Events Calendar
In This Section
Hobo union picks Akron for national convention
Food Notes: Join Lisa at culinary club's benefit dinner
New eateries expand menu of options
Ceremonies and special events to honor Veterans
Retired Green officer finally gets Bronze Star
John Rosemond: Children adapt to different discipline styles
Akron home prices rank best in college-town poll
Most Read Stories
Suitcase causes bomb scare at Akron bus terminal
Akron City Council OKs higher speed on I-77
Chapel Hill isn't rolling right along
Motorcyclist killed, wife injured in Stark County crash
New eateries expand menu of options
Man says he was punched, robbed by 3 people in parking lot
Patrick McManamon: Here's what the Browns should try the rest of the season
Louisville athlete commits to play for Boston College
Family found dead in Ohio home
Blogs:
Pets:
It Takes All Kinds
The Heldenfiles:
Tuesday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
An interesting thought from a reader
Akron Zips:
Akron vs. Mount Union — Liveblog
Tribe Matters:
Indians announce spring dates
Cleveland Browns:
Mangini doesn't name a quarterback
Kent State Sports:
Flashes interested in another Cincinnati player
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Shaq: It’s All About Winning Championships
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes Roll 100-60 / Season Outlook
Varsity Letters:
Report: Walsh baseball player commits
All Da King's Men:
More On The Fort Hood Jihadist
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Simply Incapable of Telling The Truth
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (63) Commonwealth Fund Report on Primary Care
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Clock Tender- Extending the Life of Collector Car Clocks
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Rumors: Akron Starbucks Closing
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.
Sound Check:
Aeromsith looking for new singer as Steven Tyler contemplates solo career
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
Video: 'Modern Warfare 2' hits the streets
Hunter, son believe they were in standoff with mountain lion
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008
A Medina County bow hunter and his son came face to face early Saturday with what they say was a large cat in northern Summit County.
What resulted was a tense standoff in the dark between Rob Grey, 44, and his 10-year-old son, Shane, and an animal that may have been a mountain lion.
Although officials say there are no mountain lions in Ohio, it was the second reported sighting of a possible big cat in the village of Richfield in as many days.
Saturday's incident occurred off Southern Road as the Greys were making their way to their deer-hunting stand at 6:35 a.m.
The cat was spotted in a flashlight beam. Grey described it as initially just a pair of wide yellow eyes staring back in the darkness. Then it took on the shape of a large cat with a
long sleek body and long tail. The animal was about 150 yards away across a field.
The cat didn't move when Grey stepped forward or backed away. It just kept intently watching the pair.
''It was more than a little unnerving and frightening,'' said Grey, a Chippewa Lake resident and a tool and die worker who has hunted since 1985. ''It didn't move. It just stared back with these giant wide eyes.''
Grey advised his son not to run and got out his bow, cocked it and loaded it with a bolt. He then moved about 30 feet closer to the cat before it leisurely ambled away.
Father and son then slowly backed away to their truck. Grey said he was more worried when the cat moved off because then they didn't know where it was.
Grey said he is 90 percent sure that what they saw was a mountain lion.
''Seeing is believing,'' he said, adding that he never expected something like that in Richfield.
Father and son woke up landowner Tom Davis, who with Grey later gathered hair and stool samples.
June sighting
Davis reported seeing a mountain lion in Richfield in June. He and Grey took the samples to a ranger in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on Saturday.
Ranger Rose Akins referred the men to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since the sighting occurred outside the federal park. She suggested that the samples might be analyzed at a state-run wildlife laboratory in Oregon.
Additional scat turned up off Southern Road on Monday, Davis said.
Another sighting of a possible mountain lion in Richfield occurred on Friday.
Sue Morgan, 59, an owner of the Lone Pine Golf Course off Broadview Road (state Route 176), reported seeing the animal about 7:15 a.m. when she was walking on the nine-hole course with the family's border collie.
The tawny, yellowish animal was at the edge of the woods by the seventh fairway.
Morgan admitted she wasn't sure what she was seeing.
''It was something I had never seen before,'' she said. ''To be honest, I never thought of a cat. . . . But I knew it wasn't a deer and it wasn't a coyote. . . . It leaped away like a deer but it had a long tail that it flipped behind it.''
No police reports
Richfield Patrolman Michael Simmons said the village police department has no reports of a mountain lion.
And Damon Greer, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, insisted that ''there are no mountain lions in Ohio.''
Any large cats that were raised as pets would be unlikely to survive on their own in the wild, he said.
But the two recent Richfield sightings follow similar reports a few months ago of big cats near Medina Line Road between Copley and Sharon townships.
The Medina County Sheriff's Department received a number of reports of a mountain lion being spotted, but nothing conclusive came of those reports, Lt. John Detchon said.
There were no reports of missing pets or farm animals, Detchon said, and the Medina County reports seemed to go away in late August and there have been no recent sightings.
Horse stalking
Davis, 50, a former police officer in Creston, said he and sons, Alex, 17, and Jacob, 10, watched a mountain lion for about five minutes in June as it stalked miniature horses in a meadow off Southern Road.
''We thought it was a deer at first,'' he said. ''Then we saw the way it was moving: It was stalking like a cat. That freaked us out because mountain lions aren't found around here.''
After a few minutes, the cat picked up their scent, turned to look right at them and then disappeared into the brush.
''That ain't no deer,'' he said. ''It was a full-grown mountain lion. . . . I know what I saw.''
Davis said he reported the sighting to federal wildlife officials via telephone — only to be treated as if he had claimed to see unidentified flying objects.
''That got me miffed,'' he said.
On Sept. 14, Davis took photographs of a 5.5-inch paw print that he found on his 17-acre property.
He said he also came across six deer skeletons in June in the 25-acre field where he raises hay.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
A Medina County bow hunter and his son came face to face early Saturday with what they say was a large cat in northern Summit County.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 05:12 AM, 10/07/2008
There are bobcat and lynx in Ohio-you dont have to go very far south or east to see or hear one either-In 1977 while rabbit hunting at I-76 and 261 we saw a lynx-30 yards away from us-in 1997 we saw and heard a bobcat 6 miles southeast of Seneca lake-yes 90 miles from here but these wild animals roam away from there natural habitat.
Anti-Politically Correct & Anti-GOP, OH
Posted 05:30 AM, 10/07/2008
Yep. We have Bigfoot too.
akron, OH
Posted 06:22 AM, 10/07/2008
and sesquich
Posted 06:40 AM, 10/07/2008
Keep your house cats indoors while these two are around.
Posted 06:44 AM, 10/07/2008
It would be good to have some natural predators for the deer. We have waaaay too many deer around Akron.
Posted 06:53 AM, 10/07/2008
It would be good to have some natural predators for house cats. We have way too many house cats around Akron.
akron, oh
Posted 07:29 AM, 10/07/2008
Hank (& others) I agree that there are a lot more deer than what is healthy for them or the area - but a large wild cat will not just eat deer. Sooner or later, it will feel threated by a person and you won't be very happy when it's a pet dog or a person that's attacked.
For there to be this many sightings of an animal that could be in the area, I would think that they would be more inclined to test the samples and look around.
Posted 08:33 AM, 10/07/2008
K, there are very few attacks on people in areas where there are many big cats. Bring on the cats, the wolves, and the sasquatches if ya got 'em.
Posted 08:37 AM, 10/07/2008
I whole heartedly agree with John!!!
U, OH
Posted 08:47 AM, 10/07/2008
Leave the cat alone, don't shoot it. It's a natural predator and part of the environment. I hope it's protected and isn't shot/killed by some reckless, uncaring hunter.
Posted 09:01 AM, 10/07/2008
Ohio does NOT have bigfoot or saquach!!!! He is called grass man dummy! LOL And big deal if there is a mountain lion or bobcat... I mean they are all over WV, and WV is right next to OH. Now if you see any tiger or lions or kangaroos, THAT would be news.
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 09:03 AM, 10/07/2008
this reminds me of the '50s reports of a huge cat in Peninsula...HUGE...that was ravaging sheep. cattle and smaller prey...scientists and experts brought in at that time determined it was too huge for a mountain lion or any known wild cat, including an African lion, and decided IT MAY HAVE BEEN A SABER-TOOTHED TIGER that had somehow survived in Canada in a small pride, and had traveled the wilderness of the Emeral Necklace, our link of State Parks...you can look it up, this was an actual series of reports in Beacon Journal, and the incredible nature of that story has remained with me for all this time...stranger things have been discovered, not to say this has to be identical, but if a saber-toothed tiger pride survived in Canada, and migrated to northern Ohio during the cold of winter back then, a mountain lion doing the same would not be very surprising
//and with all due respect, while he may be a fine person and adequate in his job, Damon Greer is foolish and shortsighted at best...does he think these people are lying? instead of giving sufficient instructions on protecting our children and pets, he issues safe to wander idiocy about how there isn't a danger because there "aren't any mountain lions in Ohio"
Damon, you need another job.
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 09:14 AM, 10/07/2008
and in reading other replies, i will also alert Ohioans to the tragic story of a 5 year-old girl snatched and dragged away while walking to the store with her grandmother by a panther, a cat about the same size as the one being reported, that happened in Collier County, Florida, in the late 70s
another reason Damon Greer is out of touch with reality...this isn't a panic situation, but wisdom is required
Akron, OH
Posted 10:14 AM, 10/07/2008
This stray cat business has gotten way outta hand. Hand me one of those hunting bows!
dalton, oh
Posted 11:23 AM, 10/07/2008
Its pretty pathetic that someone is so arrogant that they cannot admit to being wrong!! These seperate incidents should be investigated and not just brushed off. The public has the right to be aware if there is indeed a moutain lion in the area, as they are known to attack pets and unsupervised children when food supplies are low or if they are seen as easy prey. I am not saying we should hunt it down and kill it, but if it is wandering into suburban areas it will eventually harm/kill someone.
dalton, oh
Posted 11:57 AM, 10/07/2008
If indeed Damon believes "there are no mountain lions in Ohio", I believe he should spend a night out in the areas that reported the sighting(maybe with some deer scent on) and check it out for himself. By the way, he won't need to be armed because house cats don't eat people!
Posted 12:43 PM, 10/07/2008
I agree with you Laurel! Well written!
Posted 12:58 PM, 10/07/2008
Why is it so hard for people to bleieve that there is a big cat in Ohio? I really don't get it, large predators being in Ohio is not a new thing, for example, no less than three years ago there was a black bear in Northeast Ohio. I know this because it was in my back yard and I have the photos of the damage and foot prints to prove it. People need to get a life an realize that just because a large preadator isn't natvie to a specific area that it can't be there. Its stupid to think that these animals don't migrate to find new acceptable living habitats when their native habitats are destroyed left and right.
The Great City in, OH
Posted 04:09 PM, 10/07/2008
I use to own a Cougar but I traded it in for a Mustang
Akron, Oh
Posted 04:24 PM, 10/07/2008
There are more than 2500 Cougars in the Mount Vernon area/central Ohio area.
Posted 07:34 PM, 10/07/2008
There ARE mountain lions and bobcats in Ohio. I've seen them down around Salt Fork a few times. I didn't realise this was big news. Maybe the hunting laws in WV are making the big cats move elsewhere. Like OH where you can only have so many.
Like I said in another post... we live right next to a state that has tons of them. And for the people that are appauled by not being told what to do... Do you live your life based off of what other people are telling you? Can you not look into the future and honestly not see what happens when other events occur? I mean the more people move into thier habitats the more they will move. Besides the thought that a mountain lion may attack a domestic animal (which would be normal for any animal to do it's called instinct) do you realise that little squirrels and racoons etc. with rabies could kill you? Or just driving down the road and hitting a dear has a far greater chance of killing you than a mountain lion?
This is NOT news. This is the media with nothing better to write about, and people looking to talk about nothing new,but lovin' that 15 - minutes of fame. Good ol' ABJ.
Posted 07:48 PM, 10/07/2008
The Ohio Division of Wildlife is probably covering up the sightings of cougars because they don't want people out looking for them. I graduated from Colorado State University in 1982 with a Bachelors degree in Wildlife Biology. I knew at the time that they were monitoring a cougar population in Southeastern Ohio but they would not admit it publicly as they did not want people out looking for them and disturbing them.
Cougars were native to this area in the 1980s. There is no reason that they could not wander back into the area just as we are seeing occasional black bears wandering into the area. Besides, there's a lot of rugged, undeveloped terrain and overgrown farm and orchard land in Richfield. They could easily be the ones sighted in the Copley-Sharon area and there are plenty of deer for them to prey on.
Posted 09:20 PM, 10/07/2008
whats the big deal. there is a mountain lion living in the wild, so what. i suppose all the hype is gonna cause the government to send a sharp shooter in to kill it just to shut you up.
Posted 09:20 PM, 10/07/2008
I don't need a degree to see amd know what is going on in the USA. BUT alot of people obviously need to be walked through everyday life. Go figure.
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:26 PM, 10/07/2008
The Cougars are in Mount Vernon...
http://www.mvnu.edu/sports/recruit.asp
Posted 11:50 PM, 10/07/2008
There are large differences between bobcats and mountain lions...size and a long tail. During the 23 years I lived in Los Angeles I saw two. There are mountain lions in LA area and they can be dangerous. Do your research and review the cases. Domestic animals are easy prey...so was the cyclist who was on one knee fixing the chain on her bike....so was a La Crescenta neighbor whose mastiff was carried over the six-foot fence in his back yard by a mountain lion...ask the folks that were attacked in the Santa Monica Mountains (the hills above Malibu) To be sure there are not hundreds of attacks and the lions do not attack everything they see and they aren't roaming the city - but NEO is not the city. LA officials post areas where there have been sightings and people jog, bike, or walk through. Most people never see one...then there's the one in a thousand that do. Attacks on humans are very, very rare...but rare is not the same as never. Do the right thing and report the sighting. And though you can see any number of things in LA...Bigfoot isn't one of them.
Posted 10:54 AM, 10/08/2008
I have seen a bobcat myself in washington county while deer hunting. I am a richfield resident, and I have friend who lives on medina line road who has seen what he believed to be a mountain line, and reported to odnr and was treated about the same way. Although my friend is a licensed veterinarian, he was insulted by this officer and mentioned it no more. What about the hair and scat samples are the not being tested?I would think it would be foolish to discredit any of this at this time.
Posted 02:43 PM, 10/08/2008
Big cat? I think someone been drinking!!!
Anti-Politically Correct & Anti-GOP, OH
Posted 09:39 PM, 10/08/2008
We need some natural predators to kill off the morons and the street thugs in the area.
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 04:45 AM, 10/09/2008
HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY !
Posted 11:35 PM, 10/17/2008
I don't doubt the sightings of these large cats. My father said there were sighting 30 some odd years ago around where we live(New London, OH about 45min south southeast of Cleveland) but the game wardens and officals winked and said no such sighting in the area and know the officals in the areas where these were sighted sound like they are doing the same thing putting the fingers over their lips and SHhhhhh!ing everyone. They are out there and I hope someone catches one to prove it. More so to prove to people you can't trust your "officials"
Massillon, Oh
Posted 03:29 PM, 10/10/2009
There are definitely cougars in Ohio. This week a friend of mine brought a photo in off a trailcam. Clear as day there is a full grown mountain lion dragging a dead 8 point buck in front of the camera. This picture was taken in Holmes County
massillon, oh
Posted 06:51 AM, 10/15/2009
bbear44 i heard about that mountain lion on the trail cam incident and im a hunter and the ohio division of wild should step and check into this for the sake of the people,they have a job to do but dont want to get off there fannys until something bad happens.
