Comments on: Big Cats in New York State

By: Donna

Donna — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:08:58 +0000

June 10, 2011 … A couple hours ago I left my home in Birdsall, NY to go do some grocery shopping. As I was driving down County Rd 15A I saw an animal crossing the road in front of me. Upon getting closer I could clearly see it was a feline of some sort. Tawny brown in color .. very long tail. It got to the woods just as I came up even with it. I immediately pulled my car over and shut it off. Two or three minutes later this cat poked its head back out but was spooked by me and went back in the woods. I looked up “mountain lion” on Google and that is exactly what I saw. Sooooooo … to all the DEC people who say they aren’t here … I say … YES THEY ARE!!!!!! I am still amazed!

By: therikers3

therikers3 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:53:28 +0000

My parents live around the corner from the State Park in Rockland County NY. They have seen the same large black cat in their backyard three times now. Not a bobcat or dog according to them. My dad got some pictures of it but it didn’t come out at all. They aren’t really scared or concerned because it just passes through and leaves them alone. I read on one website that they may be animals that were bought as pets and then let go or escaped. They are illegal to own I believe so that’s why it would go unreported.

By: CCOPI

CCOPI — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:30:52 +0000

I live Forestville NY. I have not seen one but on of my trail cam cought a picture of something that looks like a large black cat. I’m not saying that its a cat or it could be a dog for I know. To see the http://www.ccopi.com/unknownpic.html” rel=”nofollow”>pic

By: Maureen

Maureen — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:57:08 +0000

I just got off the phone with my Dad who lives in Oneida County New York. He said that for 2 days he could hear a “Puma” in the woods (he did not see it but, could hear the loud lion type roar that they have).

He also was speaking with a lady from Sauquoit New York, and she said that she saw one on her property.

By: whorse

whorse — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:10:46 +0000

i was driving on I-84, in Dutchess county, when i saw 2 black animals off the side of the side of road. one was obviously the parent, and one a baby. they were playing like a mother cat with a kitten, and had that very distinctive tail movement that only cats have. i would have thought the were just regular cats if it wasnt for the fact that they were so huge, and pure black.

luckily, i wasnt alone. my dad was in the passenger seat, and we both saw them, and both exclaimed out loud, “what the heck are those?!”. we then decided that they could have only been big cats. how else could we both have made out the details of 2 prone animals, 100ft off the road, in brush, while traveling 65mph?

this was about 5 years ago, and every time i pass that spot, which is almost every day, i think about my big cat sighting.

By: leenie

leenie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:42:26 +0000

mstauth……..Your area “Corning, NY is just a skip on the rd from where I saw the 3 BC’s tog in a field across from my house; back in the 1970’s, on East Hill that overlooks Elmira,NY “Chemung Co.”

By: jasminethehut

jasminethehut — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:50:02 +0000

When my mother was in her late teens, she and her brothers and a group of friends were walking through the woods and at a distance they saw what they call a large “black panther” laying on a large tree branch up in the tree. This was in Cicero, a suburb of Syracuse, about 30 years ago. Throughout the next couple of months, other people around the neighborhood claimed to have seen it too. Since then the area has been developed… >:[ … And thats pretty much it. I asked her a million times is she SURE it was a big cat, and she swears on her life it was a black panther.

By: mstauth

mstauth — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:09:25 +0000

There have been large cats in NYS for years. They keep to themselves mostly. I saw one in the 70’s sunning itself in a clearing but somewhat hidden by a fallen tree. It startled me and I startled it and we both turned and headed in opposite directions. This was in Corning NY, Steuben county. A long way from the Adirondacks. It was a tan color, short hair. Maybe a mountain lion but seemed smaller. Many other animals frequent peoples yards for free food but the cats do not. I have seen bears, tons of deer of course, turkey, raccoons, woodchucks, turkey, geese, ducks, and probably many others I am forgetting. By the way, I don’t believe 99% of the stories on this web site. I’m more of a skeptic that a pseudo-science believer.

By: desimone

desimone — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:08:43 +0000

My brother was driving on Rt 351 in Poestenkill NY (Rensselaer County) on 1/08/08 at 8:30 pm when he saw a mountain lion on the side of the road. He drove by very slowly and it crouched down. There was no doubt that it could be any other animal, my brother knows what a mountain lion looks like and he drove by it at about 5 mph so he got a good long look at it. His boss who lives in Ravena NY (Albany County) has a small farm with a few cows and he says he saw a mountain lion on his land on two different occasions in 2006. They are definitely in NY!

By: everlast

everlast — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:17:31 +0000

I was driving home from work one night about a year ago from Manlius, NY on my way to Dewitt on route 92 and what I thought at first was a dog crossed the road in front of my car. As I got closer I noticed it’s log swooping tail and how it moved like a cat, not like a dog. I noticed how you could see it’s shoulder blades move as it walked as you would a cat. It appeared to be black, but it was dark so I can’t say for sure what color it was but this was no dog and too large to be a house cat. My first thought was that it was a bob cat because it wasn’t as large as other wild cats but I don’t think there have ever been bob cats in this area in history so maybe it was just a young mountain lion. I know this sounds crazy but I know what I saw.