Appalachian anons, have any of yall seen a mountain lion out your way recently? I heard that some folks around Shenandoah see them every once in a while, and some people are speculating that there are breeding populations around. Im curious if any of yall have trail cam footage of a cougar, or better yet a kitten.
>>2882688i saw this one east of Nashville lasf year
I saw one dead on the side of the highway in eastern Oklahoma a couple years ago.
>>2882689Came here to make this joke.Fibbitty bippity
There was one running around Rochester a little while ago. Another was killed in Missouri not too long ago. I’ve said before that I think there’s a concerted effort to hide breeding populations because of the political implications and risks posed by acknowledging their presence. I’m guessing there’s some classified policy coming down from the feds regarding the matter. We’ve had them in Kansas since the 90s and they still won’t admit there’s a breeding population despite all the road kills and photo evidence. They even spotted one in downtown Wichita.
>>2882732I believe it. if it came out that there was a breeding population of critically endangered big cats, it would significantly slow down urban development.
>>2882689Seen plenty of those in dive bars and honky tonks in North Carolina. Stay away from them, anon. It isn't worth it.
>>2882732>RochesterNew York?? That's crazy. Is there evidence of a breeding population in the Adirondack park?
>>2882688we have sightings of them, as well as oddly enough black jaguars? or melanistic cougars? here in Ontario
>>2882890Ive heard of 'jaguars' being spotted in the southeastern US, I believe they're just melanistic cougars. Even so, the genetic diversity of these populations lead me to believe that they are, in-fact, breeding. As opposed to vagrants from the west.
>>2882890Arizona is the only known USA state with regular wild jaguar sightings. Despite the speculated possibility, there have been no documented cases of a melanistic cougar (mountain lion). AZ also has confirmed sightings of the Ocelot, and tons of mountain lions and bobcats.
>>2882732>>2882875My parents have a cabin in the Lawrentian mountains in Quebec and there was one active in the area about 5 years ago. Hikers found tracks and deer kills in weird places. The government sent some biologists to study the area and they started having park rangers patrol it which had literally never been done previously. They also had a shitload of wild turkeys recolonize the area during the same time.My guess is that these are "visiting" cats from established populations in the west. Even if they are breeding, they likely exist in such small numbers that they can't be considered a "breeding population". The real reason they'd cover it up is to prevent farmers and hunters from trying to trap/hunt them
Ive seen 3 cougars in my life all in central michigan. My last sighting was 2022, but this trail cam in my county captured a cat a few weeks ago.
