Is there an African Lion roaming the hills of WV?

AK-74me

AK-74me

"Typical White Person"
Is There a Lion in West Virginia? - ABC2 News is Baltimore's leading local news website for video, weather, school closings, traffic, sports, consumer investigations, and health

Using a video camera and raw chicken, state officials hope to learn whether the king of the jungle is prowling the woods of West Virginia.

Bow hunter Jim Shortridge believes he saw a full-grown, male African lion weighing between 250 and 300 pounds at the foot of
Cold Knob Mountain earlier this month. The state Division of Natural Resources confirmed that at least one other person has
reported seeing the lion.

Using a camera normally employed to catch people dumping trash illegally, the state Department of Environmental Protection has joined with Greenbrier County Animal Control Officer Robert McClung and exotic animal expert Jim Forga to see if they can substantiate the sightings.

Twenty pounds of raw chicken left on the site last week were devoured, but McClung said that doesn't prove the lion's existence.

"Anything could have eaten that," he said. If officials do spot the lion on videotape, they may set a bear trap for the animal. If caught, it would be turned over to Forga, who runs Tiger Mountain Refuge in Rainelle, a shelter for exotic animals.
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M

Magnum

Should be Huntin
Most people never believe me when I tell them this. When I was young we used to always see big tracks around the fields, looked like cat tracks, all in a perfect line like a cat walks. One evening we heard some strange sound across the field, roughly 300 yards. My Dad grabbed his 44 and we ran over there to find a puddle of blood and some deer fur. One other time a couple months later I swear I saw a lion. I was in the field of Soy Beans and I saw a deer, I was going out to shoot my 22 at some cans. I looked at the deer with my scope and saw something behind it, I though it was another deer but I could see the big round face with dark bands on the side of it's head. It was about 30 yards behind the deer. All of a sudden the deer ran for the woods roughly 50 yards to the side, the lion or whatever it was took off after the deer. As the deer was making it's final leap into the woods the other animal had cought up, and looked like it was going to catch it in the final leap. Lost sight because of the woods. I ran home and got my Dad. We founf the same tracks, same puddle of blood and fur no deer to be found. That was the last we saw any signs of it.
 
Kyle

Kyle

Beloved Misanthrope
PREMO Member
A long time ago I also happened upon a dead deer next to a set of tracks... I followed them to see if I could find what killed the deer.

About an hour and a half later I heard something and quickened my pace. The faster I walked the nearer the sound seemed to get from behind me. I broke into a dead run.... I could hear it gaining on me.... Just as I was about to collapse in exhaustion, I spotted an abandoned shed and darted in slamming the door behind me...
 
M

Magnum

Should be Huntin
Kyle said:
A long time ago I also happened upon a dead deer next to a set of tracks... I followed them to see if I could find what killed the deer.

About an hour and a half later I heard something and quickened my pace. The faster I walked the nearer the sound seemed to get from behind me. I broke into a dead run.... I could hear it gaining on me.... Just as I was about to collapse in exhaustion, I spotted an abandoned shed and darted in slamming the door behind me...
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I was in Brandywine I forgot to mention that.
 
Kyle

Kyle

Beloved Misanthrope
PREMO Member
Sorry. had to get the phone....

Anyhow... I peered through the broken glass in the window just in time to see and take a snap shot of the culprit.
 
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camily

camily

Peace
Magnum said:
I was in Brandywine I forgot to mention that.
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There actually was a guy around Cheltenham a while back (long while) that had a "zoo" on his property. He couldn't afford to care for them and was going to get busted for neglect so he just opened the pens and let them out. He had exotic animals there, not just a petting zoo type thing. He also had albino deer which accout for the high count of albino and deer with huge white patches there. True story. He had Zebra too. Not sure what else though.
 
I

Inkpen

Guest
As posted..someone had it and could not afford to keep it..and no telling what is up in them thar hill and hallows of WV....

Heck..there are moonshines still producing and Feds cant find them!!!!
Best way to protect a still..get a hungry lion!!:killingme

Hope is it caught and not shot....would hate to think it was shot and just wounded.... and suffering...instead of a clean kill.
 
Ken King

Ken King

A little rusty but not crusty
PREMO Member
bresamil said:
:roflmao:



Let's send our on the spot reporter Ken King out to investigate. Ken? Have you seen a lion?
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Don't know exactly where Cold Knob is, yet. I wonder if it's close by and this guy has seen Taz running around and only thought he was a few hundred pounds. :lmao:
 

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pixiegirl

pixiegirl

Cleopatra Jones
camily said:
There actually was a guy around Cheltenham a while back (long while) that had a "zoo" on his property. He couldn't afford to care for them and was going to get busted for neglect so he just opened the pens and let them out. He had exotic animals there, not just a petting zoo type thing. He also had albino deer which accout for the high count of albino and deer with huge white patches there. True story. He had Zebra too. Not sure what else though.
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That was Jerry Holley and the details aren't exactly correct. He had a bunch of exotic animals that he didn't have the proper licenses for and was forced to get rid of them. I remember in particular something about a black cougar and a king cobra. A family friend use to work for him. I never heard of him letting lose any of the exotics. He did have zebra and buffalo too. He was right on the Charles/PG County line in Brandywine.
 
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