Comments on: Nittany Lions

By: hugesummers

hugesummers — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:53:33 +0000

Yes sir – if I remember correctly, Mr. Coleman recounted the Bald Eagle Mountain (PA) case, and one in early California, to raise the possibility that American cave lions existed into historical times.

By: Troodon56

Troodon56 — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:48:31 +0000

Wait a minute, hugesummers, did you really mean American Cave Lion? As in, Panthera lwo atrox? Because, the last time I checked, Panthera leo atrox had been extinct, since the end of the Pleistocene Epoch. Do you mean that they might possibly still be alive, today? That is very interesting! !

By: Tianne

Tianne — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:56:22 +0000

THANK YOU for your comments in defense of children everywhere. If it always came out into the open, and there were no secrets, Child abuse would be almost non-existent. Instead, some researchers estimate that as many as a third of children in the US have suffered some form of abuse, and as many as 1 in 6 women are raped at some point in their lives. These are not single events… abuse has lifelong effects on survivors. Kudos to you and to each person who chooses NOT to ignore abuse they see or are told about. Some people may feel uncomfortable at the time reporting something a child has said, but if they save one child from lifelong suffering (or death), they have made the world a better place.

The story of the Nittany Lions’ history is interesting, and I do believe mountain lions still roam the northeast. My neighbor in Western Maine maintains a large tree farm and has seen and heard a lion deep in the woods there several times. In this age of people carrying cell phones, I’m reasonably certain we’ll get photographic proof before long.

By: hugesummers

hugesummers — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:22:44 +0000

Whoops! I meant to write “American cave lion”.

By: hugesummers

hugesummers — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:20:44 +0000

Loren,
I graduated PSU in 1987; I grew up just a few miles from Nittany Mountain (Houserville) and my family on both sides has been in that valley since the late 1780s.
My grandfather, Steward Musser, was born a few miles away (Aaronsburg) in 1901. When I was a boy in the early 1970s I read a book about Bigfoot and I asked him “Pappy, did you ever see anything unexplained in the woods growing up?” I was beside myself with anticipation, hoping that he might have seen something prehistoric, but then he said “I was walking back to the house one evening at dusk when I was a boy, and all of a sudden I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw a mountain lion on our big fence staring at me, and I ran into the house as fast as I could and didn’t look behind til I slammed the door. When I looked out the window he was gone.” At the time, I had no idea that mountain lions were supposed to have been extinct in PA by the late 1800s.
About 25 miles from Aaronsburg (and about 40 miles from Penn State) is Bald Eagle Mountain. In one of your books you mentioned the “Indian fighter” (was his name Shoemaker? I’m drawing a blank at the moment) who possibly killed an African cave lion and its mate there back in the 1780s/1790s. When spring comes I’ll try to get up that way and see if the cave that Shoemaker crawled into is still there.

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:39:29 +0000

See William Ames' famed photograph of Nittany Mountain, here.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:33:14 +0000

It has been said by those who observe it regularly, and having seen it on numerous occasions myself I would agree, that the outline of Nittany Mountain resembles somewhat a crouched feline, such as a mountain lion. I suppose it also resembes a crouched dachshund, or a naked lady under a blanket, neither of which would be as acceptible as a team mascot, however. cheers.