“There are too many sightings by people that I consider reliable,” he says. “I’m convinced the cats are here.” On the large state map on which he plots sightings, more than 80 pins form curves and clusters in the Blue Ridge and Appalachians. To protect the animals, Linzey will not divulge exact locations. To increase his chances of getting “good, fresh information that I can follow up on,” he is also willing to protect his sources.
Because the Eastern cougar is listed by the federal government as an endangered species, harming the animal is illegal. An unscrupulous trophy hunter would, therefore, hardly brag about his unusual kill. Rumors of hunters shooting big cats do float around, and are as difficult to pin down as the cat itself.
Irrefutable proof that lions still exist could mean significant changes in the operating practices of the seven national forests that cover much of the southern Appalachians. Cougars need large expanses of undisturbed land, so timber cutting and road building would have to come under scrutiny, as would the practice of hunting with dogs. Expensive and time-consuming research programs as well as campaigns to educate the public about the animal would have to be mounted. From a bureaucratic point of view, labeling the Eastern cougar as regionally extinct is undoubtedly the easiest course to follow.
But it's one that a growing number of people refuse to accept. There are many who want the cougar to be out there in the Blue Ridge, wild and free, playing its rightful part in the drama of the natural world. And if the Eastern cougar can't be found, if fearful ignorance has truly driven it out, perhaps the time may come when society decides to restore the panther to the mountains where it belongs.
The mountain lion is a lean lithe animal. Males average about 130 pounds and measure seven to eight feet from nose to tip of tail; females are smaller. Coloration among the various subspecies ranges from rufous-red to slate-grey. Black panthers are often reported, but none has ever been verified in North America.
Cougars are extremely shy and solitary creatures. Mothers find secluded caves or thickets in which to give birth to one or two kittens, who are born spotted and blind. Kittens stay with their mother for a year or two, and during this time the spots fade. Then the young animals leave to live on their own, and this early period is the most dangerous. They don't hunt well yet, and aren't wised up to the dangers of the world-roads, rifles, dogs. If they survive, and can find a spot of mountain unclaimed by another cat, they settle down to constant nomadic wanderings over a set area.
Average home ranges are 50 to 100 square miles for males in the relatively rich forests of Idaho, and 250 square miles or more in the swampy Everglades. Females use less, and their ranges sometimes overlap with males and other females.
Mountain lions are famous for their agility and strength. They do not chase prey, but stalk and spring like a house cat. They prefer deer, which has angered human hunters who want the deer for themselves. But research shows that cougars rarely keep deer numbers down, and are not a serious competitor. Neither are they serious pests of livestock. In addition to deer, lions also eat raccoons, rabbits, skunks, mice, coyotes, birds and various other small animals.
As wildlife research on mountain lions has increased understanding of the animal's habits, appreciation of the beauty and power has grown. Once called a varmint, the mountain lion is now called magnificent.
By any name, the creature was feared, more for its stealthy, solitary, inscrutable ways than for any real danger that it posed. Blue Ridge folklore abounds with stories of panthers striding up on porches and padding around, looking to get in. Or following somebody through the woods, as if planning an attack. There are stories of panthers stealing babies and jumping on mounted riders from trees. The animal was perceived as a ravening, threatening beast, and that's where folklore departs from reality.
Humans are not a natural prey for cougars. Attacks are extremely rare, and the creditable historical reports of attacks by Eastern panthers can be counted on one hand. Research out West on mountain lions with radio collars has revealed that lions are tremendously shy of humans and are rarely seen. Cougars also cause only small livestock losses under very particular circumstances. But this new understanding comes too late for the Eastern mountain lion, which after centuries of brutal harassment, compounded by destruction of forests and deer throughout the 19th century, is widely thought to be extinct.
Today, if our native lion survives anywhere in the Eastern United States, it's most likely to be in the wild, wooded ridges and steep, rich valleys of the Blue Ridge.
Whether any Eastern lions remain outside of Florida has become a passionate controversy among wildlife experts and amateurs alike. Most biologists believe that if panthers existed, one would inevitably be killed by a car, or treed by dogs, or shot. Or at the least, unmistakable tracks or other signs of the animal's presence would be documented. But even after intensive field research sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, no conclusive evidence of native, wild lions has been found.
Surprising numbers of cougars are kept as pets throughout the East, and most experts believe that the occasional pawprint that fits the cougar's description is probably made by animals released by irresponsible owners. There are also numerous roadside zoos from which animals periodically escape. Of the hundreds of cougar sightings reported every year, those freed or escaped animals account for the tiny percentage of creditable reports. So the mainstream thinking goes.
Chris Bolgiano is a Virginia writer who has traveled in search of cougars.
Note: These archival articles are presented exactly as they appeared at the time of the issue in which they appeared. As such, all quotes, as well as references to temporal facts, artifacts and other items are contemporaneous to the date of original publication.