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Wedge
Intermediate Member
60 Posts |
 Posted - 09/01/2005 : 02:01:33 AM
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Hey! Did you know that there are Cougars in the Frances Marion National Forest? Yes. I saw one just after dark running across the road in front of me. I was heading to Bulls Bay a couple of weeks ago half way down Schulerville road when I saw it. What a surprise. My first reaction was "that was no dog. He was tan and his tail was long, big and straight behind him. Has anyone else seen that critter?
Is this fun or what? |
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Reelescape
Junior Member
2193 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2005 : 05:29:20 AM
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| Carolina Cougars have been around a loongg time.... |
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silverinlet
Senior Member
673 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2005 : 05:34:23 AM
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| shrimp? i've heard of rock shrimp, mantis shrimp, cocktail shrimp, fried shrimp, bait shrimp, grass shrimp, white shrimp, brown shrimp, shrimp gumbo,....but not cougar shrimp........... |
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porkpi
Senior Member
548 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2005 : 05:51:02 AM
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While I don't doubt your sighting of a cougar, the scientific community would greatly value the proof they are here. Verified scat or pawprints would do this. Maybe a photograph also.
Until we have hardcore evidence your sighting will be akin to a UFO sighting in the eyes of the scientific community.
Many SC extinct animals have just been missing for a long time. Those include the Carolina Parakeet, Indigo Snakes, Bachmans Warbler, cougars,and the Ivory Billed woodpecker.
The just re-discoved the Ivory billed woodpecker in a river basin preserve in Arkansas. The first sightings in 50 years or so.
FF
...buy something for your wife!(from my wife) |
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onepole
Senior Member
703 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2005 : 06:50:44 AM
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I agree with porkpi- Unless you have some definite proof, the scientific community won't believe you. I've seen cougars in other sections of the east coast (MD in the late 1960's)where they suposedly are extinct. There have been reports from all along the eastern seaboard over the years, but no definite proof. Many people have taken pictures of tracks that turned out to be dog footprints. The easiest way to determine dog from cat prints, is that cats have retractable claws where dogs don't. If the footprint has claws, it's likely to be dog. Best of luck getting some proof. I'd like the scientific community to admit there are places where large cats (cougars) still exist in the wild.
Onepole |
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RUFFNREADY
Senior Member
155 Posts |
Posted - 09/01/2005 : 11:35:12 AM
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They're rare, but still around. I've seen 2. one crossing the road at
night and the other sitting on a limb 30ft up with a hindquarter of
what looked like a deer. Two indians were prosecuted several years ago for killing and eating one somewhere around Beaufort. Both my
sightings were in upper williamsburg county. |
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Cane Pole
Senior Member
1480 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2005 : 09:38:07 AM
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Yes there are a few around. I have seen 2 in the 20 plus years in Mt,P. and both sightings were well over 15 years ago.
1 in Dunes West, when they only had a trailer for a clubhouse .
2 At the north end of Rifle Range rd, before all the development.
Remember the Bears in Hanahan many years ago, they swam from the Huger/ Cainhoy area when construction was just starting in these areas.
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1TimePoster
Intermediate Member
102 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2005 : 1:26:32 PM
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I had one run across the road in front of me in the Upstate... There are also a few on Daniel Island. My neighbor saw one on the portion of the South end of the Island that has not been developed yet..
Not sure if that was one of his sober days or not though |
Edited by - 1TimePoster on 09/02/2005 1:28:40 PM |
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Reelin
Senior Member
597 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 06:28:04 AM
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Panthers. I've seen them on my hunting club 1 mile down the road from my house in AdamsRun.
I once had some type of critter bite my 80 lb Lab/GreatDane/Golden retriever on the back of the neck. Developed a huge abcess. I think that was a bobcat though.
Why do you think our proball team is the Carolina panthers? I believe Cougars are more western. |
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porkpi
Senior Member
548 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 07:58:57 AM
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They are all Felis concolor. Cougar, Panther, Puma, Mountain Lion, Wild Cat, etc they are all the same species.
Until someone brings in hardcore proof of Felis concolor existing here it will be akin to bigfoot and the loch Ness Monster--ie--lots of sightings, but NO tangible evidence.
FF
...buy something for your wife!(from my wife) |
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porkpi
Senior Member
548 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 08:04:12 AM
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This is from a NC Website. The sentence at the end offers hope.
HISTORY
Cougars were eliminated from most of eastern North America by the turn of the century due to habitat destruction, the decline of their main food supply - the white-tailed deer, and uncontrolled hunting and trapping. Cougars are still fairly abundant in some of the sparsely populated western states. Today the only known cougar sub-species still found in eastern North America is the Florida Panther. They survive as a small remnant population in the remote, thickly wooded swamps of south Florida. It is thought that the Eastern Cougar, the sub-species native to the southern Appalachian region, is now extinct in the wild. Although the last known cougars disappeared from our area during the 1800's, occasional, unconfirmed sightings are reported. Most of these sightings turn out to be other animals but some may be valid. It is possible, however, that these may be Western Cougars which have escaped or been released from captivity. Investigations are currently underway to determine the true status of this animal in our area. The cougar is officially listed as an endangered species in North Carolina. Since white-tailed deer, a primary food source for the cougar, have made a dramatic comeback, perhaps the cougar will soon follow.
FF
...buy something for your wife!(from my wife) |
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SLACK_LINE
Senior Member
1485 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 09:49:02 AM
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| no shortage on bite sized white-tail around here |
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COOLBREEZE
Senior Member
1365 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2005 : 5:44:23 PM
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| i do not know much about that cougar; but i had a couple of beers with lizzard man over in hartsville the other night. or maybe i had too many beers and was crawling like a lizzard. not sure. |
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Cougars
