I couldn't believe what I had seen

[Hills Hoard]

I was walking my dog along his favorite track on Monday when i saw something I never thought i'd see. This track is at the end of my road and follows a creek through bush land that is surrounded by open fields....When we had reached the furthest point of the walk we stopped and I let the dog play while i tried to spot trout in the creek....Then I noticed silence. Dog owners will know the silence im talking about.....its like when you hear the dog playing you know they are in the vicinity, then all of a sudden you realise that you havent heard the dog for a while and its silent...then you find the dog has found your sock and quietly gone into the other room where you cant see them to rip the sock to shreds.....this was that silence....

so i look up and was about to call the dog when directly ahead of me i sport what I initially assumed was my dog running out of the bushes into this field....I yelled out for my dog to come back but in that split second I realised what i saw was dark brown, my dog is black, and this thing was twice as fast as any dog I have ever seen. It all happened so fast, but as I stood there gathering my thoughts I realised that I had seen a large cat...it was easily as high as my dog, but longer. Very long tail. It was looked like a dusty brown coat...What really got me was how fast it was...It was running left to right in front of me so i got a good side profile. And sure enough my dog comes running out of the bushes where this thing took off from completely oblivious to what he had scared off..

Did a quick search and found this article with info on similar sightings in my area.. If I had to describe exactly what I saw, it would be the cat in the link below.

http://www.cfzaustralia.com/2012/02/are-pumas-roaming-victorias-yarra.html

 

[aussiedog3]

Similar reports around here on occasion. Cougars. Several people have them on trail cams. They seem to like to pick off a small horse here and there.
Kinda scary.

 

[Hills Hoard]

Similar reports around here on occasion. Cougars. Several people have them on trail cams. They seem to like to pick off a small horse here and there.
Kinda scary.

That is scary. From what I saw you would have to be a quick draw with a gun to kill one if you were a farmer defending livestock!

But excuse my ignorance. Aren't big cats native to America? I understand they are illusive and would be hard to spot, but Australia isn't supposed to have them at all. Thats why I was so freaked out and why sightings in Australia aren't always treated seriously. I would go as far to say that people that make big cat sightings are often considered to be nutters..hahah...i figurered that I was surrounded by nutters on this forum, so what better place to tell the story.

 

[USMC80]

scary stuff

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I read the entire thread and thought, what the hell. There isnt many places in the states with something like that, then I look to the left at his profile info, Australia...whew

 

[firebroad]

The descendant of someones illegal "pet", no doubt...
You just be careful out there in the bush, you don't want the dog to go missing!

 

[firefighterjake]

But it's those baby eating dingos you really have to be careful about . . . Sorry . . . Seinfeld reference.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I agree with Firebroad. Not that you have a history of exotic/introduced animals thriving down undah, or anything

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

Mountain lions do reside in much of the American west. They are illusive and normally avoid humans at all cost. I've only had two sightings, though they often took up real estate in my overactive imagination on a pre-dawn hike.

As to their presence in Australia, it sounds plausible. It's fairly easy to determine presence in a territory because you can easily find scat or (less easily) food caches.

 

[BrotherBart]

It's fairly easy to determine presence in a territory because you can easily find scat

From the cat or the person that sighted it?

 

[fossil]

Cougar, Lynx, & Bobcat in Oregon. Once in a while a Cougar or Bobcat will make the news by being sighted in a residential area. I've never seen any of them.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

They are an amazing animal and it is also amazing how far they will travel. One good example is one from Michigan that was between Marquette and Escanaba. They did DNA and determined it had came from South Dakota. That is not short distance!

I also learned recently that someone got some pictures on trail cameras of a cougar not far from us. Several folks also reported sighting one. It would be welcome on my place.

 

[osagebow]

I bet that was a rush - I came across very fresh tracks in Olympic, NP in Washington. Made my hair stand on end. I know of 2 credible sightings near me (but nearer to red oak! )

 

[Hills Hoard]

From the cat or the person that sighted it?

haha. i just spat coffee all over my key board....hilarious

 

[Hills Hoard]

interestign to hear about them...certainly an amazing animal. and successful..

 

[firebroad]

So Hills, did you report your sighting to any Natural Resources Authority? They might want to keep track of these occurrences.

 

[Ehouse]

From the cat or the person that sighted it?

After the "Bear class" in Denali, the tourists had their canisters of pepper spray on their hips and were tying the bells around their ankles. One guy raised his hand and asked; How do you identify Bear sh*t?

(Type punchline here)

 

[Ashful]

Mountain lions do reside in much of the American west.

A few different guests at my house have claimed they've seen a large cat roaming the perimeter of my yard, but I'm outside all the time, and have never seen it myself. I live in a residential neighborhood, most houses on 4 - 6 acres, but we're surrounded by some larger farms with a little woods. I still doubt the claims, but do keep my eye out.

Maybe my guard dogs keep it away. The two of them have a combined weight of 25 lb.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

ive seen one here in Va several years ago, they are pretty rare these days though

 

[Hills Hoard]

So Hills, did you report your sighting to any Natural Resources Authority? They might want to keep track of these occurrences.

i havent yet. as i said, i'm hesitant to go telling too many people in fear of being labelled a fruit loop......haha....my wife doesn't want me telling anyone either..hahah

 

[Ehouse]

After the "Bear class" in Denali, the tourists had their canisters of pepper spray on their hips and were tying the bells around their ankles. One guy raised his hand and asked; How do you identify Bear sh*t?

(Type punchline here)

No Takers? "It smells like pepper an' it's got bells in it!"

 

[Ashful]

No Takers? "It smells like pepper an' it's got bells in it!"

Sorta like, "what's the difference between a rectal thermometer and an oral thermometer?" "The taste."

 

[northwinds]

Mountain Lions wander through Wisconsin from time to time.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wiscon...ss-midwest-study-shows-hn5pd03-159061635.html

 

[blades]

After the "Bear class" in Denali, the tourists had their canisters of pepper spray on their hips and were tying the bells around their ankles. One guy raised his hand and asked; How do you identify Bear sh*t?

(Type punchline here)

You can identify the species of bear by the number of bells in the droppings- black bear just a few, Kodiac several dozen

 

[blades]

Mountain Lions wander through Wisconsin from time to time.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wiscon...ss-midwest-study-shows-hn5pd03-159061635.html

Yes they do. There was one here in SE WI back in the 80's, Waukesha county. DNR refused to admit same for years. It was listed in a report a few years ago though. Kinda along story as I was involved with it. Mid central Wi , Wild Rose- Redgranite- Wautoma area been showing up on game cams over the last 10+ years. The standard line back in the day was someones oversized tabby. ( not with a 7" spread on a front paw)