wildlife Center. About a month ago I was visiting a local sheep farmer (more gentleman farmer than actual make-money-farming farmer). Could it have been one of those? Sandra Gray. 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