Mountain Lion sighting

[Manxdriver]

I was stationed in California for a while. San Bernardino, and spent a lot of time in the mountains camping. We had a guy in Combat Control who spent a lot more time than I did in those mountains practicing his trade. I told him I had seen a lion up near Arrowhead and he told me I was crazy.

We kept in touch over the years and he settled in Redlands ,California, a few miles from the base,. Every time the subject came up he told me I was nuts, no lions in SoCaL.

Two years ago he called me , apologizing profusely. Not only are there lions in those mountains, he got pictures of three of them TOGETHER. Best part? They were stalking him from about 1000 yards out and he sat there and took pics until they were 200-250 yards away and it became apparent to him what they were doing. He was uphill by about 300 feet of elevation, and very close to his vehicle , so he ran to the truck and left. If I can find the pics, I'll post them.

Don't ever take someone's word that there are no lions in PA. Penn State did NOT name their team after a mythical creature!

[Palerider]

I'm not calling most of the people bull shitters. I believe that most people truly believe what they think they saw. I am certain most want to believe there are Pa lions for a variety of reasons. EVERYONE is certain what they saw. If even 10% ....hell 5% were accurate I would be up to my eyeballs in Mt lions. It doesn't make sense to even the most cautious observer. Look at how many people in this thread alone are certain they either saw a big cat or know someone. That is the case everywhere I go. It's implausible at best.

People that insist lion exist in Pa seem to want to say that people like me think its impossible that they could exist. That's not the case. People like me want some kind of proof...... anything......and it never crops up...ever...in a densely populated state with hundreds of hard travelled roads and a million annual hunters. Again based on the volume of so called sightings it makes no sense. Even with the tiny number of cats that live in FL they turn up dead here and there. Not to mention the already well documented existence. It amazes me how so many otherwise rational people can be so certain of something. It ranks right up there with big foot and UFO's. People are certain they saw it, and you cannot tell them different, yet most everyone else reasonably says where's the proof, and that is accepted as an honest response.

Really well said and essentially my sentiments. And I want to believe they're here if for no reason other reason than the cool factor.

But I fundamentally don't understand with all these sighting not one person took a picture of either the cat (I get that's going to be hard) or prints. My natural curiosity would force me to find the tracks and take pics. You've just seen an almost mythical creature in PA, one that's screaming for evidence but then no one wants to document it.

[ungawa]

I'm not calling most of the people bull shitters. I believe that most people truly believe what they think they saw. I am certain most want to believe there are Pa lions for a variety of reasons. EVERYONE is certain what they saw. If even 10% ....hell 5% were accurate I would be up to my eyeballs in Mt lions. It doesn't make sense to even the most cautious observer. Look at how many people in this thread alone are certain they either saw a big cat or know someone. That is the case everywhere I go. It's implausible at best.

People that insist lion exist in Pa seem to want to say that people like me think its impossible that they could exist. That's not the case. People like me want some kind of proof...... anything......and it never crops up...ever...in a densely populated state with hundreds of hard travelled roads and a million annual hunters. Again based on the volume of so called sightings it makes no sense. Even with the tiny number of cats that live in FL they turn up dead here and there. Not to mention the already well documented existence. It amazes me how so many otherwise rational people can be so certain of something. It ranks right up there with big foot and UFO's. People are certain they saw it, and you cannot tell them different, yet most everyone else reasonably says where's the proof, and that is accepted as an honest response.

There is another logical way to look at this. Where I work, being right is dollars and cents, life and death. And when I find myself telling everyone else I meet that I am right and they are wrong, I start getting nervous.

[God's Country]

There is another logical way to look at this. Where I work, being right is dollars and cents, life and death. And when I find myself telling everyone else I meet that I am right and they are wrong, I start getting nervous.

I'm willing to be wrong on this, but someone is going to have to give me more than anecdotal evidence. Otherwise I might as well believe in every other fairy tale to date.

No matter....I saw a rainbow the other day, and I'm off to search for my pot of gold.

[Manxdriver]

Pa is literally crawling with rattlesnakes, yet, how many have seen one? I show people pics of one that almost bit me last year, multiple pics, on my I-phone, and they think I took them off the web. So, if we have all these snakes and people don't believe we do, how would you ever prove/disprove a big cat?

California has mountain lions, EVERYONE knows that. Yet, 99.99999999% will NEVER see one, wouldn't know one if they did catch a glimpse, would find a paw print and swear it was a bear or coyote, and will tell you there aren't any.

Does Pa have big cats? Yes, I believe we do. And so does BigFoot, he told me so!!!

[Palerider]

Pa is literally crawling with rattlesnakes, yet, how many have seen one? I show people pics of one that almost bit me last year, multiple pics, on my I-phone, and they think I took them off the web. So, if we have all these snakes and people don't believe we do, how would you ever prove/disprove a big cat?

No one I know falls into that category, they're the opposite. Everyone who sees a harmless snake is 'sure' it was a copperhead or at least a rattler.

And I saw 2 last year, one crossing 644 north of Lock Haven and 1 a bit too close near Lick Run stream. I'm way more concerned about being in the woods with these guys than a cougar.

[tarzan]

I've said before here, that I saw one by Jake's Rocks in the Kinzua Dam area in the eighties. Two sober adults seeing this in our headlights not 10 yds. in front of us on a clear night, it stood still a few seconds and there was no doubt in our minds about what it was.

Kind of got tossed around on the site as like a big foot sighting.

Now more sightings are being reported, my neighbors tell me that one has been sighted in Lawrence County recently. I do not wave away the sightings because I know what I saw.

[mosseater]

Really well said and essentially my sentiments. And I want to believe they're here if for no reason other reason than the cool factor.

But I fundamentally don't understand with all these sighting not one person took a picture of either the cat (I get that's going to be hard) or prints. My natural curiosity would force me to find the tracks and take pics. You've just seen an almost mythical creature in PA, one that's screaming for evidence but then no one wants to document it.

Now that you mention it, I may in fact have pics of the prints in the mud. I have many discs full of video and I remember having the camcorder along that day. At one point, we drove out to the targets (1000 yd range) and around the 500 yd mark my buddy points down to the mud at a print and says, "what do ya think made THAT???". I think the hairs on the back of my neck actually stood up. I too cannot believe I DIDN'T take a vid shot of it, so I'll have to check. But, let me guess: if I do find it, it won't make any difference, right? Just like the PAGC has been explaining away any other claims or evidence, so will the rest of the non-believers.

And, once again, I don't, "...believe I saw what I saw." I saw it. There is no doubt. It was not a glimpse or a shadow. Two people looking through scopes at a long, low cat with a tail almost as long as it's body, in broad daylight, in the open, on a barren target range, do not guess, surmise, or conclude. They see. And they know. Hold your hand out and look at it. Is it your hand? Or is it not? That's how positive I am.

The need for evidence brings up another question. Suppose one sees a cat in an appropriate place to "collect evidence". If I came dragging one in with a 30 cal. hole in it's hide, what happens next? I ask because I don't think the game laws of PA have it covered. Anything not specifically illegal cannot be deemed so after the fact, can it? I believe they mention starlings, sparrows, and chipmunks, but I don't recall mountain lions. Or are they Federally protected because they're "extinct"? That doesn't make sense on the face of it. Point is, had I been of the discretionary bent of shooting living things simply because I feel like it, and been sharp enough to not be astounded, but rather, react by dropping a live round in the chamber and squeezing one off at the cat, I might have your evidence. My question is, would I be sharing it from prison? Or have paid a hefty fine? What happens to a person who shoots a creature that doesn't exist in PA?

[wanneroo]

I'm not calling most of the people bull shitters. I believe that most people truly believe what they think they saw. I am certain most want to believe there are Pa lions for a variety of reasons. EVERYONE is certain what they saw. If even 10% ....hell 5% were accurate I would be up to my eyeballs in Mt lions. It doesn't make sense to even the most cautious observer. Look at how many people in this thread alone are certain they either saw a big cat or know someone. That is the case everywhere I go. It's implausible at best.

People that insist lion exist in Pa seem to want to say that people like me think its impossible that they could exist. That's not the case. People like me want some kind of proof...... anything......and it never crops up...ever...in a densely populated state with hundreds of hard travelled roads and a million annual hunters. Again based on the volume of so called sightings it makes no sense. Even with the tiny number of cats that live in FL they turn up dead here and there. Not to mention the already well documented existence. It amazes me how so many otherwise rational people can be so certain of something. It ranks right up there with big foot and UFO's. People are certain they saw it, and you cannot tell them different, yet most everyone else reasonably says where's the proof, and that is accepted as an honest response.

It's very easy for the human eye to misjudge distance, especially in low light.

To double down on what you said, Florida is a great example. Not many roads run through the Everglades, yet almost 10% of the cougar population gets creamed by cars every year. The cats are also fairly easy to keep track of. Here in PA we've got roads running every which way all over the state, no road kill. No dead kills of deer by cougars either. For all the trail cams and cell phone cams and millions of people in the woods in this state, nothing.

In addition just about everyone has a story set during the day. Cougars often don't move in the day but bed down at that time.

[wanneroo]

I am actually surprised by the responses on here. I have never once encountered a outdoorsman in western or central PA that doesn't believe there is a small population of mountain lions in PA. Sure your not going to find them in near towns or cities but talk to the guys who are doing the fracking in secluded areas and ask them if they've seen anything odd.

I guess it's a whatever you want to believe topic until someone hits one with a car and calls the news before the game commission. I know what I saw, It most definitely wasn't a house cat, which is the lamest reasoning I ever heard. And I guess I just can't judge distance, but I bet the same people who say people can't judge size of objects and distances can tell you the precise yardage they shot their buck at last year.

Pretty sad when you are about to unsubscribe from your own thread.

It's nothing personal it's just that everyone in this state has a "I saw a cougar" story, yet it always turns out to be a bobcat or feral cat. And unlike in other states with cougars, there is sign, but none here.

Up here in Tioga County we've had locals take pictures even of what they proudly declare are mountain lions and it's obvious with 100% certainty a bobcat or house cat.