Cloudland Canyon would be a good place for them.
If there was a breeding population in GA I would almost bet on the Cohutta Wilderness Area
ND-Mountain Lions in N. Georgia?
- Thread starter Klumpy Time
- Start date
Cloudland Canyon would be a good place for them.
If there was a breeding population in GA I would almost bet on the Cohutta Wilderness Area
Well what I learned taking wildlife biology classes in college about the coyote population is that some migrated eastward to fill a niche in out ecosystem and some were brought here by foxhunters to run hounds.
The coyote was a good fit for our area and a very opportunistic breeder.
ETA I can remember old timers in the area I am from talking about them being brought in by fox hunters .
My theory is the coyote population, which is a scavenger followed the migration of the illegal aliens crossing over the southern border.
I know where a family of black panthers (long tailed, adults look to be between 80-100 lbs) has long resided in Bulloch Cty. Dozens of Bulloch Cty residents have spotted long tailed big cats for many decades. I have seen the photos.
No landowners that have them will report their existence due to how Fed endangered species regs can greatly restrict what you do on your own property if it has a verified ES on it.
Anyone who may have shot or trapped one is wise enough to keep that fact among a very small and trusted circle.
Cue gif. “Oh, they’re out there!”
I was riding a bike around Jekyll Island about 5 years ago...a solid black cat about the size of a German Shepherd with a long tail ran across the trail about 30 feet in front of me.
I told the game warden down there and you would have thought I told him I saw Sasquatch.
Saw what I saw, though.
If you saw one in Marietta, it’s an escaped pet.
Maybe a big bobcat? How outdoorsy are you?
- Aug 22, 2015
- 22,608
- 105,056
- 127
As someone stated earlier, those are likely cats that have come from Florida.
Yep. And the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was declared extinct for 3-4 decades and credible sightings scoffed at as Pileated Woodpeckers until a ornithologist got incontrovertible evidence (on some Fed lands in Arky i think) in the 80s.
There are almost certainly a 150+ of big, long tailed cats in GA. I have high confidence there are a dozen in Bulloch Cty. Have seen many photos.
I do believe a black cougar is a myth. Never been documented. Black jaguar, yes. But those definitely aren’t in GA
When I was out in Idaho a friend and I saw a cougar for about a quarter of a second coming down Steptoe Butte in WA. It was so quick and so surprising that if she didn’t see it as well I’d actually be questioning if I really saw anything. It did not want us to know it was around. It was humbling as hell because seeing one in a zoo or a picture is very different than when it’s in the wild.
Was not aware of that. Of course i am not a UGA grad.
But i recall the general timeframe they confirmed the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was not extinct.
The cougars/panthers in Bulloch Cty are black and get pretty dang big. But no hunter of a leased track or landowner will dare take a chance of the ass pain of reporting their existence.
Someone with land (who is willing to submit to the regulation) will eventually bring dnr or scientists in and let em confirm the presence.
Theyre out there. So are Sasquatches (not necessarily in Bulloch Cty but a super credible sighting in Bryan Cty) . Aint no doubt in my mind.
We had one on our family land in South Georgia but that was at least 30 years ago. One of the farmers that leased part of our farm had a farmhand that had a very close encounter with him. He refused to work that land any further. My father saw it while deer hunting and reported it to DNR. They basically said that unless there was a body in the ground they would not confirm it as a sighting.
I am in LaFayette just east of Cloudland in the valley. 2 summers ago (I think) we had a few sightings around town. I never saw anything but did hear the weirdest sound ever one morning about 6 am. Like a woman screaming as they say. Certainly not a sound I’ve ever heard. Later that morning, my MIL, who lives on the other side of some heavy woods in our neighborhood, called and said she saw one crossing the street. As we pieced the times together it was around the same time that I heard the sound.
A DNR officer I know is completely dismissive of it but the first sighting was reported by one of the most reputable ladies in our town who also lives in my neighborhood. It’s kinda like Bigfoot for me. Pretty sure I don’t believe it, but I dang sure want someone to find one.
I’m no Davey Crockett, but I know the difference in a bobcat and a Cougar. Very distinct difference in fur, markings and build.
I saw one North of Canton near Lake Arrowhead in the mid 70's on a mountain. I live in Texas now, where they are not so uncommon
I didn’t feel very lucky. I feltbadman. That 30 seconds or so I was waiting for it to come down the trail as I set landspeed records for power walking as silently as possible while dragging my dog behind me were prrrrrretty tense.
FWIW like I said I am not dismissive of a sighting.....They have happened and been confirmed as either a Florida Panther or a released Western Cougar.
I am however skeptical of a stable breeding population of Eastern Cougars.
and there are no Black Panthers in GA.....There just isnt. No matter what everyone thinks they have seen....unless is was an escaped animal from a zoo or pet
Many of y'all are hunters and learned at an early age how to tell fresh tracks, and although I don't hunt anymore, those lessons never leave you...
Anyway, I play a ton of golf and was in the Phoenix area at We-Ko-Pa (remote, not really built up around there) and hit a really poor shot into the desert and went to look for my ball and it was right in the middle of very fresh cougar tracks (not the Scottsdale cougar, but the cat) and was near big boulders... Try putting your head down to hit a shot, exposing your neck, with those boulders behind you and you just know that damn cat is ready to pounce... I did not hit a good shot, and I walked slowly... Swinging my club, as I did not want to get that prey response and run out of there...
Never saw it, though... And for damn sure didn't go get my camera to go back for pictures of the tracks.
Interesting enough, a couple years later, was at We-Ko-Pa again and they had these swarms of bees that never nest, just fly around and find places to land for a while, and these f'rs flew over us and there had to be 60,000... And all you can do is just sit in your cart and let them fly over. They lit on some bathrooms and the course had to close them... That's crazy, too.
I love, love, love playing We-Ko-Pa.
Anyway, I play a ton of golf and was in the Phoenix area at We-Ko-Pa (remote, not really built up around there) and hit a really poor shot into the desert and went to look for my ball and it was right in the middle of very fresh cougar tracks (not the Scottsdale cougar, but the cat) and was near big boulders... Try putting your head down to hit a shot, exposing your neck, with those boulders behind you and you just know that damn cat is ready to pounce... I did not hit a good shot, and I walked slowly... Swinging my club, as I did not want to get that prey response and run out of there...
Never saw it, though... And for damn sure didn't go get my camera to go back for pictures of the tracks.
Interesting enough, a couple years later, was at We-Ko-Pa again and they had these swarms of bees that never nest, just fly around and find places to land for a while, and these f'rs flew over us and there had to be 60,000... And all you can do is just sit in your cart and let them fly over. They lit on some bathrooms and the course had to close them... That's crazy, too.
I love, love, love playing We-Ko-Pa.
FWIW I don’t think people are specifically trying to say they’ve seen a breeding population of eastern cougars when they say they’ve spotted a cougar. About ten years ago my parents moved to a brand new developing area just outside of Waleska. Bears, etc were common in the neighborhood and on trails. Over ten people people in their neighborhood said they saw a large cat that was bigger than a bobcat in the first two years of living in the neighborhood. All thought it was a cougar or mountain lion. They weren’t arguing with DNR that it wasn’t a FL panther or something else, they were just told they were wrong. Folks I’ve talked to in the neighborhood have generally concluded that once DNR admits they live in GA in any sort of significant way that budgets and conservation methods must be established, no small thing. Who knows.
Every single person was told by DNR they were wrong and it wasn’t what they thought, most were individual sightings, not just one sighting by a large group. The folks I met who saw it weren’t lunatics.
That being said, as quick as my sighting was in WA of one there is no doubt false sightings.
Yep. Buddy of mine had one of his horse's attacked and killed by a panther last year. This was in South Georgia also in Southern Mitchell County.
They’re rare (obviously), although not AS rare as they once were. We have a home in NE Ga and I’ve read stories of folks in WNC making sightings.
I live full-time in the Okefenokee. My family and I saw a panther as we were riding through the swamp about 5 years ago.
I understand the skepticism. But I think it’s becoming a reality as their populations increase.
I hope the DNR aren’t stupid enough to whistle in the dark if in fact what I saw was a cougar. That trail gets plenty of foot traffic and someone could get seriously hurt or dead if they ignore it.
Don’t you mean and instead of or, Hammartime?
Officaial pos is that there are none,but there are and have been forever.Documented that they use the Chattahoochee R. corridor as a transit rt..150 lb panther was killed by a hunter near Lagrange 2/3 yrs ago . DNA showed it was a Fla panther,and one bred w/the Texas Mt lions that were introduced to Fla several yrs ago to save the Fla panthers which were almost extinct due to inbreeding. A bud has had a place SE of Blue Ridge,near Rich Mt. Wildlife area for decades.We've seen and heard them .Locals heve always told us they were around.Saw one a yr ago,at night crossing a backroad near Big Creek..Have spent extensive time out W in the Rockies and Sierras,and seen several.
Last edited:
I bet all these "black panthers" were seen at dusk or after?? Lol
I live literally 10 minutes from the Cohutta Wilderness, hunt, fish,camp year around, usually have between 6-10 trail cameras out from August through January.... never had the privilege of seeing one or getting a picture. Tons of bobcats, bears and coyotes, no big cats. Not saying that they’re not here this has just been my experience.... Bigfoot? Well that’s a different story
Mine was afternoon, broad daylight right across from the soccer complex on the south end of Jekyll Island. The thing was running from the beach side, across the road and bike path into the woods. But when I saw it, it was running across short grass in bright sunlight directly in front of me.
I have and my friends have lots of trail cameras around rabun county and oconee county SC. My buddy and his brother hunt in GA. We've seen video of everything from bobcats playing with rats to black bear and cubs. Never a black panther. I love a good black panther story though!
Hope I didn’t sound like a conspiracy theorist, those folks at DNR are professionals. Just trying to say they need some pretty verifiable proof because once they recognize it some pretty big resources have to allocated.
I was riding dirt bikes with my Dad about 40 years ago at Morgan Falls and we both saw and chased a cougar for a good 5 minutes. Dad called DNR when we got back and he told us there aren't any cougars in GA.
Need to do some burnin’ up in the hills so we can get some grouse back.
They are not normally aggressive toward humans,avoid them when possible,and are primarily nocturnal. Have more of a chance of being struck by lightning than you do of being attacked if you encounter one.
That was my experience, also. I was told that what I was saying was impossible, since that animal does not exist in Georgia, much less on one of the barrier islands. The only problem is that I actually did see it with 100% clarity.
I guess I know how folks who see UFOs feel
