Look at the below pix closely, and tell me what caused them (I already know). Thes photos are within 30' of each other, and near a salt lick. Be sure and check out the tree diameters & heights Checking out & using my Facebook posting is cheating. B.
I don't know. The one in your left hand in the second picture maybe a Black Bear??? :-/ :-/ :-/ Steve
no bear tracks or digging around, but that would have been a good choice, for a big one. The ones around here are not able to reach 7'+ We did find raccoon, coyote trax BTW, the one in the pictures is my neighbor Mike, internationally renowned in local lore as "Great Pale Deer Slayer" (he wears a cape & mask while on the stand), and wrestles on the side
Bert, your profile says E.Tn. In eastern Ky they have reintroduced elk...and I'm thinking elk might make a rub that big. I can't really think of anything else that might do that. No facebook here so I'll be waiting for you to give us the answer.
Anyway, Elk & whitetail deer. Both big, but it was impressive to see the Elk rub next to the deer. The elk had also wallowed out a salt lick to about 10' in diameter, and 2' deep ! The trails in & out of the place were beat down & muddy like a cow path. B.
Blue_Moon! Come on Down ! You have won a brand spanking new shiny sense of Satisfaction !! I guess this one was pretty easy (not many things have antlers in TN). I'll have to go back to my "Identify This Scat" thread I came across what looked to where something crapped a whole squirrel the other day, but had left my camera in the truck. :-? B.
Only thing I know of in E. Tn. that could consume and then "release" a whole squirrel would be a black panther...or perhaps a Yeti.
Which, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, would be impossible. "there are no panthers / cougars in Tennessee". They also say the same thing about Yeti, or "Skunk Ape" as it is called around here. I have, actually seen panthers twice on the Oak Ridge Reservation, one very close up. In 1999, I was working with two technicians doing monitoring well sampling when one jumped out in front (as in ~5' away) of our truck, turned and ran up the road for about 75 yards before veering off into the woods. That one was confirmed by the area wildlife officer who had seen it himself. The second I saw along the main access road on the way into work. They were easily 4x the size of most bobcats I have seen, not to mention a very long tail. The ones I saw were buff, not black.
Yeah, I was just funnin' you a little. They say there are no mountain lions/panthers in Ky too...yet there are reports every year. I have never seen anything of the like, but I'm not the kind of person who would question you if you said you did. I've never seen a Yeti, Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Skunk Ape, or whatever you call that either...and don't really want to. They can have my beef jerky!
AS I understand it, TWRA is of the opinion that if there was a population of any cat (or even funky hunanoid), they would show up as reported roadkill at some point. I wonder how many mountain lions are hit by cars out west ? B.
