Mountain lions: Alabama’s big cat mystery
Folks swear they've seen mountain lions in Alabama. But are their eyes deceiving them? (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)
The existence of Bigfoot is wildly debated across the country. But in Alabama, the existence of another creature takes center stage in many discussions: mountain lions.
The presence of these big cats is well documented in other parts of the country, but are they in Alabama or not?
The term mountain lion is one of the many names people use to refer to the animal scientifically known as Puma concolor. Some call them cougars, panthers, pumas, mountain devils and mountain screamers among other monikers.
Mark Smith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System wildlife specialist, said mountain lions are the second largest feline in North America. Jaguars (Panthera onca), which are found in the extreme southwestern United States and throughout Mexico, are the largest.
“Mountain lions weigh anywhere from 65 to 265 pounds and can be up to 8.5 feet long, from head to tail,” Smith said. “Adults are sandy brown to tawny gray in color with a whitish belly.”
A characteristic that sets mountain lions apart from many other big cats is they do not have spots or stripes.
The Alabama big cat debate
For decades, many people in Alabama claim to have encountered a mountain lion. However, you have to go all the way back to 1956 for the last confirmed sighting in the state.
“The closest known mountain lion populations to Alabama are in western Texas and southwestern Florida,” said Smith, who is also an Auburn University professor in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. “Since the 1956 confirmation in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama wildlife officials have yet to confirm any of the sightings that they receive regularly.”
According to Smith, many of the sightings come from people who are unfamiliar with mountain lions. Not surprising, since many folks in Alabama are unlikely to have seen a mountain lion in the wild before.
“To put things in perspective, think of the hundreds of thousands of game cameras that are put in the woods each year to monitor wildlife,” Smith said. “Yet we haven’t been able to produce a clear picture of a mountain lion in Alabama. More interestingly, given all the roads and highways in Alabama relative to the movement patterns of mountain lions, we would likely have had one hit by a car. In some areas of their western range, that is the leading cause of mortality.”
So, what are people seeing?
Despite the data, folks in Alabama still claim to have seen mountain lions. But if it’s not a mountain lion, what are they seeing?
Smith said there are several animals that people misidentify as mountain lions. The bobcat is one of the most common.
“Bobcats occur in large numbers throughout Alabama and the southeastern U.S.,” Smith said. “They are much smaller than mountain lions are, weighing about 15 to 35 pounds. They also have a short, 4- to 8-inch tail and a spotted coat.”
Being so different in size and appearance, you may wonder how these two cats could ever be confused for one another. Smith said it’s the bobcat’s nature to generally avoid humans. So, people may not get a good look, making it hard to tell the difference.
Other mountain lion sightings have turned out to be a range of other animals, from dogs, to coyotes, to black bears and even deer. These critters obviously look nothing like a mountain lion. But Smith said circumstances can affect what people see.
“Many pictures and videos of supposed mountain lion sightings turn out to be feral cats, once the animal’s size is compared to other objects in the background,” Smith said. “Also, if seen at the right angle or under poor lighting conditions, a relatively common animal can start to take the shape of something completely different.”
To learn more about the mystery surrounding mountain lions in Alabama, read the Extension System article Alabama Cougars: Sorting Fact From Fiction.
A version of the story originally appeared on the Alabama Cooperative Extension System website.
