Nothing to back up lion sightings

Back in October 2008, a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania man claimed he had shot and injured a mountain lion and while tracking it he was attacked by a second cat. The man even went a step further and said he had blood from the mountain lion on his knife from the one that attacked him. The Pennsylvania Game Commission says there’s no evidence to support a Lancaster County man’s report that he shot a mountain lion and was injured by a second cat while tracking it. The agency said that state police crime lab tests showed a supposed blood trail wasn’t blood. A search turned up no evidence of mountain lion hair, feces or tracks in the vicinity. A knife the man says he used to fight with the animal near his Quarryville farm has deer hair on it. Further tests are being done on blood on the knife. There hasn’t been a con firmed sighting of a wild moun tain lion in Pennsylvania for more than a century. Here in West Virginia, back in late December 2008, a Lewis County family is claiming their horse was attacked and killed by mountain lions. The family found their horse dead on December 28 when they went to feed it. The horse was found with deep claw marks and gap ing puncture wounds with mas sive blood loss, says the family. The family also goes on to say family dogs have been came up missing over the past six months or so. The problems of proving all of this started when the family buried the horse before the Department of Natural Resources had a chance to examine the horse. When the DNR officer went to investigate the horse he was told it had been buried and sadly any evi dence that could prove their story went down the hole with the dead horse. There was some photographs taken of the tracks that were found around the dead horse, but there hasn’t been any for mal conclusion that they were mountain lion tracks. This seems to be another hoax, not a mountain lion attack, and there’s nothing to back it up. Maybe one day they can prove we have mountain lions in West Virginia. To be honest, I’m not real sure if that would be a good thing because the mountain lions hunt by stalking and ambushing prey. It uses its large front paws and heavy claws to clutch and slash. Knotts said the mountain lion is an apex predator, which means it is on the top of the food chain, but the cat tends to prefer smaller prey such as deer, rab bits, raccoons and foxes. According to Knotts, it would not typically attack such a large animal as an 800-pound horse. While the state DNR may deny the presence of mountain lions in West Virginia, A family member said there is something out there and she intends to find out what it is. In the meantime, the Eastern Puma Research Network has placed trail cam eras in Pendleton, Pocahontas and Randolph counties hoping to capture physical proof that the mountain lion does in fact live amongst us here in West Virginia. For more information on the Eastern Puma Research Network, or to report a moun tain lion sighting, visit www.easternpumaresearch.com or call the 24-hour hotline at (304) 749-7778. Banquet to be held The Pricketts Fort Limb Hangers Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host its annual banquet on Friday, Feb. 6 at the Westchester Village. Ticket prices for the various categories are listed on the enclosed ticket order form. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7:30 p.m. The event is expected to conclude around 9:30 p.m. The NWTF Hunting Heritage Banquets reflect our Mission Statement: The Conservation of the Wild Turkey and The Preservation of the Hunting Tradition. The money raised at these banquets help support wild turkey habitat in our area and across the state, along with the JAKES, Women in the Outdoors, and Wheelin’ Sportsmen’s outreach pro grams. For more information call Mike Tarley at 363-8730 or Phil Tarley at 365-0623 Harvest numbers released Preliminary counts of game checking tags indicate West Virginia hunters harvested a total of 162,371 white-tailed deer during the recently com pleted bucks-only, antlerless, muzzleloader, bow and youth/Class Q deer seasons, according to Division of Natural Resources Director Frank Jezioro. This year’s total harvest was 11 percent above the 2007 deer harvest of 145,937 and ranks as the 15th highest total on record. Hunters killed 68,540 bucks, 54,704 antlerless season deer, 30,749 archery season deer and 8,378 muzzleloader season deer during the 2008 season. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) encourages hunters and anglers to attend the 2009 West Virginia Hunting and Fishing Show sponsored by the West Virginia Trophy Hunters Association, according to DNR Director Frank Jezioro. This year’s show will take place at the Charleston Civic Center and will run from Friday, Jan. 30 through Sunday, Feb. 1. The West Virginia Hunting and Fishing Show is the largest indoor hunting and fishing event in the state, with more than 15,000 attending. “Staff will be available at the DNR booth to answer questions about the state’s wildlife resources, hunting and fishing and state parks, and will be scoring deer antlers for those hunters who bring their racks to the show at the listed times,” Jezioro said. Biologists will score deer racks only at the following times: Friday, Jan. 30, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 31, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Visitors attending the show are encouraged to visit the DNR booth,” said Jezioro. “This is a good opportunity to meet DNR staff members and learn more about the fish and wildlife recreational opportuni ties in West Virginia. We extend our thanks to the show spon sors, the West Virginia Trophy Hunters Association, for pro­viding us the opportunity to participate in this year’s show.” E-mail Danny Snyder at dsnyder@timeswv.com.