Mountain Lion

[Security122]

...I'm a lot more worried about feral dogs and meth heads when I'm walking to my stand.

THIS^^^
I was squirrel hunting one evening many, many years ago and heard a pack of dogs running a deer. As I was leaving the woods I crossed a large clearing and saw the dogs, house pets really, running in a pack. When they saw me they turned and started running right at me. That was one day I was glad to be using my dad's 12 guage instead of my 22. I put one shot in the ground in front of them and they scattered!
Edit: Meth heads would probably do the same!

 

[DragonGunner]

Canine vs. Feline Tracks - How to tell the difference between them.
Looks more canine to me.

Good info but I think its Feline....1. No toe nail, this looks like thicker mud an the toe nail surely would of made a easy print. 2. The web site B. info does make this track in the mud look more like Canine...but in looking at it there could be two lobes, but the depth of the track in mud rounding it more could of been the fur between the toes pushing down deeper, an rounding the 2 lobes to look more as one.

 

[PapaScout]

My wife and I lived in the mountains of Colorado where mountain lions are fairly common. Carry your backup pistol for the coyotes and cur dog packs when hunting - it the kitty wants you you'll be gone.

 

[grunt soldier]

i agree with the above poster. all these people saying they been all over these woods and those woods and have never seen a cat doesn't mean anything. you rarely see the cat but that doesn't mean he/she isn't following and watching you. my buddy lives out in washington and while hunting out there you almost never see the cat even in the thick snow but when you double back on your tracks its not to strange to find cat tracks next to yours. just saying just cause you don't see it doesn't mean its not there

 

[alluwant]

my in laws have a place down there i seen the pictures i believe at poor boys gas station pretty decent size

 

[bigdawgtrucks]

Good info but I think its Feline....1. No toe nail, this looks like thicker mud an the toe nail surely would of made a easy print. 2. The web site B. info does make this track in the mud look more like Canine...but in looking at it there could be two lobes, but the depth of the track in mud rounding it more could of been the fur between the toes pushing down deeper, an rounding the 2 lobes to look more as one.

It could go either way (canine/feline).The soil composition will affect the track greatly (size and shape). If you look at the picture toe nails could possibly be present.

cehttp://homepages.dordt.edu/~mahaffy/mtlion/print_id/cougar_print_id.htmlntered
Spacing of toes. Another suggestion that almost always works is to draw an x above the rear pad, with the bottom of the x on either side of the rear pad. In canine prints the front two toes are close together so that the top of the x will go between the front two and outside toes without hitting the toe prints. You can see this in large old canine print that the folks who saw it thought was a cougar. On the other hand you notice on all of the cougar prints on this page an X hits the front toes. In canine prints the two lateral toe prints are often a bit rounder and more irregularly shaped than the front two toes. Also note the direction of the side toe prints. Dr Smallwood in a letter to me (June 1999) said,

[SIZE=-1]"If a dog, which can leave tracks that are both smaller and larger than those of mountain lions, then look for splayed toes. Dogs don't always leave claw marks, but they do always splay their toes. That is, the outer toes point away from the line of travel. The outer toes of mountain lions can splay slightly, but generally point toward the line of travel or even inward, towards the two middle toes." But note that one of the Florida cougar prints in mud (Figure 1) shows a lot of splaying.[/SIZE]
​

 

[M4Madness]

I live about 1/2 mile from the place that it was spotted. It was supposedly feeding on a deer carcass (or one person said it was dragging it off the road??). I drove past that deer for a week on my way home from work, so I know exactly where it was.

I live 5 miles west of that sighting, and don't really sweat it any when walking into and out of the woods in the dark. The landowner of the main farm I've been hunting claims to have seen it during daylight hours up close recently.

 

[EPD1102]

One of our local news stations, Channel 25 in Evansville, showed some trail game pics taken by a DNR camera of a big cat in Greene County. If you got a deer and it came to the smell of the blood, you'd probably have your hands full.

 

[kludge]

I forgot about the "X", from that perspective it looks very canine.

 

[jwdecour]

With people having large exotic cats and the like as pets it would not be out of the ordinary for one or two to get free and hide out in the hills of southern Indiana. If these are confirmed it would be good to always hunt with a buddy. Just remember you don't have to outrun the couger just your hunting partner.

 

[IndySSD]

It just seems funny to me that the "Hunters" are worried about becoming the "Hunted".

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hunting, I was just always told growing up that there may be worse things out in the wild than me and to stay on my toes at all times. Seems like that advice maybe isn't so common anymore?

Seems like today's "Hunters" who just ATV to the edge of a cornfield and climb a tree just don't really understand a lot of the woodsmanship that people like my Grandfather have. *Just to clarify, I don't have woodsman skills like him either but then I'm not able to hunt much anymore either, although I'd like to get back in the habit now that I've got a son to teach.*

 

[clfergus]

It just seems funny to me that the "Hunters" are worried about becoming the "Hunted".

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hunting, I was just always told growing up that there may be worse things out in the wild than me and to stay on my toes at all times. Seems like that advice maybe isn't so common anymore?

Seems like today's "Hunters" who just ATV to the edge of a cornfield and climb a tree just don't really understand a lot of the woodsmanship that people like my Grandfather have. *Just to clarify, I don't have woodsman skills like him either but then I'm not able to hunt much anymore either, although I'd like to get back in the habit now that I've got a son to teach.*

Living in Indiana under the assumption that there were no big cats who could kill you your whole life, then finding out the huge animals are roaming around can put a 'Hunter' on edge. I'm not so concerned when it light, at least I can possibly see it to do something. Its the walk into the stand where you have no chance. I am always on my toes in the woods..especially when hunting so I can observe. Its the "staying on my toes" vs landing on my back when a big cat latches on my neck in the dark! HA

My intesntion of starting the post wasn't to suggest we all have a chance at seeing one..I know there isnt a chance at all. Just curious how it has changed the feeling while walking in the woods after dark.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I've always been afraid of dog packs in the woods after dark.

They'll make you just as dead as any cat and are far more abundant.

 

[IndySSD]

Living in Indiana under the assumption that there were no big cats who could kill you your whole life, then finding out the huge animals are roaming around can put a 'Hunter' on edge. I'm not so concerned when it light, at least I can possibly see it to do something. Its the walk into the stand where you have no chance. I am always on my toes in the woods..especially when hunting so I can observe. Its the "staying on my toes" vs landing on my back when a big cat latches on my neck in the dark! HA

My intesntion of starting the post wasn't to suggest we all have a chance at seeing one..I know there isnt a chance at all. Just curious how it has changed the feeling while walking in the woods after dark.

Doesn't change how I was around in the woods before sunrise at all, because I was taught as a young child that even if there aren't dangerous animals around, there may be dangerous people (irresponsible hunters) so ALWAYS have your guard/awareness levels up.

I've always been afraid of dog packs in the woods after dark.

They'll make you just as dead as any cat and are far more abundant.

^^Good point^^

 

[TClem24]

One of our local news stations, Channel 25 in Evansville, showed some trail game pics taken by a DNR camera of a big cat in Greene County. If you got a deer and it came to the smell of the blood, you'd probably have your hands full.

I actually know the exact place where this took place and it was two cats and they had taken the deer and covered it with sticks and leaves. The bad part was that the land owner had to call on the second sitting just to get the DNR out to his property, then that is when they got the trail cams of them.

 

[joe138]

There was a report to the Bedford Police Dept. last night, that a mountain lion and cub were spotted on the north edge of town. Unconfirmed though.

 

[rjstew317]

i've been seeing cougars all over the carmel area lately, got me scared for my life!

 

[PapaScout]

i've been seeing cougars all over the carmel area lately, got me scared for my life!

Nothing wrong with a little "Mrs. Robinson" every once in a while.

 

[redneckpastor]

I am always thinking about big cats when I am in the woods. Something about an animal that has the capacity to take me down and eat me....

 

[dcary7]

I'm by no means a master woodsman. I've seen plenty of dog/coyote prints though, and this doesn't look like them. That is 5" fletch on the arrow--this print is big. There was about a 27" span between prints. There are no claw marks on the front of the toes, which is probably the weirdest part about it, at least to me. If this was a dog, it would have to be a monster. I've got a Great Pyrenees with bear paws and they aren't this big. This was on soft mud on the edge of a pond, so it made a pretty good, soft print.

What do you all think?

That is a dog print, the shape of the pad is wrong to be a mountain lion. Also, you can see where there are claw marks on it. That is a large dog. The main pad of a mountain lion is shaped more like a "M". You are correct in that there will be no claw marks present. On another note, it is very difficult to differentiate a bobcat print and a mountain lion print.

As stated before, I would worry more about methheads in the woods than the big kittys