KDarsey
Senior Member
Lion loose near Lumpkin?
Witnesses say they've seen it
By Matt Aiken
Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 9:32 AM EDT
Hillary Hamilton may have thought she was still asleep last Wednesday morning when the Murrayville resident looked out her window and spotted what appeared to be a lurking mountain lion across the street.
Yet she wasn't the first, or the last, nearby resident to report seeing a large cat prowling the area near the Lumpkin County line.
“We've had three sightings,” said Col. Jeff Strickland of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.
The first came early Tuesday morning on Old Dahlonega Highway when a passing motorist said he saw a lion by the side of the road.
The next day Hamilton called in with her up-close-and-personal-account. Then, on Friday, a third sighting was reported in the Mount Vernon area.
So far officials have yet to catch a glimpse of the beast for themselves and nary a track has been recovered.
Though over the weekend, it appeared the latter had been located when a Murrayville resident reported that something large had riffled though his garbage can and left behind some large padded paw prints.
After further investigation, however, officers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources determined that the tracks belonged to that of a hungry bear.
Following the first sighting early Tuesday morning, C.W. Wathan, owner of Lumpkin County's nearby Chestatee Wildlife Preserve said he counted up his big cats and found that every one of them was in place.
“It definitely wasn't ours,” he said. “We did do a head count and all our lions were accounted for.”
Department of Natural Resources Region Supervisor Ken Riddleberger said that if Murrayville residents really are seeing a lion then it's definitely not wild.
“If they're seeing something they're seeing an escaped illegal pet,” he said.
Cougars and mountains lions are no longer found in the wild in the southeast, he added. Though he suggested that the animal could be an overgrown bobcat.
“It's hard to say what people see,” he said. “You never know.”
Yet Hamilton said she knows exactly what she saw.
“It was a mountain lion,” she said.
On that Wednesday morning, she initially thought that one of her family's calves had simply gotten loose. Then she took a closer look.
“At first I was fixing to go down there. And I'm glad I didn't now,” she said with a laugh. “When it turned and looked at me it was definitely a lion.”
Hamilton said the cat didn't have a mane, was as big as a calf and had a tail that was between three and four feet long.
She ran to get her cameran but by the time she returned the animal had moved on.
Hamilton then called 911.
Currently officers in the area are keeping an eye out for the alleged lion during their routine patrol of the Murrayville district, said Strickland.
In the meantime, Hamilton said she plans to keep her kids, and pets, inside.
Witnesses say they've seen it
By Matt Aiken
Published: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 9:32 AM EDT
Hillary Hamilton may have thought she was still asleep last Wednesday morning when the Murrayville resident looked out her window and spotted what appeared to be a lurking mountain lion across the street.
Yet she wasn't the first, or the last, nearby resident to report seeing a large cat prowling the area near the Lumpkin County line.
“We've had three sightings,” said Col. Jeff Strickland of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.
The first came early Tuesday morning on Old Dahlonega Highway when a passing motorist said he saw a lion by the side of the road.
The next day Hamilton called in with her up-close-and-personal-account. Then, on Friday, a third sighting was reported in the Mount Vernon area.
So far officials have yet to catch a glimpse of the beast for themselves and nary a track has been recovered.
Though over the weekend, it appeared the latter had been located when a Murrayville resident reported that something large had riffled though his garbage can and left behind some large padded paw prints.
After further investigation, however, officers from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources determined that the tracks belonged to that of a hungry bear.
Following the first sighting early Tuesday morning, C.W. Wathan, owner of Lumpkin County's nearby Chestatee Wildlife Preserve said he counted up his big cats and found that every one of them was in place.
“It definitely wasn't ours,” he said. “We did do a head count and all our lions were accounted for.”
Department of Natural Resources Region Supervisor Ken Riddleberger said that if Murrayville residents really are seeing a lion then it's definitely not wild.
“If they're seeing something they're seeing an escaped illegal pet,” he said.
Cougars and mountains lions are no longer found in the wild in the southeast, he added. Though he suggested that the animal could be an overgrown bobcat.
“It's hard to say what people see,” he said. “You never know.”
Yet Hamilton said she knows exactly what she saw.
“It was a mountain lion,” she said.
On that Wednesday morning, she initially thought that one of her family's calves had simply gotten loose. Then she took a closer look.
“At first I was fixing to go down there. And I'm glad I didn't now,” she said with a laugh. “When it turned and looked at me it was definitely a lion.”
Hamilton said the cat didn't have a mane, was as big as a calf and had a tail that was between three and four feet long.
She ran to get her cameran but by the time she returned the animal had moved on.
Hamilton then called 911.
Currently officers in the area are keeping an eye out for the alleged lion during their routine patrol of the Murrayville district, said Strickland.
In the meantime, Hamilton said she plans to keep her kids, and pets, inside.
