UH OH!!! Big Cat (I think)!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Keep us filled in if you find any sign of what it is!

In Colorado it's Bigfoot, which is from another dimension....but not a cougar is the famous black cat cryptid

It's real special.....like spiritual special...... I actually hold the record for it..., It's it's like a black cougar with no markings seen in it's sleek black coat...but has a canine face....reported in the Trinity River bottoms for centuries

When I was 14......one went right out in front of me by Las Colinas C C in Irving.....and that's why I didn't empty my shotgun on him.....he came in face first and to my eye it was just someones dog......at 14 I was out to unload my gun whenever I could....

The cat turned around 35 feet away and this dog had a three foot long cougar tail........saw one again 40 years later and then 20 years after that had one in my Armadight Zeus 640 gen 3

Editt.....his face is like a pit bull or short nose lab

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

And I don't like cougars one bit either! (got stalked and almost attacked by one once).

I hope you filed a harassment claim against her! #MeToo

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Several folks in this thread have mentioned seeing more cougars/mountain lions this year. My sister's neighbor had one in her backyard a few months ago (Oklahoma).

Do we know why they are showing up this year? Has there been a drastic sudden reduction of their habitat or food resources??

We don't really see big cats up in these parts- but this past summer we saw a rise in Coyotes like I've never seen before. Woman down the street has had outdoor cats sixteen years without a problem- this past summer Coyotes came through and wiped them all out- including two of mine. I'm a bit bitter over that.

There was a bumper crop from the trees last year- we don't know why, but we saw more acorns, pinecones, etc than I've seen in my whole life.
This past spring we had so many tent caterpillars there were actually road signs out in some places- the roads were slippery from the number of dead bugs.
Slippery when covered in caterpillars

My theory is that the excess bugs would have created a ton of food for a boom in birds. The extra nuts would lead to an excess of rodents- which we've also had a problem with here...
Record roadkill

More food, more mouths.
The Coyotes that normally would have starved and died have been well fed these past two years- causing an explosion in population, pushing them out from their normal habitat to establish new grounds.
Pushing them into my yard, eating my pets.
Going to have to go push back soon.

Might be seeing the same thing out your way with the big predators. We have no idea why the trees were so bountiful the last two years- but so far up this way it's been record setting cold and snowfall for late november this year. Didn't even have time for all of the leaves to fall.

a reply to: lordcomac

Coyotes aren't really a good indicator because their reproductive habits are actually kind of counter intuitive. Coyote populations actually expand during times of hardship, and actually contract somewhat during times of plenty. It's a very unusual phenomenon in the animal kingdom, and one of the reasons coyotes are almost impossible to completely eradicate. The more pressure you put on them, the more they breed. It's like a survival thing for their species.

a reply to: GBP/JPY

You're 74?? You don't come across as being in your 70's.

About the black cougar, when you saw it when you were 14: what does C C stand for? Where in Irving were you? I think of Irving I think of busy Dallas suburb.

a reply to: lordcomac

Interesting! Thsnks for that post. Where are you?

That bit about the slippery roads is crazy!

Sasquatch. For sure.

a reply to: KansasGirl

Get's that way every spring in MI too, with the fish flies over by lake St. Claire.

They get so thick they have to shovel them up off the sidewalks every morning (and they're about 3" deep).

Why would a dog fear a cat to that extreme??? Likely a Bigfoot...