Hiking Trails Blogs

Some of you may have seen the photograph that has been circulating on the internet and via e-mail of a mountain lion dragging a deer. The photo is purported to be taken in western North Carolina, some say in the Marion area, while others say it was taken in Old Fort or Burnsville.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is stating that the photo was taken by a trail camera on a ranch in south Texas, where mountain lions are common.

In fact, this same photo was claimed to have been photographed locally in several states.

Interestingly, the Times-Citizen article goes on to state that there is no physical evidence to support the existence of a wild mountain lion population in North Carolina.

However, Dr. Donald Linzey, a professor of biology at Wytheville Community College, and a renowned large mammal expert, was recently quoted in a SWVA Today article:

"Everybody claims that the cougar is extinct in the eastern United States,” he said. “My opinion is there are cougars in the Smokies.”

George Ellison, long-time author of the Mountain Voices column for the Smoky Mountain News, also believes there are cougars in the Smokies:

"Whatever the instance, I’m reasonably certain that we do have mountain lions in the Smokies region, although I’ve never seen one."

Here's some additional information on the history of mountain lions in the Smokies, as well as a summary of sightings in recent decades from the Discover Life website.




Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

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