Indiana cougar sightings to become common

[valpo]

i live in NW indiana and i have seen a cougar with a deer in his mouth it was no house cat im sure of that

[English Major]

No, he didn't "seen" a mountain lion. He "saw" a mountain lion. Please think a little before writing.

Jimbo wrote:

my best friend told me he seen a mountain lion and i almost started laughing at him he said he was serious and i just said ok and then i went home and told my mom and she said she seen a large dark cat not even a mile away from where my friend said he seen that one.

[nrg76]

has anyone have any information of the mountain lion that has been spotted in white county, indiana?

[Mulligan in southern IN]

This is for English Major from Shelbyville IN.
GET A LIFE!(Did I use the correct english?)

[kid d]

U cant just say bah to these sightings...if u have kids and they r playing in the woods and u r o say 30ft behind them, a cougar will jump out and try to take a bite out of a child with no remorse. a cogar will go for a kill bite , they just dont attack and and maw. they will try to get a neck bite or a spine bite to kill the victim quick....so yes i am worried for mothers and children who play in the woods or live in a populated area where cougars r. People r ignorant to the fact that u r meat, and a animal who is capable of killing deer is capable of killing u!!

[michael g]

i thought i was going crazy, the other day hiking in charlestown state park, charlestown indiana, i saw on the trail ahead a very large cat with a long tail, i'm talking the size of a female lion. thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but now that i've read about puma sightings in the state i'm thinking maybe that's what i saw.

[GFY]

English Major wrote:

No, he didn't "seen" a mountain lion. He "saw" a mountain lion. Please think a little before writing.
<quoted text>

Thank you. I needed a laugh this morning, thank you.

[kevan]

i got a good one for you guys, a friend of mine claims she saw 4 bears walking together behind her work yesterday, shes a pretty honest person but she works in fort wayne

[Twohorsegirl]

One of our horses was 'attacked' in his pasture this week (2/3/10) during the early afternoon...the vet says the puncture wounds were caused by some sort of large predator but unsure as to what it might have been. We've asked a DNR conservation officer to stop by and take a look (we're near the Clark State Forest in S IN).
The daytime attack has really shaken us. The horse is now patched up and seems to be doing well...any news of recent events would be most appreciated.

worried in Rush County wrote:

I was awaken by my dog barking at 1:30AM in the morning. I stepped out my front door to find a truck pulling up the drive. The gentleman in the truck said that one of my horses was being chased by what looked like a cougar. As he appraoched the animals the horse took off towards the barn, and the cougar ran the opposite direction into the soybean field. The gentlman was visibly shaken and had no idea there were large cats in the area. I checked the horse, no injuries, but was lathered up and very upset. I live in Rush County, Indiana......has anyone else seen a cougar in the area?

[donna-North Montgomery]

I saw large cat paw prints in the snow this morning around the front of my house. I had seen deer tracks a few days ago. Then when I got to looking this afternoon the paw prints go up to my back fence gate and then it must have gone over the fence because there are the same paw prints in my back yard. I am afraid to let my dog out tonight and from now on. I will have to take her out front on a leash and carry a club!! What could it be???

[DL N Montgomery]

I am so scared! I took my dog out front and was watching every direction for the cat that made the huge paw prints - I carried a big heavy cane. Dog didn't go after all that and now I know she will want to go out again before bed. Wonder where I can get help. Would Sheriff help?

[Baffled in Wawaka]

Well we have been researching big cat siteings in northern Indiana I live in noble county north of Albion On sunday march 14 2010 A very big yellow cat appeared along a ditch line north of our home way to big to be a barn or house cat .At first I thought it was a bob cat till it turned and I could see its large tail.My wife and I have pictures of it>Did I mention something atacked our House dog Sam the night before.On monday I seen our Sam walking along the ditch line following the path the cat had walked picking up its sent .It wasnt till sam walked up to a roll of fence that has been laying there for several years I was able to get a sence of just how big the cat was.I would say the cat was at least 60lbs.Has anybody else seen this cat????

[Christy]

Joan wrote:

Who cares?

What do you mean who cares? WE CARE!!! We are actually from Indiana! I have seen cougar (Mountain Lion) attacks on TV and I sure don't want to ever run into one!

[JSzabo]

Christy wrote:

<quoted text>
What do you mean who cares? WE CARE!!! We are actually from Indiana! I have seen cougar (Mountain Lion) attacks on TV and I sure don't want to ever run into one!

stop being a drama queen christy! We have to share our space with animals of all types. Don't be one of those wildlife haters. All the ignorant paranoia is why we have so many extinct animals.

[NathanH]

I was turkey hunting today in Ripley county and I saw what I believed to be a mountain lion. I have wildlife biology major so I am Fairly certain on what I saw. This was a shock to me and I thought I had to be seing things. After reading some literature and other web forums I have to say I am convinced that I did see a Mountain Lion/Cougar/Puma (one and the same).

[kat]

It is not paranoia to be aware of your surroundings. Truth be told you should act different in an environs that a large predator lives. It doesn't mean you have to live in fear or avoid the woods but knowing how to react is important if a rare encounter with these potential dangerous beautiful creatures occurs. I had an encounter out west with a large female many years ago and everything in my body told me to run. Knowing to stay put and not trigger the cat's prey response may have saved my or my friends life. Most people will never be so lucky to have a sight of these incredible creatures but there are easy precautions to take when living in a area with big cat activity like don't jog, bike or hike at a set time every day due to how they hunt. A few cyclists are killed every year in mountains out west. It is harsh but it is a fact of nature that we are only on the top of the food chain due to knowledge and technology. Put yourself unaware or unprepared into the woods and you are prey.

JSzabo wrote:

<quoted text>stop being a drama queen christy! We have to share our space with animals of all types. Don't be one of those wildlife haters. All the ignorant paranoia is why we have so many extinct animals.

[JUDY]

coyotesniper204 wrote:

I live in South Central Vigo County. I was deer hunting 1.5 mile East of Black Beauties Farmersburg coal mine on October 15th. I seen what I thought was a coyote crossing a cattle pasture. I tried to make rabbit squeal sound with My voice to get it to come in bow range (at this time it was about 130yds. away) but never acknowledged my efforts. I then noticed how short the legs appeared, and the bulkiness of the body.
Deffinately not a coyote. Then it went to a persimmon tree stood up on its back legs and stretched. It then went up the tree. I could not see it anymore after that because of the foliage on the other trees between Me and it.

Yea I dont live to far away from Vigo County my buddies always talk about cougars in the area they see and i didnt dought them and then on the news today the Indiana DNR confirmed the sighting of a cougar in Northern Greene County

[driver monroe cty]

I first posted a comment on this forum last year April 7, 2009. At that time I saw in the morning while driving on Hwy. 46 just east of Bloomington what looked like a cougar or mountain lion crossing the road ahead of me. I reported this to the DNR and posted comment on this website. DNR did get back to me, they were respectful but seemed less than convined with my story. My story was what I thought at first was a small deer appeared in my headlights approx. 6:30 am. however, whatever it was then crouched low and went under the guardrail. It had deer like coloring but when it got low to the ground and went under the rail I saw the long tail as well.
One year later ...
Today in the Bloomington Herald Times newspaper (front page) the DNR confirmed with 2 pictures they took with motion sensitive cameras one big mountain lion in Greene County.

[Steve]

I live in SW Putnam county on about 100 acres not too far from I-70. A couple of years ago some of my hunting buddies and I in different parts of the woods all saw tracks that looked suspicious. They looked like they were big enough to be made by a St. Bernard, but there are none in the area. An acquaintance of mine lives near Greencastle and told me his neighbor had some horses killed and that the DNR told the owner that it was likely done by a "big" cat, but he would not say "what kind" of cat. I had a chance to talk to a DNR officer a couple of years ago and he emphatically said there were NO COUGARS in Indiana.

I guess the DNR has changed their "official" position on the matter. I think it is cool. And please, if you are in the woods and you see one, don't try to kill it, unless it is threatening you or yours. Just another one of mother natures' masterpieces!

[Sheri Reck]

Hello,
Three weeks before any articles came out regarding cougar sightings in Vigo County, I saw one on our deck on the East side of Terre Haute. I reported it to three agencies but had no response. My first sighting was when it looked at me while I was looking out from our sun room window. The second sighting was when I was taking out the trash. It ran past me and it's tail brushed against me. I sighted it 3 or 4 other times in our yard. It killed geese, rabbits, foxes and brought a deer leg into our yard. It disappeared as quickly as it showed up. I had been putting food out for it but had no idea what I was feeding. In response to feeding him, he brought a goose carcass to me and huge balls of feathers.