In Longview…. ?!??

I don't know the full story. My wife sent me this. Definitely a Longview police cruiser. I have worked in Longview for 16 years and , not surprisingly, never seen a lion around !

This was the lion recently spotted a couple times in Plano

Dang I was just there Monday. Really makes you think.

They are around in East Texas. Just not super common and even harder to spot.

Ducks4brkfast said:

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This was the lion recently spotted a couple times in Plano

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You mean the one on the cam in the backyard in Frisco? Longview is like 150 miles from there. I think it's more likely this is just an East Texas lion.

I saw one in between cat spring and sealy a few months back.

We had one near Millersview/Dule area years back our warden told us about. Old, old girl that was living off roadkill. Her teeth were worn down, couldn't really hunt anymore, etc. Finally got popped by a car as well.

Poor kitty

cupofjoe04 said:

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Ducks4brkfast said:

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This was the lion recently spotted a couple times in Plano

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You mean the one on the cam in the backyard in Frisco? Longview is like 150 miles from there. I think it's more likely this is just an East Texas lion.

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I'm just reiterating what TPWD biologists believe it to be.

cupofjoe04 said:

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Ducks4brkfast said:

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This was the lion recently spotted a couple times in Plano

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You mean the one on the cam in the backyard in Frisco? Longview is like 150 miles from there. I think it's more likely this is just an East Texas lion.

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they can travel a long, long way.

AustinCountyAg said:

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I saw one in between cat spring and sealy a few months back.

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Really? I've heard rumors of them near our place in Austin county but I always just shrugged it off as nonsense. I've seen bobcats on trailcam, however.

This. Bill Rush, a TPWD biologist working on a west Texas lion project about 30 years ago said male lions would travel 150 -200 miles ranging for a female.

Gunny456 said:

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This. Bill Rush, a TPWD biologist working on a west Texas lion project about 30 years ago said male lions would travel 150 -200 miles ranging for a female.

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Same.

Mountain Lions traveling that distance is not very surprising.

We had them on the preserve I worked at in West Austin.

Ogre09 said:

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Gunny456 said:

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This. Bill Rush, a TPWD biologist working on a west Texas lion project about 30 years ago said male lions would travel 150 -200 miles ranging for a female.

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Same.

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BEast Texas

They travel really long ways. One of the dakotas lions was killed in Connecticut. Imagine trying to convince people you killed a mountain lion a stones throw from NYC and Boston.

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/uk/mountain-lion-killed-in-connecticut-prowled-east-from-s-dakota-idUSTRE76Q5ZE/

I remember that. I think it was the first confirmed cat E of the MS in a really long time

Pretty wild an animal that travels that far is one not seen that often. I realize this particular one *allegedly* got caught on camera and hit by a police car, but generally speaking it's pretty rare to see one.

I was in Longview today. It was on Loop 281 near the middle school.

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I remember that. I think it was the first confirmed cat E of the MS in a really long time

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Is that considered bootlegging? Was it done in 28 hours?

Ducks4brkfast said:

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cupofjoe04 said:

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Ducks4brkfast said:

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This was the lion recently spotted a couple times in Plano

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You mean the one on the cam in the backyard in Frisco? Longview is like 150 miles from there. I think it's more likely this is just an East Texas lion.

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I'm just reiterating what TPWD biologists believe it to be.

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Interesting. In hadn't seen any definitive claim like that from TPWD.

No doubt they can travel that far. Certainly not debating that. Im just saying I would hope there is more evidence than simply a lion can travel 150-200 miles, and there was one spotted 150 miles away a few weeks ago- so it must be the same one.

Perhaps there were other reasons they made this speculation. I would be interested to read any findings.

Htownag11 said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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I saw one in between cat spring and sealy a few months back.

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Really? I've heard rumors of them near our place in Austin county but I always just shrugged it off as nonsense. I've seen bobcats on trailcam, however.

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really. Could not believe it when I saw it. It was about the size of the one in the OP

There has been a "confirmed" sighting in Colorado County but I don't put a lot of faith in those. I would not think that's a hotbed where you saw one but don't dispute what you saw. Only matter of time before the Katy FB group starts freaking out lol

I was at a customer's home Friday morning before last, near Douglass. Elderly man told me a couple of relatives were on a stand west of Lake Nacogdoches. 3-4 miles from where we were. They were texting to him while I was there that a cougar/mtn lion had just walked into a clearing and then back into the brush.

I have acreage near the lake and was told by a neighbor that he had seen a big cat on my property a dozen or so years ago. I told him he was full of it. I realize now that I may have been mistaken.

To be fair, I have heard people swear they saw a big black cat that doesn't exist (genetically and mathematically almost impossible). I have seen people tell me they have an ocelot and Lynx on camera (it was a bobcat) and I have seen tracks from a mountain lion that were likely from a lab or other big dog. The majority of these stories go the other way…

I'm not a wildlife biologist or big cat expert but something seems weird about this. I'm not familiar with east Texas having really never even been there. I'm pretty familiar with areas around Houston and have this question. Where would a wild big cat live and conceal itself in areas with ranchettes and small properties? I grew up on the road into Big Bend NP and have hardly ever heard of sightings. Might something like this have escaped from a breeder or "collector"?

Highly doubt it's an escapee.

I lived in a fairly remote area of Colorado for 7 years, with a high lion density. I spent more time in the mountains than 75% of people there. Had them consistently in my neighborhood, stalking deer behind our back fence, even tracks in the front yard. In 7 years, I heard them only a few times, and saw only 1 (and that was because he wanted me to see him). A biologist told me that probably 1/2 the time you go into the woods there, you are seen by a lion. But most people could hike their whole lives and never see one. I believe it. They are just that elusive.

We had one roaming around super densely populated neighborhoods in Frisco recently- confirmed with video. But, even with all the ring cams, porch cams, and people out at all hours- there were only a few sightings, and 1-2 actually pictures.

Lions are just that elusive. Unless you are running dogs for them- you are dang lucky to ever see one.

I have a friend in the Alpine area whose dad trapped cats for a long time. The friend did the same but was primarily an international guide. He told us they put a tracker on a mountain lion and released it in the panhandle of Florida. It made it to the middle of south Florida and then back up to the panhandle. The tracker quit working but no one ever reported seeing it.Not sure how far that was but seems like a long way to me.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/09/mountain-lion-makes-epic-trip-canada-montana/77055980/

Quote:

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A young mountain lion traveled 450 miles from southeastern British Columbia to the Helena Valley in Montana in a journey that's not unprecedented but still rare, especially for a female cat, wildlife biologists say.

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I also recall a few years ago, a mountain lion came out of Colorado, and traveled up and down the Canadian River valley in the Panhandle.

CanyonAg77 said:

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/09/mountain-lion-makes-epic-trip-canada-montana/77055980/

Quote:

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A young mountain lion traveled 450 miles from southeastern British Columbia to the Helena Valley in Montana in a journey that's not unprecedented but still rare, especially for a female cat, wildlife biologists say.

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I also recall a few years ago, a mountain lion came out of Colorado, and traveled up and down the Canadian River valley in the Panhandle.

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Cougar Travels 1,000 Miles East in One of the Longest Recorded Treks


I remember a meateater or bear grease podcast where they discussed a mountain lion traveling way, way down the Mississippi River.

I've only seen one in the wild. A juvenile in the panhandle (Canadian, TX) when I was doing my TPWD internship. Evening, I was driving and saw it crossing the road 50 ft ahead.

Got to play with one at one of the zoos I worked at (it was declawed, and had its teeth filed down - it had been illegally kept as a pet, and the zoo found it after the people had let it go, and it had been hit by a car). She was only about 80 lbs, but very strong.

What's throwing me for a loop is the going line of "if you have a lion outside of trans pecos or western hill country, it's likely a wandering male going to a new range.

This is a female, deep in the Piney Woods.

If only it had gone to near the dam or above the bridge at lake Cherokee, it could have had a pretty wide area full of food, water, and cover.

we supposedly had one in whitehouse last year. didnt ever hear of any confirmed sightings, but i hunted for him a couple times

Yes sir. 29 years living at our ranch in the HC. Every year doing three spot light counts, helicopter census, and in the pasture at night and daytime and I saw one…. and that was but for a fleeting moment crossing our main road.