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2 Cougars In Pictou

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26K views 162 replies 38 participants last post by  KPR  
#1 ·
normally i wouldn't say anything but this is the most ligitimate info i've heard on this. i've had countless people in my native cape breton recount stories of cougars but this is much more concrete. today, outside the nursing home in pictou, nova scotia, 2 cougars were spotted by the staff. my wife was there but didn't get a look at them. natural resources were called and of course told them they were crazy and that they had seen a dog or bear but a couple of guys came out anyway. the two natural resources guys confirmed to the staff members standing there, one being my wife that there were 2 cougars right down the hill and advised them to keep all residents inside and that they didn't know what to do beyond that because there is no protocol for such a thing because they don't exist. i've been told there were pictures taken.

i'm not trying to add to rumours of shadowy cat like creatures slinking around that people think they might or might not have saw. this seems like a ligit thing and i can't see how anyone could deny it when 2 DNR guys stood there and said, huh, would you look at that! just thought some might find this interesting.
 
#10 ·
It's simple no one would believe it and if you tell them where you seen it someone would go out and try to kill it.
For me I don't care what they say I know what my brother in law and I seen about 15 years ago bow hunting in richmond county as did others for a short period of time.
Remember there are no wolves in NB either
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#13 ·
Cougars are stealthy by nature as it is or would be the apex predator in your area,and the highlands no doubt could hide a cougar very well. as i ve said many times it is possible and hard to refute the stories i ve heard from reputable outdoorsmen around here,but what happens everytime i bring this up seems,is that they all have seen one????I am over 50 yrs old and have spent a fare bit of time behind hounds and in the field and have never saw anything that coulda been construed as a cougar track,but having said that I have an open mind on this,and for your sake and ours for the deer herds hope we don t have them.You have Lynx in the highlands but they re not seen much either ,does anybody know what they re numbers could be?
 
#15 ·
Ha ha, I think I seen the same thing last time I was in NG
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definitely the 2 legged and mini skirt type though
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... but seriously now, 2 yrs in a row, in one of my haunts, 2 pairs of tracks... and it's not the first time I seen a "real" cougar track myself by the way... one very tell tail sign is a swoop made in the snow from there tail as it hangs.. between tracks as they walk.. (a "bob" cat can't put that off.. lol, the tracks were a bit larger than the plam of my hand).. ask anyone out west that has seen the tracks in about 1 to 2 feet snow and they will tell u that is very true... I'd put a camera there, but there are too many damn thieves running through that area to leave something like that out.. I definitely would do it.. if they would leave the camera alone.. they travelled the same route 2 yrs in a row so chances are good I would eventually get some pics...
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
Trail cams. How many are set up in the highlands in the remote areas?? Ok do we have cam pics of the wild turkey, white moose or white coyote that are here nope except the white moose has been photographed in the last year but was hushed up for years prior for the same reason those that seen a cougar don't come forward. One they are called BSer's and if they indicate where seen idiots down here would hunt it down and kill it.Like I said earlier up until a few months ago no wolves either in NB until one was shot. Now NB has wolves. Well I have seen the turkey a few times and one cougar face to face in my 40 years of roaming CB but never seen the known animals like a lynx, pine martin and only two bobcats alive other than when trapping them. My eyes were even good when I seen the cougar plus had a BIL right next to me, others had seen it also around that time and in the same general area. We only think we know what is right under our noses but really don't.
Humm these people are about 2 miles from where we seen the cat, guess they are nuts also.
http://www.capebreto...in-large-cats/1
Take care
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Over the years I have heard numerous stories of sightings, years ago four creditable people in Clarence Annapolis Co. had witness a cougar and then later on same Mountain Range two creditale hounds men came across two cougars travelling two together, two sets of tracks and had Gail Rogers from Oat Lawn Zoo come exaimine the tracks and her opinion they were cougar tracks. I know from Shelburn, Greywood, Clarence, Mount Hanley, Berwick Mt. and Cape Breton Park, there has been creditable people that have seen a large cat with a long tail and one guy was a DNR rep. In the last few days there was a inquirey if I know hounds men that can run a cat. But all the years of cat hunting and trapping I or my cousin have never seen a cougar track and one week put a 1000 km on a ski-doo in Keggi, & West Dalhousie area. One guy claimed he took 30 some pic's of the one seen in Mount Hanley area and had called DNR and had a rep. come out but I never seen the pic's Hum ! is there a big cat out there ?
 
#26 ·
Nice pic 3macs.. same thing happened to a guy here. he took pics of it on the main road, maybe 7km from were I had seen the sets of tracks.. took the pics to DNR, and they just laughed.... asked him how his trip out west was.... the real funny part, if I remember right.. the very identifiable road sign and bridge in the background... dumba**es.. people look at a guy like he is looney tunes for saying they saw cougars/sign, but most of the locals believe they run the woods around here, you here of a couple sightings every year.... Don't worry about shooting one for proof.. they definitely would be all too willing to listen to a guy then, cause then they would get the fine of some kind out of it... lol
 
#33 ·
So any chance we could have a look at that pic? No didn't think so...he got so mad he just deleted it or something like that I'm guessing, maybe moved away and nobody knows how to contact him or you didn't actualy know the guy just heard the story from somebody else ? There always seems to be a good reason why the evidence isn't available anymore.
As to that trail cam pic from 3macs. thats the first real evidence of a cougar in this province and the pic was taken in 2010, did the guy call the newspaper with the picture cause you know they'd be all over that or does he just not want the publicity? I hear that reason a lot as to why people with real honest to goodness pictures won't come forward with them.
I'm a little skeptical, does it show ?
 
#27 ·
I think there real arguement, or at least the one I got anyway from a biologist, was their is no such thing as an "EASTERN" cougar spieces.. I agree with that to a point, but I feel cougars (whatever subspieces you'd like them to go by) are here... whether they escaped captivity, or were released...
 
#32 ·
The story would have more credibility if we had the names of the 2 DNR guys, its got to be a small office there so I don't think finding out who the two fella's were should be much of a chore. I'm willing to bet we never get a name and nothing more about the story can ever be confirmed and the security cams won't show any usable pics, cause thats just the way these stories always end.
I also am pretty confident cougars don't eat fish, which I think somebody in the first few posts was implying they could and it would be rare for a cougar to attack a full grown moose, doesn't matter what parts of the highlands he lives in, calves probably but not adults.
Anyway, I'll wait to hear the names of the DNR guys cause if there's cougars walking through town it would be hard to keep that out of the paper...
 
#39 ·
Hi Guys

Would someone please correct me if I'm wrong (and I'm sure you will),but it seeems to me that the cougar is now listed under protected animals in the Nova Scotia Hunting handbook.It's on page 29 in 2011 handbook under season closed for lynx, Marten,COUGAR and Fisher.Now why would DNR with all their intellagence place the NON-EXISTING Cougar on the closed season list ,you might as well add Elk and Mule deer.As far as Cougar in Nova Scotia all I will say is seen it and like it or not there here!

They are in small numbers and will stay somewhat as a oddidy in Nova scotia.As far as not getting one on camera it took us 8 years and 14 cameras in Guys.Co. to get ONE picture of a Lynx.

Anyway guys enjoy the thread,been away for awhile and nice to catch up with you boys!

CHEERS
 
#44 · (Edited by Moderator)
Now why would DNR with all their intellagence place the NON-EXISTING Cougar on the closed season list
Most likely because their existence or non-existence in inconclusive. Look pretty bad if they really were here and someone shot one of a very rare species...wouldn't it. Better to be safe than sorry, so they are on the closed season list.

Not to pick that trail cam pic of that cougar apart, but something odd about a trail cam pic from Cape Breton is one with so much jack pine in it. I see a red pine there, which are few and far between in Cape Breton, but enough there that I could believe it could be in a picture. But there is only a couple isolated stands of jack pine in Cape Breton and jack pine has not been planted as a reforestation tree much in Cape Breton. Not saying it's not possible, but it sure is uncommon.
 
#40 · (Edited by Moderator)
im surprised u got a pic of a lynx at all in guys. co. hope the sighting report was sent to DNR... highly doubt a breeding population of EASTERN cougar is in existance... mainland moose numbers i believe are around 3-5 hundred for the herd in the tobeatic...there are pics and evidence all the time...confirmed sightings

KPR i believe this big "black cat" they are seeing is possibly a fisher, or do you suspect otherwise?
 
#50 ·
KPR i believe this big "black cat" they are seeing is possibly a fisher, or do you suspect otherwise?
Nope they are insistent...cougar.
Long, leaping/bounding with a long tail and all black.
I also heard a story from a fella working out on the #10 hwy claimed he saw a classic tawny colored one sitting in the same spot not once but two mornings in a row beside the trail that goes to the tracks across from the Alpena RD.

Boys...cougars sometimes kill just for the fun of it.....many farm animals at one time.
Here's a challenge.....
Find us ONE report where a farmer was compensated for losing a critter to a confirmed cougar in NS.
Find a report of ANY critter being killed by a confirmed cougar in NS.
Produce one pic of any confirmed cougar track or scat in NS.
By "confirmed" I mean >>> DNR has CONFIRMED it was made by a legit cougar of any kind in the wild.
I don't get what/why anyone thinks DNR would cover up the existence of cougars here....
Maybe Elvis has one in captivity at his cabin on the lake in Keji or something and they want that kept quiet from his nieghbor Jimmy Hoffa?
 
#41 ·
These cougars were seen about a 5 minute walk from my house. Im living in halifax now but next time im home im going to go out and try to get some ppics if they are still around... planning on making a fishing trip home either this weekend or next hopefully have some pics. Apparently they have them on their security cameras im going to stop in to see if this is true and if i can get a copy.