Long-tailed Cats
Reports of cougars in Alabama are becoming more frequent By Alan White
L
arge long-tailed cats have been reported in Alabama for years. Sometimes they are said to be black and sometimes tan. No longer can we ignore these reports as mistaken identity or just tales for entertaining children. The reports are too frequent and reported by some very credible people. The reports have become so frequent that Glenn McDaniel, a former game warden himself, has developed a website dedicated to Alabama cougar sightings. The Web address is: www.alabamacougarnet.com. Officially, the Alabama Department of Freshwater Fish and Wildlife cannot verify the existence of cougars, panthers or any long-tailed cat living in the state. No positive proof of this has been offered in more than 50 years. However, it remains illegal to harvest one in the state. Alabama wildlife officers have no official records or a system in place to record sightings, although state officials have heard from many residents claiming to have seen cougar-like animals. Most reports are thought to be a case of misidentification of a species such as a bobcat, housecat or dog. With the advance in game camera technology and the popularity among
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| JULY 2011 | www.alabamaliving.coop
or call 800-597-6828.
Wildlife Management Tips for July
tart preparing and planting dove fields. Crops include dove proso millet, browntop millet, sunflowers, corn, wheat and grain sorghum. You need a soil sample and fertilize according to recommendations. Browntop millet is the quickest to produce seed only taking about 50 days.
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hunters with its use, it may be just a matter of time (and attention to details) before proof is presented. If you happen to capture one of these cats on your game camera, call the nearest office of the Alabama Department of Freshwater Fish and Wildlife. Ask a biologist or game warden to come and visit the location of the camera. By looking at the photo, along with the actual location of the camera, he may be able to verify that the photo was, in fact, taken at the location you claim it was. Otherwise, you can join the ranks of countless other people who claim to have photos of cougars in Alabama with no verification. Most photos like these were taken in the Western states and circulated as a hoax among friends. One of the best cases of good evidence came from one of my friends in 1995. Mike Ward of Mobile owned and operated Ward’s Sporting Goods for 30 years. He was hunting with his 5-year-old daughter and captured a large, black, long-tailed cat on video. This video can be viewed on YouTube by searching the words “cougar in Alabama” or “black panther stalks buck.” As a general rule, cougars move at night and will travel great distances, usually following major creeks and river bottoms in search of food or mates. In the United States, more humans are killed by dogs than by cougars. Cougars are not usually aggressive and will run away from people most of the time. Their diet consists mainly of young deer, rabbits, feral hogs and other small game. These cats make many different sounds but the most impressive is their piercing nocturnal scream. Cougars and other long-tailed cats once roamed the Alabama countryside. Maybe someAlan White is day they will be a publisher of part of Alabama’s Great Days Outdoors wild outdoors magazine. To learn more, once again.d www.greatdaysoutdoors.com
Control weeds around fruit trees. You’ll get much better produce for your wildlife if you take time to eliminate the competing vegetation around the trees. Mowing and applying herbicide will also make it more accessible to wildlife when the fruit is ready to eat.
July is a great time to “limb” your roads. Cut back overhanging limbs and bushes with cutters or saws. This is hard work in the hot weather and some folks prefer to apply herbicides from the comfort of a buggy but you’ll still have to cut some overhanging dead limbs.d