Cougar photographed in West Virginia?

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Cougar photographed in West Virginia?

December 19, 2015 by retrieverman

west virginia cougar

This image suddenly started floating around my Facebook Feed. The image is of a “mountain lion” (oh I loathe that name for them!) that was spotted roaming in Wayne County, West Virginia.

I tried to do a reverse Google images search for it, but it didn’t show anything. Sightings of cougars and black leopards are a dime a dozen in the Eastern US, and dodgy photos of them are valued at even less.

I’m skeptical.

This cougar is out in the middle of the day and appears to be unconcerned with the truck. That’s really atypical behavior for these animals, and any that wandered in from the West are going to have a healthy fear of people.

I don’t recognize those pines or evergreens as being any kind of native pine. The closest I can get to them are Virginia pines, and they really don’t fit the bill at all.

Now, cougars have been confirmed in Tennessee and Kentucky, and Wayne County borders on Kentucky, though not anywhere near where these animals have been sighted.

I would love for this image to be a genuine Wayne County cougar, but I’m not at all convinced.

6 Responses

on December 20, 2015 at 9:43 am M.R.S.

The lighting on trees in the mirror does not seem to match those behind the cougar. The truck is off the road; on the slope the cat is descending, but sitting level–? The cat’s path is too close to the truck. Yes, plenty of room for doubt.

Beautiful cat, though.
- on December 20, 2015 at 10:58 pm Merrie
  
  Plenty of old logging road intersections like that where I grew up (Cascade Mountains in Oregon) – truck could just be on lower cutoff road. It’s not unheard of to see cougars out and about in the day. What really surprises me is the apparent size and condition of this cat. Not what I’d expect for a transplant wandering in from an established population elsewhere.
on December 20, 2015 at 5:10 pm Suhail

Photoshopped clearly! Another giveaway is the size of the cat, which is out of proportion with respect to the truck.
on December 22, 2015 at 10:48 pm tiffany

my husband took this pic with an lg phone. def not photoshopped. lmao
- on December 23, 2015 at 8:38 pm retrieverman
  
  There is a difference between being a skeptic and being a total denialist. I actually WANT this to be a West Virginia cougar!
  
  But I’d really like some more evidence. Have you contacted the DNR?
on December 22, 2015 at 11:59 pm Lauren flatman

My friends husband is the one that took that pictures! It’s legit, yall can not believe it all you want!