Pennsylvania large cats ?

[wainzoid]

Maybe 10 yrs ago, on the 2nd day of bear season, here in Pa. I saw a large cat track. We were driving on a game road in a more remote area of Bedford county just as it broke daylight. I thought it was a bear track crossing the road in the fresh half inch of dry snow. It was a large cat track. I had nothing to measure it with, but it was approx 3 1/2 inches. My pack of Marlboro didn't come close to covering a print. The tracks were not melted out or distorted and very fresh as the snow had came in the previous hour or two. We spent half a day tracking it, just for the heck of it.
By the way... I've been a contractor 40 yrs, and have a clue as to how big 3 1/2 inches are.
When I got home, I did some research. I thought maybe a exceptionally large male bobcat. But research showed smaller tracks for bobcat, as those I am familiar with seeing.
I don't know what it was, other than a big cat.
It was maybe the following year, again in bear season. We came across a freshly killed buck that was partially covered by leaves. We believe a cat did that. Not sure what killed it but something not someone had circled the whole way around it scratching leaves on top of it. It was very obvious that a person hadn't done it. The bare ground around it stuck out like a sore thumb.

 

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[pong12211]

The difference is, Elvis is confirmed dead and no physical evidence of Bigfoot is known.

Large cats have been confirmed in the East.. so what's so hard not to believe?

Ok I state again just in the state of Pa each year almost a million hunters take to the woods for the first day of rifle season if there was a giant cat running around the woods surely someone would have some proof. Not just that but the amount of trail cameras put in the woods each year to locate and track deer would be a dead give away don't you think. Seeing as how im sure these so called big cats would be traveling the same routes as the deer looking for their next meal we would surely have a picture or some kind of actual evidence. I'm not saying it's impossible but if people are going to make an argument for them being here lets at least make it a realistic argument and not just a hey guess what I saw take my word for it argument.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I think it possible, but 2 - 2 1/2 in wide is too small for an adult lion. bobcat seems likelier.
We have recent reports here in indiana, one by a cop who saw one eating a roadkill deer

Agreed. I had a house cat (a BIG Maine Coon) that had paws 1-3/4" wide.



This is NOT retouched.


That 18 lbs. Imagine a cat that weighs 220 lbs! Cougars are big animals. The fourth largest cat on earth.

Adult's paws are 4" across.

 

[Number9]

"...surely someone would have some proof"

They do, but due to the law, pictures and dead cats aren't shown.

"The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency insists there are no cougars roaming the state despite numerous reported sightings, but the agency warns that if someone does encounter one of the giant cats, they’re not allowed to shoot it."

Oh.. Bigfoot is protected in Tennessee too!

 

[wainzoid]

"...surely someone would have some proof"

They do, but due to the law, pictures and dead cats aren't shown.

"The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency insists there are no cougars roaming the state despite numerous reported sightings, but the agency warns that if someone does encounter one of the giant cats, they’re not allowed to shoot it."

Oh.. Bigfoot is protected in Tennessee too!

Both are also protected in Pa. If it don't have a season, you can't shoot it.

 

[joncutt87]

MOster quest on history channel filmed a show near Jacksonville nc several years ago. Looking for a something g that was taking dogs in the middle of the night, a person that they interviewed whipped out his phone and showEd them a game camera pic of a Florida panther not too far up the road.

 

[Number9]

No matter how many people see them, it is only "confirmed" by a person "in-the-know"(wildlife officer, etc).

 

[nsdq]

1984ish out on the farm in good ole Missery my grandpa shot a panther after it badly wounded one of his horses

 

[nsdq]

waiting to find a deal on a game cam under 50 bucks so i don't go broke those darn things cost a arm and a leg

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Oh good god. Pictures of dead animals. The leaf eaters will be up in arms just give them time to find it. I know I should'nt say leaf eaters

Tree huggers do not eat leaves, that would be cruel!

 

[Peyton Manning]

I live around some crazy animal filled woods, and I'm still not sure what all we have here. I see road kill of things I didn't know we had, so then I add it to my"know we have" list...
LOL
Our porcupines are as big as small bears.See them only on roadside dead. We have those huge rams that can literally run up and down a hill that is what seems to be absolutely vertical. Only seen 2 of those in the 12 years I've been here. The list goes on... LOL got a surprise BITE(and not just a nip) by a stupid fish in the lake, while sitting on some rocks... scared the hell outta me and made me get up so fast...
You never know what you have there, animals usually stay away from people as best they can.
I saw a RED FOX dead on the side of a road, and EVERYBODY argued with me that we don't have RED FOX here.
Few weeks later... MY MOM saw a RED FOX some where else! And, YES, I know the difference between RED fox and GREY fox!! LOL
Put out wildlife cams!! You'll be amazed what you see!!!
Oh, and YES, we have cougars here too. One was found dead in the school yard close by.

well, to prove it you ought to put the roadkill in your freezer!!

 

[Peyton Manning]

No matter how many people see them, it is only "confirmed" by a person "in-the-know"(wildlife officer, etc).

hey! that looks like my confirmed squatch sightings map

 

[pong12211]

Still no pictures or evidence huh go figure.

 

[texasred777]

NSDQ, an uncle drove for Pace Packing Company in Sweetwater, Texas sometime around the mid to late 40s and into the 50s. Sometime he would be on the road for a couple of days. He would find a 'suitable' place to pull over for a nap when he got sleepy. He was in Bosque County, Texas, and in the early winter time. He pulled over late one evening and slept the whole night. When he awoke the next morning, a black panther was sitting on the hood of the truck watching him. Said it scared him so much he almost fainted. He started the engine, and the panther leaped off the hood. About two years later near that same location, the same thing happened again. Said it didn't scare him as badly as the first time. He just started the engine and the panther jumped off the hood.

 

[MuckyBottles]

Contrary to popular belief, there are Big cats (i.e Mountain Lions) in the northeast (NY,NJ,CT and I am sure PA)...Unfortunately, NJ F&G and NY DEC are too ignorant to the fact.

 

[Tnmountains]

Not sure if this may the right place.. but a very large tanish golden color cat with a distinctive muscled body long tail with a almost blackish tip on the tail appox 4 foot in length guess of weight 75-100 lbs was spotted in my yard last night when it set the motion lights off.......no pics not able to get my phone in time but does explain the tracks around the yard and house and all the missing stray cats that where here , i have found remains of them in the tree line, but from what i am reading on the PGC Pa Game Commission their are no such cats in Pa ,, like the time they told me no bears in Lebanon county yet one was spotted in the Meyerstown area a few months back ... so i ask what are your all's thought on this..... found a print about 2 -2.5 inch wide so far best print i found to show with this frozen mud and dirt this one one near the canal next to the house

Here is a pic of a rear paw from a bobcat I took some years back with bow. Tracks are always a little bigger than the actual animal especially if it is moving quick. This Bob Cat took the largest Van Dyke form they made. I think it was a 30" form? I forget. I regretted taking the animal so I had it mounted. Happened fast and I was at draw. I have only seen one big cat here see bobcats all the time though.The pads is what I was wanting to show. They are similar to your track.

 

[Number9]

Still no pictures or evidence huh go figure.

There is both pictures and evidence of dead ones .. but, you would need to be a good friend to see them.
Why? They are protected by both the state and federal government.

And it's hard to prove where a picture was taken.. and the first thing people do is try to discredit any picture or video.

This video was said to have been taken in Alabama... is it real?

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

LOL@ refusing to post evidence of a crime