Check out the front page of the local newspaper for June 14,2017 and see what you think(nganews.com)

Hard to tell exactly what it is. Does seem to look like one.

Cougar of some variety. They are the only native North American big cat and in the East, though not extinct, they are very rare and have very reduced ranges. However, without a good way to measure the size, that's just a guess.

Back in the 70's when I got out of college my dad worked for International paper as a forester and he belonged to their employee hunting club in south Baldwin county Alabama. There was one plot that was called the panther plot, it was way back in the woods, down a just about UN driveable two track road(espically after a rain). Several times I was at that plot when just about dark there was a sound like a woman screaming bloody murder comming from the swamp. Didn't take long to get back to the truck on those nights, even dragging a deer you could make it in sprinter like time.

How is that different from a mountain lion? We have those around here.

I have had a close encounter with a Florida Panther on my land near a state forest. They range over a very large area and it would be rare to see one in the same place twice. We see tracks or hear them every few years. You can't tell the difference between a Florida Panther and a cougar on sight-the difference is mostly where they live. It could very well be that this is a mountain lion as the panther is endangered and conservation folks have imported western mountain lions in an attempt to freshen the gene pool. It is my understanding that the released cats have tracking collars.

Yep. TWO cougars.

Yes. That's what I saw too.
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"painter" as the mountain folks might say.

The state tells us there are no large cats in Georgia, save for the occasional florida panther that wanders into s. georgia. I don't buy it.

There are a lot of "sightings," obviously tough to verify, but I don't think there are that many people just making stuff up. My father saw one on a golf course in metro atlanta about 20 years ago and I don't believe for a second he is making it up. He has hunted all of his life and knows the difference in a 20 pound bobcat and a 60-70 lb panther, too.

This story is from a few years ago.

<https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-06-18/real-life-incredible-journey-one-3-year-old-mountain-lion>