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I’m one of the skeptics when it comes to mountain lions. With the exception of Witchita Mountains, Oklahoma doesn’t contain suitable mountain lion habitat. The last 2 mountain lions killed in Oklahoma were killed in the Witchita Mountains, but that was prior to the Civil War. As you pointed out, we just completed our first bear season and 19 black bear were killed over about a 30 day span by people willing to lay down $100.00 for a tag. Anyone legally carrying a gun has been allowed to kill a mountain lion for the last couple of years. If we had them someone would have killed one by now.

I have news for you Mr McWilliams. Proper habitat or not on Nov 27 2009 myself, my wife and a nephew saw a cougar/mountain lion between Caddo and Bokchito Oklahoma.

There is no question, in our minds! The day was absolutely beautiful and we were walking the family farm toward a creek on the NE side of the farm. The nephew was the first to see it and said “look” then as I looked up, expecting to see a coyote, I was amazed. Almost in disbelief, I continued to watch as the “cat” appeared to glance at us
and continue walking west to east at it’s same pace. We were walking in almost a due north direction and observed as it walked about 40ft before disappearing into an area with growth of brush and trees.

Using the football field as reference, standing at the 35 yrd line facing the length of a football field and looking at the goal posts at the other end, I believe most people could identify a cougar. I believe that to be about the distance we were from it (75 yards). Regardless, it was a cougar/mountain and in the minds of my wife, my nephew and myself it could not have been anything else.

In reporting it, I was told that in 2008 there were two sightings 1 near Caddo and the other near Tushka, not that far from where we saw this one.

Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I could certainly understand skepticism but I can assure you with no uncertainty, There was a mountain lion in SE Oklahoma in Nov 2009.

Also, it did not look like the picture above. It was a more tan color with a bigger head. In the picture above this animal looks like it is smaller than the cougar/mountain lion we saw.

What we saw looks more like the image below than any other I’ve found.

http://www.qnet.com/~saddleup/mountainlion.htm

It seems that there are 2 types of mountain lions, typical and non-typical. A typical mountain lion is nocturnal, not diurnal. Their habitat is the most rugged, remote, isolated, mountainous area available.
The ones in Oklahoma seem to walk around in the open in broad daylight.
In Yellowstone National Park an ongoing stydy of mountain lions started some 10 or 12 years ago. Sixty five lions were treed with hounds, tranqulized and fitted with tracking collars, five were the GPS 24-7 variety that fed directly into a computer. With the means to pinpoint each of the lions they still proved to be the most elusive creature in the park and sightings are very rare. The big cats are nocturnal hunters and lie up near their kills for possibly a week, but they vanish like a vapor when the location is approached by man in the daytime.
Most of the mountain lion sightings that have been checked out by the wildlife and agriculture departments in Oklahoma have turned out to be bobcats. There was one exception where a man had video proof. It turned out to be a gray fox.
I’ve seen one mountain lion in the wild in my 71 years and that was near Kingman, Arizona in Feb. 2003. After 4 days of traversing the most rugged mountains I’ve ever seen we finally were rewarded with success. Five baying hounds were at the base of a pinion tree and the hunter chose to leave the cat up in the tree. It’s tail was 4 or 5 times longer that that of most Oklahoma cats.
Two years ago in Colorado I kept a close eye on my back trail while in a remote area near Mesa Verde. I’ve never felt a need to look back while hunting in Oklahama.

In reference to the statement by Willis McWilliams “The last 2 mountain lions killed in Oklahoma were killed in the Witchita Mountains, but that was prior to the Civil War” – Just a few years ago one was killed by a train near Red Rock in Noble County. The animal WAS confirmed by ODWC – also the cat had a RADIO COLLAR showing the animal was tagged in South Dakota! I personaly know 3-4 people who have seen a cougar in the last few years & not one of them had any reason to lie. One of them was my brother who didn’t say anything to his neighbors for a week & when he started to tell them they said “you saw it too?!” I also find it odd that nobody has killed one yet with all the gun hunters out there & the lack of any trail camera photos. There is some suitable habitat in most areas of the state – they don’t have to have ‘mountains’ to survive. With our exploding deer population & remote rural areas it’s only a matter of time before more cats move in & set up a home.

Gary I think if you will do a little more research you will find that the cat you refer to near Red Rock was last located by the tracking collar in Wyoming. It was my understanding that a cause of death was never determined. It certainly wasn’t mutilated as it would no doubt have been if it had been killed by a train. The big mystery is that giant leap from Wyoming to Oklahoma. I have friends and relatives that swear that they have seen a mountain lion in Oklahoma. I don’t call them or anyone else a liar. However, I do think they are mistaken.
A lion will normally kill an elk or mule deer about every 7 days. My guess is it would have to kill a white tail every 4 or 5 days. As yet I haven’t heard of anyone finding deer carcases periodically except shortly after deer season.
Any mountain lion in Oklahoma would probably be a young male or one realeased from captivity. One released would probably be shot very soon. A young male would be in search of a female and being unable to find one would return to his former territory.
I have a friend who’s job allows him to get all of the information on mountain lions in Oklahama. That’s how I know the Red Rock cat was such a mystery. He thinks that if you had a big dog and it is now missing, someone killed a mountain lion or thought they did until closer inspection determined otherwise. Not all laws are good laws.
Willis McWilliams

Boys, I saw one in early May 1997 crossing the highway between Byars and Wayne Oklahoma. I was on my way to the state track meet, approximately 9:45am. I was heading West towards Wayne and came out of Byars. If you are familiar with that area there is a curve coming out of Byars that obscures the road ahead, and as I came around it and started heading down hill it was in mid trot across the highway. I was 125 yards and closing fast. The most vivid thing I remember about it was the tail. Looked as long as a shovel handle and as big around as a 3 inch pipe. Paws seemed to move with a sort of outward flop. They looked large. He seemed disinterested with me even though I was coming at him about 60mph. I crossed his path as he was slinking into the brush. Have heard of several in our area recently. My neighbor down the way swears she saw one lying next to her pool in the summer of 2004. Early morning hours, got up and trotted off before the sun breached the horizon. I live in Garvin County. My grandad died in 2007, but he swore he saw what he called a “black panther” around Rattlesnake Hill near Maysville back in the 1950′s. I argued with him in my youth about the non-existence of such an animal, but he was adamant about it. I told him the only possible explanation was a Jaguar from South America.

There are many lions in Oklahoma, we run bobcat/lion hounds we go to arizona and new mexico yearly to hunt them (lions). Every once in a while we tree one here. NO we dont kill them here, we simply lead are dogs away and smile. We have treed most in Osage county and a couple in Pawnee county. We dont call the Game wardens because we dont want to hear there crap anymore. There have been lions killed here for ever but most people keep it quiet. I know for a fact

18 September. At dusk, world class kick boxer (over 100 victories) Karina Jackson, 35, was attacked by a cougar at her home about seven miles east of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas River. She had gone outside to check on a litter of American Staffordshire Terriers in a pen located about 75 feet from her house. Noticing a puppy was out of the pen, she went into a neighboring hay field to retrieve him. She heard something rustling in the tall weeds at the edge of the field. Not seeing anything she continued toward the puppy. Suddenly she felt something hit her in the upper part of her left arm and she was knocked down. “It felt like I got kicked by a horse or a cow.” Picking herself up, she saw a large cat running away from her. Frightened and stunned, she only realized she had been injurred after she quickly returned the puppy to its pen, ran to the house, and then noticed her arm felt wet. Click the above photo to enlarge.

Jackson was treated on the scene by EMT’s, then she received 29 stitches to close the 4 gashes at Christi Oklahoma Regional Medical Center at Ponca City. Kay County Investigating Officer, Deputy Michael Kent, met with Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) Game Warden Tracy Daniel at the hospital where they observed Jackson’s wounds and agreed they were from a medium size cat scratch.

Two weeks previously Jackson saw the same animal running across the road in front of her as she was driving home. “I had to lock it up to keep from hitting him,” she said. Earlier that same day, she had noticed the large cat in a nearby field. Those sightings had prompted her to contact Daniel, who in turn contacted some trappers to try to catch the animal. About September 11, 2002, Jackson saw the cougar again in her yard, drinking from a water bucket by an old windmill. During that sighting, the cat ran a short distance, jumped a fence, and then stood and looked at her. She picked up a bunch of apples and threw them at him. September 13, 2002, Kay County Undersheriff Buddy Thomas said that Carl Clapp, of Cedar Vale, Kansas, was called to the scene with his hunting dogs. “We’re not going to take any chances if there’s an animal out there. If we see any sign of the cat, maybe we can do something about it.” Thomas also said that the sheriff’s office has received reports of big cats in the same Arkansas River valley east of Newkirk, but the reports have never been substantiated. Despite many previous reports, Thomas said the cougar encounter was an “unusual happening, not common around these parts.” Others further speculated that because the cat seemed accustomed to humans, this could be a feral cat–one released or escaped from captivity, now wild.

Despite game warden Daniel’s claim that their department hasn’t been able to substantiate cougar presence in Oklahoma from numerous sightings, the presence of cougars in Oklahoma has been verified, with two cougar kills in recent years in Cimarron County. One cougar was hit by a vehicle three years ago, and another was shot by a landowner in his yard last spring. Sources: (Rural Newkirk Woman Victim Of Cougar Attack; The Newkirk Herald Journal; Wayne White; 09/26/2002) (K-State Research and Extension News; K-State to Record Kansas Puma Sightings; Kathleen Ward, Communications Specialist; 10/15/2002)

further up the list here i saw a comment about a lack of deer carcassas, i live in ponca city and hunt public land more than id like to admit (not very well connected) theyrs a few places called traders bend,bear creek,little beaver creek,and wolf creek , and up along the arkansas river by newkirk that i always find three to four deer carcasses whenever i go, they always have the fur plucked out of them and are near dense clusters of trees, im new to this topic but thought this sounded relevent

I saw a cougar this morning in McLoud Oklahoma, it crossed the two lane road right in front of my husband and me. We were driving west on SW 74 street (Parkway) at about 30 mph. No mistake and no doubt it was a cougar. This is the second cougar we have seen in the area in the last 18 months. We saw one on our 10 acre land last year, it paused and stared at us for about 10 seconds then ran off, it was about 100 feet away. Again no mistake no doubt.
Neighbors have said that their pet cats have come up missing recently as one of mine did also. all I found was some fur.

I live in central oklahoma near wellston. Two weeks ago i had a horse come up with bites and scratches that appeared to be cat claw marks. I went looking for any spots in the pasture where she may have gotten into something. I found large cat tracks rear the edge of one of the ponds on our property near the back of our barn. I have no doubt after finding the tracks that my horse did have an encounter with a large cat(mountain lion)

I have tracks at one of my ponds on my property of a mountain lion and I have had a horse attacked, so I am sure there are cats here in central oklahoma,near wellston.

I live in Woodward, Ok. Northwest part of Oklahoma. I have friends that live on a farm and they have a mountain lion that comes around every year at a certain time. They have lots of dogs that go crazy at night, and they have even seen it from the back door watching the kids play inside the house(they have a glass sliding door). They have seen the tracks on there land by there barn and around the house. I have been there and at night we have to go and grap kids when it starts getting dark. Then I had another friend how was driving on a dirt road to a rig and seen one just lying there in the grass with its tail swinging back and forth over by Seling, OK.

I live between Seminole and Ada, near Salt Creek. About 12 years ago my mother and I left my grandparents house and headed home. As we topped a hill just 200 yards from HWY 99 we saw a lion jogging up the hill towards the highway. It then turned and headed north and jumped a fence. There was no mistaking what this animal was! In recent years we have heard lions on salt creek and found tracks last year.

Hello, i think that i saw you visited my blog thus i came to “return the favor”.

I live in Skiatook Oklahoma. WE were driving near Avant Oklahoma on some back roads. WE came up on a pond that is fed by a creek. As soon as my lights hit the pond, out jumped the biggest cat I have seen in this area. It was so fast I could not imagine out running it…even in a car. It had too be doing 60 miles per hour. This was a mountain lion. It looked like something from Africa!

We have also seen a large charcoal grey cat near the Skiatook lake dam in the spring. This cat was losing its hair and walked very slow across the road. This was not a house cat. I could see how big the shouder blades were while it was walking. This cat was more like a Jaguar.

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