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.