Game Commission Smoke

[C.C.]

I received these photo's last night from a friend. I guess their response will be that they aren't from Pa. These were taken several days ago in Bradford co. on Wells Mt. near Wyalusing. You guy's decide if you want to beleive thegame comm. or the photo's.
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They sure a beautiful animal and I cant waite to have one in my house in the game room!
     Jim

[R.V. ICEMAN]

     looks like he is pretty hungry

[Icenutter]

Cool pics Jim.  Looks like he is a curious one.  Is this the first time your buddy has seen this lion?

[WartHog]

Great pics!  Wouldn't want to have one of those in my backyard.

Easy enough to prove that the photo is from PA.  Game Commision could verify the location using the picture with the door frame in the foreground.
Although, the Game Commission will just say the cat escaped from a zoo.

[water walker]

Not to try to discredit you, but I believe I saw these pictures a couple months ago.  If I remember correctly, though, it was said the pictures were taken in the same area you mentioned.  I'm sure they are in PA since the girlfriend's uncle and friend both claim to have seen one at seperate times a year or so ago in Pleasant Mount.  I was also surprised to hear we have fishers in northeast PA.  A friend has pictures of one that passed a game camera by his house and the game commission didn't comment when shown the photos.

[seaweed01]

Why didn't they just shoot it, and then they would of had the evidence? I
believe I saw the same photos a while back also.

[C.C.]

Waterwalker, I just got these pic.s yesterday so they could have been from a few months ago. Seeweed as for just shooting it I'm with you but I also don't want to end up in jail or pay a fine. That would cut into my icefishing money .
 I just thought some of you would like to see the picture's
       Jim

[hithole]

I saw those same pics over a year ago. They said that they were taken in Sullivan Co. near Dushore. It's amazing how some pics keep getting sent around.

[elkaholic]

I too saw those same pics over a year ago. I've heard everything from PA, IA, MI, ME,NE, and even HI.

Just as an FYI. Eastern Cougars are a federally protected species, so shooting one could get you in a world of hurt. So unless there are claw marks or bite marks on you or someone olse it is best to only shoot one with a camera.

[Byron/PA]

The mountain lion debate will probally never end. I'd be the last one to say never, but it seems to me that if they were here, there would be some real proof. I know they are smart and cagey and all that, but a real track, hair on a fence, some farmer shooting one, something real.
I know some people that claim to have seen them. But in all fairness, these are the same people that saw the kid with a stringer full of 5lb perch . Yea, I know: it's possible.
I know that PA has lots of wild areas, that rarely see people, but still..........
And with the depleted deer herd, you would think these cats would be attacking sheep or other livestock.All it would take would be one half eaten carcass to provide some real evidence.
I mean anything is possible, but doubtfull............. ...............

[R.V. ICEMAN]

ANYTHING IS possible, its sad when politics play a part in our nature habitat. 

[winchester 88]

 If the cat gets hungry it can always eat one of the "phantom whitetails" from the big herds that the comission says are in the mountains . Thanks Gary.!

[Snapper]

I to saw thouse same picks well over a year ago on a trappers forum, I can't remember what the topic was I belive it was from another state.  I would have to say if there are any in PA they/it would have escaped from someone house that had It as a pet or something odd like that.  On more than on occasion I have been called to see the mighty loin tracks but what they really had been was a bear cub that got up early.  At the end of the last snow last season I had one man cut them out of the snow and freeze the track.   

I'm not saying it is impossible but I did see thouse pick a long time ago, hay who knows stranger things have happened.

Snapper

[paicenut]

I don’t know if the pics are fakes or what the only person who would is CC since he posted them.  But I can tell ya I live in Southwestern Pa (Armstrong County) and four years ago we had one down here.  He was spotted by five different people I know and myself in about a 4 to 5 week span during bow season.  That is pretty weird I’ll be the first to admit for a lion to be in this part of the state. 

During that last week of seeing him he was being spotted closer to our farm, so we were a little worried but what are ya going to do.  One morning I got up to feed the cattle before going to work and the herd never came to the barn and I could not figure it out and then it hit me .  So I jumped in the truck and took a ride to the backside of the pasture to see if they were back there but there was nothing other then a big hole in the fence.  Well I ended up finding them they were in one of our hay fields on another farm that we work.  They weren’t to bad getting back home I put the lead rope on one of our old cows and led them home, but they stayed as tight as they could to each other and were pretty jumpy. 

Well I put them back in and fixed the fence temporarily.  Then headed to work.  When I got home I did the usual, change clothes and headed for the tree stand.  I was in the stand for no more then 15 mins and I could hear the old man hollering (I was about half a mile away) for me.  They were out again. 

To make a long story short it took us nine days to finally get all of them back home.   A couple ended up in a buddies pasture not to far away so we left them there for a few days because they were just down right wild.  The gun almost had to finish the job on a couple of them but they all decided to see it my way .  Even then some of the best cattle we had never were right again and had to ship them out, (can you say bad disposition).  That evening I had a rather heated conversation with the game comm. and still never got an answer.  The funniest thing is that cat was seen only one other time about three days later and never seen again.  Two weeks later I was told by a guy that lives near us that the game comm  was trying to trap a “bear” that was causing problems.  They must have been pretty good because the trap was gone in a day or so.  The guy didn’t ask to many questions because he didn’t even know about the kitty that was in the area.  After I told him what had happened about seeing the cat he had the biggest smile on his face because he knew that somthing was fishy with the way they we're acting tords him.  They told him they wanted to keep it low key do the didn't alarm poeple  :P.

I have heard of two others seen in the A.N Forest in the past few yrs adn there was one shot up there.  I forget where I read it but if find the artical I will post it   Yes there are Fishers also the game comm. placed about twenty in different parts of the state like two and half to three yrs ago.  Not to say there were not more already in the state. 

This doesn’t mean the pics are authentic but I thought I would share this with you guys since you were on the subject.   

[C.C.]

Thanks for the story Paicenut. I personally never saw a loin here in Pa. but have talked to a couple old timers that I would trust. They say they saw them once or twice. Guys seem to forget 20 years ago you never heard of too many bear either but look at them now. I feel that loins are probibly the smartest animals in the woods so I understand why not too many people see them. Just take something as comon as a ground hog, several years ago I shot a pure black one and got it mounted. How many of you guys ever saw one of them? I've also been trying to get a white one ever since and have never saw one. I have guys tell me they see one at there house come get it but it never seems to be there. I'm getting away from the story but I think in several years they will become more common in my opinion
         Jim

[paicenut]

yeah I know what your talking about on the bears.  we have a good many down here now.  In the past 3 yrs they have exploded down here.  two yrs ago the game comm trapped 12 out of here in a 3 mile radios and last yr I knew of 17 different bears in the area(most sows had two to three cubs).

[PCB]

seriosuly... how many people who have lions as pets or zoos that have escaped animals are there? with as many sightings as reported (wether true or not) the game comm really cant keep saying theyre escaped pets... theyll deny fishers as well... my buddy saw one this past week in rifle and i saw tracks on weds in tioga state forest... there is no other animal that will leave an 8" slide path with tracks in the middle... its not exactly otter or beaver territory... the game comm will deny it for a long time to come to because if they found them to be resident they would have to spend a crap ton of money to conduct population surveys and regulate them... theyre already in enough $ troubles as it is...

[saphireblue99]

Take this for what it's worth if anything. A friend of mine and his 3 brothers live in Hemlock, on the other side of Peck's Pond. He swears he saw one there last year, told a couple people and got the, yeah sure you did response. Finally had  talked to one of the game commission officers that told him there were a dozen or so cats relocated from the western US and released in the wild in the mid 90's. But as far as the game commission will ever officially admit he said, they do not exist. I've known John for 20 years and he is as honest and reliable a sportsman that there is. I've driven up route 402 hundreds of times and had to rub my eyes alot after seeing some really freeky stuff run across that roadway.

[marshrat]

My dad shot one in Idaho a couple of years ago and we have killed a couple of bobcats over the years witch we have mounted in are game room and my nabor claimed to see one he called the game commision and they told him he was nuts but we brought him up to the house and showed him the difference and it was a bobcat so I'm not saying there arnt some cougars but there would be road kill deer carcuss that would have bits out of them

[Snapper]

I saw those same picks two years ago on a trapping site then a last year on another site.  As for are they here or not, I have an older Aunt who lives in Kaine (sp) they (meaning the locals) have said to have seen one for the past few years up that way.  I know of one reputable person who claims to have seen one in Elk County.

As for killing one they would have had to pay a fine.

I know of more than one person who saw track but when I looked at them I would think more along the lines of a cub. 

Snapper

[Brad from Potter]

Here is thread from a fly fishing forum about sightings of cougars in PA.
http://www.catskillflies.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1047

[fastribs85]

hey no pics. just little red x's. heard from a family friend that his nieghbor shot one and called the gc and told them one was on his property and they said that there were no lions in the state. he told them if they came out it would still be there cause it was hanging in his barn and it had theire collar when a wardon was asked he confessed that the state had traded turkeys for 8 sets of these things and had released them in differant areas of the stae. and as far as fishers they have been around for like 5 years or so i remember seeing a show on how they had released them and they were starting to come back very nicely

[saphireblue99]

Thanks fastribs, I didn't mention the part about the trading for turkeys but that is also a part of the story spilled by the game officer. Glad someone else heard it.