Get more stories delivered right to your email. Well-known naturalist Dennis Chastain of Pickens says theres no doubt that there are cougars (pumas/mountain lions) in the woods and wild places of South Carolina. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. What's it like standing all day dressed up like the Statue of Liberty and waving at people? Even thought they're . Instead, theyre wandering males. Cougars, also known as mountain lions, were once common here and they have left a legacy of place names throughout the state indeed, the entire Southeast. The Goddard School opens Woodruff Road location in Greenville, City of Greenville to temporarily close a portion of Academy Street on March 6, Simpsonville City Council Notes: Road resurfacing projects delayed until 2024, Greer City Council Notes: Mayfield Road subdivision plans withdrawn, plus new fire station gets early approval, Greenville Chamber highlights community strengths at annual meeting, Greenville-Pickens Speedway listed for sale as an industrial park, Photos: Coca-Cola mural in West End removed, Former Fountain Inn flour mill redevelopment project breaks ground. Black bears can be found throughout North America. Have you spotted any of the above in an out-of-place spot in the Palmetto State! Andrew Moore of theGreenville Journalpens a story about alleged mountain lion sightings in South Carolina. There are countless game and trail cameras out in the woods ofSouth Carolina at any given time, and nobody has photographed a large cat, yet these animals do show up on game camerasin states that have cougars, said Butfiloski, who believes the trail camera footage from Ladys Island shows a house cat. Answered by Dr. Joanna Woodnutt, MRCVS (Vet), Beagle Pain Syndrome: Causes, Signs, and Care Guide, Rabies in Dogs: Causes, Signs & Care Guide, Have a cat? We can thank the Spanish for the mean wild pigs found here. UNSPECIFIED - MARCH 03: Cougar, Puma or Mountain Lion (Puma concolor), Felidae. Similar to Tennessee's wild elk and buffalo, the cougar was extirpated from the state around the early 1900s due to overhunting and . Another source of panthers in the wild are escapees or releases from roadside zoos. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) The year was 1961. As a territorial species, these cats do not live close to each other. One thing scientists agree on and have no confusion about is that none of these large cats is or ever has been black in color. Fortunately, a mountain lion hasnt escaped captivity for more than a decade in South Carolina,according to Butfiloski. The Canadian Wildlife Service has taken no position on the taxonomy. Most tracks and pictures could possibly have been a different animal, which means that they cannot officially count as a cougar sighting. However, should one be sighted, it is now illegal to kill them. Simply type the location or club name into the search bar below, and let the service begin! Sorry, Carolina Panthers football fans! What is difference between bobcat and mountain lion? This feline is a close relative to the Lynx, which roams further up north. . Now to complicate matters further, there are some cougars/pumas living in Florida that are considered to be of the native Eastern variety. The cougar (Puma concolor), also known as mountain lion, panther, painter, puma, and catamount, is the largest feline animal in North America. When there is a suspicion that some type of big cat has been spotted, he said the likeliest culprit is a western cougar that has escaped captivity as someones pet. The DNR maintains mountain lion sightings using a system to receive, record and review mountain lion reports. Also have positively ID'ed a large cat tracks on a pond dam on the same property, and the owner saw one 5+ years ago and now carries a .44 Mag on his hip whenever he goes hunting. I'll tell you, these things are so fast I don't see any domestication at all.' By Sometimes, these cats get pushed very far away from where they were born.. I was shocked when I first saw the prints, because they were so big, said Claes. Yet, something occurred yesterday on an upstate highway that has inspired me to postpone the column that I had planned for this week. These days the internet has become a bulletin board of sorts for panther sightings here. Many ridges, creeks, swamps and mountains were long ago named for panthers or the colloquial term "painters," both common names in this part of the country for the cougar. Born Free USA, a national wildlife conservation group, estimates there are up to 20,000 big cats owned privately across North America. Many counties, including Spartanburg and Anderson, ban exotic pets. They are most commonly found in areas with plentiful prey and adequate cover. There would be road killed cougar carcasses showing up at least once a year if we had an established population,he said. This is a list of known or suspected fatal cougar attacks that occurred in North America by decade in chronological order.The cougar is also commonly known as mountain lion, puma, mountain cat, catamount, or panther.The sub-population in Florida is known as the Florida panther.. A total of 126 attacks, 27 of which were fatal, have been documented in North America in the past 100 years. Luckily, the big cats probably wont pose a serious threat to public safety when they do appear in South Carolina, according to Butfiloski. But Lucas says if there are big cats lurking in Upstate areas, he feels sure there would be more encounters, given the volume of deer hunting in the Carolinas. Furman University does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, disability, age, religion, veteran status, or any other characteristic or status protected by applicable local, state, or federal law in admission, treatment, or access to, or employment in, its programs and activities. South Carolina - South Carolina has not had any confirmed mountain lion sightings. Despite this, S.C. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Greg Lucas said the department gets at least one call a month from people claiming to have seen one of the big cats. (An Overview), Why Do Cats Eat Plants? But SCNDR later concluded the animal was probably a black coyote. Note: A number of other species all over the world have been declared extinct, only to be rediscovered, having survived in a very tiny population that was out of sight long enough to assume them extinct. There has never been a confirmed or documented case of a melanistic mountain lion in the United States. In 2007, Katie Araujo, a Paris Mountain resident, said she came face to face with a large black cat while sitting on her front porch. Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Furman biology professor and cougar expert Travis Perry says its possible for mountain lions to travel great distances, but its not very likely theyve traveled to our state. I actually drove out to the apartment and noticed some large tracks in the mud, said Jenkins, who didnt take photos of the tracks or file an official report. Such conditions exist within Point Reyes National Seashore. However, even this species is not very large. Nikolay Kapustin, deputy zoo administrator and veterinarian at the Greenville Zoo, said the prints, which measure 2.5 inches long, are likely coyote tracks. Male mountain lions, also known as toms, occasionally travel long distances and sometimes appear from South Carolina to New England, according to Perry. They arent much bigger than a domestic house cat in many cases. All Rights Reserved. When this species eats poisoned rats, they become poisoned as well and will eventually die. But he says having a few of them roaming the woods is a good thing. Andean Mountain Cat. Known For: Corbin Mountain is part of the Saluda Mountains, which are part of the greater Blue Ridge Mountains that traverse South Carolina. But the Eastern mountain lion, the . Mountain lions range between 80-225 pounds and 6 to 9 feet long (nose to tail). This mountain sits near the border of South Carolina and North Carolina. "There's just no scientific documentation to back that up." . The US Fish and Wildlife Service lists both of these races as endangered. They are a native species in South Carolina. Several years later, the story of a federal foresters escape from the clutches of a black panther in Oconee County made headlines. However, bobcats are extremely small, ranging between 1025 pounds. The bobcat is plentiful in South Carolina but they are very shy and stealthy, and you may live in South Carolina and never actually see one. Too many sightings, all reporting a big cat with a long tail, big head and paws - can they all be explained away as poor visibility, overfed ferrel cats, or active imaginations? What You Need to Know! We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Your Safety in Mountain Lion Habitat. Robin Jarvis is a travel writer and editor for OnlyInYourState.com with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. Cougars are rather long and slender in appearance. More:Wandering South Carolina elk 'rules the roost' at new home in Charles Towne Landing. That cat was gone in a flash. The Service acknowledges the broad acceptance within the scientific community of a single North American subspecies, identified as Puma concolor couguar (applying the scientific nomenclature that has been used to refer to the Eastern puma subspecies to all North American pumas), based on genetic analysis, the agency said in a release announcing the new rule. Bobcats are the most similar relatives of mountain lions and they share many physical and behavioral traits. Usually, this is a result of their food sources being destroyed or the use of rat poison. But some residents, including Koehler, are already taking precautions. "We get lots of reports every year from folks who think they've seen a cougar. When it comes to black panther sightings, scientists believe these animals are most likely smaller bears, black wolves or panthers sighted when lighting conditions and shadows cause them to appear darker in color than they are. I guess a Florida panther could possibly roam into South Carolina, but Im not sure they would make it that far without getting hit by a car, said Butfiloski. Pee Dee Wildlife Control Inc. 2019 All Rights Reserved. Im making fun, but the reality is a bit more nuanced. It was a little too big to be a bobcat.. In a national forest there that had been slated for logging, somebody said they saw a cougar. Environmentalist groups weighed in, and the logging was halted. #1 The tail. So rather than a unique species, the Eastern Cougar was a distinct variation within the cougar population that roamed throughout North America. What are potassium channel activators used for? If the sighting could have possibly been something else, then the state cannot confirm it as a mountain lion. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Cougars are stealthy predators that can run up to 35 miles per hour. Whether theyre called cougars, mountain lions, pumas or catamounts, wildlife experts believe the cats exist as a stable, breeding population in the western U.S and, a. ccording to both the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, transient western cougars have been spotted in both states since 2015. By Edmund Duncan May 31, 2022. Eastern Cougar does inhabit South Carolina. We have had a couple of cougars escape from captivity over the past 30 years or so, but they dont elude leaving evidence behind.. While there is some doubt the cougar still exists south of the Canadian Maritime provinces, significant sightings occur in Tennessee and North and South Carolina. July 21, 2017. The story cites lack of hard evidence for the . The Leopardus jacobita is a wild cat living at high elevations in the Andes of South America. I live in the south eastern corner of Wilkes county on 70 acres close to Yadkin county and Iredell county. But Chastain believes theyre only different from the Western cougars in that theyre smaller, which is a natural phenomenon among animal species in warmer climates. A history of mistaken identity and conspiracies. Many wildlife authorities and experts, however, remain skeptical of mountain lion sightings across the Southeast. Whether alumni of Furman, the parent of a Furman alumni or a friend of Furman, we consider everyone who supports this institution a member of the Furman family. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . When you see the name "panther" "painter", "catamount" and other cougar synonyms attached to creeks, mountain peaks, gaps, and other features of our topography, it is a testament to the fact that this large predator was not only once here in South Carolina and the eastern US, but that its presence impressed people enough to name a place after it. Adults are largely nocturnal, solitary and territorial. Because of their immense range, cougars can be seen in a number of habitats. There are Mountain lions in North Carolina. . Then there are occasional reports of mountain lion sightings in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, but no one to our knowledge has ever totally proved that what they saw actually was . Still 3 coon hunters treed and killed one a few years ago. We Inform. South Carolina Wildlife Federation, 455 St. Andrews Road, Suite B1, Columbia, SC 29210, United States. 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