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Thread: Bobcats in pa

  1. #31
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    Quote Originally Posted by father-of-three View Post
    I heard that they were somewhat quietly introduced into the pocono area to help with the deer population. I thought I saw one, but it turned out to be a brown colored fat fox.
    They were never relocated/re-intorduced in this state.
    Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought.

    John F Kennedy.

  2. #32
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    [QUOTE=eyecanshoot;2291571]Bobcats can be found pretty much anywhere in Pa. They are more active at night unless they have young. Then they will be more active during the day so they can protect their young from other nocturnal predators at night.

    The last one I saw was on the Switchback Gravity Railroad outside Jim Thorpe.

    I was walking my lab and two dirtbikes were coming the opposite direction so we got off the trail to let them pass. We made it about 50' and their was a fresh dead rat laying in the trail. I stopped to look around to see if I could spot what dropped it. I looked up the hill and saw a bobcat laying down poking its head out from behind a boulder waiting for me to leave so it could recover its lunch. I got over 2 minutes of video of it waiting for me to leave.

    We also have Canadian Lynx in western PA.

    So yeah it is rare to see a bobcat but they are actually very common throughout the state. To be honest I have had way more first hand sightings and interaction with wild mtn lions in Pa than I will probably ever have with bobcats. I have been studying PA wildlife as a main hobby for almost 30 years now. My main focus has been on predator/prey relationships.

    Humans do occassionally get preyed upon by mtn lions in PA and other states but these cases usually get filed as missing persons. If remains are recovered (usually just bones) the cause of death will be undetermined and any animal signs like teeth marks get attributed to scavengers like coyotes.[/QUOTE

    There are no Lynx in PA or has there ever been a case in at least the last 125 years of a Mtn Lion killing a human in PA. If you have a link to the contary provide it.

    You have had interaction with WILD PA Mtn lions???? Please provide pics, scat, fur anything, anything at all.
    Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought.

    John F Kennedy.

  3. #33
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    Quote Originally Posted by R.W.J View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by eyecanshoot View Post
    Bobcats can be found pretty much anywhere in Pa. They are more active at night unless they have young. Then they will be more active during the day so they can protect their young from other nocturnal predators at night.

    The last one I saw was on the Switchback Gravity Railroad outside Jim Thorpe.

    I was walking my lab and two dirtbikes were coming the opposite direction so we got off the trail to let them pass. We made it about 50' and their was a fresh dead rat laying in the trail. I stopped to look around to see if I could spot what dropped it. I looked up the hill and saw a bobcat laying down poking its head out from behind a boulder waiting for me to leave so it could recover its lunch. I got over 2 minutes of video of it waiting for me to leave.

    We also have Canadian Lynx in western PA.

    So yeah it is rare to see a bobcat but they are actually very common throughout the state. To be honest I have had way more first hand sightings and interaction with wild mtn lions in Pa than I will probably ever have with bobcats. I have been studying PA wildlife as a main hobby for almost 30 years now. My main focus has been on predator/prey relationships.

    Humans do occassionally get preyed upon by mtn lions in PA and other states but these cases usually get filed as missing persons. If remains are recovered (usually just bones) the cause of death will be undetermined and any animal signs like teeth marks get attributed to scavengers like coyotes.
    There are no Lynx in PA or has there ever been a case in at least the last 125 years of a Mtn Lion killing a human in PA. If you have a link to the contary provide it.

    You have had interaction with WILD PA Mtn lions???? Please provide pics, scat, fur anything, anything at all.
    R.W.J.,

    I know the mountain lion thing is disputed topic, but I have (3) uncles that have seen them.

    (2) uncles together were returning to their log skidder one morning and found a mountain like sleeping under their skidder. It was in either northern Jefferson Co or in Elk Co. They got within 20-30 feet of it.

    (1) uncle just 2 miles north of Brookville Boro line in Jefferson County saw one go across his back yard not more than 50ft from the house. He called the PGC call center to report it, but they said it was probably a big house cat. Then he called the local PGC Warden who pretty much laughed it off. ...said uncle has made it known that the next time he sees it he is going to shoot it and leave it on the county courthouse steps.

    All three uncles are outsdoorsmen, hunters, and farmers. They all know what a house cat, bobcat, and mountain lion look like.

    I don't know if these "cats" were from natural re-migration back into PA, escaped exotic pets, intentional releases, or what - but something is up... Mountain lions(puma) have a rather large territory. The ones in Florida have been known to roam a couple hundred square miles per cat.
    Last edited by knight0334; February 11th, 2013 at 06:13 PM.
    RIP: SFN, 1861, twoeggsup, Lambo, jamesjo, JayBell, 32 Magnum, Pro2A, mrwildroot, dregan, Frenchy, Fragger, ungawa, Mtn Jack, Grapeshot, R.W.J., PennsyPlinker, Statkowski, Deanimator, roland, aubie515

    Don't end up in my signature!

  4. #34
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    RWJ fisher cats, were they reintroduced into Pa.? I read some where that they came from Conn. Any truth?

  5. #35
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    i have seen quite a few bobcats in bradford county. and only a few in the poconos. i had one out back 2 years ago that got treed by a couple of the neighbors hound dogs. 15 years ago i saw a mountain lion in bradford county while grouse hunting. it happened so fast, and the ground was hard, so i found no evidence or tracks to prove i saw it. i still am optimistic they are around because i never seen anyone produce any evidence of one. no tracks, or shit or nothing.

  6. #36
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    Coyote hunting last night in lykens/gratz had a bobcat come into the call... coyotes were howling.... never got a shot. Another night another time....

  7. #37
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    One of my uncles had two hanging our around his tree stand during deer season. Our cabin is in union county. Apparently they didn't realize he was there. They're crappy cell phone pics.




  8. #38
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    Quote Originally Posted by Qtrborecrazy View Post
    RWJ fisher cats, were they reintroduced into Pa.? I read some where that they came from Conn. Any truth?
    Fishers were re-introduced in the norther tier. Fishers are in the mustlied family (weasel family) and not at all a cat. they were brought back to help control the porcupine population.
    Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought.

    John F Kennedy.

  9. #39
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    Quote Originally Posted by R.W.J View Post
    Fishers were re-introduced in the norther tier. Fishers are in the mustlied family (weasel family) and not at all a cat. they were brought back to help control the porcupine population.
    Yup. They have helped around here. We used to have to rebuild my parents porch every 3-4 years because of the porcupines. ...but since we've seen more fishers in the past recent years the last time we had to rebuild the porch was 15 years ago.

    The coyotes have probably helped some too, strange enough.

    However, we don't have any groundhog or rabbit anymore to shoot at.
    RIP: SFN, 1861, twoeggsup, Lambo, jamesjo, JayBell, 32 Magnum, Pro2A, mrwildroot, dregan, Frenchy, Fragger, ungawa, Mtn Jack, Grapeshot, R.W.J., PennsyPlinker, Statkowski, Deanimator, roland, aubie515

    Don't end up in my signature!

  10. #40
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    Default Re: Bobcats in pa

    There are no Lynx in PA or has there ever been a case in at least the last 125 years of a Mtn Lion killing a human in PA. If you have a link to the contary provide it.
    I apologize I remembered years ago a newspaper article from out western pa where a hunter had taken a Canadian Lynx. I even thought it was confirmed to be a Lynx but maybe it ended up being one of those escaped pets.

    You have had interaction with WILD PA Mtn lions???? Please provide pics, scat, fur anything, anything at all.
    The story of the first mtn lion I ever saw in the wild in PA.

    A boy about 6 or 7 years old was walking past a wheat field and a mtn lion came out from behind him stalking. I freaked out and was yelling and pointing at it. So the kid turned around saw it stalking towards him and he started running and screaming towards me. His running was triggering this cats instinct to chase. I didn't know what else to do so I sprinted full speed at the mtn lion in an attempt to scare it off. I made it a few yards past him before the mtn lion noticed I was coming full speed at it. Instead of running off like I had hoped it just stopped turned sideways and arched up in a defensive posture. At this point I thought I was going to die and that made me mad. So I turned up the crazy screaming, yelling, and stomping my feet as hard as I could as I continued running towards it. I was under two yards away when it finally turned and disappeared back into the wheat field.

    This happened on the edge of an open crowded area but no one else saw the mtn lion. Everytime I hear a story on the news about a kid walking home from somewhere that just vanishes I think about that boy. I'm sure many of the missing persons fall victim to human predators but with my experience I'm sure atleast a small percentage of missing persons must fall victim to America's top natural predator.

    I don't have any pics of any wild mtn lions yet. Real wild animals don't cooperate very well like they do in tourist trap kind of places. Of course most of the places I go anymore are heavily hunted so I can't blame the critters for being skittish about someone pointing something at them.

    I dont see how collecting scat, fur, ect would help because people would still have to believe my story of where and when I collected that evidence. It would be he said she said and a citizen never wins that arguement with wildlife officials. It always ends the same way the citizen is made to look like a hoaxer and a fool. Then that person is almost always threatened with having charges filed against them for making a false report.

    Even if a body is recovered it will be an escaped pet everytime even more evidence leans toward it being wild. Even if the DNA doesn't match the Western Cougar it gets assumed that it was an imported south american escaped pet. If anything they should atleast let the public know how many pet mtn lions they find so the public is aware of our feral mtn lion problem.

    Mtn lions behave alot like a feral cat that never adjusted to living as the loving pet it was intended to be. You know those so called "goshtcats" that even the owners themselves hardly ever see. They only know they still have a pet cat because food disappears and the litter box is still being used. Mtn lions act much in the same way just on a much larger scale. They do not wish to be seen so therefore they are not seen most of the time even in heavily populated urban areas. The first mtn lion I saw was baited out of hiding by that kid. It had to come out of the wheat field to keep a line of sight on its intended target. It lost focus on staying concealed and became totally focused on preying on this kid and that was the only reason I saw it. If it stayed in the wheat field I would of never been aware of its presence.

    This is a condensed version of my first experience with a wild mtn lion in PA and some of how I feel about the experience.

    I CC now so I dont have to rely on my god given ability to look scarey. I have my own children now so for their sake I try to stay mindful and keep a little more distance between myself and danger.

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