Comments on: Lima Lion Lurking

By: Matt_J

Matt_J — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:39:15 +0000

In the midwest, panther often = puma = cougar.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:01:27 +0000

Well,personally I’d like a little more information on the appearance of the cat, something more than “big cat”, before trying to take any sot of stand on what it could be. Maybe puma, maybe something more exotic, but it is hard to make that call with so little to go on here with regards to what it actually looks or behaves like. The description given of a large cat that chases deer pretty much describes every big cat there is. Also, I am curious as to why eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a “panther”. I wonder if there was anything to make them think that it was a panther rather than a cougar.

By: Spinach Village

Spinach Village — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:25:57 +0000

Yes kittens, but also keep in mind, that every state surrounding Ohio has reported Cougar sightings, not to mention the officially documented wanderers that seem to have been traveling back east from the rockies for what is at least a few years now.

The whitetail deer population is booming in states such as Ohio.

Thats enough incentive to stay for a while. So the question may be this:

If Cougars are traveling back east looking for there own territory (and keep in mind they need a lot of territory). Then at what point would or should we anticipate breeding populations in the Midwest or East Coast? And that’s if breeding populations aren’t established yet.

And thats not taking into account some researchers contentions that the Eastern cougar was never fully extirpated.

As far as exotic cats go, it seems that there are indeed many thousands of big cats in the us as pets. Floods, tornadoes etc. happen (unfortunately). Escaped exotics and released exotics could be possible for for some sightings too.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:01:36 +0000

Puma - maybe.

But Ohio has some of the most lenient laws in the nation regarding exotic pets and there are literally thousands of captive big cats there. So could be an escapee.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:14:53 +0000

Looks indeed like we may have cougar sightings in Lima. Cool.

Or “panther” sightings. Hope more appear.

By: Spinach Village

Spinach Village — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:17:11 +0000

Wow, seems like these could be a cougar related sightings in Ohio. That part of Ohio is not far from the Indiana border nor the ‘Michigan’ border.

The Michigan DNR even conceded that there have been confirmed cougar sightings there. Last time I heard, the politics were based on whether or not there were ‘breeding’ populations and whether or not they were fully extirpated in the first place as the state claims.