OT - Speaking of big kitty cats

[Doc Hudson]

Mountain Lions in the West might not scream, but the variety we have here in the South scream. I've heard it often enough to know the difference between a scream and a grunt or whistle.

[Rusty]

Thanks Doc, great post!


MY wife saw a Florida panther or some kind of big cat one day on the way to work in southern Hillsborough county. I called FWC to ask them about it and they said no we don't have any in that area. I thought, yea right like they know where every one in the sate is. My wife who is not prone to exaggeration said that what ever kind of cat it was crossed the road in front of her said it was 200 ft. away and covered an entire traffic lane.

Bruce might be aware of a situation that happened, but thern he might not be able to talk about it either. I have a cousin who lives in Taylor county in N. Fla. He worked at the time for a large paper company up there. He said two game wardens went out to pick up a panther that had been hit by a car. They took the animal in for a necropsy since it was a Fla. Panther. When the Doc doing the necropsy saw the animal he just smiled and said, ha nice joke. Where did you get the mountain lion? they said what? Isn't it a Fla.panther? Nope nuthin doin. It was a western mountain lion.
Well it seems one of the big land owners in that area is a fellow by the name of Ted Turner. Mr Turner has imported a lot of non native animals to the land he owns there much of it via permits and permission from the state. It seems this one didn't have either.

[Bruce]

Rusty,

There are documented panthers that use the southern end of Hillsborough and Polk counties. We had one cat (uncollared male) run over on I 4 just east of its intersection with I 75 about seven years ago. We did release all of the information to the media and we let them come to the office to photograph it. There is a small woodland coridor that somewhat follows I 75 that we believe is how the cat got into the area. He came from the north. His final Meal(s) were chickens and believe it or not - fish. We have documented a few bears that migrate that route also.

Another collared male was killed on I 4 near Polk City about 2 years ago. We knew of his presence and I actually called him the Disney World cat. Guess where he stayed alot.

Shortly before that an uncollared male was killed on I 95 in Flagler county.

All of those were Florida Panthers.

The incident in Taylor county (actually Leon county) did happen. Yes, someone associated with the plantation did release some western kitty's on his Plantation w/o FWC knowledge. We think they were all recaptured.

[2fewdaysafield]

glad to hear a confirmation of their presence there. I know what I saw but I have never heard another say they are there. Who would have thunk it?. thanks again

In '06, I think it was, DEP said something to the effect that there might be a few escapees or pets that got turned loose. Of course, what is to prevent these "escapees" from finding each other and mating?

There ARE some here. Not much doubt about it. Many? I doubt it. But then I remember back in the late '60s there were No, none, zero, zip....wild turkeys, coyotes, bear. Of course turkey and coyotes are everywhere in CT now and bears are becoming pretty common. How long will it be before we have a couple of hundred mountain lions here?

[Jaguarundi]

I have heard from my Local Gunshop hand and hunt'n buddy(retired navy-78 years young-not known to tell tales and a strait shooter).He told me of two gents I know who hunt a lease outside Bellwood,Alabama.Bellwood is only 10 miles from were I live as the crow flies.Out hunting a couple of weeks ago they spotted a tan Puma(panther,cougar etc).They reported the sighting to the game warden.The "Of-fecal"reply was denial of any living in Alabama.Well after setting up several game cameras...they captured six photos of the mythical creature.One photo was especially neat.The puma was eating a six point buck carcass.That Panther sounds feral to me.Well I will not be carrying the trash out after dark without pack'n the 45 LC .

[2fewdaysafield]

Fascinating the way game departments always want to deny they exist.

[Jaguarundi]

The wardens are concerned(I think) with bigcat panic resulting in bigcat slaughter or poaching.Just my "pet" theory.

[2fewdaysafield]

I think you've pretty much got it there jaguarundi. Or anyway that's what the DEP guy I ran into in '04 said.

[mescalero1]

If western cougars do not scream, I sure would like to know what that noise is that scares the !@#$ out me when I hear it. Rural county, all the women are accounted for ( not that many to begin with )And those tan mirages that nose to tail take up the width of the dirt road?

[Modoc ED]

I also believe the cougar scream is a fallacy, I have known several people in my life who were Professional Lion hunters who kept a cougar or two for many years and everyone will say they have never heard a lion scream. Whistle yes.

The monutain lions out here in CA scream. Actually, it isn't a scream per sey but rather a high pitched, shrill, growl. I've heard it a couple/three times -- once when one of them was warning myself and a hunting buddy away from its cub (which we didn't see until the cub moved) and another time when one warned me away from it's food stash. The scream/high pitched/shrill growls were pretty loud but not loud enough to be heard more than say 200-yards away in a clear area and maybe 100-yards away in moderately dense cover.