I said the last time when this topic was posted that I have seen one twice at my old hunting club. Along with the owners of the land for over 70 years.
It was a very dark cat.
When we told DNR they said “there are no big cats in SC”
It was ssaid to the well we will kill it and prove it to you.
Right there the DNR said and I quote
“you do and you will get fines and go to jail cause they are protected animals in SC”
How can you protect an animal that dont live here???
“You are the offspring of 5 monkeys having But Secs with a retarded fish squirrel………. CONGRADULATIONS”!!!
I read a post on another site about cougar’s being shot on a turkey farm. The owner had shot them because they were getting his turkeys. (no free meal there) The first one was 140 lbs and the second was 200 lbs the guy said the cat wasn’t afraid of him because it came toward him.
Oh, they do exist! We in the upstate, had a nightly news report for two weeks, about ten years ago. Seems a local developer, and some graders came across a “Panthers Den”, cutting some new roads in Mauldin. No one on the Newscast saw or filmed them, but reports came as far away as Hickory Tavern, Simpsonville, Laurens, Woodruff, etc. I have seen one myself! We were working just across the Hwy. 11 bridge on the left, about six years ago, on a million $ house, going to lunch one day, I saw a “panther Cub” run across the road in front of me, chasing a Butterfly. It was about three feet long, with a tail just as long! Whether we or SCDNR like it, or not, they are here!
Doctor and his wife see cougar type cat on the banks of Lake Russell!
Yep!!! While trolling for bass on Lake Russell, Dr Hicks and his wife see deer running on the shoreline and a cougar type cat not far behind.
One deer went into the water, the other went into the woods, the cat followed the one into the woods. end of story
I have personally never seen one; however, anyone who can say “They DON’T exist in south carolina” is just plain ignorant. You can doubt that they exist, but no one can KNOW for sure. DON’T is a strong word. Nothing is impossible; an elephant could escape from a traveling circus and be unfound, then be spotted 6 months later by a guy out hunting antelope on the plains. May not be COMMON, may not be NATIVE, but it was there, right? I live less than a mile from a guy here in hollywood that has 2 big cages full of several types of monkeys. If I were to spot one in the future in the trees around my house, AM I CRAZY? anything can escape, anything can happen, I’m just saying… There are wild populations of parakeets in florida now; 30 years ago there was not. Wildlife experts say they come from domesticated birds that have escaped and made a population in the wild. You can doubt they exist if you want; but never say “NEVER” or “DON’T EXIST”. I’ve heard stories too, and I don’t know which are mistaken and which are fact and which were drunken nights and thought up tales. BUT, I know this much; There is a chance there are a few out there; they lived here long ago, a few could have made it. They are very elusive… Good luck to all on a sighting, I sure hope I see one (and get a good PIC) just to prove everyone that says they DON’T exist wrong… happy hunting
I saw a cougar in Charleston once. I was standing next to a little kid and that cougar went on point: it’s eyes locked, it’s ears perked, it’s muscles tightened and it’s head slightly dropped - it was in full “hunt” mode.
The kid’s parents didn’t even notice the subtle signs the cougar was displaying. But I did, my wife did and so did the cougar’s handler at SEWE, who very calmly and slowly tightened his grip on the cougars leash and slid his hand into the cougars collar.
Scared the wits out of me.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 14 year old
1 - 10 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)
when one gets run over or some hounds run one up a tree, you’ll have your answer. Considering that there is a ton of cars and dogs thats chase things in this state going on 60 years, i’d say you’re in for a wait.
who really cares? a cougar is a freaking cat that eats meat. bfd.
i hate cats.
edit: if that pic in your avatar is really a “panther”, thats the biggest ■■■■ tree in the entire state.
Florida released a number of cougars in the northern part of the state a few years ago, much to the disdain of the locals. These cats roam over very large areas, so it would not surprise me they migrated to SC.
Additionally, the panther biologists say there are none north (breeding)of the Caloosahatchee River(Ft Myers, lake O, Stuart). I have pictures stating otherwise plus testaments from many sportsmen stating otherwise. (If the panther is all over Florida, it made a recovery from the “Worlds most endangered mammal” & that statement would dry up the millions of research budget jobs for the panther. Needless to say, the folks receiving these $$$$ don’t want them recovered.
I saw a cougar in Charleston once. I was standing next to a little kid and that cougar went on point: it’s eyes locked, it’s ears perked, it’s muscles tightened and it’s head slightly dropped - it was in full “hunt” mode.
The kid’s parents didn’t even notice the subtle signs the cougar was displaying. But I did, my wife did and so did the cougar’s handler at SEWE, who very calmly and slowly tightened his grip on the cougars leash and slid his hand into the cougars collar.
Scared the wits out of me.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 14 year old
1 - 10 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)
ECFC
interesting........If I am not mistaken that was about 8-10 years ago @ the Expo. I was in the tent when it happened....scared the crap outta the little girl too b/c it was staring so intently @ her!
when i lived in NE florida (palm coast) i was involed in a 1000 acre development that bordered the ICW. i personally saw a panther stalk and kill a fawn. i was giving a real estate tour to an elderly couple and the lady had her little yorky dog with her… needless to say they did not buy a lot.
There is way more cats than the anti’s admit to. The problem is if they admit there is a pile of them all over the place & they should be downlisted, then the $$$$$ for research, $Grant$, prestige, ect will dry up, so that can’t happen. Same for the manatee & all is at the expence of sportsmen’s activies (hunting, boating, buggies, airboats, tracked ORV).
Just wait till the panther folks want to restrict hunting in Ga because of the cat! Remember the Ivory Billed woody sighting a few years back in Ak?
Panther shot in Georgia came from Florida
Officials initially thought the cat had escaped from captivityBy Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The panther a hunter shot last year in Troup County was a Florida panther
which likely wandered north, officials said Wednesday after genetic testing
showed it was a federally protected animal.
Genetic testing by the National Cancer Institute, Laboratory of Genomic
Diversity, indicated that the panther came from a resident southern Florida
population, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced.
The hunter reported the killing to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources
and has not been charged in the case.
Authorities took the animal to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease
Study in Athens where an examination revealed the cat had been in excellent
nutritional condition. Because panthers had not been documented in Georgia
for years, authorities initially suspected the animal escaped from captivity but
now they believe the young male had wandered from Florida in search of his
own hunting territory.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the case because the Florida
panther is a federally protected species. The cats once ranged throughout the
southeastern United States but now the population is estimated to be limited
to 100 to 120 panthers in south Florida — less than five percent of
