I went on line and llistened to mountain lions and cougar screams and it sounded exactly like that. i recently moved to Martinsville from Ct. My folks have lived in Stuart for the past 11 years. I saw them 11 times within 3 weeks. Everyone we have spoken with today said it couldnt be true but my dad (a hunter all his life) and mom both saw its full near silhouette (nearing dusk) in the curve of a road just ahead of them before it disappeared and said it was the size, maybe just a tad bit smaller than my golden retriever (80 lbs) and its tail was as long as its body was and made a point to say it was a cats tail in shape, curving down at the base & up in a slope. Theres no guarantee that cougars trekking from South Dakota will stick around, or that the female in Tennessee will have kittens. Nobody even thinks anything of it because of its regularity. (near Wise, VA) by a car. All these so-called sightings yet no evidence of a breeding population, despite all the research done by biologists and the states? Then what? I have seen big bobcats but never a cougar. Today, there are less than 200 Florida panthers remaining. I didnt know if my eyes were playing tricks on me until it decided not to cross the road, and head back to the woods. Unfortunately, we lost our big barn cat to these predators and continue to see and hear them on a regular basis. People often see bobcats & mistakenly call them a mountain lion. Bears, Deer and Turkey come out in the yard on a regular basis. While fishing the nearby native trout streams (most notably the Rapidan) in the surrounding mountains, I have not seen another. I see no reason to question them. The last cougar in Virginia was killed in Washington County in 1882. 111 1. I would suggest people look that up also. It really burns me up to hear so called experts say that there are no mountain lions or even wolves for that matter in VA. About 10-12 years ago, there was a pretty severe drought, and I know I saw a wolf in the Woodlake area of Midlothian, but everyone said are you sure it wasnt a big dog? If you see a wolf, you know its not a dog. So I guess its up in the air. Admission is $6 for ages 16 and over, $2 for kids 6 to 15 years old, and free for . I bearly got a glimpse, thought at first it was a deer. I would guess that the overbundance of whitetail deer could have contributed to the return? of the puma. There are an estimated 3,000 - 7,000 Mountain lions in Colorado. In recent years, sighting reports are becoming more and more common. What big cats are in Virginia? In reply to Sharon if you can give more details on date of kill and on the location of the road kill at Buchannan, Virginia I would look for remains or inquire if VDOT made any report of it as they may have picked it up off the road. At first I wondered if it was a bob cat, however, the feline was far too large, and lacked the bushier tail commonly associated with a bob (especially given that it was still early February). Speaking of coyotes, has anyone near the Thaxton, Montvale, Blue Ridge area of Virginia seen them nearby? Other interests include hiking, songwriting, and spending time in the mountains. One night our mules and horses had broken through the fence. I was frozen with fear as I realized it wasnt a bear, but a black mountain lion. Are there presentations planned anywhere that one could attend? Well, then dont dress them up like sheep, he said with a chuckle. Saturday 27 Sept 08 I found a large paw print in the mud from the recent rains. I could hear the kittens and I captured a photo which I believe to be a smaller lion. There is wide open space there, high cliffs, and an abundance of deer. But, there is always a chance that one day the sighting will be real. I was wrestles camping (alone) and decided to hike over Big Hump Mountain to the next campsite. I went back to the area for my job maybe 3 weeks later and saw nothing. Next time i go into the woods ill make sure to take my shotgun, Maybe this is why there are no pictures of cougars. I was leaning against a tree w/my parka hood blocking the wind, when I saw a grown cougar walking straight toward me. Sadly, mountain lions no longer live in Virginia. Fish & Wildlife Resource declared the eastern cougar extinct, LaRue said. Mountain Lions in New York. I don't think we're real close to that.". My husband saw it too. My neighbor has a grandson that is almost 3 years old, they were outside and he was crying (nothing was wrong) it was more of a I want my way kind of cry, but it seemed to go on for a long time. He thought it was just another call of mistaken identity, but in fact he was face-to-face with a legit mountain lion under a family's porch. Have some feedback for us? Wow, those sure are sneaky and stealthy cats out there..maybe they received covert training from the CIA. 12. If you know anything about mt lions, you know there is a lot of sign if there is a breeding population. Those eyes I will never forget as the cars lights stunned it for a moment.. Last night i was driving back to college from home. During one of our walks last weekend my sister spotted a very !large! Holly Kuchera/Shutterstock.com. Does this mean they do not exist? I think the eating is good around here for a mountain lion. Misidentification is typically caused by poor lighting conditions at the time of the sighting. A large, darkish animal approximately the height of a retriever/setter, long tail that curved at the very end, large cat-like head, and very close, prominent shoulders, that I still can see moving up and down when I think about it crossing Meetze Road. "Mountain lions existed statewide at the time of European settlement, but presumably were extirpated from the state by the 1880s," a DGIF blog stated. I do not know of any dogs in the area with feet that big. A breeding population moves very slowly due to the natural hindrance of having cubs. Mine me, Im not calling him a lier, but it does happen. I was dragging some stuff behind my ATV down a old farm road in Appomattox Virginia, when this fellow bounced out in front of me about 50 yards ahead. They said mountain lions had always been there, although you didnt hear them often. It persisted for about 3 minutes. On Saturday, Sept 28, 2008, at 7:20am, I was on my way to Warrenton from Midland (7 miles southeast of Warrenton). Our last trip we had a mountain lion stalk us outside our tent. We still hear these screams from time to time but most recently (Dec 26, 2006) our grand daughter spotted a coyote digging in our manure pile for varmits! Currently, there is only one species of wild cat that lives in Virginia. Why? This also was a sighting near Callands, VA: my wife was out jogging on our dirt road and came across a very large bobcat, about the size of a large dog, stubby tail, brown color, only about fifty yards from her, just staring at her. As for what a new population of mountain lions would mean for nearby residents, education is crucial. All the territories are basically taken up so they have to go somewhere else, and somewhere else happens to be the Midwest.. I was glad i was in a car, as Im sure it would have been terrified had we been on foot. We gathered the kids and went to retrieve them. Well we finally made it out of there. I just saw a photograph of one today that is EASILY 150-200 lbs. According to LaRue and her research, lions recolonize by stepping stone dispersal, which essentially means they start traveling, find a nice habitat to set up shop for a little while, then move on to the next area with a suitable habitatand theyll do this for hundreds, even up to thousands of miles. I think there is a reason for that, and the most likely reason IMO is that the animals people are seeing are not mountain lions. They prefer deer.. She stated that she had previously spotted one on I 40 while crossing the Cumberland Mtns. If a mountain lion walks around an area enough, many different humans will notice. Others have confused the Eastern mountain lion with coyotes, bobcats, or even deer. The dog was close enough I could open the door and bring her in. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The Cougar Network is monitoring all reports of the expansion of cougars to the East. There are certainly plenty of remote areas for them in VA and W.VA. I myself saw 2 big black cats with a tawny one run out of an abandoned barn back in the late 1970s in upstate NY. At a second glance, we knew that it couldnt be deer. While hiking in the winter after a good snowfall I came across huge cat tracks that were fresh. Four very distinct toes and a large pad. I suppose it could have been a super-sized coyote or an interbred coyote. Our youngest daughter was hysterical thinking that her mule would be attacked. While driving down a winding mountain road in Madison County (Northwest, VA), I witnessed a large cat trotting up the road toward me. That might depend on who you ask, but LaRue, whos been studying mountain lions for more than a decade, isnt convinced that eastern cougars were ever any different from the western subspecies. Several times theyd reported seeing strange animals crossing their path in the woods. I hope the person who struck it hears its cries in his or her nightmares / dreams for a very long time to come. Tried to track it with the game warden but never found it. But the thing about mountain lions is that females dont travel as far or as often, and when they disperse they dont go very far or very well.. It was as big or bigger than a german sheppard, but most definitely a cat. I stopped by a local gas station and 10 minutes later and I was told I was not the first to report seeing the cats. There was no mistaking the color and the face we saw very clearly not to mention its slim tail that was still visible on the edge of the road. 3. It was standing in front of my car. I think there have been reintroduction programs in some areas. 150 yards in front of us travelling east. It had a long bushy tail and appeared to weigh about 70 or 80 pounds. I have seen fully grown Bobcats up close, and those animals are way bigger than I had previously expected. Mountain lions once lived in much of the eastern United States. So, wanting to get them closer, I called them. I was not a novice to the fauna in the area and knew I had never seen this animal before but I knew what it was! Look forward to talking more. The 1982 Eastern Cougar Recovery Plan defined the establishment of one population containing at least 50 breeding adults as the threshold for moving the Eastern Cougar from "endangered" to just "threatened." Seems in these parts every snake they see is a copperhead (even the black with white belly ones). Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the eastern population of cougars extinct, but based on numerous sightings and reports, you can't be too sure. In August 2004, a cougar was captured on film near Craigsville, Virginia and identified by professional wildlife biologists of the Eastern Puma Research Network. Secondly, the sightings of mountain lions are likely the result of escaped or released animals that were once captive. This could cause an issue because they could go after livestock and cause problems for humans. So this is good newsthe cat is back, surely. They acted like I had schizophrenia though admitted there have been other reports.even though they do not officially exist here. I failed to mention the eyes looking at us! Learn more about us & read our affiliate disclosure. Although the eastern cougar is extinct, there are still sightings of these cats across the state. Mountain lions and yes black cats. It certainly is rare to get more than just a glimpse of them. Not much evidence but plenty of stories. tail, gray to tan in color. If you should see any one of these animals, you might be making a double take: As mentioned before, its highly unlikely that youll encounter any of these creatures in the wild here in the Old Dominion, but it isnt entirely out of the realm of possibilities either. I remember seeing very large cat tracks(not a normal bobcat track) while hunting the GWNF sw of harrisonburg,va in the mid to late 1980s. 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