I thought, Oh, a deer, but then I noticed the stride of it and realized it was a cat, a large cat, so I grabbed my phone, said Mandy. Cougars are shy, nocturnal, solitary, secretive animals, with large home ranges. Richard Rummel, an MDWFP biologist who has experience with panthers, agreed with Flynt after reviewing the video numerous times. She said it could possibly be a bobcat. If youre looking for a place that has everything, head to Mix & Mingle. Coyotes and large dogs are also often mistaken for cougars. We dont recommend many sites or apps for guys who are just looking for some naughty fun. The scientific name for the Florida panther variation of cougar that once called Mississippi and Louisiana home is Puma concolor couguar. Quite a few even shared their biological knowledge of large cats. He is especially passionate about helping men enjoy the dating process while also finding success. The TWRA can confirm there was, on September 20, 2015, a cougar in Obion County, Tennessee, a statement read. "I thought it was a deer or coyote. Its a great way to have a relaxed encounter with a sexy older woman. Sluder posted his video to his Facebook page and the comments poured in by the hundreds. My first encounter was an indirect one as a young grade-schooler tagging along with my dad, uncle and others on an overnight fishing trip on a sandbar of the Pearl River close to where the old Highway 43 bridge. And what more convenient way to do this than by using a dating app? There are occasional sightings, and there may possibly be the rare traveler that passes through. Porcupines in Colorado (Diet, Lifestyle, Predators, more), 11 Incredible Animals With Feathers (Accompanied by Images), Top 10 Most Patient Animals in the World (With Pictures), Do Wolves Eat Hawks? Report the encounter to local authorities and TWRA as soon as possible. Nonetheless, the subspecies, which originally stretched from Michigan and Tennessee in the west to Eastern Canada, Maine, and South Carolina in the East, was only declared extinct and removed from the Endangered Species List by the U.S. The MDWFP has never confirmed an official sighting of a wild cougar in Mississippi, Rummel said. It's a house cat. What does it take to become an officially confirmed sighting? So why would you put yourself through this when theres a better way? My buddy was looking at it through a rifle scope, so he had a clear view. If the folks in Florida wish to capture it and tag it, well assist in any way we can but that will be up to them.. Wildlife Department begins bear population survey. There is more examination to be done. However, because of the eastern migration of western cougar populations, Davidson said it's possible they have traveled to Mississippi. They'rein Arkansas and one's been confirmed in Tennessee. Reports of sightings of these wild felines from local residents near the Mississippi/Louisiana border are increasing, mostly along the Pearl and Bogue Chitto Rivers. Movement at the nearby tree line caught my attention and, as I eased around for a better view, I saw what appeared to be a rabbit dart out and then back into the cover with a tan-colored cat-like animal weighing probably about 60 or 70 pounds with a long tail in pursuit. After the encounter, Mandy called her son, Dylan, at 7:50 a.m., and sent him the video via Google Photos shortly thereafter. "Initially, it wasn't out of the tree line when I saw it. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. This will all depend, of course, on whether we can learn to coexist with these top-tier carnivores. The year was about 1956 or 57, and we had a bonfire and trot lines out. After rising and retrieving my morning newspaper, I grabbed a steaming mug of coffee and began to dig into the thick Sunday edition for the sports section. Their chili-topped nachos and generous pours go well together, just like you and that special cougar! On another occasion, while predator calling, I called up a huge cat that crept through tall grass to a distance of about eight steps from my position, before its head and shoulders suddenly materialized in a crouch, looking intently for the source of the distressed fawn call that I had been making. So what are you waiting for? [], The Penn Authority Spinning Reels, available in numerous sizes, are smooth as silk, and tough as nails. And with the lights down low, theres definitely an intimate feel to this place! The two MDWFP representatives ventured to Michael Mascagnis Hutchins Landing Road house Tuesday after seeing photos he took of paw prints left behind from what he believes to be a cougar. ", Youth hunters: Win big with C-L Outdoors and B&B Archery. For Elbroch, the ecological impacts of reintroducing a big cat to the East would be tremendous. Theres a welcoming ambiance from the start. Since 1890 in the U.S. and Canada, there have been 100 attacks on humans at all, according to the research organization The Cougar Network. Mascagni spotted the animal March 21 at nearly 10 p.m. on his way home, and ventured down to a creek near his home the next day to find various paw prints in the mud, including one he believes was left by the cougar. Sightings of cougars or their tracks are still reported occasionally in parts of . Copyright 2023 WDAM. Given that cougars, also known as mountain lions and panthers, have been known to travel hundreds of miles in search of new territory, Davidson said the cat could be just about anywhere now even in Mississippi. Sometimes you can find cougars in unexpected places. Relating this story to nearby neighbors elicited several stories of encounters they had also had but had been reluctant to tell anyone about. Standing in the open, left of center, is a slender, fit mountain lion. Youll be giving a mature lady a night to remember, and she might want you around even after. Slight variations can make the solid brown cat have a reddish, yellowish, or grayish tinge. Minnesota has had 59 verified cougar sightings since 2004, when the DNR began tracking reports. Required fields are marked *. (WDAM) - A possible panther/cougar sighting was captured on video in Perry County in the Buck Creek community this past Monday. Single mature women will be open to chatting you up, and you can get even further on their good side by teaming up with them on Wednesday trivia nights. Mark Elbroch is the director of the puma program at Panthera, a nonprofit group focused on protecting the worlds wild cats and the ecosystems they inhabit, and the author of The Cougar Conundrum.. There is no Eastern cougar, and there never was an Eastern cougar.. Located in Hattiesburg, The Thirsty Hippo is an excellent place to catch a live show. There have also been confirmed sightings in Arkansas in recent years. With the exception of Southern Floridas small, endangered panther population, cougars have been extinct east of the Mississippi River since the 1930s. It can get a little loud in here. Numerous cougar sightings were reported east of the Mississippi River last fall, encounters that have become more frequent in recent years. Because there was nothing else in the photo to see the print to scale, we wanted to come down and see if could find that print or any other news one might have made.. Cougars do not have spots or stripes. Without actively reintroducing cougars in the East, it could take decades for the cats to do it themselves. This video has been edited to remove the background audio from the original video. When photographing suspected cougar tracks it is helpful to place a ruler or object such as a coin to enable size judgment. The photo must be authentic. Ricky Flynt with the MDWFP said representatives from a Florida wildlife agency, where a small population of wild cougars exists, contacted him after seeing the paw print photos online. Eastern cougars or "pumas" once roamed every U.S. state east of the Mississippi River, but it's been 80 . Theres definitely a speakeasy/Prohibition-type vibe here. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. According to Robinson, bringing cougars east would allow them to skip through undesirable and more dangerous environments. The drinks here are fantastic, with lots of specialty cocktails for you to try. Whether it's phone calls, e-mails or social media, every day wildlife biologists are besieged with reports of unusual wildlife sightings. Finding cougars is a good bet here for the same reasons as a farmers market. Cougar tracks are round and are 3-4 inches long and 3-4.5 inches wide. ", Wildlife Bureau director Dacus leaves MDWFP. While negotiating the parking lot, he saw something walking into an adjacent grassy lot. About a quarter hour or so later, our friend said he saw the cat cautiously emerge from the brush along the steep bank at a deer crossing that was, as I recall, about 50 or 60 yards away from him. There is plenty of room to meet local cougars, as the space spans 18,000 square feet with 32 stalls. Lets look at a blend of anecdotal evidence in contrast to what wildlife officials say. Voted as Best People Watching and Best Martini in Memphis, The Lobby Bar at the Peabody will sweep you up into an elegant romp with a Mississippi cougar. There were many scientists who, when the review came forward, took the stance that we need to declassify or remove this endangered species status, not because of local extinction but because of taxonomic error.. The risk of a cougar attack on people or domestic animals is extremely low, and almost zero with pragmatic precautions. He has lived and hunted out west and taken numerous big game species, but hunting big old mature southern whitetail bucks is his favorite pursuit by a country mile. A trail camera glimpsed one in northern Minnesota, for instance, while authorities captured another in Springfield, Ill., after it had made its way there from Nebraska. The length from head to rump of adult cougars is between 3 and 5 feet with an additional 2 to 3.5 feet of tail. Royal Roads University is encouraging all students and visitors to be cautious after there was a confirmed cougar sighting at the school on Friday . But with the Eastern Cougar no longer, theres nothing left to protect. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. I have also tracked and been tracked by cougars with snow on the ground, so I also know what their tracks look like. I took my younger brother with me ,and the three of us hiked in and took up positions about 200 yards apart along the deep-cut, sandy-bottomed Coles Creek, which bisected the hunting property. The recent confirmed sightings in Tennessee could be a result of this range expansion and long exploratory treks by transient cougars. If enough of the sightings can ever be undeniably verified as being from actual wild cougars, the resulting revelation would point to the existence of a breeding population. There were many alleged sightings of cougars east of the Mississippi River over the last 70 to 100 years, but none substantiated with hard evidence until the 1990s. There are regular reports of cougar sightings throughout the Adirondacks, but there has not been a publicly available repository to record these sightings. Rummel said. In May 2018, a mountain lion attacked two mountain bikers 30 miles east of Seattle, Washington, killing one, but its only the 15th fatal attack in North America since 1970. In the first reported sighting to a newspaper since 2019, a Bogue Chitto man ignited a flame illuminating tales of black panthers across the state this week. This photo was different. Do not shoot the animal, even if livestock or pets are threatened. But between a human assault and a dwindling food source, the Eastern cougar became an early casualty of American expansion. Researchers hope that further analysis can lead to a better understanding of how this apex predator is managing to survive and spread throughout the region. Even if you strike out, you can still get some grocery shopping done. The Eastern Cougar, once ranging in all of the U.S. east of the Mississippi River, is now officially extinct, with the vast majority of the population wiped out by the early 1900s. She said that is the spot in the video where it looked up. Today, only a handful of Florida cougars still survive . Mandy said Dyan, a first-year college student, makes short films with his cousins and posts them on his YouTube channel. Mountain lions once lived in much of the eastern United States. Living in a big state can make it difficult to know where to find cougars in Mississippi. And a lot of them (especially the cougars in Mississippi) are sick of pretending like a traditional, long-term partnership is something theyre actively seeking out. Keep up with the undrafted rookie free-agent signings with a team-by-team list of player acquisitions following the 2023 NFL Draft. You bet.. It is certainly possible that a few scattered folks have pet cougars, but with all of the seemingly credible cougar sightings that we persistently hear about, that would indicate they would have all escaped, and then some to boot. The Florida Panther, residing on the southern tip of Florida, is the only breeding population of cougar east of the Mississippi River. The vibe here is relaxed, and its definitely a good place to visit on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Cougars interact with nearly 500 species, from elk to beetles. I can assure you it was not. It watched the truck drive away and then continued on. My moment for fame was over as the cat vanished from sight. Just because the landscape in the photo has been confirmed as real, doesnt mean the sighting itself has been confirmed. For over 80 years, there were no signs of cougars in the Eastern states, so federal wildlife officials declared them an extinct subspecies. I was in the middle position and hadnt been settled in too long with I heard the loud report of my brothers 12-gauge slug gun. Video submitted by Mandy Dye. The ladies youll meet here are up for some low-maintenance fun over barbecues and drinks! He said sightings have become more common because of home . Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials have confirmed a sighting of a cougar in northeast Louisiana near the Mississippi state line. The fact we could even see this cat from that distance is proof positive it was huge.. Right now, we just want to see it on camera. The video was taken by Mandy Dye around 7:30 a.m., as she was heading to work. Cougars there enjoy full protection from hunting and trapping under state law, although individuals may procure licenses for certain activities such as scientific research or population management. Even if you strike out in the bar itself, youre still bound to find plenty of sexy older women around the casino. Located in the Harrahs Casino in Biloxi, Mix & Mingle is a one-stop shop, especially if youre looking for cougars in Mississippi. And luckily for them, they dont end up with Lyme Disease.. My friend took careful aim and fired. : Possible large cat sighting caught on camera in Perry Co. The Louisiana cougar is the third confirmed sighting near Mississippi's borders in recent months. The closest a wild cougar has been spotted to Mississippi was in 2008 when a male juvenile.
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