During his more than 30 years of work for DGIF, he was only called for a mountain lion sighting in the area. About 30 years ago, around Christmas, he received a call informing him that a mountain lion had been spotted in caves. He imagines calls from parents who are too afraid to send their children to the bus stop, knowing that there is a mountain lion a few kilometers from the area. He thought it was just another false identity call, but in fact, he was facing a legitimate mountain lion on a family`s porch. A photo of a mountain lion has been circulating on social media for more than a year, claiming that people have seen mountain lions in the state, and officials cite gadgets to the post. In reality, the mountain lion had escaped from a nearby property, where it was being held captive with three other mountain lions. Fies said the man who had them had all the right permits and that the state sees a small number of those cases where people have safari adventure theme parks or other businesses involving large animals. The species can adapt to different habitats – from mountains to forests to swamps. Peterson said he understands the excitement surrounding the idea of crossing with a mountain lion, but almost all of the photos and videos he receives aren`t what they seem. All hunters or trappers who kill a bobcats must report the killing within 24 hours through the ministry`s electronic crop reporting system. Bobcats can be reported with a touch-tone phone (a rotary phone will not work) by calling the toll-free number 866-GOT-GAME (468-4263). Bobcat can also be reported via the mobile app or the web.

Successful hunters and trappers can go to Go Outdoors Virginia and click on “Harvest Reporting”. When Dr. Michelle LaRue began her studies in 2005, the state of Nebraska had virtually no mountain lions. Now, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission estimates that the population has reached at least a few dozen. Marchibroda had no illusions that she could catch or interact with the mountain lion she had seen during her migration. But she was familiar (and troubled by) the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Resource`s recent decision to declare Eastern cougars extinct, and she knew that if she wasn`t able to provide physical evidence like a photograph, she`d have a hard time convincing a wildlife expert of what she was seeing. “The likelihood of seeing one is incredibly rare, let alone interacting with them,” she said. “I have friends in Wyoming and Montana, where mountain lions have always been. They hike in the Rockies all the time and people still don`t see them very often. What a new mountain lion population would mean for local residents is crucial for education.

According to the National Zoo, the puma, also known as the mountain lion, puma or in Florida the Florida panther, originally extended from northern Canada to the southern tip of South America. By 1900, hunting in North America had restricted mountain lions to their present range in southwestern Canada, the wilderness of the western United States, southern Florida, and remote areas of Mexico. They are still found in parts of Central and South America. The cougar can kill and pull prey up to seven times its own weight, the national zoo said. “I saw a mountain lion, and that`s the way it is,” said Marchibroda, a 60-year-old dentist who lives in Afton, Virginia. “It was great, probably one of the most exciting experiences of my life, and I feel very happy.” So these sightings have been confirmed, and there is actually at least one mountain lion wandering around Tennessee. So what? If you plan to take the bobcat to a taxidermist, you must attach written documents to the carcass, which include the full name of the hunter or trapper, the date of killing and the harvest confirmation number. “Mountain lions existed throughout the country at the time of European colonization, but were thought to have been exterminated by the state in the 1880s,” according to a DGIF blog.

According to Handley and Patton`s Wild Mammals of Virginia, published in 1947, the last mountain lion in Virginia was killed in Washington County in 1882. They further stated that sightings “reported” in the early 20th century “must be viewed with great skepticism.” The photos are difficult to confirm, Peterson said — the process involves sending wildlife experts to the exact spot where the cat would have been seen to take another photo to compare it to the original and verify the location. You then need to make sure the image hasn`t been tampered with in any way, as Peterson said a staggering number of people — both misinformed wildlife enthusiasts and scammers with too much time and access to Photoshop — send him photos of mountain lions that were clearly edited or taken in a Western state.