Mountain Lion sighting

[WCMG]

I have done a lot of backpacking, and canoe camping in the area of Renovo, Keating, Karthaus, (yes reminded me of Deliverance) and in several counties in the northern tier of PA, and I have seen large scat, and dens that look very similar to the ones I saw when I lived in Colorado where mountain lions are plentiful. No, I have never seen one, but where there is abundant food, and open spaces, like much of PA, I would think there could be lions.

I agree. I grew up in Lock Haven and spent a lot of time in Renovo, Farrandsville, Pine Creek area, and lived out in Haneyville for a while over the "pike". People not from North Central PA don't realiize how vast the woods are up there. If they were in PA, that's where they would be.

[gdc]

supposedly this was taken on a trail cam in albrightsville a few years ago.
This has been going around on the local forums recently.
I cant verify so take it for what it’s worth.

[Hodgie]

While I have never seen a mountain lion in PA nothing is impossible, unlikely but not impossible. They have a natural rage of up to 350 miles and there have been plenty of idiots who run and purchase black market animals to release into the landscape or to play pretend hunter.

Again unlikely but not impossible.
They turn up in down town LA and Santa Cruz once in awhile.

[RockIsland]

supposedly this was taken on a trail cam in albrightsville a few years ago.
This has been going around on the local forums recently.
I cant verify so take it for what it’s worth.

That's just a bobcat.

[Hodgie]

Just googled and found this Pretty good article from January on the Mountain Lion in the East which kinda is along the lines of what I said earlier.

Eastern mountain lion officially declared extinct
https://www.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa..._official.html

Mountain lions, which continue to be reported across Pennsylvania throughout the year, are officially extinct east of the Mississippi River and north of Florida, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency has declared extinct the eastern cougar, one of 11 subspecies of mountain lions native to North America.

Mountain lions roamed all of the continent prior to the arrival and westward spread of European settlers, but only the eastern and Florida subspecies were found east of the Mississippi. A tiny population of Florida cougars persists in the southeastern corner of the United States.

Despite reported sightings throughout the East, including Pennsylvania, and a confirmed mountain lion killed in Connecticut in 2011, there has been no evidence that any of those cats were native to the East.


The Cougar Network, working with state agencies, have documented multiple mountain lions as far east as Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan in recent years, as well as that cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June 2011.

Those cats for which DNA evidence was recovered had come east from South Dakota, part of the known, modern-day, U.S. mountain lion range.

They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own.

Although there was no evidence that the 2011 mountain lion ever set foot in Pennsylvania, DNA evidence confirmed that it had been both west and east of the state. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. With the Great Lakes in its way, the cat moved either north or south of the water, and the latter route would have seen it pass through at least some of Pennsylvania.

Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. Some outdoor enthusiasts insist they have seen the big cats here and believe them to be naturally occurring, native animals. And, some may be escaped or illegally released pets.

"While confirmed cougar sightings have occurred recently in the wild in the East, there is currently no scientific or physical evidence documenting the continued existence of a population of wild eastern cougars," according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The cougars examined in the Northeast in the past 70 years are likely released or escaped captives. Some cats had a South American genetic profile. Some may be animals that dispersed into the region from western populations. Confirmed cougar sightings have increased in the Midwest and Great Lakes states in recent years."


"Given the period of time that has passed without verification of even a single eastern puma, the service concludes that the last remaining members of this subspecies perished decades ago," the Fish and Wildlife Service said in a Federal Register notice.

The last documented sighting of an eastern cougar was one killed in Maine in 1938.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s.

[Yoder]

There are no mountain lions in Pennsylvania.

The eastern cougars died out in the early part of the 20th century with the exception of the "Florida Panthers" in the Everglades. Those would have died out in the 1980's and 1990's had not wildlife officials introduced western cougars into the population.

So you have the western cougar which has been expanding it's range to the east. But they are not here yet. How do I know? Because any state where there are cougars, there is sign and no one in PA has been able to find any despite the large amount of hunters and outdoorsman in PA. In any other state where the cougar exists they frequently get hit by cars, scratch up trees, leave prints everywhere, poop everywhere, leave fur around, dead kills, etc. No one has yet found any of that here in PA, nor has gotten a picture either. Here in Tioga County we have had a few people proclaim to have taken photos of cougars, when hilariously it is very obviously a bobcat.

What people see are larger feral cats at distance which look bigger than they are.

I've hunted in PA my entire life and I've never seen a bob cat. I guess they don't exist.

[Parrisk]

That's just a bobcat.

RockIsland you need more time in the woods.. That cat has a tail so it is obviously a large house cat!

The other day I went to use the outside bathroom at the local bar... There on the hood of a Pontiac Sunbird I saw Sasquatch eating a Cougar.. well maybe more of a hairy mountain main going down on a nasty bar fly

I all seriousness.. With all the open areas in PA and all the wildlife, do some of you truly believe Mountain Lions from wherever would stop at the "Welcome to PA" sign and realize they had to turn back?

I have not see one yet believe them to exist in small numbers.
If you talk to a WCO who swears there are no Mountain Lion in PA just say "So I can shoot one if I see it right?"
My understanding is a couple years ago PAGC changed from NO MOUNTAIN LIONS IN PA to NO BREEDING POPULATION - so I guess they can visit, just not allowed to copulate while in the state

[stainless]

Never trust a human who says some species is extinct. An algorithm is just an overpriced guess.

Plus, I read on the web that a bobcat / cougar is a known house pet for bigfeets...

[archie19]

The Cougar Network, hehehehehe now that is "must see tv" heheheheh

[Palerider]

I agree. I grew up in Lock Haven and spent a lot of time in Renovo, Farrandsville, Pine Creek area, and lived out in Haneyville for a while over the "pike". People not from North Central PA don't realiize how vast the woods are up there. If they were in PA, that's where they would be.

Here’s a few places you’re familiar with...Lee has the Mountain Top Inn for sale and so is Fin Fur and Feather. Both up for at least a year or so but no takers.

Count me in the non believer category, though like Fox Mulder “I want to believe.”