Big cats are in Tennessee !!!

I live in that area. And yeah I hear the same. Yet with a trillion game cams and a dslr quality camera in every pocket..... no pictures.

I saw one 30 years ago myself and after hunting my whole life since and not seeing another..... ive decided even I was lying. Lol

I'm in Florida not any of the states you mention but a store keeper in the panhandle showed me a photo taken by his nephew of a panther, mountain lion, puma, whatever you want to call it in his nephew's backyard.
The nephew heard something screaming out in back of his house and went out with a spotlight and camera and shot a photo of a panther. It was less than 2 miles from my hunting cabin up there. We already have tons of trouble from bears and I was upset that we may have to deal with panthers too.

No pics, but just south of Hopkinsville Ky I know I was in ones presence a few years ago. The property owner was an older guy, lived alone, drank PBR 24-7 but said he saw a big cat and shot it. Asked my buddy to go look for it about 12 hours later. We went, and got to a spot that was very eerie. Big tree in the thick woods where all the scrub brush was gone. Just a big opening in thick briar bottomed woods with a large tree right in the middle. Claw marks on the tree and half of a young doe up in the tree. Got real nervous and felt I was being watched. We got close and got out of the woods, pretty sure we were being stalked. The old man died a few weeks later. Never heard anything else about that spot but there has been rumors around there for decades.

I've had game cameras up for 10yrs now and got pics of every critter know except bobcat. My son in law shot one last year 1/4 mile from my cameras.

The only place in the Southeast where I've seen compelling evidence of big cats is South Florida. You hear rumors of them from time to time but no proof. My brother has a trail cam at the edge of his property which borders a large wooded area and has a couple of pics of a very large bobcat. If someone didn't get a good look it would be easy to mistake it for a mountain lion.

I have a copy of that photo on an older computer that is almost dead. I'm in the process of transferring those photos to my new computer, but since the old one runs very slow it is going to be a long process. I spent 2 hours last night trying to locate those pics. But I did find this interesting one from his camera. If I can locate the bobcat I'll upload that photo later.



Quite often these sightings prove to be housecats. Often they show up in photos with nothing else in the photo to use as a reference for size.

Keyfer 55 said:

I have never seen one hunting.

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The one I saw was in the 80s. Im 6 foot 3 and my dad is 5 foot 5. He had to pick me up to see the big cat out the house window. So it's been a while. Back then the road was dirt and probably 1.5 lanes. I just remember its boney front shoulder blades bobbing up and down while it walked across the road and it tail sticking back trailing behind slightly upturned at the end. I don't even remember the color. Dad swears it was black. This was near the NC/TN/VA corner.

I've read books on tracking and studied it since I was a pre teen. Ive killed many many deer and all but maybe 10 during Archery were by tracking them. Ive never shot a deer with a handgun or rifle from a stand. (I don't have a problem with it and in my state you can kill a deer with corn in its mouth. I just dont like sitting in the cold for more than....oh 45 seconds) I pay attention to the ground. I can find you a bear at least every other day here and I can find you a bear track or scat anyday. I can likely find you a fox a coyote and probably a bobcat track on any given day. Point of all that was I have never, even in the snow that may lay for two months, seen any big cat track on the few hundred acres I walk regularly. If they pass through here it's just a passing through. I have read they may travel hundreds of miles to find food. We have too many deer, so there is plenty of food .

Our first game cameras took film and used a crap load of D batteries. They actually had a regular old Minolta camera inside. Have had cameras since the 90s. I have every animal around. Several times. But no big cat

Taken from one Google source:

“In Tennessee, no confirmed sightings had been made since the early 1900s. The first confirmed sighting in a century was made on September 20, 2015, in Obion county in the north-western corner of West Tennessee. Six days later, and about 56 km (35 mi) to the southeast, a hair sample was found in Carroll County. DNA analysis revealed that it was from a female genetically similar to South Dakotacougars. Since then there have been at least eight additional confirmed sightings in the state; all were immediately east of the Tennessee River in Middle Tennessee: initially in Humphreys county and on September 4, 2016, further south in Wayne county.[63]”

WestKentucky said:

...half of a young doe up in the tree. Got real nervous and felt I was being watched...

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Heck of an account, WestKentucky. Similar stories were told to me when I was growing up by my Grandfather, and they always ended with a version of, "You couldn't drive a hatpin up my arse with a 10-pound sledgehammer."

X62503 said:

You couldn't drive a hatpin up my arse with a 10-pound sledgehammer."

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I grew up hearing stories of the screaming cats too. "Made hair crawl" "greased doorknobs". Usually involving a witch wearing a brass brassiere or a woman of ill repute in a house of worship . Up hill both ways. Usually started with "it ain't no lie" or "if I'm lying im dying."

We have an owl that makes a hell of a scream/screech too though. And anyone that had to listen to ciccadias knows a small critter can make a terrible loud noise. I heard exactly 2 such screams. One around 2000 and one shortly after. Maybe a year. Both were on my dads land and there were others with me that also heard it. I have no idea if it was a cat

Another one was scorpions running the old split rail fence. Id never seen one in my life up here in the blue ridge. But then sure enough I seen one in Gatlinburg which is only 100 miles or so. . The woman who ran the cabin service said there were several actually. So i suppose they could have been here. Gets awfully cold though.

I wish I had a quarter for every black panther and mountain lion sighting I've been told about in Ohio. I'd be a rich man! Funny how no one has any trail cam pics for proof. Don't get me started on Bigfoot either! I try not to laugh at people when they tell these tall tales. But its tough sometimes!!

I don't know about Tennessee, but we've got plenty in California.

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/video-mountain-lion-spotted-in-san-bruno/

San Bruno is south of San Francisco and is across a freeway from a large wooded area. Mountain lions are frequently spotted in suburban neighborhoods nearby.

Have heard couple times about Panthers in Mississippi and heard a big cat scream one night camping near Blanchard Springs AR

glockgod said:

Don't get me started on Bigfoot either! I

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We haven't heard anything about Bigfoot in a while, hope he's OK with the Covid and all.

During the short time I lived in CT, there were cougar spottings which were discounted by the state DNR people, until it showed up dead on the Merritt Pkwy in Greenwich.

And a bear made it down to Yonkers in NY, just a couple of miles from the NYC border. So you never know where animals can travel to.

Speedo66 said:

We haven't heard anything about Bigfoot in a while, hope he's OK with the Covid and all.

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They live forever, that’s why no skeletal remains have ever been found.

Bobcats are common everywhere in the southeast, yet they are rarely seen. I saw 2 a couple months ago from my tree stand. My neighbor is a lineman for a power company and he has seen one on an easement. There is (was?) a number of cats called jagarundis from south America that were released in NW Fl many years ago, and many migrated to Al. According to FWC, they have been killed off, but a friend got one on a trail cam a couple years ago. I saw the photo- too small and dark to be a Fl panther, too big and dark to be a bobcat- also it had a tail. Even though they have been "killed off", and no longer exist here, it is illegal to shoot these non existent animals. The endangered Fl Panther is mostly found in S. Fl., and isn't found north of the Naples/Ft Meyers area- the FWC is unwilling to concede the idea that any have made their way north of this boundary.

jmorris said:

They live forever, that’s why no skeletal remains have ever been found.

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Down here its a skunk ape.

Patocazador said:

I'm in Florida not any of the states you mention but a store keeper in the panhandle showed me a photo taken by his nephew of a panther, mountain lion, puma, whatever you want to call it in his nephew's backyard.
The nephew heard something screaming out in back of his house and went out with a spotlight and camera and shot a photo of a panther. It was less than 2 miles from my hunting cabin up there. We already have tons of trouble from bears and I was upset that we may have to deal with panthers too.

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Now, if you believe the FL F&G, there no are big cats outside of the Everglades; yet my wife and I damn near hit one in the Panhandle

George P said:

Now, if you believe the FL F&G, there no are big cats outside of the Everglades; yet my wife and I damn near hit one in the Panhandle

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Right, even though one was killed on I-4 in the Tampa city limits about 10 years ago. Also, a biologist in a WMA 11 miles from my Central Fla. house has a pair of them on a trail cam. Before they turned the Seaboard C.L. tracks through the Green Swamp into a biking trail, the local railroad engineers would see one occasionally at night. This was 25 years ago.

Speedo66 said:

During the short time I lived in CT, there were cougar spottings which were discounted by the state DNR people, until it showed up dead on the Merritt Pkwy in Greenwich.

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........ I have heard of this sort of thing in NY state and other states as well. Seems to me that the state wildlife agencies have a policy of not admitting the presence of something like that until until there is undeniable proof. I can't blame them for that because they do get some far fetched reports that they can't validate easily. Sometimes the first undeniable proof is indeed a road kill. I've heard of trail cam pictures that were discounted when it was found to have been taken somewhere else not even near where the critter allegedly was.

22250Rem said:

........ I have heard of this sort of thing in NY state and other states as well. Seems to me that the state wildlife agencies have a policy of not admitting the presence of something like that until until there is undeniable proof. I can't blame them for that because they do get some far fetched reports that they can't validate easily. Sometimes the first undeniable proof is indeed a road kill. I've heard of trail cam pictures that were discounted when it was found to have been taken somewhere else not even near where the critter allegedly was.

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I think animals can follow parkways and power line rights of way long distances. There was a moose that made its way downstate and was hit by a car on I-684 in Goldens Bridge in Westchester Co. NY 12 years ago.

No reported sightings though, until......surprise! As bad as a deer strike is, I can't imagine a thousand pound moose strike.

https://westchester.news12.com/half-ton-moose-causes-9-car-pileup-on-i-684-34911194