Mountain Lions in TN

[Jared Hensley]

TWRA has recently confirmed multiple sightings of mountain lions in TN.  Just curious to know if any hunters on this forum have seen one.

[Raoul]

I've seen potential tracks in Johnson County.

[DaveTN]

https://www.tn.gov/twra/article/cougars-in-tennessee

http://archive.knoxnews.com/sports/black-puzzler-tennesseeans-continue-to-see-a-big-cat-that-science-says-doesnt-exist-but-why-ep-40689-358236351.html

 

[Ugly]

Saw a pic of one in Jefferson county. It was black. I have seen both a black one and a tan one in Florida a few years ago. 

Edited December 30, 2016 by Ugly

[conn_air7]

I quote "At one point we were asking people to shoot these panthers, but we stopped that because there were a couple big house cats being shot."

Hahaha.

On a serious note, I have never seen any type of "cat" other than a bobcat. As much time as I spend in the woods, I probably would have seen one by now. I still find it hard to believe the people who say there are mountain lions in TN.


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[DaveTN]

15 minutes ago, conn_air7 said:

I still find it hard to believe the people who say there are mountain lions in TN.

TWRA says it. They have some confirmed sightings in that link I posted above.

Not Tennessee, but check this out. 14 Wolves moved from Canada to Yellowstone. Pretty interesting.

 

 

[conn_air7]

TWRA says it. They have some confirmed sightings in that link I posted above.

Not Tennessee, but check this out. 14 Wolves moved from Canada to Yellowstone. Pretty interesting.

 

 

Well I guess if you are going to believe someone on that subject it should be TWRA. Cool video!

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[monkeylizard]

TWRA did finally confirm it when someone had trail cam footage. The last I heard, it was still unclear if any appear to be taking up residence or if they're just passing through the area on a semi-regular basis.

[Chris]

I've found some feline scat on my property about an hour west of Nashville that looked to be way too big for a bobcat. This was probably 20 - 30 miles from where one of the the trail cam shots was taken. I can't say for sure it was a mountain lion but if it was from a bobcat I really feel sorry for him... couldn't have been easy to pass something that big. (size of big dog scat but shaped like feline scat). I've talked w/ the TWRA folks and they confirm that they are in the area but don't have sufficient data to determine if there's a breeding population or not.

[Quavodus]

I've talked to people that say they have seen them. Whether they have really seen them is a mystery. But, I do believe that they believe they saw Mountain lions.

[monkeylizard]

On 12/29/2016 at 7:56 PM, Ugly said:

Saw a pic of one in Jefferson county. It was black. I have seen both a black one and a tan one in Florida a few years ago. 

I caught some on a trail cam.

 

[TomUT07]

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 7:23 PM, monkeylizard said:

I caught some on a trail cam.

 

Are these domestic or have they been introduced to the area?

[monkeylizard]

Primarily found in the northern-midwest and east-coast areas. They have adapted to life in urban areas and are seldom found in rural communities.

[CJDore]

On 1/2/2017 at 1:39 PM, DaveTN said:

TWRA says it. They have some confirmed sightings in that link I posted above.

Not Tennessee, but check this out. 14 Wolves moved from Canada to Yellowstone. Pretty interesting.

 

 

Fascinating hypothesis but I have a hard time believing that the wolves caused all of the positive changes by themselves. 

[ma6907]

http://wilsonpost.com/twra-investigates-mj-cougar-sighting-cms-89883

[A516]

I worked as a fisheries biologist for TVA.  In the early 1980's, myself and three other fisheries biologists were riding down the "Trace" in LBL right at dark.  Right at the TN/KY state line we had a charcoal big cat cross the Trace in about two bounds in front of the vehicle and was observed in our headlights.  It was definitely a cougar.  It had a long tail and was definitely not a house cat or bobcat. At that time LBL was under TVA control.  We stopped by the headquarters and told the LBL wildlife biologists what we saw.  They said they had multiple reports of sightings of this cat in this area by campers, etc. but we were the first biologists to see it.

Had friends that live in Cannon County on a farm.  Their grown daughter was crossing a high grass field and came face-to-face with a cougar.  Fortunately, she ran one way and the cougar went the other way.  The cougar was seen in the valley where they lived for about a week.  This was about 25 years ago.  The farmers that raised sheep had a constant battle with coyotes.  From the time the cougar showed up until it was no longer seen not one coyote was seen or heard in the valley.  When the cougar moved on, the coyotes returned.  Not one sheep was lost that week the cougar was there.