Thursday, July 24, 2008
Another near-miss mountain lion sighting
Bill Cochran
Recent mail
BILL: I am curious if you have heard of anyone hearing or seeing a large cat(s) on McAfee Knob, on the Appalachian Trail in Roanoke County? Friends of mine thought they heard a cat-like sound two months ago up here and said they could see something in the bushes that appeared to be following behind them. Their group had young children and didn’t want to scare them, so they didn’t investigate. I told them I didn’t think we had large cats in this area, but wasn’t sure.
Well, this past Friday night I talked my husband into taking a near full moon hike with me up to the knob and we started on the trail about 6:45 p.m. or so. We encountered a black bear in the opening where the electric lines run. That was quite exciting. We didn’t bother it and it didn’t bother us.
We continued on up and were able to see the sun set and then went to the other side to see the moon rise. As we were watching the moon, an amazing sight, I went to reach for my binoculars and out of the corner of my eye I saw something rustling the bushes and then I heard and saw something charge in the bushes. It then made a growling noise and sounded like it caught something.
Neil, my husband, unfortunately didn’t hear it the first time, but definitely heard the second charge. It still was not completely dark, so I know it was not a deer and I’ve never seen a deer charge. I quickly found the camera and was able to use the flash to try to scare whatever it was. Nothing came out in the picture.
Neil picked up his hiking stick and went to the bushes and started hitting them and heard whatever it was go into the woods. By then I had had enough excitement and we quickly made our way down. Neil had a pretty bright headlamp for use on the way down and we did see raccoons and skunks in the woods and even a rabbit, but thankfully nothing else.
So, as I questioned before, do you think there could be a large cat(s) up there? I don’t want to be frightened. I know most of us have uneventful hikes up there, but I just feel like now I have to be cautions.
GRETCHEN DORSEY
GRETCHEN: I live along the Appalachian Trail not far from McAfee Knob, so I am familiar with the area. Seeing a bear always is a thrill, but it is not that uncommon in this area. We saw one at the edge of our yard about three weeks ago.
As for mountain lions, there have been no documented sightings that I am aware of, but that doesn’t keep a growing number people from believing they are present. I don’t happen to be one of those people.
I see no reason to be frightened over the possibility of a mountain lion or bear along the Appalachian Trail or in other wild areas of Virginia. Fact is, I would love to see a big cat, because that would end my long-held skepticism.
BILL
