Appalachia Mountain Lion By: Travis Travillian (Pro Staff at Kentucky Outdoors Shop) 9/27/2015
In December of 2014 Kentucky Fish and Game Officer’s were dispatched to a “Large Cat” in Eastern Kentucky. When the Officer arrived he met with the concerned Kentucky citizen woman and she told him that she was out walking her dog when the mountain lion was spotted. Her dog became irate and barking and growling. The woman returned home getting her dog back into the kennel and proceeded to call 911. The officer retrieved his patrol rifle and asked the woman to take him to the location where she last seen the mountain lion using her dog for tracking it back down. The dog reportedly found the mountain lion in the top of a tree, after the Officer caught up to the dog and verified that this was a public safety concern he didn’t have time or the equipment to tranquilize it as it was turning dark out. Officer had to shot and kill the lion. As soon as his partner showed up to the scene they removed the lion and loaded it up into a patrol vehicle and took it to get a DNA analysts report done, sending the lion to Frankfort, Ky. After the test it was determined that the lion came from South Dakot a and
a Wild Animal. Officials first suspected the lion to be an escaped or released pet before the test results were completed. The state of Kentucky reportedly has not had or seen a mountain lion since the 1800’s. I have heard stories of mountain lions roaming in Kentucky from family and friends telling me they’ve been chased or they could hear a woman screaming at the bottom of the cliff. These were just stories but I believe they had some truth to them. I’ve had my own experiences being out in the woods hearing very loud growling sounds that would make the hair on my neck stand up. I didn’t go and investigate what the sounds were being alone, I just packed up a headed out. Nobody really knows what’s out in our woods; it would take a lot of money and a lot of people and time to just record it. What’s logged in the data books are controlled and a big abundance of animals. Unlike that mountain lion that travelled from South Dakota unseen, undetected for who knows how long. I wouldn’t be surprised that we don’t start seeing more of them soon.