For some reason they were fidgety and staying close together, lifting their heads up from the thick grass that covered the mountaintop bald to sniff the air more often than usual. The last elk in North Carolina was killed in the late 18th century and the last elk in Tennessee is thought to have been killed in the early 19th century. Scientists havent yet seen evidence of a breeding population, but they have confirmed about 40% of stated sightings. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Please, however, do not try to pet a bobcat. I hope they are in there also I wouldn't be surprised. Very scary . It was definitely a mountain lion, long tail and large size told me it wasnt a bobcat. The Great Smoky Mountains Railway (GSMR) owns 53 miles (85 kilometers) of the Murphy Branch, a former branch line of the Southern Railway between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. Tony Lance is a writer, naturalist, and birding enthusiast who has worked for Tennessee Wildlife Federation since2011. 1702, which was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in September 1942 for the U.S. Army during World War II. The Family Felidae contains a number of species, including jaguars, How much does it cost to park in the Great Smoky Mountains? Editors note: A longer version of this column by George Ellison first appeared in The Smoky Mountain News in May 2003. Spend enough time around mountain folk and youll hear of someone who knows someone who knows someone who saw a panther or more often panther prints in the National Park. Find out What Are The Most Dangerous Creatures in the Smoky Mountains? In cooler months, they tend to hide in rock fissures or under stumps and along streams. This engine was originally slated to be moved to the GSMR in spring 2011. It released its grip and ran away. Game cameras or genetic testing of fur left behind provide evidence. The next year the Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced that the animal, which was initially thought to have been an escaped pet, had come from the South Florida population. The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. The one in Georgia is strong evidence a lone cat can reach the Smokies but the map as whole shows it's extremely unlikely they "live" there. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Conservationist say safe passage for elk and other wildlife over interstate highway and other roadways by creating wildlife overpasses and underpasses could be a huge boost to conservation efforts as well as reducing vehicle crashes. My dog scared it off and of course I wasnt carrying my phone. He organized Virginias first Symposium on Endangered and Threatened Plants and Animals at Virginia Tech in 1978 and edited the 665-page proceedings. Male Elk can be as heavy as 700 pounds with antlers up to five feet wide. We are not endorsed by, authorized by, or affiliated with any mentioned attractions. Ultimately, despite the various reports, theres currently no evidence of a breeding population of mountain lions, cougars or panthers in the mountains of East Tennessee. I called the owner of the house and he said youre the 3rd person to tell me that. So for me, I know they are here. You may have to cut yourself to draw them in and all. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. Several sightings have occurred at the site of a known animal crossing in the park.. However, rare sightings have become more prevalent in recent years. Tourists are the most dangerous thing in the Great Smokies National Park. Several miles of the line between the far western end of the Nantahala Gorge and Andrews are out of service. The mountain haze lends a mirage-like effect of great distance to objects that are but a few miles off, he wrote in Our Southern And of those 43 percent involve more than one person., In 1976 a female with two young came down to a creek in the Chimneys Campground. They dont usually attack humans unless they feel threatened or if youve come too close to their babies. That way, you and the animals can enjoy the Great Smoky Mountains. James N. Watson, Jr. I recently purchased land in Quebeck, Tennessee, so now I know I have to be on my awares. [2] Additionally, the bright and colorful blue, yellow and red "circus train" livery was dropped in favor of the new Tuscan red and gold stripe livery. 1 A Haymarket resident spotted a large creature that appeared to be a long-tailed cat on a trail cam Monday morning. Well send you the 50 Best Free Campsites in the USA (one per state). However, they have defining physical characteristics (photos by Geoff Kuchera and Carol, stock.adobe.com). They often climb trees and can jump from above, or they may strike from behind. Weighing in at three to four or even five times larger than a bobcat, the mountain lion is up to 6 feet long, has an orange-brown to yellow-brown coat, a slender body, a rounded head and a long, cylindrical tail with a dark tip. Several months later a cougar was shot near what is now Fontana Village. Horrible hiss into a hellish growl. The snorting alarm from his herd came a split second before the tawny stalker attacked Sparks from the rear, but it was enough of a warning for him to get a firm grip on the handle of the knife sheathed at his waist. Let them be..they were here first.. Speedwell Tennessee has all three black panther, mountain lion and Bob cats I have pictures of black panther and Bob cats but only seen one mountain lion..it has been a few years since last encounter. It managed to pass me unseen and mark trees 200 yards down. [5] In 2012, the GSMR made an agreement with the Swain County of North Carolina donating US$700,000 to construct a new steam locomotive workshop for the restoration of No. These birds ate Ridge upon ridge of forest straddles the border between North Carolina and Tennessee in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. People take in the view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from atop Grandfather Mountain near Linville, N.C., Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, as autumn arrives in the highlands. The animal had a scar on its left shoulder; its shoulder blade had been cut it two. Are Some RV Campgrounds Requiring Vaccination Cards? A Smokies panther would be either such an animal or the usual released pet theory. Read Also: Secrets in the Smokies: 5 little known facts and stories. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Also, a mountain lion is something to be feared. If a bears hungry and smells food, it will come after it aggressively. Here's what travelersshould know if they plan todriveto the parkstraddling North Carolina and Tennessee. "Panthers!" Cougar tracks are large, up to four inches wide. "All revenue generated through the Park it Forward program will remain in the park to support operational costs for managing and improving visitor services such as trail maintenance, custodial services, and trash removal," the park said in a press release. Learn more about the park's fee program changes for 2023, including a new initiative: the Smokies Parking Tag program. This small part of Smoky Mountain Light is dedicated to the effort to confirm effort to record the continuing existence of mountain lions in Western North Carolina in general. State wildlife agencies in every state are deluged with thousands of reports a year. The bottom line is there are lots of reports, but no hard evidence to back them up. To be honest with you,we hate paying for camping. The Cougar Network, a non-profit science organization, lists on its website sightings documented with physical evidence in a number of nearby states including Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri. All rights reserved. Have been keeping rather busy. [6], The railroad has five operational diesel locomotives, GP9s Nos. The driver was a man who has hunted in the area his whole life and has an ability to spot animals that is almost magical to me. The thing is panthers may be elusive, but they are not ghostly and no one is hiding anything about them. You may just feel bad for a while, or you could have stronger symptoms. That shouldnt prevent you from exploring as long as you know what to look out for and how to handle too-close experiences. Mountain lion or cougar fatalities are also rare but have happened. Mountain lion, rhodo, nettle.I gotta get back soon. Also, several National Park Service rangers have told me that they have spotted mountain lions while patrolling the Blue Ridge Parkway. Many ridges, creeks, swamps and mountains were long ago named for panthers or the colloquial term painters, both common names in this part of the country for the cougar. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. America's most-visited national parkdoes not charge entrance fees, but starting today, it doeschargefor parking. Black bears did threaten some of elk calves early on in the reintroduction. The railroad operates excursion trains on the former Southern Railway Murphy branch line between Dillsboro and Nantahala, North Carolina. My own opinion is that cougars occur in the park. Readers can contact him at P.O. According to Donald W. Linzeys notes in Mammals of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1995), the last mountain lion killed in the Great Smokies was var addy_text96fa7cd342640a6f100bd7fba15504d5 = 'info' + '@' + 'georgeellison' + '.' + 'com';document.getElementById('cloak96fa7cd342640a6f100bd7fba15504d5').innerHTML += ''+addy_text96fa7cd342640a6f100bd7fba15504d5+'<\/a>'; Linzey does speak with each person reporting a sighting and gets them to tell him exactly what they saw, including the time of day; color and description of the animal; its behavior; the persons distance from the animal; and if there were more than one observer. Great Smoky Mountains National Park NC, TN Alerts 4 Maps Calendar Fees Alerts In Effect Park Closures Trail Advisory Several trails in the park are temporarily closed. The move was awkward but he felt the blade sink into the attackers body. In the park and most other areas, its illegal to get within 150 feet of an elk. Linzey teaches several wildlifecourses in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and directs a seven-day symposium course in the Great Smokies as part of the Natural History Consortium with the University of Georgia, Purdue University, and Virginia Tech. Demand for parking often exceeds capacity. It was huge and took up an entire 3 foot by 5 foot space while laying down. Click here to view the web story version of this article. The only comment I would have on the stories is that I do believe that the citizens of the state truly do believe that they have seen a cougar wild if they say they have seen a cougar. In other words, the Eastern Cougar was erroneously labeled a subspecies to begin with and was never different from the cats that occur in the western part of the country. The cat ran down the hill. Movement between populations in the East and West has probably always been a normal part of the species existence. You can start building your own collection of David Bowie memorabilia thanks to his extensive body of music, film and more. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Several persons who have submitted recent reports have said that they were planning to attend my presentation this year, so we should have an interesting discussion. George Ellison wrote the biographical introductions for the reissues of two Appalachian classics: Horace Kepharts Our Southern Highlanders and James Mooneys History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Have you ever seen a mountain lion here in the Smokies region? Cow elks soon learned how to better protect themselves and their calves from predators. Since late 1999, the railroad is currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc., which also owns and operates the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) in Colorado. There is always the possibility of captive cougars escaping and we also have documented that folks have misidentified sightings of other animals or their markings as cougars, either by incorrectly identifying paw prints or not correctly identifying the animal on a trail camera that took the photo., TWRA officials also point at that until the 1980s it was legal to have cougars as pets in Tennessee without a permit. However, if theyre hungry and presented with easy prey, they may attack children or your pets. It was close in some rhodo, but didn't see it. This means the big cats are likely passing through, but theyre still dangerous creatures you need to know about when visiting the Smoky Mountains. For the defunct east Tennessee short line railroad, see, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, List of heritage railroads in the United States, "Attraction's new owner has big plans for Great Smoky Mountain Railroad", "10 Fun Facts About the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad", "A timeline: COVID-19 pandemic hits one-year mark in N.C.", "Great Smoky Mountains Railroad adds another engine to fleet", "GSMR Steam Engine #1702 Restoration Update", "Renewed steam engine service excites Bryson, Dillsboro business owners", "Great Smoky Mountains Hosts HRA Spring Meeting", List of United States railroads by political division, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Smoky_Mountains_Railroad&oldid=1142120820, Transportation in Swain County, North Carolina, Transportation in Jackson County, North Carolina, Transportation in Cherokee County, North Carolina, Transportation in Graham County, North Carolina, Tourist attractions in Swain County, North Carolina, Tourist attractions in Jackson County, North Carolina, Tourist attractions in Cherokee County, North Carolina, Tourist attractions in Graham County, North Carolina, Spin-offs of the Norfolk Southern Railway, Articles needing additional references from April 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Even then, theyre relatively harmless because their bite pressure is less than a humans. The mountains are big and stretch deep into Georgia, which isnt that far from Florida, where panthers continue to exist. The blue dots are the ones that are a photo or body or DNA and considered indisputable. Witness credibility is a key component of the effort to locate panthers in the Smokies. It seemed to be sticking its head up over a bank to see what the noise was. I stayed at an AirB&B in Rock Island, Tennessee right after Thanksgiving last month and saw a mountain lion run right in front of me in the pasture next to the house. One special note is that the babies will play dead if they feel threatened. What Are The Most Dangerous Creatures in the Smoky Mountains? "100% of funds collected from these fees stay in the Smokies and go directly back into preserving the Smokies and ensuring the visitor experience remains first-rate," the national park said on its website. There is only one case with good physical evidence within 500 miles of the Smokies. This, dear reader, is a stark reality to be faced with. Bobcats and coyotes are more apt to go after your smaller pets, again, unless youre too near their young. Webthe cougar. Where they come from, no one can say. One, people are releasing them. Officials explained the deceased animal must have wandered from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Discover Life in America which can be found on Youtube. I still follow your blog. This marked the first time in more than 100 years that a cougar had been seen in that state. Dont walk up to check on it because Mom is very likely nearby and will charge you. WebHundreds of years ago, extensive herds of the great Eastern Elk roamed the Southern Appalachian mountains, which the Blue Ridge Mountains and Smoky Mountains are part of. His body of work includes the textbook Vertebrate Biology, recognized nationally as the most readable on the subject, and the guidebooks A Natural History Guide: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mammals of Virginia, and Snakes of Virginia.. Until recently this was considered unlikely but in 2008 a deer hunter in Troup County Georgia near the Alabama border shot and killed a cougar. Last year, the great grandson of the man who was attacked by the last verified mountain lion in the park was in attendance.. The truly terrifying thing though? They also prefer to be out in the evening and nighttime, so try to be back at camp by dusk. I believe all the cases where they could tell it was a young male. John Gullion, Managing Editor at the Citizen Tribune, is a freelance contributor for TheSmokies.com LLC the parent company of TheSmokies.com and HeyOrlando.com. Do you tell someone like that they didnt see what they saw?. That said, their saliva and skin contain salmonella bacteria, which can cause sickness or death in humans. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. In addition, the rut or mating season makes the males even more hostile. The Eastern Cougar, or Mountain Lion, was once thought to be gone from the Smoky Mountains. Something biologists say doesnt even exist. And so, I try to keep an open mind. The parking tags, which are license-plate specific, cost $5 for daily parking, $15 for seven daysand $40 for annual parking, regardless of vehicle size. If you come across a cub, do not approach it! There are both in wnc Ive seen them Ive got a skull from a female mtn lion killed on hwy 25 in Hendersonville. The mountain lion, Linzey noted, was part of the park's fauna until 1920 when the last verified mountain lion was killed. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. WebCoordinates: 35.4294N 83.4485W. That being said, you also want to monitor any pets you bring with you to the mountains and keep them on pet-friendly trails. Gatlinburg About 125 pounds and a very long tail. lion(s) [I'm not clear on whether it is singular or plural] in the park. Chimney Tops is a double-capstone knob on the eastern slope of the Sugarland Mountain massif, which stretches north-south across the north-central section of the Smokies. In 2004, GSMR debuted its "Polar Express" train ride, based on the newly released movie and licensed through Warner Brothers. Recently delivered to the GSMR on June 28, 2021. While I believe that many of the reports of lions in western North Carolina can be shown to be something else I also believe that there continues to be a remnant population in the area. He has his memory of panthers now and I have a memory of bobcats. Linzey, who has been teaching for more than 50 years, was an early advocate for endangered species. 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