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ND-Mountain Lions in N. Georgia?

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.

Because back then there went any coyotess here. Fox hunters which was a popular sport back then brought them in after they had hunted the fox almost to extinction. The reproduced at an epic rate because of no natural enemies here. Now they are everywhere. I have killed 100's off my property and will be rid of them for a couple of years and they come back.
 
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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 didn't. I am sure you saw bigfoot also.
 
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.

Lol
 
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

Someone had a pic of one he swore was from Cohutta, but finally admitted it was a fake. But if there is one in the state that would be the place, no human population, and rugged enough that it doesn't get a lot of hiker traffic.
 
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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.
Have seen them several times over the years on the Georgia end of Lookout Mountain above Trenton. No question as to what they were.
 
I killed an elk in Utah last fall and there are a ton of them on the outfittrs land. We wandered up the hill from my elk to find a different elk the guide had seen laying dead for a couple of days through a spotting scope.

We got near it and he said he smelled mountain lion activity - pungent like a house cat. Needless to say I stayed near him and was happy when we quartered the elk and got it down the mountain. If you see them it is well after they have seen you and decided what they want to do about you.

Here is a cool vid that had made its way around hunting forums. If it can sneak up on a deer it damn sure would kill us before we really knew it was there.

 
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 .

Correct on both accounts.....I had ancestors who once ran foxes with hounds. The first I ever heard of coyotes was from a cousin of my grandmother’s who lived outside of Cordele, and he had switched from primarily hunting foxes to the then more prevalent coyotes in the late 70s/early 80s. I shot the first one I ever killed on a deer drive around 1984 or 1985.
 
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Last summer my wife and I were walking down to my grandfather's pond. All around the pond is heavily wooded. To our left something breaks a branch and begins running in our direction. Twenty feet in front of the largest cat I have ever seen in the wild crossed in front of us. Its tail was almost as long as it was. It ran into the woods on our right hand side and stopped. My wife looks at me and asked what that was. I told her you just saw a Florida panther in the wild. We backed away slowly because it had stopped just outside of view in the woods.

Later I spoke to my uncle about it and he said that the neighbor had been telling him there was a panther sleeping on his hay nails. He didn't believe him. He does now. There is no doubt what it was. None. Zero. I have hunted and fished this area all of my life. This happened not to far from the Satilla river in Coffee county.
 
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

I have seen numerous photos of black panthers in Bulloch Cty.

My brother and 3 of his 4 kids (while teens) all saw the cat (and one time with 2 kittens) at least once in separate sitings from deer stands. The early dusk photos were the most definitive re color. It was coal black— not tawny brown or beige.
 
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I have seen numerous photos of blank panthers in Bulloch Cty.

My brother and : of his 4 kids all saw the cat (and kittens) at least once in separate sitings from deer stands. The early dusk photos were the most definitive re color.

You should share the pictures with DNR or scientific community. You are saying you saw something that’s never been documented.
 
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.

1468fd68253e2b5e2de881614b9bd73b--elegant-dresses-sexy-dresses.jpg

Exactly where did you spot this one
 
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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.

Georgia Outdoor news is skeptical, but I think you know what you saw.
https://www.gon.com/hunting/cougars-move-east
 
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.

This sounds exactly like what you described.
http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com...cle_628f6e92-4918-11e6-9d9e-e39f9721ef5e.html
 
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Interesting stuff, thanks.

I knew not to turn tail on the thing, but the instinct to book it was strong. Once I got out of its line of sight I headed up trail and picked up the pace. Was expecting it to come bursting through the brush or see it behind me on the trail any moment. That sucked. My dog chased it off last weekend, so perhaps having him with me dissuaded it from following or maybe it just wasn’t interested. There are TONS of deer in that area, so I can’t imagine it was hurting for a meal.
 
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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.

Foxes make that sound also.
 
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.

Dude it was a joke. I'm not pretending to be a wildlife biologist
 
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1 should be a bounty on coyotes. Don't tell me it doesn't work, there aren't any in SLC and surrounds. $50 for both ears.

2 be glad you don't have western mountain lion. 200#. I found a half eaten buck in CO, neck curled and killed. Figured it to be a lion, and would come back for the rest. I left the scene keeping one eye on the branches in the trees.

3 was travelling through wilkes county one night, saw a black shape, probably a bear, eating roadkill. Still . . .
 
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 are quite a few in the mountains of North Georgia, black panthers as well. I have personally seen them a couple of times late at night.
 
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

That
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.

I have seen a black panther up on Monument Road in Jasper, Georgia and one crossing the road between Young Harris and Hiawassee.
 
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.

I meant lucky your ain’t dead lol.
 
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Yup.....Like I said most of the confirmed sightings in GA are Florida Panthers. Mostly young males.

N. Florida ones are likely the same.

By the way, we have wolves up in the North Georgia/North Carolina mountains. I have a friend in Hiawassee who has a large farm and he has it on video cameras on his property as well as a cougar sighting!
 
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.

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

These are the only correct answers in this thread.

Good luck Stu if you continue to post and try and educate people. Some people refuse to listen to facts.
 
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I stand corrected. I’d love to see pics/location/dates for all these big cats. I love to learn about our states animals.

I have seen a video of a cougar and a wolf in Hiawassee, Georgia. I also witnessed a black wolf crossing highway 75 between Helen and Hiawassee late one night going back home. I had not been drinking or doing any drugs!:)
 
I have seen a video of a cougar and a wolf in Hiawassee, Georgia. I also witnessed a black wolf crossing highway 75 between Helen and Hiawassee late one night going back home. I had not been drinking or doing any drugs!:)

Yeah I’m gonna need to see that video.
 
Yeah I’m gonna need to see that video.

Well if you want to come up to Hiawassee, Georgia, I am sure my farmer friend would show you the pictures/video that I saw. Name the place and time and I will set it up for you!
 
Over the years I have seen several mountain lions, both buff and black. Two weeks ago someone shot and killed a large black puma near my brother’s farm in east Alabama near Heflin. They are here and have been for a long time.
 
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You should share the pictures with DNR or scientific community. You are saying you saw something that’s never been documented.

We have discussed that very matter several times over the last 15-18 yrs.

Bottomline, my brother, like a lotta folks in my neck o the woods, does not want to risk the possible hunting options and other land mgt prerogatives on his property. They are not fearful of the cats (that may or may not be wise). They are less concerned about their effects on deer population than they are on the turkey.

He has no desire to be “famous” or have his land potentially disturbed.
 
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