Thread: a short hike the other day ..

Originally Posted by gooser

in the small town I live in we were on average 43 deer-car incidents a couple years ago , and most city's now allow bowhunting in city limits as well as a few cities hiring companies to come in and kill a certain amount so there is no lack of food source ..lol , we had a disease 2 yrs ago that wiped out a good number in certain areas but the numbers are way back up already .. between them and the turkeys the menu is plentiful ..

apparently the red wolf is starting to breed with coyotes and working there way north from the southern states ...

Yup, they resorted to a bow hunt within the city limits here too. Unfortunately as the deer move in the moose move out and some moose die from the brain worm parasite picked up from the deer. A growing deer population also bring increasing wolf numbers which are also no good for the moose. If you have ever seen vids of a moose dying from brain worm it ain't pretty.

Bob

Originally Posted by gooser

3 years ago the state game warden said IF there is one in OH it is a pet that got loose .. uumm ?? ya ok !!!! I know in southern OH they have been seeing more and more the last couple years !! the bears and bobcats are popping up all over OH now sow why not a little ol kitty cat ??

My family still owns land in Lancaster and Adelphi (south of circleville). People are always claiming to see things. I guess bears are becoming more common farther south. Don't know how much truth their is but hey... its possible.

Along the lines of wildlife in places you don't think about...
The only human death by bear attack in the U.S. in 2014 was in New Jersey...
Also the first recorded death by bear in New Jersey...

Student snapped final photo before bear attack in New Jersey | Fox News

Reminds me of that old one about the two friends hiking out in the wilderness. They heard a mountain lion growling and the one guy immediately sits down and takes off his hiking boots, pulls running shoes out of his backpack ........ his friend says, "Do you really think you can outrun a mountain lion ?"

"No ........ I don't have to outrun a mountain lion ......... I just have to outrun you !"

Originally Posted by Redcane

My family still owns land in Lancaster and Adelphi (south of circleville). People are always claiming to see things. I guess bears are becoming more common farther south. Don't know how much truth their is but hey... its possible.

we have had one den pretty much where I was at for the last 3 years ( don't know about this last winter) it shut down the roads as it ran through town last spring .. the DNR set up trail cameras in the cave and at the entrance to monitor the situation , they tried to keep it on the down low but we all know how that goes ..lol

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Reminds me of that old one about the two friends hiking out in the wilderness. They heard a mountain lion growling and the one guy immediately sits down and takes off his hiking boots, pulls running shoes out of his backpack ........ his friend says, "Do you really think you can outrun a mountain lion ?"

"No ........ I don't have to outrun a mountain lion ......... I just have to outrun you !"

good point !! so I need to start hiking with people I know I can out run ..lol..

I did a google search on tracks and came up with so many images it was nuts , e verything from house cats , fox , coyotes , and bear that I knew were not Mt Lion ..lol

some facts.

https://youtu.be/feavfdrhBwc


Very interesting tracking.

https://youtu.be/72-yMcwVq94

so on the trapping forum some say cougar/lion , but most agree that these are from a large Tom Bobcat do to the spacing and as far as width of track they seem to think a 5" minimum on a lion with the one's i have posted to be real close but not big enough but no for sure .. i do know there also have been some bobcat sightings over the years .. who knows but either way considering there is about 800 acres in this area surrounded by well populated areas either guess is pretty rare to come across and pretty cool .. i can now see myself spending all summer looking for the critter as well as more sign to get some measurements ..lol..

After watching the vid I would still say lion and female at that. I also noticed that the lion/cougar/panther range is no where near Ohio so unless you see one who knows , could be bobcat.
As far as bobcats go I have seen them get very big. I used to live on National forest boundary and had a Mother bobcat come down with kitties every year and hang around the property. They would stay for a few weeks and then head back up. Probably to teach the little guys how to get rabbits and squirrels which there were an abundance of around the house. Never seen a picture of one that made them look about 25" tall at the shoulders so I was a little dumbfounded when I first saw these. They were very dark too, not like the ones I seen in the desert.