Big Cats and Black Cats in Kentucky.

Panthers, Cougars, Jaguars or what ever you want to call them are often seen in the Hills of Kentucky and surrounding states. It is fact that Cougars used to roam the area, but they are no long sense extinct. According to the KY Fish and Wildlife they are extinct but according to some locals and urban legends they are still roaming these hills.
The Wampus Cat is part of the folklore, a supernatural half woman half cougar black cat beast of death.
I pay little attention to that.
So here is my Stories
Years ago my father bought some land in Southern Kentucky near Dale Hollow. Perfect little camping and fishing spot. About two years ago this old fella, whom is a bit... unbalanced and doesn't have good eye sight(But he is honest) told me and my father about the big black cat he seen. We just laughed and went on our way thinking he had just terrible vision... which he does. We then found ourselves talking to a farmer down the road who proceeded to tell us about the big cat and told us to watch out. Still just didn't put to much thought into it. It was spring time, black bear have returned to the area, I just figured they misidentified a hungry, skinny, young black bear coming out of hibernation.

Well this year, this past summer, my father and a few others were camping (Sadly I was working or otherwise I would be on the news holding up a dead black cat with a bullet wound... yes I would have shot it, no body no case.) He said he awoke in the morning got out of the tent. He and his girl friend could see this big black cat watching them from a near by hill. Now I have no reason not to believe my father... still maybe leaning towards bear, or if it is a big black cat it must have escaped or been released.

Now talking to a fella at work about this he proceeded to tell me a story. Which I can believe because I have heard similar stories and actually seen a convening tail cam shot of one in Boston Kentucky. Supposedly rumors are floating around fish and wildlife to be on the look out for cougars. Some believe the population is slowly returning. A Game warden told me they actually set some traps out in Pikeville Kentucky, and in Cumberland Country. A State Trooper has reportedly seen one, and there have been some interesting photos. Hopefully I can find time, and get ahold of my buddy and see if he still has the photo.

... I'd much rather come across a bear than a cougar. Hopefully some of you all have some insight, debate, and or well evidence.

reply to post by RebelPanda

I live in oztralia , where none of these big cats have lived since prehistory.

I own a small yacht and was trailing it home , through some large pine forests , north of here..
As the sun set .I took a small sandy track and stopped for the night in a very remote locale , alone .
It's semi tropical here , so I left the windows down , and the rear hatchback open , and slept in the passenger seat
for the night .
Around 2 a.m I was woken by the whole car shaking , and looking back at the boat , I was amazed at a very large , panther like cat , standing over 6 feet on it's hind legs , clawing at the cooler chest in the boat that contained fish bait.
It saw me , and stopped it's activity , at which point I froze and tried to look inconspicuous .
A couple of minutes later I peered cautiously out the open passenger window , and staring straight back at me was
, yes , a black panther ! , about 3 inches away ! The window sill is over 3 feet from the ground , and it was on all fours.
I stayed calm , and waited till dawn .
I exited the vehicle and watched it stroll away into the distance .
So yes , they are around , even here , .... and they must be breeding , it was only a young cat.
I left the bait , (sardines ) , and took my leave .
Some say , escaped circus animals , some say army mascots , most say OMG !!!!

I live in KY, western KY to be exact and i can offer an eye witness account
of a cougar here for sure, lots of forest and wildlife where i live so
not too shocking to us locals really.


the one i have seen was out near my aunts farm, but it was certainly a
cougar. i had not heard they were suppose to be extinct in the area,
they are not common by any means as this is the only one ive
seen in my 16 years here, but the locals never seemed all that
shocked by it either.

i have no proof as this was before camera phones were every day items
and i had no access to a camera at the time. also black bears have
been making some in roads in my community a bit, that one is for
sure odd for this area as everyone ive spoken to about it seems
shocked by the idea. a couple of black bears have been found
in back yards and the like.

No worries if you dont make any hostile move .. you will be left alone
animals are like people (they also have emotions)
respect their emotions and they will respect you

we all have that animal instinct in all of us

Yeah I know Old timers used to make jokes about cougars roaming around. Not so shocked at the Black Bears in Southern Kentucky, and Eastern but they are moving west and north which shocks me... good news is they will probably expand the bear hunting season. I see a cougar though, I'm shooting it, calling fish and game and the news and pointing and saying "LOOK LOOK A KITTY!"

I live in Western Kentucky and spend quite a bit of time in the woods. I've seen large cats several times around this area, although every time from far away. I've had several friends say that they've seen them in the area as well. They're more common around here than most people realize.

The same goes for black bears, although there's probably not as many. I've only seen one or two around. My father found one on the side of the road several years ago that had been killed by a car.

Southern Illinois released cougars several years back in the Shawnee National Forest. So Cougar sightings are very possible. Even though there has never been an attack on humans there have been several attacks on horses and cows in the area. You may call to confirm this if you like. Crab Orchard Wildlife says they have tracked 2 known cougars, one in Harrisburg IL and the other a little farther south.

They released the cougars to control the deer pop. here.

we've got many cougars in PA so i'm really surprised they would say they are extinct in KY? as far as black cougars iv'e never heard of any here but i would imagine at this point we've got some wild house cats increasing in size, over many generations.

I must say that the beautiful animal I ever saw in the wild was a Black Panther in the Panamanian jungle. I will never forget it.

I am also surprised that the state would declare that they were extinct. They should know that these animals migrate to new areas and roam to find their own territory.

I am supposed to go camping in mideastern ky this fall. Way in the middle of nowhere. I will keep an eye peeled. I've never seen or heard of anything on my end though.

I lived in Union County, KY for quite a while and there is a game preserve there called Higginson Henry. It's about 5500 acres and I used to fish in the lake, wander through the woods and camp there. Out by one of the small lakes there is an old quarry and while hiking there I heard a loud growl/roar. You know, the sound a house cat makes when their fighting, just magnified by 50. I looked around, trying to see which way not to go, but saw nothing. It had to be a big cat, nothing else makes that sound.

Originally posted by DAVID64
I lived in Union County, KY for quite a while and there is a game preserve there called Higginson Henry. It's about 5500 acres and I used to fish in the lake, wander through the woods and camp there. Out by one of the small lakes there is an old quarry and while hiking there I heard a loud growl/roar. You know, the sound a house cat makes when their fighting, just magnified by 50. I looked around, trying to see which way not to go, but saw nothing. It had to be a big cat, nothing else makes that sound.

no telling what you heard, but a heads up for anyone hearing such a noise is this, two racoons fighting sounds like two mountain lions fighting. quite loud and alarming if you ever witness it and i never thought a 15 pound animal could sound like a 100 pound animal.

My ex and I saw a cougar walk across the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia back in '95. Not black, just tan but there was no mistaking that long. j-shaped tail, small head and slouching belly. I have heard many accounts of others seeing the same, including Park rangers so there must be at least a few individuals out there. Whether they are native or released animals we'll never know but I love the idea that they are still out there living wild and avoiding humans like the plague.

We see them over here in Eastern Kentucky from time to time. Not extinct here at all, but they're pretty wary of people.

The black bear population has been growing too! We saw three this summer!

...here in the middle of Daniel Boone National Forest close to Cave Run Lake


ETA: Good to see so many Kentucky folk on here!!

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
We see them over here in Eastern Kentucky from time to time. Not extinct here at all, but they're pretty wary of people.

The black bear population has been growing too! We saw three this summer!

...here in the middle of Daniel Boone National Forest close to Cave Run Lake

ETA: Good to see so many Kentucky folk on here!!

edit on 4-10-2012 by PurpleChiten because: (no reason given)

I have family out in Clay and Leslie counties. I live in the North West part of the state. This is the first I've heard of cougars. I knew about the bears. I thought they had released wolves a few years back to help control deer too.

Anyway, the only cougar I've ever seen in the wild was tan and it was in the middle of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. I can't say I'm all that enthusiastic about potentially seeing a cougar one of these days, as I'm planning on doing some camping this fall.

Originally posted by LeSigh

I have family out in Clay and Leslie counties. I live in the North West part of the state. This is the first I've heard of cougars. I knew about the bears. I thought they had released wolves a few years back to help control deer too.

Anyway, the only cougar I've ever seen in the wild was tan and it was in the middle of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. I can't say I'm all that enthusiastic about potentially seeing a cougar one of these days, as I'm planning on doing some camping this fall.

They usually avoid people, so you should be just fine

However, if there are cougars in that area of the non-feline type, you may want to keep all attractive men out of their range of sight!

the big cats may be being stocked by the government.

i was told about one farmer in Ontario that was having livestock killed, thinking it was a coyote (which have been increasing in numbers enough that they are killing a lot of cattle), that he had a gun ready to protect his livestock. well sure enough the sound of cattle in distress were heard, and he located and fired on the predator that was attacking. he got himself a wildcat. so he called up the SPCA (animal control) who told him that there were no wildcats, and treated him as if he were pranking them. well a few days later a ministry of natural resources person showed up to his door demanding his guns and presenting him with a fine. when asked how they knew he had killed a wildcat, considering the SPCA didn't believe him, he was informed that it had a tracking device and it showed it had been killed on the farmer's land. apparently the ministry of natural resources had restocked the wildcat population without telling anyone, and were a bit upset that a farmer killed one. the farmer went in and brought out a piece of paper and handed it to the MNR person. it was a bill for the cattle that had been killed. apparently the guy looked at it, and told the farmer to have a good day, and walked off.

i wonder how much "stocking" of predators has been going on behind everyone's backs. since both coyotes and fishers (en.wikipedia.org...(animal) ) have suddenly seemed to have had population explosions, that are causing farmers problems. one relative has said that he has to keep his pregnant cows locked up in a barn until they calve, as the coyotes are numerous enough that they will attack almost as soon as a calf hits the ground.

coyotes are even becoming a problem in Toronto and surrounding cities, especially in the lean winter months killing pets. i know where i live i hear them constantly and that is within city limits. we also have a lot of deer, and fox that i also see walking on our driveway.

reply to post by generik


The coyotes are one of the reasons for stocking bobcats and fishers to their former environment. The coyotes have no competition so their numbers have exploded but it is causing farmers some problems. It's just an old problem that they'll have to relearn how to deal with. Extirpating one species can only lead to others filling the void.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
reply to post by generik

 

The coyotes are one of the reasons for stocking bobcats and fishers to their former environment. The coyotes have no competition so their numbers have exploded but it is causing farmers some problems. It's just an old problem that they'll have to relearn how to deal with. Extirpating one species can only lead to others filling the void.

farmers don't need help dealing with coyotes from other predators that kill livestock. instead of releasing animals that will do as much if not more harm to farms, they should look at other options like mules, or donkies (can't remember which). are apparently great at killing coyotes, another thing they could do is a culling of the overpopulation of coyotes, just as they will likely end up having to do with wildcats and fishers. fishers are already as much of a problem as the coyotes are.

I know Kentucky has released wolves, a extremely large number of eastern diamond back rattle shakes, elk, and some bear I think. I've seen only one wild cat and that was on the property my father owns. Seen deer and turkey there to so I know there is food for a cougar. But I'm the person who doesn't believe it until I see it or a dead body turns up. I'd like to see one and if I do see one I'm shooting it lol. I'll post pictures if I do lol. Panda rule number 1 never go into the woods without a rifle and plenty of ammunition. Panda rule number 2 fresh bamboo is best