Cougar Too Close For Comfort

[USMCDOC]

You know , I hear that one all the time. I know there is no such thing as a black moutain lion. Only jaguars and leopards have solid black occurrences in coloration. Yet many folks think, without a doubt that they have seen the fabled, mythical black panther. I usually ask if Elvis was riding him

When i was younger, here in East TN.. i would hear it all the time about "Black Panthers" in Hawkins County!

 

[1lnbrdg]

Louisiana LDWF has trail-cam pics of black panthers here and have certified that they are actually here.

 

[Larryh128]

I have read that some of the early mountain men liked cougar best.

I think the toughness was probably due to how it was cooked/overcooked. Wasn't the best conditions at a sports show with limited resources. "Meateater" Steve Rinella would probably do it justice. The flavor was very good though, a well cared for black bear is quite similar to me also.

 

[Kenneth66]

Have seen two . Once driving through the Shenandoah National Park up behind Grottoes . It crossed the road , hoped up on the rock wall . The girl with me , said look a bobcat . I said bobcat ? That ain't no bobcat , look at the tail and color . It was solid tan and the tail was slightly below it's feet .
Second time me and my brother in law was fishing a cove at Lake Moomaw . We were on a pontoon boat , kept hearing pebbles rolling down the mountain a few yards above us . There was a clearing of a slab rock about 25-30 yds above us , I looked up in time to see the cat hop out onto the slab . I pointed and my brother in law looked up just in time to see it leap into the laurel . I stepped on the trolling motor pedal and backed that sucker out of there . The one on the rock wall was around 1990 , the lake probally mid 90's .
The game commission will tell you no way , but I know what I saw . Both were about half the size of the one stretched out on the log in girth , but still a big cat .
Kenneth

 

[Tommie]

Seen any of the "black" ones?

I live in the Ozark Mountains. There’s at least one large black cat on my property. Have seen it many times and others have spotted it as well. No, it’s not a black cougar (no such thing as far as I know). Not as tall at the shoulder as a cougar but has a super long tail. Took a while to figure out what the thing is, but once I saw a photo of a jaguarundi...Bingo.

And speaking of close to home cougars, here’s a security camera photo from my sister’s house in Colorado.

 

[Monte F]

Around here the Cougars are spotted in the bars. The Mountain lions up in the hills eating the deer are rarely seen, just signs of scat.

 

[Mulligan]

Around here the Cougars are spotted in the bars. The Mountain lions up in the hills eating the deer are rarely seen, just signs of scat.

Bless their