ND-Mountain Lions in N. Georgia?

[Klumpy Time]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

 

[southpaw dawg]

I have heard that there is a reward by DNR for verified panther sighting in Georgia . I believe I have seen two or maybe it was the same one. I used to fish up the Tugaloo R. below Yonah dam. My sightings came aa week apart in the same vicinity . There used to be lots of bobcats along that stretch.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

That seems very unlikely for a cougar/mountain lion. There are very few in GA and hardly ever spotted in the wild.

 

[w00f]

Mountain Lions are in Georgia/SC/NC, though rare.

If you saw one twice, consider yourself lucky.

 

[w00f]

Could have been Dabo dressed up in the mascot uni.

 

[studawg170 II]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

Possible but unlikely.....There was a one killed in Troupe County a few years ago by a deer hunter. DNA showed it to be a Florida Panther.....Young Male looking for home range.....They tend to wander. Just last year a horse was attacked in Lowndes County by the claw marks this could have also been a Florida Panther.

Biologists have pretty much determined there is no breeding population of Eastern Mountain Lions left in the Appalachians.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

Possible but unlikely.....There was a one killed in Troupe County a few years ago by a deer hunter. DNA showed it to be a Florida Panther.....Young Male looking for home range.....They tend to wander. Just last year a horse was attacked in Lowndes County by the claw marks this could have also been a Florida Panther.

Biologists have pretty much determined there is no breeding population of Eastern Mountain Lions left in the Appalachians.

Not to mention their super reclusive nature. Seems like the last verified sighting in Ga was ten or so years ago.

 

[studawg170 II]

Not to mention their super reclusive nature. Seems like the last verified sighting in Ga was ten or so years ago.

With all the trail cams in the woods there has never been a verified clear picture of one in Georgia

 

[LochDawg]

I’d ask @DawgHammarskjold since he’s a cougar expert.

 

[CalienteDawg]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

There have been a handful confirmed sightings in western Tennessee over the past few years. I’m a believer that there are some wandering cougars in these parts. I had two run ins with a very large cat years ago and even found the footprints in a dried stream bed. The DNR requires a dead body to confirm since the vast majority of sightings are cases of misidentification. Thankfully with our deer population I don’t think they will be hungry enough to mess with you.

 

[wts4]

Eastern cougars are pretty much considered extinct, other than the population of Florida panthers in S. FL. Cougars have a tendency to roam but biologists generally think sightings are cases of mistaken identity for bobcats or other wildlife.

https://georgiawildlife.com/mountain-lion-sightings-not-likely-georgia

https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Learning/documents/Profiles/Cougar.pdf

 

[studawg170 II]

There have been a handful confirmed sightings in western Tennessee over the past few years. I’m a believer that there are some wandering cougars in these parts. I had two run ins with a very large cat years ago and even found the footprints in a dried stream bed. The DNR requires a dead body to confirm since the vast majority of sightings are cases of misidentification. Thankfully with our deer population I don’t think they will be hungry enough to mess with you.

I want to believe fwiw......

But.......

 

[DawgHammarskjold]

I’d ask @DawgHammarskjold since he’s a cougar expert.

anything 'tween 18 and 80, blind, lame, or crazy

 

[GomerDawg]

Eastern cougars are pretty much considered extinct, other than the population of Florida panthers in S. FL. Cougars have a tendency to roam but biologists generally think sightings are cases of mistaken identity for bobcats or other wildlife.

https://georgiawildlife.com/mountain-lion-sightings-not-likely-georgia

https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Learning/documents/Profiles/Cougar.pdf

Florida panthers are alive and well in panhandle. Saw one at Torreya State Park several years ago.

 

[DKDawg1985]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

40 years ago a buddy & I ran across a black panther after dark along Abbott’s Bridge Road (SR 120) just west (100-200 yards) of the Chattahoochee in North Fulton County.

 

[studawg170 II]

Florida panthers are alive and well in panhandle. Saw one at Torreya State Park several years ago.

Yup.....Like I said most of the confirmed sightings in GA are Florida Panthers. Mostly young males.

N. Florida ones are likely the same.

 

[studawg170 II]

40 years ago a buddy & I ran across a black panther after dark along Abbott’s Bridge Road (SR 120) just west (100-200 yards) of the Chattahoochee in North Fulton County.

No you didnt.

Black Panthers are melanistic phase Jaquars or Leopards in other countries.

American Cougars are not black and they do not have melanastic offspring

 

[DKDawg1985]

No you didnt.

Black Panthers are melanistic phase Jaquars or Leopards in other countries.

American Cougars are not black and they do not have melanastic offspring

Were you there? I think not! It was as black as coal & a very large cat.

 

[studawg170 II]

Were you there? I think not! It was as black as coal & a very large cat.

ok......

I bet it screamed like a woman too

 

[DVD-Dawg]

Contrary to popular belief, cougars are common in the Marietta to Sandy Springs area. They have been there awhile, but may be just more noticeable to you lately.

 

[DKDawg1985]

ok......

I bet it screamed like a woman too

Yeah f*** off

 

[TheRealJohnCooper]

Was probably a bobcat OP.

 

[DonutDawg]

40 years ago a buddy & I ran across a black panther after dark along Abbott’s Bridge Road (SR 120) just west (100-200 yards) of the Chattahoochee in North Fulton County.

LOL sounds like you & your buddy were drinking heavily. Those things don't exist in the US

 

[Klumpy Time]

Little backstory: I was out there(Johnson’s Ferry North) last weekend with the dog off leash in a tall grassy area a little narrower than a football field that a pipeline of some sort runs under and my 55 lb lab mix saw it and chased it into the woods. My instinct at that time was that it was feline. Definitely not a deer or coyote. It was bigger than the dog, more muscular and had a smallish head. Pretty uniformly tan. I get back to the car and see on the Internet that it’s pretty unlikely to have been a big cat, but gun to my head that’s what I’d say it was. Today I was face to face with it in almost the exact same location, got a very unwanted, clear look at it and would bet my life it was a cougar/panther/mt. Lion. Very odd that it was calmly out in the open again and almost in the same spot. Makes me think it has a big deer stashed nearby or cubs, but the latter seems unlikely as it would need a mate. I was pretty sure I was about to be mauled to death. My plan for if it had pursued me was to pick my dog up and hurl us both into the Chattahoochee.

 

[Klumpy Time]

Was probably a bobcat OP.

Negative. It was uniformly tan and much bigger, thicker than a bobcat.

BIG difference. What I saw looked like the latter.

 

[MartinVanDawgin]

ok......

I bet it screamed like a woman too

My FIL swears he saw “black panther” in the field next to his house early one morning last spring. Tail as long as body almost - about the size of a large lab, from his estimate. Not a person to claim something like that off hand, but was concerned for us and our dog next door and mentioned to me to be careful walking him at night.

Didn’t think much of it until I found an entire mangled leg of a half-grown deer in the middle of my driveway. Then I told the other neighbors to keep their head on a swivel. There ain’t nothing around here except a big bear or cat that could move a leg of that size.

 

[studawg170 II]

Little backstory: I was out there(Johnson’s Ferry North) last weekend with the dog off leash in a tall grassy area a little narrower than a football field that a pipeline of some sort runs under and my 55 lb lab mix saw it and chased it into the woods. My instinct at that time was that it was feline. Definitely not a deer or coyote. It was bigger than the dog, more muscular and had a smallish head. Pretty uniformly tan. I get back to the car and see on the Internet that it’s pretty unlikely to have been a big cat, but gun to my head that’s what I’d say it was. Today I was face to face with it in almost the exact same location, got a very unwanted, clear look at it and would bet my life it was a cougar/panther/mt. Lion. Very odd that it was calmly out in the open again and almost in the same spot. Makes me think it has a big deer stashed nearby or cubs, but the latter seems unlikely as it would need a mate. I was pretty sure I was about to be mauled to death. My plan for if it had pursued me was to pick my dog up and hurl us both into the Chattahoochee.

It is certainly possible but unlikely......

Of course a release of a former pet Western Cougar is possible as is a Florida Panther wandering through....Both have happened

 

[Jimy jenga]

Contrary to popular belief, cougars are common in the Marietta to Sandy Springs area. They have been there awhile, but may be just more noticeable to you lately.

That’s a 2-legged split-tail right there!!

 

[MartinVanDawgin]

Little backstory: I was out there(Johnson’s Ferry North) last weekend with the dog off leash in a tall grassy area a little narrower than a football field that a pipeline of some sort runs under and my 55 lb lab mix saw it and chased it into the woods. My instinct at that time was that it was feline. Definitely not a deer or coyote. It was bigger than the dog, more muscular and had a smallish head. Pretty uniformly tan. I get back to the car and see on the Internet that it’s pretty unlikely to have been a big cat, but gun to my head that’s what I’d say it was. Today I was face to face with it in almost the exact same location, got a very unwanted, clear look at it and would bet my life it was a cougar/panther/mt. Lion. Very odd that it was calmly out in the open again and almost in the same spot. Makes me think it has a big deer stashed nearby or cubs, but the latter seems unlikely as it would need a mate. I was pretty sure I was about to be mauled to death. My plan for if it had pursued me was to pick my dog up and hurl us both into the Chattahoochee.

Didn’t Erick Erickson see one in his back yard a few years ago? I’m about 99% sure I remember him telling the story on the radio.

 

[1988UGAgrad]

Not to mention their super reclusive nature. Seems like the last verified sighting in Ga was ten or so years ago.

SB my man, you are a man of many faces...I like that
GATA

 

[Dinggo]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

Not many years ago here in south Ga, the DNR put out that they might be a Panther that had made it up from So fl. Well, my wife and I seen it crossing the road right in front of us. Man what a rush to see that thing with it's long tail flipping up in the wind as it jumped the road. A Beautiful animal.

 

[studawg170 II]

I just came face to face with what I’m 99.9% was some kind of big cat, cougar, Mt. Lion, whatever. This is the second time I’ve encountered this thing in a week’s time. The area is in between Marietta and Sandy Springs on a big stretch of DNR land by the Chattahoochee. Is this even possible? Needless to say I had a very adrenaline filled .5 mile power walk back to my car. Another guy out there saw it, too, but at a greater distance than I did. Called the DNR and let them know, but I could tell they were skeptical.

FWIW I am not trying to mock what you saw, Just explaining the facts as I have learned them. There are some very cool things happening with wildlife in our region. One is the reintroduction of Elk into the Appalachians. Having a stable breeding population of Cougars to go with them would be very very cool. I want there to be one and I want it to be discovered. However it always turns out to be the what I have previously said...

 

[Junk-yard-dawg]

I believe I have seen a cub in Macon county. I saw something big and tan jump across the lane in a corn field I thought it was a deer. When I got closer I saw a cat about the size of a big bobcat that just stood there about 15 yards from me. It had markings kinda like a bobcat but it had a long sweeping tail and every bobcat I ever seen had a short stubby tail. Made me wonder if the tan thing I saw could have been an adult cougar

 

[DVD-Dawg]

Here's an intense standoff with a coug..

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

FWIW I am not trying to mock what you saw, Just explaining the facts as I have learned them. There are some very cool things happening with wildlife in our region. One is the reintroduction of Elk into the Appalachians. Having a stable breeding population of Cougars to go with them would be very very cool. I want there to be on and I want it to be discovered. However it always turns out to be the what I have previously said...

We saw a whole mess of elk in east TN this spring. Very cool

 

[Klumpy Time]

FWIW I am not trying to mock what you saw, Just explaining the facts as I have learned them. There are some very cool things happening with wildlife in our region. One is the reintroduction of Elk into the Appalachians. Having a stable breeding population of Cougars to go with them would be very very cool. I want there to be on and I want it to be discovered. However it always turns out to be the what I have previously said...

Oh you are correct in feeling skeptical, I realize there hasn’t been a confirmed sighting in 10+ years. If I didn’t doubt myself after seeing it last weekend there’s no way I’d have gone out today. I can say with as much certainty as any man who understands the limitations of my senses and the power of the mind to see something that’s not really there that it was most certainly not a bobcat, deer, House cat or coyote. I’d rather it not be a big cat so I can go back out there without my b-hole tighter than a snare drum. It’s a cool little area where I can let the dog go wild. Those are rare around here.

 

[apreslebain]

With all the trail cams in the woods there has never been a verified clear picture of one in Georgia

But years ago, The Anderson Independent ran a story asking the same question. In that article, there was a quote from a ranger or some government employee that said he jumped into a river to avoid one.
I remember the story, because a couple of nights prior, a friend of mine and I were coming back from an MMA event in Augusta when a large animal ran across the highway (Elberton Hwy below where Cateechee is now) just in range of my headlights. I knew what I thought I saw; but, it didn't make sense to me.
I turned to my friend and said " What the **** was that? ". He just calmly replied that it was a "panther" and that people saw them here from time to time. I had never heard that before; but, the animal was large with a long tail and moved like a cat. TIFWIW...but, what he said supported what I thought I had seen before I asked the question.
As for the government denying the possibility, I am old enough to remember when they told us the same thing about coyote in this area.
Tin foil hat now going back onto the mantle.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

SB my man, you are a man of many faces...I like that
GATA

Haha I had an argument with a buddy of mine a couple of months ago. Mountain lions came up and I said there were definitely cats in Cloudland Canyon (extreme NW GA) and he said there probably weren’t. I looked it up and realized I was probably wrong.

 

[ILAdawg]

Oh you are correct in feeling skeptical, I realize there hasn’t been a confirmed sighting in 10+ years. If I didn’t doubt myself after seeing it last weekend there’s no way I’d have gone out today. I can say with as much certainty as any man who understands the limitations of my senses and the power of the mind to see something that’s not really there that it was most certainly not a bobcat, deer, House cat or coyote. I’d rather it not be a big cat so I can go back out there without my b-hole tighter than a snare drum. It’s a cool little area where I can let the dog go wild. Those are rare around here.

I ran into a bobcat that was bigger than a lab and didn’t have all the markings like the picture you posted. This was in Savannah out by the outlets on 204. It scared the absolute shit out of me. I didn’t think they got that big.

 

[DKDawg1985]

LOL sounds like you & your buddy were drinking heavily. Those things don't exist in the US

Yeah you’re right you and @studawg170 II must Wildlife Biologists and experts in the field of large cat breeds. The problem with both of your assertions are that we drove past it three (3) times and the last two (2) I angled my car towards it so my lights were shining on it & there was no mistaking that it was a large black cat of 100 lbs +.

Since you guys are experts in the field of wildlife habitat, please explain to us all why 40-50 years ago there was absolutely NO Coyote population and now even inside the I-285 Perimeter they are a problem.

Please explain that phenomena to all of us here.