Mountain lion at Dale. What a cool Dale trip!

[AndyG]

I know they say there are no cougars in this area, but a friend and I saw one one night when we were night fishing. It was a bright moon night and we were pitching jigs up near the bank, we had a black light on. We kept hearing an animal following us the bank at the same pace we were fishing. I eventually saw the tan coat and asumed it was a small deer. When its eyes reflected in the black light, (after 20-30 minutes of following the boat) its eyes were in the front of its face. It was obviously a big cat. I shined a bright light on it and it just froze. It was probably 20' away from us, looked to stand about 2.5 ft tall, long body, and a tail that looked to be even longer than its body. No doubt about the tail. We could see the animal very well. It stayed still for half a minute or so then turned and went up the mountain side away from us very slowly. As it was eaving we could hear another animal leaving at the same time and walking at the same pace about 150ft or so ahead, going the same direction.

We dont talk about this much because a lot of folks think of it like claiming you saw a big foot or something. But this cat looked more like a african lion than a little bobcat. My theory is that it was curious about the blacklight.

[Tim_T]

If there are mountain lions, how come there is zero credible evidence? Not one single trail cam photo, not one cell phone pic, not one confirmed sighting. The closest thing to a real mountain lion was a cub that was hit by car a few years back that the DNA showed was domesticated. There was a guy that claimed to have a photo of a mt. lion in eastern Kentucky, and it was a good photo that proved it was a mt. lion. Of course he couldn't tell anyone exactly where all the sage brush in the background of the photo was growing in eastern Kentucky!

I think people's imagination plays tricks on them. They see something and they want it to be a mountain lion so that's what they see. This can happen, sometimes I can make my wife look like Jennifer Anniston so I am sure it is not a stretch to turn a bobcat or a large house cat into a mountain lion.

[mhall]

If there are mountain lions, how come there is zero credible evidence? Not one single trail cam photo, not one cell phone pic, not one confirmed sighting. The closest thing to a real mountain lion was a cub that was hit by car a few years back that the DNA showed was domesticated. There was a guy that claimed to have a photo of a mt. lion in eastern Kentucky, and it was a good photo that proved it was a mt. lion. Of course he couldn't tell anyone exactly where all the sage brush in the background of the photo was growing in eastern Kentucky!

I think people's imagination plays tricks on them. They see something and they want it to be a mountain lion so that's what they see. This can happen, sometimes I can make my wife look like Jennifer Anniston so I am sure it is not a stretch to turn a bobcat or a large house cat into a mountain lion.

It's the Gonja...

[MagikSmallie]

I mean cougars were once native to the area, They were well known in the 1800's to be in KY. I don't doubt that somewhere in some secluded areas that these cats exists. It's hard to beleive without picture or carcass proof. But still they were here in the past so I don't doubt that there aren't still a few around. Hell there's still jungle people that have never been discovered, but that doesn't mean they don't exists.

[Fntsyfbgod]

Looks like a Chupacabra to me.

[mhall]

Looks like a Chupacabra to me.

It's the Gonja..

[stratosjoe]

Cougar Shot in Chicago; Was 1,000 Miles From Home?Dan Morrison
for National Geographic News

April 17, 2008
A wayward cougar killed Monday on the streets of Chicago was probably hunting for a mate on the wrong side of town, experts said.

The two-year-old male may have quested more than 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) from the Black Hills of western South Dakota only to die in a hail of police gunfire after it was cornered in an alleyway.




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Other experts think it's more likely the cougar—also known as a mountain lion or a puma—was a pet that had escaped its owner or been released to fend for itself.

"A mountain lion walking right into the city of Chicago makes about as much sense as you and me walking into a den of rattlesnakes," said Alan Rabinowitz, president of the Panthera Foundation, a conservation group.

"Behaviorally, it makes no sense for a big wild cat."

Increasing Encounters

No matter where the cat came from, Chicago police said they had no choice but to gun down the cougar after it appeared in the city's Roscoe Village neighborhood, and many wildlife officials agreed.

"It's a public safety issue," said John Kanta, a wildlife officer at the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks. "The cougar was real close to a grade school."

Critics note that residents near where the cougar was shot had been reporting sightings of a big cat in their midst for weeks before the incident.

Local authorities could have been better prepared with tranquilizer guns and trained animal-control personnel, they say.

"In our state this would never have happened," said Sara Carlson of the Wyoming-based Cougar Fund. "That cougar was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The Chicago incident occurred at a time when development in Western states has increased the chances of humans and cougars crossing paths.


makes you wonder though don't it

[AndyG]

If there are mountain lions, how come there is zero credible evidence? Not one single trail cam photo, not one cell phone pic, not one confirmed sighting. The closest thing to a real mountain lion was a cub that was hit by car a few years back that the DNA showed was domesticated. There was a guy that claimed to have a photo of a mt. lion in eastern Kentucky, and it was a good photo that proved it was a mt. lion. Of course he couldn't tell anyone exactly where all the sage brush in the background of the photo was growing in eastern Kentucky!

I think people's imagination plays tricks on them. They see something and they want it to be a mountain lion so that's what they see. This can happen, sometimes I can make my wife look like Jennifer Anniston so I am sure it is not a stretch to turn a bobcat or a large house cat into a mountain lion.

Yea, you're probably right. Just an imaginary mt lion we saw. My bad. Happens to me all the time.

[Tim_T]

Yea, you're probably right. Just an imaginary mt lion we saw. My bad. Happens to me all the time.

So in the dark, using a blacklight you were able to confirm that this thing was a mt. lion? Did you by chance try and take a photo? What about looking for tracks?

Now maybe I should rephrase my statement to say "wild" mountain lion. There have a been a couple of pets turned loose when they got a little too big for the people that bought them.

I do believe that some day there will be a population of mt. lions in Kentucky, but I doubt I will be alive to see it.

On a lighter note, in April I thought i saw an aging gray-haired bigfoot with steam rolling off of him at Dale Hollow. Turns out it was tymetofish smoking a cigar!

[AndyG]

So in the dark, using a blacklight you were able to confirm that this thing was a mt. lion? Did you by chance try and take a photo? What about looking for tracks?

Now maybe I should rephrase my statement to say "wild" mountain lion. There have a been a couple of pets turned loose when they got a little too big for the people that bought them.

I do believe that some day there will be a population of mt. lions in Kentucky, but I doubt I will be alive to see it.

On a lighter note, in April I thought i saw an aging gray-haired bigfoot with steam rolling off of him at Dale Hollow. Turns out it was tymetofish smoking a cigar!

Read the post, said I shined a light on it. I just posted exactly what I saw. But go ahead and make your reply and make sure you get your last word, but dont call somebody a liar or try to act like you know what youre talking about when you dont. You werent there you didnt see it so drop it.

[mybentrod]

Read the post, said I shined a light on it. I just posted exactly what I saw. But go ahead and make your reply and make sure you get your last word, but dont call somebody a liar or try to act like you know what youre talking about when you dont. You werent there you didnt see it so drop it.

Kinda my thoughts Andy, but I know what I saw and all the other speculations and lack of sightings made me second guess what I saw. However I do know doubts are for the bystanders, not the people who actually saw what you/we saw. Hell I even went as far as grabbing my digital camera cause I knew once I did post this, someone would call me out without proof. So even with a video I hear BS....no wonder why some just read, not post. Now as far as this video, if this is the only thing you have to go off of then how can ANYONE say for certain. The video isn't that clear, it's shaky, and you can only see the MT. LION for a brief second through leaves and from 40 ft away. Just thought I'd share for proof, not to be told what I know I saw.

[bigwormy]

That's one awesome video. Ive had deer swim very near the boat, but nothing like that!!