# Cougars in North Ga. for hog control?



## huntemwfo (Sep 27, 2009)

I was told today that 7 mating pairs of cougars were turned loose by DNR in the north Georgia mountains to help with the wild hog population! Anybody else know anything about this?


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## FALCON z (Sep 27, 2009)

Seriously doubt that.  But I would rather run up on  a hog in the woods anyday.


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## huntemwfo (Sep 27, 2009)

I hope it's false info, but was told by a friend of a DNR officer.


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## Coastie (Sep 27, 2009)

The short answer is no.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 27, 2009)

I seriously doubt it.


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## DocHoliday (Sep 27, 2009)

I just can't see that happening.


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## SWbowhunter (Sep 27, 2009)

Who comes up with this crap?


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## dawg2 (Sep 27, 2009)

swbowhunter said:


> who comes up with this crap?



x2!


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## j.irvin (Sep 27, 2009)

Ooooohh !  Another conspiracy theory!


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 27, 2009)

According to the friends of my friend's friends, every state DNR in the Southeast is releasing cougars by the truckloads, I just can't believe that so many people fall for it. It's a backwoods urban legend. If you don't even consider all the many, many other implications of a project like this that common sense would tell you would keep the DNR from secretly doing things of this nature, how is the DNR going to afford to do this right now when they can barely make payroll?


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## irocz2u (Sep 27, 2009)

i was told  that  last  year


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## huntemwfo (Sep 27, 2009)

Coastie said:


> The short answer is no.



Good. Thats the first time I have ever heard this. I thought it was kinda crazy being not only would they kill hogs but all other wildlife and livestock around. But they have done stupid things before.


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## Nicodemus (Sep 27, 2009)

They would eat more armadillos than anything.


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## huntemwfo (Sep 27, 2009)

NCHillbilly said:


> According to the friends of my friend's friends, every state DNR in the Southeast is releasing cougars by the truckloads, I just can't believe that so many people fall for it. It's a backwoods urban legend. If you don't even consider all the many, many other implications of a project like this that common sense would tell you would keep the DNR from secretly doing things of this nature, how is the DNR going to afford to do this right now when they can barely make payroll?



Common sense tells me that it would be a stupid idea and I would think the state shouldn't spend the money to do it. But it is my opinion that our state DNR doesn't make the best decisions on laws and spending sportsmen's money. So it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Did you know you can kill as many deer as you want in the state of Ga this year? Common sense would tell ......anyone!........ that if you make it where people can print out as many tags that they want then they will. As for where they spend our money,check it out. It may not bother you in NC but it burns me up.


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## huntemwfo (Sep 27, 2009)

Nicodemus said:


> They would eat more armadillos than anything.



We don't have armadillios in the mountains yet.


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## WolfPack (Sep 27, 2009)

LOL...Now I am just waitting for another "cougar" pic to start circulating.


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## squirrelhunter912 (Sep 27, 2009)

I HOPE NOT! id rather run up on a hog than a cougar!


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## Streetsweeper (Sep 28, 2009)

The way I look at it, if both walks up on you in the woods, they are both going to get crop dusted!


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## Bkeepr (Sep 28, 2009)

Several years ago some friends of mine in Waleski swore up and down that DNR had released some cougars near them, that people had heard the cats scream, and that one had mauled a colt.  These are people that I have known and trusted for years.  I don't know what to make of it.


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## olcowman (Sep 28, 2009)

I hate to even toss this in the pile but... a man that I trust and I think is pretty straight up swears up and down that this is true. He works with the dnr trapping nuisance animals in middle ga and is a well respected outdoorsman. He claims to be somehow involved in removing some collared individuals that stray to far out of 'stocked' areas. (This would put a whole new twist on the Truop county cat shot last year.)

 I really don't know what to think? On one hand I want to believe him, but on the other it just doesn't make logical sense. Could the dnr even covertly accomplish something like this without at least one or two disgruntled or rogue employees going public with it?


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## Nicodemus (Sep 28, 2009)

olcowman said:


> I hate to even toss this in the pile but... a man that I trust and I think is pretty straight up swears up and down that this is true. He works with the dnr trapping nuisance animals in middle ga and is a well respected outdoorsman. He claims to be somehow involved in removing some collared individuals that stray to far out of 'stocked' areas. (This would put a whole new twist on the Truop county cat shot last year.)
> 
> I really don't know what to think? On one hand I want to believe him, but on the other it just doesn't make logical sense. Could the dnr even covertly accomplish something like this without at least one or two disgruntled or rogue employees going public with it?





He might be referin` to the Florida experiment, that took place several years ago.


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## psycosoninlaw1 (Sep 28, 2009)

*Armadillos*



huntemwfo said:


> We don't have armadillios in the mountains yet.


There on the way.


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## HOGDOG76 (Sep 28, 2009)

NICKS RIGHT SEVERAL OF THE WESTERN COUGARS RELEASED IN FLORIDA CROSSED THE LINE. THEY WERE DRIVING AROUND MY BUDDYS HUNT CLUB IN WAVERLY/WHITE OAK COUPLE MONTHS BACK TRACKING SOMETHING AND WHEN ASKED WHAT SAID IT WAS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. PERSONALLY I WISH THEY WOULD TURN EM LOOSE BC ID HAVE SOME CAT DOGS REAL QUICK AND SOMETHING NEW TO HUNT


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## huntemwfo (Sep 28, 2009)

psycosoninlaw1 said:


> There on the way.



Yeah I know. I've seen them about 30 miles southeast dead on the road. But not here yet.


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## hound1973 (Oct 2, 2009)

it wasn't cougars, the DNR released 7 pairs of mating Grizzly's instead,,,,,,,,,HEHEHE


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## slappy26 (Oct 5, 2009)

at one time in PA the way that deer permits were alotted per county was based partially on the insurance claims due to vehicle accidents with deer. In an area I am from, the president of or sportsmens club, and a local law enforcement officer (same person) also worked with the state game commssion and told us that the state had stalked several "mating pairs" of mountain lions to help control the population of deer. Also we had shot lots of coyotes some of which had ear bands stating they were from michigan and minnesota, after confronting a game warden and his inability to make a good argument other than "they migrated here" he admitted that the state imported them for population control. The "cats" are seen often in the northeast corner where I am from, and personally by my father. I also found a fawn while I was a logger that was "cached" away. I noticed the bite marks on the neck which is indicitive of a cat and the spacing between the upper and lower bite markers  in width excluded the coyote as the culprit. this fawn was possbily taken down by a bobcat, but the upper teeth marks were nearly 8" apart, don't know of a babcat whose mouth is that wide.... the game commission will do a lot of things that they won't admit to. Personally I feel like the head of DNR, fish and wildlife agencies should be "Voted" positions, therefore helping to encourage the "right" management practices, or being voted out of a job. Not a total fix, but a good start i think.


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## Backcountry (Oct 5, 2009)

it's for real...i know people who have seen the cats north of here in dawsonville on more than one occasion...  i trust them and it's an older couple who would have no reason to lie.  don't really know the reason and if it is in fact for hog control but there are several pairs of cats in the mountains.


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## slappy26 (Oct 5, 2009)

I do raise a question though... people speak of how few the hogs are in north georgia, and how plentiful they are in the south georgia...why wouldn't they stock cats in south georgia where the hogs are more numerous, and doing more damage?


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## Coastie (Oct 6, 2009)

The concept of releasing "Mating Pairs" of Cougars is ridiculous. Cougars are solitary animals which have rather well defined home ranges which do not overlap except the females may inhabit the same ranges as a male. The females will range over about five square miles while the males will have a range of about 25 square miles. Males without a 'Home' range will drift through the range of a dominant male but will try to avoid contact with that individual. Hogs are not one of the primary prey animals for Cougars, deer, sheep, horses, cattle, rabbits and mice would be taken before a hog although given the proper opportunity they would no doubt attempt to take a hog as well particularly if it was a young one and the sow wasn't nearby.


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## mountain cat (Oct 6, 2009)

There has been panthers in georgia forever! I have seen 2, years ago and know folks thats seen them. Panthers are from Canada to South America and from Georgia to Washington. They are all the same. Some black some brown some big some small. The only thing different about the Flordia cat is that the gov. protects it for some dumb reason.


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## biggroundhawg (Oct 8, 2009)

I have seen, along with a friend, a cougar in the old Arumuchee district. Other neighbors in the area saw one too. They released  them in about 2002.


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## fulldraw74 (Oct 8, 2009)

Nicodemus said:


> They would eat more armadillos than anything.



Thats why they are releasing mating pairs of Bigfeets also....


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## Bkeepr (Oct 13, 2009)

yeah, why release them in North GA where more and more retirees are moving to start their danged alpaca farms or whatever, when they could put them in the Okeefenokee swamp!


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## droptinegirl1 (Oct 29, 2009)

I don't know about releasing them but I do know they are here. Laugh at me if you want I really dont care. My husband saw one last deer season in October the first day we hunted the property that we hunt all the time now. He was sitting on a log and it crossed the four wheeler trail that he came in on. It wasn't to far from dark. The cat didn't seem to even know he was there. He said that if he had had a gun instead of his bow he would have shot him (this was before he new the consequences of shooting one). I didn't believe him. In fact, I laughed pretty hard at him and said "we don't have those around here, I don't know what you saw but it wasn't a cougar!". Well, I was proved wrong a day or 2 before deer season ended last year. I had just left my kids and husband in a blind and was walking through the woods to the creek when I heard the unmistakable sound of claws on a tree trunk. I squatted down to keep from scaring whatever it was so I could get a good look at it. I saw rolling shoulders. At first I thought I was seeing a bobcat for the first time in the wild. Then I stood up. I got a glimpse of its tail and thought "not a bobcat!!". Then it looked in my direction but didn't see me and I saw it's face. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I took a step forward looking for a clear shot  and it saw me and it took off so fast I couldn't believe it. I had a shotgun and could have shot it through the brush but my heart was pounding so hard and it happened so quickly. I went back up to the blind to tell him that I saw it too and said that I was sorry that I laughed at him. The landowner was not happy that I didn't shoot it.  I called DNR that day to let them know what we saw on those occasions and told them that we would get a trail cam and try to get pics. I also called the Eastern Puma Research Network and told them also. Well, I told myself that it was just passing through and would not be around there again. I was proved wrong again about a week after bow season went in this year. I was in the woods in a blind on a ridge 200 yards from where I saw the cat last year. I heard a noise and started turning around slowly to look behind me where the sound came from. I thought it might have been a deer until I got turned around. It wasn't even 30 yards away. It was moving away from me. I believe the bill of my hat is what it saw. I went to put my bow down and grab my digital camera (I carry it into the woods everytime now because I am determined to get a picture of this cat if it continues to hang around) by the time I got it turned on and focused the cat was gone. The funny thing was that while I was still holding the camera a couple of does came out from the direction the cat came from. I was confused. I couldn't believe I was seeing deer not even a minute after a cougar took off! I tried to put my camera down to get my bow again (my first year bowhunting and haven't gotten one with my bow yet). I got my bow up and got it drawed on one of the does but couldn't ever get a shot that I wanted to take. Now the kids stay right beside me in the woods and even when deer season is not in we take a gun with us when we go check the trail cam. It makes me nervous that a cat that big is in the woods that I take my little girls to hunt. It is really afraid of us though so that makes me feel a little better. It disappeared really quickly once  it spotted me both times so it is more interested in staying away from me than eating me but I would hate to walk up on it and it feel cornered. I think i am safe but it worries my husband when I go hunting by myself and sit on the ground. I really worry about other kids in the area. I wonder if the farmer across the street looses many calves. I have some scat that I need to send off for DNA testing that is full of hair and highly resembles pictures of cougar scat online. We see this kind of scat quite often in the four wheeler trail that we walk in on. I have now heard that they do that as some kind of warning because we are hunting their area Someone will come up with another one soon believe me. They are out there. Oh yeah, it is not black. They are a mix between fla panthers moving north and eastern panthers moving south IMO.


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## Resica (Oct 29, 2009)

slappy26 said:


> at one time in PA the way that deer permits were alotted per county was based partially on the insurance claims due to vehicle accidents with deer. In an area I am from, the president of or sportsmens club, and a local law enforcement officer (same person) also worked with the state game commssion and told us that the state had stalked several "mating pairs" of mountain lions to help control the population of deer. Also we had shot lots of coyotes some of which had ear bands stating they were from michigan and minnesota, after confronting a game warden and his inability to make a good argument other than "they migrated here" he admitted that the state imported them for population control. The "cats" are seen often in the northeast corner where I am from, and personally by my father. I also found a fawn while I was a logger that was "cached" away. I noticed the bite marks on the neck which is indicitive of a cat and the spacing between the upper and lower bite markers  in width excluded the coyote as the culprit. this fawn was possbily taken down by a bobcat, but the upper teeth marks were nearly 8" apart, don't know of a babcat whose mouth is that wide.... the game commission will do a lot of things that they won't admit to. Personally I feel like the head of DNR, fish and wildlife agencies should be "Voted" positions, therefore helping to encourage the "right" management practices, or being voted out of a job. Not a total fix, but a good start i think.


Since you shot so many, you must have access to one photo, surely you must!


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## 270 guy (Oct 30, 2009)

FALCON z said:


> Seriously doubt that.  But I would rather run up on  a hog in the woods anyday.



Why? Wild cougar attacks on humans are rare. I read a story a while back that siad in FL there had never been a reported case of a wild cougar attacking a human. Pet cats do sometimes attack kids. For the most part the cats avoid humans.


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## 270 guy (Oct 30, 2009)

slappy26 said:


> I do raise a question though... people speak of how few the hogs are in north georgia, and how plentiful they are in the south georgia...why wouldn't they stock cats in south georgia where the hogs are more numerous, and doing more damage?


I doubt they really care about hog control the south is covered up with hogs but here is some info for the people who seem to know so much about what the Govt is or isn't doing with the big cats. 
http://blogs.augusta.com/node/2153


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## 3pits (Oct 30, 2009)

There have been some cougar attacks on people in Kalifornia (not that there is anything wrong with that...), just a few years ago I believe a jogger was attacked and saved by a bicylist.


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## 270 guy (Oct 30, 2009)

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-lion.html


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## AmericanBorn57 (Oct 30, 2009)

The cougar pairs that were released in North Georgia were trained pairs. These are specially trained Army Ranger courgars that only eat pork or armadillo given the opportunity. One time they tried to just release males, in pairs, but don't ask don't tell came into play and the whole thing blew up and it was a huge mess....well anyway,
These specially trained cougars work in pairs to find anything porky. Muslims won't bother with them cuz they've been eatin pork, kind of a side benefit knowing how many Muslims walk around aimlessly in the North Georgia mountains. Could be if needed, trained pairs of killer vipers could be also hired from the Marines. Top secret stuff here, probably need to double up my SSL security before I post the rest.


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## doenightmare (Oct 30, 2009)

*Ya'll see this*


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## chad85 (Nov 1, 2009)

they have turned these loose in maryland and pa they said that they were a native species to the appalachian moutains


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