I had an on the road field rep/ emergency service , repair position for a company in Central Pa. , Western Md. , and Northern W. Va.. It was night and day travel 6 hrs. plus company car driving a day. Nothing to do but look at traffic , and wildlife going from customer site to site. Back in 1990 , the MTN. lion sightings started in my territory. I would talk to some of my customers in Pa. that had sighted the lions . All were credible , educated witness' , and over half were hunters , that were used to identifying animals before harvesting them. I attended one of the award winning Gary Alt , "kill all the deer in Pa." , Public meeting at a local high school. I told a local Pa. Blame Warden about the Mtn. Lion sighting I had , where I watched the big long tail cat for five min's along the road. Next day , a technologist from the local hospital on the way home , pulled off the road to watch , probably the same lion , on the same coal mine spoil pile where I had seen it before. She called her dad , a Pa. State Police Officer , described what she was watching , and he told her , don't get out of the car , and to leave the area ASAP.
I told the Pa. Blame Warden at the Public deer meeting what I had seen , and the Blame Comm. Officer essentially called me a liar to my face , and denied there was any possibility of lions in Pa.. I told him I would call the news media , first , then the Blame Comm. second , if I would find one killed along the road. Next morning , I almost got my wish. In Elk County , on the way up Red Hill Mtn , there is a four lane section of highway w/ truck passing lanes. I was the last of three cars in line , and a Mtn. Lion jumped over a highway guide rail on the west bound lanes , and jumped between the first two cars ahead of me so forcefully , it bounced off the steep road bank , fell backwards into the ditch , and took a couple seconds to regain it's footing to disappear over the road bank. All this took time enough for me to again assess the color , size , and length of tail for purposes of positive Identification . I can still picture the movements , of the big cat. Over the next six months , other credible folks reported to me the first hand sightings they had , as well. Too many credible accounts , in a short time to ignore fact. These critters must have been stocked in Pa.. Just as the Blame Comm. had denied stocking Coyotes , the Blame Comm denies the lion reports. What is next? , cross breeding timber wolves with coyotes , so as to make a "super size Coyote" ? Don't ask were that info came from. I know NOTHING...Sgt, Schoultz.
