Mtn Lion Killed in Virginia ??

I'm not sure if the kill is authentic, but the VDGIF is full of it if they think I'm going to buy into the mountain lions don't exist in VA. crap. I'll go one further. I've seen them as well as others I know who have riden the Parkway on a regular basis, as well as the black panther. I witnessed a black panther while tracking a wounded bow kill about 6 years ago. I thought I was seeing things until the guy on the neighboring property told my buddy the next week he had seen a large black cat in his pheasant pen several weeks earlier without us offering any info on what we had seen fearing being ridiculed. My brother was several yards from a mountain lion near Big Meadows on the parkway and watched him jump onto a rock wall and clean his paws before calmly walking away. Just 'cause you don't see them doesn't mean they're not here.
 
That comment reminded me of something that happened to me camping at Old Rag Mountain years ago not far from Big Meadows. We listened to a cat ( can't imagine what else it could have been) make a horrific racket on and off for several hours one night in the spring. Maybe it was breeding season. No way this was a bobcat. Scared me a little to be honest. It was loud and big sounding and close. Folks used to call them "Painters", I think way back in the Blue Ridge.
 
Marylands DNR has admitted thar we have panthers in our state. So it would not be suprising if they are in Pa, WV, or Va. In fact it would be immposible for them not to be in Pa or WV. I only live five miles from WV and ten from Pa. Also since people will probably jump in and say that there is no such thing as black panthers I am very close to having video proof. Around 20 yrs ago one of our locals videotaped a black panther and the video was played on the local cable station. Problem I am having is that there have been about four takeovers of our cable systems and finding someone that knows anything about 20 yr old tapes is frustrating. The guy that videtaped the cat has died and now I am trying to find a common friend to the family that I can ask to approach them to see if they still have the tape and would let me copy it.
 
From another Website: >
What is a Black Panther?
The term ‘Black Panther’ is quite often used in connection with large black cats - however there is no one distinct species of wild cat called a Black Panther. Over the years it has become used as a common name which can be applied to any large black coated cat. When you see a picture of a Black Panther it is most likely that you are looking at either a Leopard or possibly a Jaguar with Melanistic coloration.

The term Melanistic is derived from the word ‘melanin’, a dark coloured skin and hair pigment.

In cats, melanism results in the fur of the animal being very dark or black in colour. In many cases the usual markings of the animal can be faintly seen through the dark fur, especially at certain angles in bright sunlight. Melanism occurs because of a mutation or abnormality of one of the cats genes which is associated with coat coloration and markings. Melanism is hereditary, but is not necessarily passed directly from one generation to the next - it is therefore common to see ‘mixed’ litters with one black cub along side normally coloured brothers and sisters. Melanisim can also occur in other species of wild cat - black coated caracal, Geoffrey’s cat, margay, bobcat, ocelot, jaguarundi and serval have been noted in the smaller cats as well as occasional mention of the coloration in the larger lion, tiger and cougar.

Melanistic leopards are more commonly found in dense tropical rain forest of S.E Asia - here it is thought that the dark coloration acts as better camouflage in the low sun light conditions of the forest floor, giving the cat an advantage in hunting. If this is the case, it is also possible that a black leopard will also be at an advantage in being able to provide more food for its young and as a result the probability of the melanistic gene being transferred through the population will be greater.
 
Corey,
These two guys are friends of mine giving me their honest answer, OFF THE RECORD, to my question, NOT VADGIF canned BS. Are there lions in VA?... hell, I don't know, but I wouldn't bet against it. As far as the black panther sightings, I don't know the rate of instances of melanism in mountain lions in North America, but it wasn't a Jaguar in VA unless it was an escapee from captivity!

I'll add to the Old Rag Mountain story... I hunt on friend's property adjoining USPS on Old Rag. That property has been in their family since the 30's. During the late 60's, the family was sitting on the screened porch at dusk, and heard several, very loud cat "screams" just outside the yard. A moment or so later, they saw a cougar walk across the yard. The owner of the property was a well traveled soul that had shot jaguars in S. America and cougars in AZ and NM, so he knew his cats! Four family members saw the cougar cross the yard, but nobody has seen or heard one since.

Most wildlife biologists with whom I have spoken, over probably a 30 year period, about cougars, seem to have the same consensis: that any cougar in VA is likely transient, and not part of a stable, breeding, resident population.
Well, let the flames fly! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I'm sure we can get lots of stories of anecdotal sightings, by uncle Jed, etc. ... mostly while checking the "squeezins" from the latest run. Maybe, uncle should have sprung for some good clean copper, instead of using that old radiator! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
AND.......what about Bigfoot? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
F1
 
They are "sighted" all over the East. No hard evidence. Always a 3rd person story of one shot. I supose it could be some idiots pet turned loose. Or maybe there are a few around. We used to have alot of sightings around my family's property. Never saw one or a track of one. Never got one on a trail camera. Just black bears, bob cats , and farmer guss's dogs.

Not saying they arnt there and not saying they are. I kinda wish they were.
 
Flyrod, here's the link check it out

http://vaturkey.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1979&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I've hunted in some remote areas of the National Forest and I'm sure there could be a couple of mtn. lions with all that land. But if someone kills one I want to see a picture, location on map with (GPS), time / date, SSN, first borns age. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I have a buddy that says he seen one a few years ago /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif.
 
That was one painful thread to wade through. It would appear the insurance companies have a secret plot to introduce Mountain Lions into the East to cut down on car insurance claims from deer crashes and Ollie has foiled another Left Wing plot for the good of America and the "governemnt" (read Clarke Co. wildlife officers) has conspired with him in the cover up. Iran Contra has nothing on those boys on turkeytalkva.com Too funny. I call for a Congressional hearing on UFO's being flown by Mountain Lions! Just wait till Rush gets a hold of it--then we will get the bottom this. This gives me another idea for a Limited Edition Predator Rifle series /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
"I have a buddy that says he seen one a few years ago ."

VA,
Would that be a Bigfoot or cougar?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
F1
 
Steve,
You're a better man than I, G.D.! for wading far enough into that thread to get all that info. I was nodding last night and didn't get very far, I'll have to spend some real, quality, semi-conscious time on it....not!
I really don't know what gets the folks imagination going over in the Valley and nearby WV, but tons of folks are convinced that the insurance companies have conspired with the Gubmint to introduce coyotes and lions(probably tigers and bears too,OH MY!) to these parts to reduce the payouts resulting from DVC's. I betcha HSUS, Brady, the DNC, and all the other anti-gun groups are all in collusion with that effort!!!!
We all know about them black heliclaptors( they're really green), right? I bet they's droppin' them critters outta 'em at night!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Wouldn't put it past 'em!
Watcha got in mind for specifications for that Limited Edition rifle? I hope it's somthin' big enough to splatter Sasquatch, we might need it!!...416 Barrett would float my boat!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
F1
 
News Flash!!!

Mountain Lion went on rampage in Green Top Sporting Goods, but for reasons as yet unexplained, no one in the gun department had a clear shot.....or a camera. UFO was sighted at same time over reactor #1 at Lake Anna....coincidence or conspiracy?

And where was Flyrod1 when all this was going down?

.....hunting something even more rare than the Virginia Mountain Lion.....yep that's right...5 pound Smallmouths on the upper Pamunkey....6 weight sinking tip?

New rifle will be a laser sighted, laser guided....LASER. We are going to make damn sure that cat does'nt get away this time. Who should we get to do the build...Lockheed Martin or McDonell Douglas ? Can Ollie handle "funding"?
 
No, No, No, not bigfoot or a cougar it was a Chupacabra from Mexico everybody knows that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
Here's a picture he snapped as it ate his FOXPRO /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
200px-Chupacabra.jpg
 
Went through Cades Cove ---that place could hold a breeding population of Mountain Lions from the looks of it. Huge bucks just walking around---saw four monsters in mid day including a perfect ten point 20 incher walk right in front of the car chasing a doe. Very sexy looking place. Hoped to see an Elk, but not lucky this time.
 
My wife and I have personally seen one.
It and the deer it was chasing were struck by a tractor trailer on route 220 (Franklin Co.) between Rocky Mount and Martinsville. I know for a fact that it was a Mountain Lion and not a Bobcat. The animal was quite large with a tail approximately 3ft long and as big around as my wrist. I gave serious thought to removing its skull and having it professionally cleaned but since I did not know the legal ramifications if caught I decided against it.
I have no way of knowing whether or not it was someones exotic pet, but to this day when hunting in Franklin Co. I hate sitting in the dark during deer season waiting for the sun to come up. Every slight shuffle of the leaves causes my mind to recall how big that cat was and what it would be capable of LOL!!
 
I have seen many black squirrels in different locations, so why not black panthers from time to time? and I posted here already about seeing a dead panther recently in S.C. Not third hand. Me, I saw it. You guys that read these hunting/predator forums all around the country know about these big cats in many locations the F&G people don't admit to. They don't admit to every introduced wolf kill either, do they? Or How about 500 pound + black bears in N.C.?
 
Again for all of those that don't believe that there are panthers and breeding pairs of panthers in Md, Pa, Wv, Maryland's Department of Natural Resources has admitted that they are in Md. Now anybody looking at a map of Western Md will see that there are areas of Md that are less than 5 miles from both Pa and Wv. Last time I looked a panther can travel more than five miles.

Also it always irritates me when I hear people say -well if it was true then why has no one gotten a picture or shot or trapped one. I have seen a panther five times in the last 15 yrs. Once on a four wheeler, once on a mt bike, once hunting, once driving to my parents. Out of those four times three times I was on/in a vehicle that by the time I got out my camera it was gone. The fourth time yes i had a gun but wasn't going to shoot an animal that had no season.

In 1990 I saw my first coyote after about ten years of hearing there ain't no coyotes in Md people started hunting them. Most of those telling me that there were no coyotes in the state were Md DNR. It is thought that the cats in Md are released/escaped pets. But they have now been in the wild long enough to breed and survie. Based mainly on civilian sitings Md dnr had to admit to there being a population of big cats in the state.

One of the funniest things that I have ever heard about was the time a dnr agent tried to tell one of our large animal vets that she wasn't a qualified source when she saw one during a house call. He actually tried to tell her that she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a big cat and big dog at a 50yd range.
 


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