The animal started running so I decided to run and get away and jump in the river to get across to the other side, Fletcher told The State. Charles Koehler, a Travelers Rest resident,was working in his garden last month when he heard a series of loud screams coming from the woods behind his house. Experts in Tennessee dont know exactly how many mountain lions are roaming the area, but they do know one thing for sure: at least one of them is a female. But hunting practices and habitat loss drastically reduced the overall population over the last few centuries. They like rugged terrain with forest cover. A total of 65 mammal species live in the park. Mountain lions have an interesting life cycle that consists of a few different characteristics. There isnt an official estimate on mountain lions in the state. The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. Adult females are smaller, averaging 80-90 pounds. After settler expansion that resulted in habitat destruction, and hunting practices, the elusive animals were extirpated in the late 1800s. Most people in the eastern U.S. havent ever seen a wild mountain lion or jaguar or leopard, said Butfiloski. The state of Arizona is home to a large, stable population of mountain lions. Their presence in North Carolina is often the result of strong easterly winds. However, it is pretty well accepted that there are no cougars living in the east currently.. A lot of people dont know theyre around until they show up and start feeding on their bird feeders, and then all of a sudden its What are you gonna do about these bears?. There are a lot of instances of someone trying to mess with us, or theyre messing with a buddy, and the buddy sends it to us thinking its real, he said. If youve done any research on your own, you may have noticed that we didnt include a lot of states that have had cougar sightings, especially in the last few years. Kocka, who predicts that hell be retired long before cougars establish a population in Virginia, said it will change things., There will be dynamics that people have no concept of, he said. Mountain lions live in incredibly diverse environments, but all call the Western Hemisphere home. Since mountain lions are the top predators (unlike most other states with grizzly bears), they have a well-developed population. But recent expert-confirmed sightingswhich have involved photographs, videos, and DNAin Tennessee support a theory that mountain lions, whose populations out west have continued to expand, are slowly making their way back to this side of the country. Most are residents claiming to have video evidence or have seen tracks. We were really focused on the males, because obviously they cant ensure populations with just males, LaRue said. Short answer: The last verified sighting of a cougar in North Carolina was more than a century ago. However, it is not uncommon for them to eat smaller animals like coyotes, raccoons, and mice. Mountain lions have been caught on camera in Indiana, and Tennessee wildlife officials maintain a map that shows confirmed cougar sightings, including at least half-dozen within roughly 350 miles of Asheville. There may be a hint of nail indentations, which cats wouldnt have,he said. Similar to what's happened in recent decades with the coyote, Western mountain lions are slowly moving east to fill in the predatorial gap at the top of the food chain. They live in warm ocean waters, and travel in groups of up to 1,000. Copperheads are found throughout the state. Yet, it still doesn't disperse the 'big cat mystery' that has been witnessed, and photographed throughout the state. "It's not impossible," shesaid of a wandering male Florida panther reaching the Tar Heel State. South Carolina can probably expect to see one in the next decade given the rate at which these lions are showing up east and north of their established ranges, said Perry. Mountain lions typically keep their distance from humans, he said. We explore that question, along with a glimpse into mountain lion sightings, in the article below. Eastern cougars once readily inhabitated the state and have made their mark on several landmarks. I do not believe that South Carolina has a free-ranging wild cougar population, said Butfiloski. But adult males average 140 pounds and 7 feet long from snout to tail. 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.. The most common species of shark found are blacknose sharks, sand tiger and sandbar sharks, scalloped hammerheads, and the tiger sharkwhich is the largest and most potentially dangerous, making it among the most feared of all predators in North Carolina. Koehler called several neighbors, but they couldnt explain the barking. The life cycle then repeats itself. A bite from one of these is to be most feared during the summer, as they will take to hiding during the day in sheds, wood piles, debris and stumps. The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Association (TWRA) confirmed that the cat, which sniffed around on the ground and in a low-hanging tree branch before looking square into the camera with its mouth wide open, was in fact a mountain lion. 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. Colorado has a large number of mountain lions within its borders, mostly due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. And then my second thought was No, maybe not.. Long answer: They were once the fiercest predator in. Mountain lions are large, tan cats that live in North and South America. The city of Simpsonville has also received calls about mountain lions over the years, according to Colleen Jenkins, an animal code enforcement officer for the city. But it is footage of a mountain lion out west in its natural habitat, not in North Carolina. Frequently found in canals, streams, and rivers in the eastern region of the sate, alligators are a silent force to be feared. we would have stronger evidence if the large cats were still living in the state. He told the Charlotte Observer he had gotten off from work in Morganton and was driving through Nebo near neighboring McDowell County when he saw what looked like a cougar jump across the road 75 yards in front of his vehicle. In fact, the bobcat is the only native wild cat found in South Carolina today. So were assuming there are at least two different animals, one that was hit by an arrow and one that wasnt.. Mountain lions are not terribly picky about their environment. North Dakota: Confirmed sightings There are 20 to 30 confirmed sightings each year. Heres why, Documentary reveals how two Charlotte men discovered an ugly past and confronted it. Mountain lions (Puma concolor)are one of the largest cats in the Americas. They belong to the Felidae (cat) family and have many common names. When not glued to the computer screen, she loves hanging out with her kids, working in her garden, and crafting crazy culinary delights. While some South Carolinians are reportedly spotting mountain lions, others are claiming to see something much more menacing: a black panther. The mountain lionalso known as the cougar, puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to the Americas. After a small population was reintroduced into their historic land, their population has grown to a stable and breeding group of between 200-300 individuals. Few large animals have generated more lore throughout North Carolina than the cougar. No other states have a confirmed breeding pouplation. After reading this, are you wondering, Are there any other deadly animals in North Carolina? The answer is YES! There has never been a confirmed or documented case of a melanistic mountain lion in the United States. Still, a wanting and desire to see a big cat back in the wild in North Carolina only goes so far, said Falyn Owens, a state wildlife biologist. Among the most peculiar wild animals in North Carolina, the Portuguese man-of-wars are a siphonophore, an animal that is made up of a collective group of organisms working together. More recent mountain lion reports stem from the Upstate. A rattlesnake will only strike in defense, with the 'young' being said to have more dangerous venom. . I guess a Florida panther could possibly roam into South Carolina, but Im not sure they would make it that far without getting hit by a car, said Butfiloski. People often picture them much smaller (or larger) than they are. Robert Downing, a former Clemson-based biologist for the U.S. Every year there were a few here and there.. I dont really know why, because I dont really think it ever existed.. The mountains are one thing. "We get lots of reports every year from folks who think they've seen a. Mammals. All rights reserved. It was a female mountain lion.. The responding officers later spotted the animal near Earle and Daniel halls, according to reports. There are so many recent sightings that a book about them got published in 1994. They are just incredibly elusive.. 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. Have some feedback for us? South Carolina's collection of exotic pets includes mountain lions, tigers, and other big cat species, according to Butfiloski. They mostly live in the far western Trans-Pecos region of the state, where they can freely roam 50,000 to 80,000 acres of land. There was one outside of my sons school once and all the kids saw it. To do this we use the anonymous data provided by cookies. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. In 2009, Jenkins responded to a call after several residents at Jasmine Cove apartment complex reported seeing a large cat in the surrounding woods. Bill Stiver is the supervisory wildlife biologist at the national park. According to wildlife expert Ken Burton on the enature website, there are mountain lions in Western NC along the Smoky Mountains.Yes, usually in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is also not uncommon to find them in dark areas, such as a garages. Biologists and wildlife specialists speculate that cougars will reestablish themselves in states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia within the next 25 to 50 years. Koehler wasnt able to record the sound before the mystery creature moved on, but he remains adamant theres a mountain lion roaming around his house. So, while the stories are fun and the legends are as old as our state, the legendary cat of the mountains and the swamps is just that, a legend.. The last three eastern cougars were killed in 1930 in Tennessee, New Brunswick in 1932, and Maine in 1938. Hunting is legal, but closely regulated by the state. But even when a new population does begin to grow, LaRue said the likelihood of crossing paths with them will still be miniscule. And they make their way up to 10,000 feet in elevation and along sea level. Now, mountain lions still live in most of South and Central America, though there are far fewer of them. There have been 121 mountain lion sightings in Virginia since 1970. Long answer:They were once the fiercest predator in the Tar Heel state, ranging from the mountains to the coast as they hunted deer and other prey. According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, there are no mountain lions, or cougars, in North Carolina. Are There Mountain Lions In North Carolina? The 'terrifying' viewpoint of the shark takes on a dismal reality when the number of shark attacks is still somewhat low, but this does not mean that bites are not reported. She is passionate about writing and enjoys digging into new, unique topics. Even more unlikely is for the jaguar to make it that far to have the rare gene that causes it to be solid black,said Perry. The government again demonstrates its incompetence when it concludes there are no longer any mountain lions here, and to claim those that we hear and see (tracks and the animals) are from escaped pets is just nuts, there are hundreds of sightings in our area alone, even more in the Blue Ridge Mountains at large. But scientists disagree. But I will swear this to my grave: I have seen a cougar not once but twice in Nebo in the past month or so.. The Mauldin Police Department tried to capture the cat using a metal cage baited with a slab of beef donated by a local grocery store but quit after trying for several days. Western cougars, known as mountain lions, panthers, and pumas rarely expand their breeding habitats close to North Carolina. Cougars, also known as mountain lions, were once common here and they have left a legacy of place names throughout the state indeed, the entire Southeast. I actually drove out to the apartment and noticed some large tracks in the mud, said Jenkins, who didnt take photos of the tracks or file an official report. The predator is a carnivore and a highly-skilled, elusive hunter. The largest animals in the park are elk. She believes that North American mountain lionsincluding the Florida panther, which she said is protected because they are considered a distinct population segment via the Endangered Species Actare essentially all the same, without enough genetic distinctions to justify differentiating the western and eastern subspecies. Still, reported sightings persist, as indicated by response to Billy Hensleys Facebook post. If bitten, medical attention must be sought immediately. The likelihood of seeing one is incredibly rare, let alone interacting with them, she said. One of her biggest concerns about the recent declaration of extinction is that any cats in the area (whether western migrants or otherwise) and their habitats wouldnt be protected. And verified mountain lion photos and road kill carcasses are slowly but surely appearing in various states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day. 2012). Many people claimtheyre actually seeing a black mountain lion, but there has never been a mountain lion that has been seen, killed, or bred in captivity that is black,according to Perry. 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