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Has anyone else spotted a very dark, almost solid black mountain lion in the Elk Park area? It was dark coming home just now but there was definitely a very large, super dark mountain lion walking up my icy driveway. Ran up and away from the truck then cut through the woods up the mountains. 2nd time spotting this particular coloring on one. Estimating near 70lbs.
I have seen maybe a dozen bobcats at various places over the years, but never one that dark and not one that big (they are usually 1/2 that size - more like 35 lbs. tops).
This article mentions that their coloration can range as far as dark stripes but I don't think bobcats are a solid color -- at least, that is my understanding.
Has anyone else spotted a very dark, almost solid black mountain lion in the Elk Park area? It was dark coming home just now but there was definitely a very large, super dark mountain lion walking up my icy driveway. Ran up and away from the truck then cut through the woods up the mountains. 2nd time spotting this particular coloring on one. Estimating near 70lbs.
Not to doubt you at all, but a "normal" tawny mountain lion would be almost unheard of; a dark or black one virtually impossible. Mountain lions aka cougars aka panthers are supposed to be extinct in the Appalachians since early 20th century. However, unsubstantiated sightings continue to be periodically reported. Here's an article from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. http://www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/...les/Cougar.pdf
If you google "North Carolina Mountain Lion", you'll find some other interesting articles.
Ani:
Bobcats are a totally different matter. I was on a charity home tour several years ago in Elk River Club and a bobcat ran across the road in front of the van I was riding in. It was my only time to ever see one in the wild, though my neighbors have reported seeing them once in a rare while.
I just found another article online that talks about "black panther" sightings in eastern NC. It's from the Clayton Carolina Weekly News: Black Panther Roams Eastern NC?
In the article it says that
"Black panthers are not distinctive species but rather are jaguars or leopards born with darker pigment (melatin) in their coats due to recessive genetics. In low light environments, these cats can appear almost solid black. However, such cats are not indigenous to North America, except for a small number of jaguars said to live in the southwestern US. Leopards are indigenous to Africa.
The North American cougar—sometimes called a mountain lion or catamount—has never been officially recognized to have a black coat variant due to genetics. While cougars once roamed North Carolina, officially they no longer exist in the eastern United States except for in the Florida Everglades."
FTR, the eastern cougar/mt lion was declared extinct a few years ago, but that does not mean that there aren't big cats in the mountains, just that they have no evidence of the Eastern Mountain Lion being there. The Florida Panther is alive and hanging on in Florida and parts of Georgia (see below) and the Western Mountain Lions are doing fine. A driver in Connecticut(!!!) hit and killed a Western Mountain Lion a few years ago that had reportedly roamed from South Dakota according to DNA results. No reason to think that there couldn't be a mountain lion of some subspecies in the NC mountains if there could be one in Connecticut. There was also a Florida panther shot and killed by a hunter in Troup County Georgia in 2011.
Now, as to it being black or dark —who knows. I know there are big cat enthusiasts who could have an escapee. I'm not sure if a "black panther" could survive or breed in the NC mountains, but maybe. I just don't see any reason to think they wouldn't be in the NC mountains if they're in Connecticut!
There is local legend of an exotic big cat sanctuary in Johnson County, TN (Mountain City area) turning loose several animals back in the 80's because of a crackdown by the Gov't. on said sanctuaries. There is an exotic fallow deer farm in Johnson County that had had predation issues in 2002 with something that killed several deer and took them out over a 9' woven wire fence. Not too many animals besides a cougar could manage that one!
My landlord got a very good look at a tawny mountain lion in 1998. The young, male cat was in the open, walking nonchalantly up our secluded mountain road! I actually spotted a red wolf in the same area in 2000, near Todd, NC, north of Boone.
Just north of Todd, near West Jefferson, a technician clearly saw a female mountain lion with 2 kittens under one of the secluded antennas out in the county.
With no empirical evidence like tracks, scat or a body, they are considered non-verifiable sightings by game officials. It is certainly true that many sightings are bobcats or optical illusions. One was a large housecat! However, when educated sportsmen and others get good long looks at the cats, it's hard to deny it.
Yes there are big cats (and wolves) in WNC, and a jaguar is not out of the question. This is why exotics are illegal to keep . . . they have a way of escaping . . . would you be the owner that admits to an escape? I think not!
Not to doubt you at all, but a "normal" tawny mountain lion would be almost unheard of; a dark or black one virtually impossible. Mountain lions aka cougars aka panthers are supposed to be extinct in the Appalachians since early 20th century. However, unsubstantiated sightings continue to be periodically reported. Here's an article from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. http://www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/...les/Cougar.pdf
If you google "North Carolina Mountain Lion", you'll find some other interesting articles.
Ani:
Bobcats are a totally different matter. I was on a charity home tour several years ago in Elk River Club and a bobcat ran across the road in front of the van I was riding in. It was my only time to ever see one in the wild, though my neighbors have reported seeing them once in a rare while.
Yes, bobcats are not rare in these mountains, at all. One of the carpenters who worked on my house brought one he had killed and had a taxidermist preserve and showed it to me this past year. I have seen them many times, even in the Brushy Mountains (used to have a farm there many years ago). There was one that hung around where my guineas and peahens roamed and I always wondered if the bobcat picked them off or foxes (or both). But I have never seen one that I would estimate was even 35 lbs. Most looked more like 25 lbs or so.
Cool if it was a dark mountain lion. 70lbs is a bit off from the 25-30lbs of a bobcat. I have never seen a Fl. Panther either. We do have them & Bobcats too. My neighbor swears she saw a wolf in her pasture before.... I am not so sure about that. She says not a coyote...which we do have. Donna
Well, my family is from south florida, we know what a Florida panther looks like. My brother who was there and called out what it looked like worked with big cats as part of the Florida Fish and Wildlife for a short time. It was unbelievable to see something like this. I understand that they were declared extirpated, I did my research before posting and knew I would sound crazy anyways. After talking with some neighbors and locals, everyone said they had seen a large cat for sure and every one of them said it was very dark in color (I had not mentioned color at all). Quite interesting.
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