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ON THE TRACK OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LIONS.

6/19/2014

13 Comments

 
PictureFishing Creek 1987- track discovered next year about a half mile downstream from this spot
An Unexpected Sight

Splash! I saw it jump while kneeling on a narrow, natural earth bridge across Fishing Creek, about ten miles or so below Mt. Airy, N.C.; called Mayberry by some, being the hometown of the late, great, Andy Griffith.

It was a warm and overcast day back then in the summer of 1988.  I was about half a mile down the spot where a road crossed over this, varying, maybe ten to twenty foot wide creek, when a very big small- mouthed bass made leap beside a partially sunken tree limb, probably going after some flitting insect. 

With some Georgia wiggler worms, and a Zebco rod n reel in hand, there was really no alternative but to try and catch and release that monster. The only problem was how to get close enough to toss that hopefully enticing worm near the limb without snagging the hook, and let the creek's slow current carry it right past where I believed the bass was hiding under the wood.  On the big limb's side, there was a sloping embankment covered in foliage and other difficult to get through obstructions -- so that way was probably going to be out.

On the other bank it appeared to be about a thirty foot struggle through some thick briers, short bushes and stinger plants.  The latter was chosen and a stout stick found as a poor substitute for a machete. Necessity is the mother of invention however, and the stick did a pretty decent job of getting through the tangled-up flora.

When the optimal spot to cast the bait was reached, almost right across from where the fish had jumped, there appeared a small break in the plant growth, where six feet or so from the creek, a slanted mud bank ascended up a couple of feet to grassy ground that covered a large field, or perhaps meadow is the better word for it. 

And there it was.

At the moment of looking at the mud bank leading up to the meadow, I saw a sight that was not only startling but very nearly bowled me over.  The big bass wasn't going to see any Georgia wiggly-worms right away, nor were any of the catfish or bream in the stream going to see one either for that matter, as I now had something else to ponder on for the rest of the day and a long time to come.

What this boy beheld in the middle of that moist mud was the biggest cat track he'd ever seen in the wild by far.  On eyeing it closer my amazement went up some more, for then I was almost certain -- knowing the native animal tracks fairly well -- that this almost assuredly wasn't made by any super-sized bobcat or even a very large dog. [ At this point it should be noted that big dog prints are sometimes mistaken for cougars as they don't always leave claw marks; at any rate, the track was unlike any big dog print I'd ever, or have since, ever seen.]

The print, perfectly formed and recent, was indelible and set the mind to wondering then and for ever after.  It was as best could be measured by the fingers 3 x 3 1/2 square inches in size, but was probably closer to 10 or 10 1/2 inches in total.  From that day forward, the significance of the discovery aside, the assumption that the big mountain cats no longer roamed those parts, was gone for good as far as I was concerned.

Before we proceed with the story a few things are in order:  Fishing Creek, at least at the time back then, was a low-populated area of Surry County, N.C.  From the creek's head water, roughly a good mile and a half or so, which is about as far as I ever went down it,  had no housing or commercial development in sight.  Now that's possibly changed some over the intervening twenty-five years, but it was a nice, secluded fishing stream back then. When it rained and muddied the water up considerably, one could pull catfish out of it by the bucket full.

What to my intuition was a very clever animal, had approached the creek from a hilly and wooded expanse.  Crossing the creek, it then went up the bank onto the grassy meadow as mentioned before, which was interspersed with copses of medium-sized trees.  The small town and county seat of Dobson was in that direction, but could have easily been skirted by any smart and large animal headed for a mountain fastness in the nearby Blue Ridge.  It was also full of small game with a healthy deer population, as both were often sighted by me while fishing, especially in the early morning.

The big cat crossed the water at the hardest, most inaccessible place on the entire length of the stream I was familiar with.  It was definitely an area no man or dog in their right mind -- unless by an extremely unusual situation -- would ever be near.  There was even that dirt bridge not thirty or so feet away.  Why would it choose the most difficult part of the water to cross, which right there at that spot, was a deep and maybe 12-foot wide stream?  Happenstance? Single-mindedly zeroed in on a prey animal? Or was something else going on?

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Purported Mt.Lion pic taken on trail cam in the Pisgah Natl. Forest near Asheville. Cat appears to be watching farm dwellings before making its next move.~ courtesy of brokenhousefarm.com
The Recent Announcement

Not so long ago the U.S. Fish & Wildlife department formally announced the Eastern Cougar extinct. Yes, the American Eastern Cougar is no longer extant -- presumably meaning east of the Mississippi River. Those that think they are make some good points, and those who think not do as well.

Ever since revelations concerning the Kennedy and MLK assassinations, the Vietnam War tragedy and the Watergate scandal, a majority of the American people have rightly been rather hesitant to believe absolutely and without question, certain official announcements.

This is not meant to say all such announcements are in error, or disparage the many truthful, hard-working and excellent people who work in an official capacity, no, it's just a factual statement available for reading and viewing in many popular history books, television series and reliable internet sources.

The following two old anecdotal stories and all the sighting history in North Carolina could speak for many other areas along this very ancient chain of mountains. The steep peaks and thick foliage of eastern Tennessee, eastern West Virginia and northern Georgia in particular for the southern section of the Appalachians.
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Lake Fontana and the Great Smoky Mountains
A Couple of Anecdotal Histories

Mountain Lions, or "Painters", as they were often called in the past, were fairly common in the N. C. mountains up until the 20th century. Unrestricted hunting -- with bounty's paid for the "varmints" - and the extensive timber cutting by the sometimes voracious lumber companies, took a heavy toll on the animals.

Even what is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was nearly half-logged; but the North Carolina mountains still retained steep and heavily forested areas thousands of square miles in extent, where the wiliest cats could remain reproducing and roaming about to a reduced degree. Perhaps, they simply adapted.

The Smokies greatest early 1900s hunter and guide, a man who knew the region better than anyone else, was once asked if he'd ever been lost in them. His answer went something like: "Well, not exactly, but I have been known to wander 'round and 'round a bit at times."

The following is an account of supposedly the last "Painter" slain in the Great Smokies during the winter of 1920. A mountaineer named Tom Sparks was nearly mauled by what appeared to be an injured mountain lion as he herded  sheep on Spence Hill. Attacks like this were quite rare in these eastern mountains however.

During the assault he managed to inflict a deep shoulder wound on the cat with presumably a firearm. Many months later, a W. Orr slew a panther near Fontana Village, ( which is a tourist attraction now, with the very beautiful, man-made, 900 foot deep Fontana lake nearby). Orr found that its left shoulder blade had been cut in two. This was thought to be the same cat Sparks had shot and the last of its kind in the immediate area, but not in the mountains as a whole.

A late 19th century story has two mica prospectors chancing on an abandoned cabin during a savage blizzard. Due to blood spots, horrible cries, crashes on the roof and foot-falls, the men concluded the place was haunted, or hainted, as the vernacular had it back then. In the morning mountain lion tracks were found and the mystery solved. The cats had a den nearby on a wild and rugged precipice and had been using the cabin as an additional home. Soon after a systematic hunt was organized with all four panthers treed and killed after a long chase.
Picture
Picture
Interesting photos from Yellowstone showing deer seen 2 years running near fishing spot. Scars under mouth, across snout, on neck, side and rump.
Some thoughts on the subject and theory

The list of sightings, video, and other evidence are far too numerous to include even a goodly portion of them here. Presumably the Fish & Wildlife says if they're there, they have to be released pets or zoo escapees. The supposition that a very small remnant survived the attempt at extermination might seem the more likely answer to some people, though.

The continuity of sightings through time along with the craftiness these cats often display, says more to me than just free running ex-pets who've been propagating with each other all these years. But even if that's the reality, the fact remains they do appear to be extant in the southern mountains and, some northern parts of the Appalachians too.

Whatever the case may be, the reports continue to come in: a late night crossing was reported by two well-respected gentlemen in the north-west corner of the state recently.  A relative, an experienced outdoorsman, unmistakably sighted one recently on an eastern branch of Lake Santeehelah, about 15 miles from the Great Smokey Mt. National Park.  When he reported it to a Wildlife person, they told him it had to have been a bobcat; not so according to the relative, who clearly saw a very long tail on the large tawny feline as it slouched between the thickets.

Hind-sight is 20/20 and I do wish that way back then I'd returned and taken pictures of the track and reported it.  A good photo could have at least confirmed it as a mountain lion print or some other large species.  So with that said, the following is only a loose theory of mine and I in no way claim it to be the complete or even right answer but here it is.

Something happened in the first half of the twentieth century, where the few remaining indigenous cats had a new survival strategy come to the fore.  They largely removed themselves to the most remote and inaccessible parts of the mountains -- as far away from human beings as it was possible to get. Possibly even deep into places like the vast Cohutta wilderness in NW Georgia.

Many of them now knew, whether instinctively -- or by independent thought, that when the baying of hounds was near, their usual last ditch defense of treeing meant death.  Later on in the century they possibly mated up with some released pets or escapees.  As to why they are rarely killed on the roads, like almost all other large, and many not so large wild mammals, they've generally gone nocturnal in their main activities.

When they do venture near them late at night, they know the danger and cross quickly. How many bears does one see on the side of the road? it's not often they're hit, and although bears are not dumb animals, I believe the cats are not only smarter but much cannier. A good example of this difference might be the young Pennsylvania bear who made the news in 2013 by getting its head stuck in a plastic jar for at least 11 days. A young Eastern Mountain Lion would never make that mistake in my humble opinion.

Some will say this is all wishful thinking and perhaps in part they're right. Occasionally there are hoaxes or flights of fancy as one man has admitted to near Asheville, N. C., not so long ago. Apparently there was some kind of wish fulfillment fantasy about a mother and cubs. This is a good case to demonstrate the passions these cats can stir in people, that is, pro and con, as to their reality or non-reality east of the Mississippi watershed.

Whatever the case may be, I know what I saw and believe that the hundreds of reports through the years and up until today are largely made by honest folk, and are not always hoaxes, misidentifications, drug or drink fueled hallucinations or aerie-faerie nonsense. Reason just says that with all the reports, sightings, and other evidence, they must be extant to some degree. 

One has, apparently, even tried to take down a horse in Lexington, NC recently, which is more in the western Piedmont section of the state. ​This would imply, they, like other species such as coyote and black bear, are extending their normal range on occasion. That is if wild-born mountain lion felines are still in our big Eastern Mts. to start with, of course. Indeed, if still there, this incident is a rarity as they appear to stay as far away from us and our domestic animals as it is possible for them to be.

​What's left of the wild Appalachians may still hold mysteries for us to this day.

​NOTE: View a new article on the subject by clicking the Carolina Critters tab for Mountain Lion Encounters in Georgia and the Alabama Sand Hills.

13 Comments
Brenda
6/20/2014 12:24:59 am

I am so thrilled to see the Critters tab added to your website. Staring with "painters" is a wonderful kickoff. I believe a few remain way back in the mountains where mankind seldom ventures.
Last summer I saw a bobcat in the back cow pasture. He was trying to dig out a groundhog that lives there. Alas, my camera lens was not strong enough for me to get a good photo.
My family and I do a lot of mountain hiking. I will be on the lookout for bears and other critter traces for you. We often see a warning sign that bears are active.

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alastar link
6/20/2014 01:40:04 am

It is thrilling Brenda! thank you. You know this one ran on another site for two years and received hundreds of comments. I saved the ones telling of folks sightings and encounters and hope soon to add them on here. Now that would be interesting watching a bobcat try and dig-out a groundhog! Hey, Brenda, if you have any wild animal you have pics of and would write a first person story about, you know it would be most welcome on Carolina Critters!

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Phyllis Doyle Burns link
6/25/2014 09:02:00 pm

Oh! I am so glad to see this Critters blog, Alastar. I love to read about wild animals. We have a lot of coyotes in our area and I am always on the lookout for them. This year the coyotes seem to be a lot bigger and healthier looking -- I am thinking that is due to the larger herds of mule deer. We also have black bear wandering into the neighborhood occasionally. Animal Control bring out the German Shepherds to tree the bear, then a dart with knock out meds is shot to the bear's hind side. They take the bears way out to the wilderness and release them. We have had a few mountain lions come right in as close as our swimming pool in the complex, chasing jack rabbits. The new boulevard of two years ago cut through the lion's territory, so we do not see the big cats anymore. I used to hear their cries at night up on the mountain behind me. It is such a hauntingly beautiful sound -- I rather miss that. So, I am very happy to see this new Critters site to read about animals in your neck of the woods. So enjoyable.

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alastar link
6/26/2014 05:33:56 am

adapters they are! Your right my friend, less hunting means more prey for them. The old ones will sometimes try to take livestock and I know a coyote hunter who works for farmers . he trys to just take these seniors doing this so the farmers will be satisfied without him having to take the whole pack. I truly admire this friend for doing it that way. Except for the dastardly poachers we have come a long way.

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josh brown link
3/7/2015 11:23:25 am

Comment deleted

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Alastar Packer link
3/7/2015 11:36:31 am

thank you

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Lynn W link
3/7/2015 11:24:55 am

Lynn W. 19 months ago


We live in Cedar Mountain, N.C. On October 23rd, I was out before sunrise, walking my dog. As we crested a hill, I saw what I believe to be a Panther. He was lying down in a field, approximately 75/80 yards away. As the sun rose, I watched him closely. His feline, tawny features were apparent. As he rose, I saw his long black tail. He spotted me & went running into the woods. Luckily my dog didn't see him. There has been a lot of tree clearing in that area that I think may have caused him to be out of his natural habitat. Other neighbors have also seen him and we all agree that it is a Mountain Lion, not a bobcat.

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Healer21 link
3/7/2015 11:28:51 am

Healer 21 months ago


Mount Airy is my hometown! I know you're not crazy! If you talk to local people deep in the NC and VA mountains you can get stories about cougar sightings. I heard about one sighted on Pilot Mountain.

I even had some kind of run in with a big cat myself when I was a kid, in Hickory NC. I didn't get a view of it, but a friend and I heard a big cat's scream at very close range while playing outside, and were absolutely terrified but thankfully we were close to the house and ran inside safely. Then my friend's mother said she had seen a full size black panther in the yard once before, so she believed us, and figured that we must have run into it.

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VaRandy link
3/7/2015 11:31:09 am

VaRandy 2 years ago


Concerning North Carolina big cats...

April 18th this year, 5:30 pm, good light, I am on route 12 that is the only access to the NC outer banks. Running 55 headed south and am 2.5 miles above Oregon Inlet when a big black cat enters the road running from the Sound Side to the Ocean side.

Saw him clearly. He was a dull deep black, had a long powerful tail, had short legs (shorter than a mountain lion) had round shaped ears and a pattern on his face.

I spent two weeks looking at all that could be learned from the internet. It was a Melanistic phase JAGUAR because the black cats come only from Jaguars and Leopards.

South American Jaguars were in the Pa and Ohio valleys in the 1500;s but were last recognized as being in the US in 1920 reign in Texas and Arizona.

The black melanistic phase was said to be the color in SA in about 8 per cent of the population and a mention was made that a much higher incident happened in captive animals.

My cat was lean and mean and only 65 lbs estimated weight. His face had a definite pattern which you can find online easily and had to be made by gray hair on the black as there was no trace of white or tan on him. In speaking with others on the island,I find it is not all that special to see one between where I saw mine and Manteo.

I posted a picture of what I saw and got a call today by a lady I then visited to find that 2 weeks ago she witnessed for 20 minutes what apparantly also does not exist, the eastern cougar only 1/4 mile from where I live. My sighting was 40 miles north of my home.

She said hers was more like 50 lbs, where I estimated mine at 65. We also have the NC red wolf here that was reintroduced to the same swamps the above cats occupy.

There are many sightings of the black cat in NC and many other states and the hunting community can only laugh at those denying cougars as anyone with serious woods time is likely to spot one.

I am particularily interested in any black cat sightings in or near NC.



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josh brown link
3/7/2015 11:51:30 am





Josh Brown 18 months ago


I think my girlfriend had one come into our camp site in Raven Cliffs in North Georgia about 1am. We heard something moving through our campsite when the metal on the stove started scraping. We laid still for a couple minutes then heard a thump on the ice chest. Normally I keep the ice chest in the car but we've camped there a 1000 times and only dealt with an occasional raccoon or possum. And I was to tired to drag it to the car so I just drug it about 25 yards away. Anyway after the ice chest thump I jumped up with my head lamp and opened the tent intending to scare off a raccoon. And immediately I could see the glowing eyes. It had jumped up next to a tree on a little hill. I couldn't see much cause the fire was out and I just had my head lamp. But its eyes were 3-4 feet off the ground. Im assuming it was standjng up but i could only see the eyes and a faint siloutte of the head. So I walked about 10 yards closer really slowly and grabbed a rock from the fire ring and tossed it over. It then jumped up in the tree about 10 feet up. And for the first time I saw the silhouette of the entire thing and it looked 6 or 7 feet long because it was wrapped around the tree. At this point I was a little freaked out so I threw another rock. It jumped off and I saw the long tail as it ran down the hill to the little river in the valley. I watched it as it tracked along the water and went up the other hill as I could still see its eyes for about 5 minutes. We ended up leaving because we didn't know enough about behaviors and would it come back. But have been googling for hours. We did get a pic if the claw prints on the tree next to my girlfriends hands but we were so freaked out we didn't think to check for tracks down by the stream. I can send the pic if you'd like. But I've read about bobcats and they say they're around 40lbs. No way it was that small. It was at least 80-90lbs from when I got a good look when it was wrapped around the tree.






















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Eli Plantz link
3/11/2015 12:28:56 pm

Eli Plantz 15 months ago


I personally have seen Mountain Lion in NC. I was living in Asheboro, NC at the time. I got plaster casts of the cats prints. Contacted animal control. Their reply "that is a large cat". I contacted the NC Zoo. They told me it was impossible and that I needed video or pictures. That cat was so fast that even if I had a camera at the ready I doubt that the picture would have come out well. It was beautiful to see even if the people who are the "animal experts" who sit behind a desk and will not investigate do not believe.

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David Trydahl
8/1/2017 11:26:57 am

I am a retired research station manager who has seen Mountain Lions in the past. I saw them in both the Sierra Nevadas and in the White/Inyo Range of Eastern California. On July 30, 2017 at about 7:30 pm I spotted a lion on the Mountain to Sea Trail that parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, NC. I saw it in an area where I normally spot deer. The animal crossed the trail roughly 50 feet in front of me and appeared to be a tawny female who was either nursing or was pregnant based on her profile. I can not locate anyone in this area who is tracking or studying Cougars/Mountain Lions/Pumas.

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Robert Ball link
5/14/2024 12:45:48 pm

What to my intuition was a very clever animal, had approached the creek from a hilly and wooded expanse. Crossing the creek, it then went up the bank onto the grassy meadow as mentioned before, I’m so thankful for your helpful post!

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