4 replies to this topic

[stlouismtbiker]

Was camping at Site 4 at Council Bluff last night. Between midnight and 1am, I was having a nice nights sleep in my hammock when I was woken up by two very loud and close animal calls. It sounded like almost like a child screaming. The two calls were 5 to 10 seconds apart. Wasn't a howl like a coyote or any kind of grunting or growling. It wasn't anything a deer, bear, coyote, owl, or armadillo (saw one on the trail earlier) would make, but thought it might have been a mountain lion. We weren't really sure what it was, but since it was so close to us and was very unnerving, we got up and slept the rest of the night in the car. Those were the only two calls we heard that night.

Rode a lap of the lake in the daylight and went swimming today. Not nearly as eerie in the daylight. We stopped by the USFS office in Potosi and described what we heard to them. They said mountain lions have a call similar to a woman screaming. Their description was spot on for the sounds we heard. We talked to the resident biologist and he confirmed that we had very likely heard a mountain lion. He explained mountain lions are something new in Missouri and encounters are on the rise. The forest doesn't have a plan or monitoring system for them yet. He was very interested to hear about it and said he might drive down to Council Bluff this afternoon and look for tracks and/or scat since the rain left some damp ground in the valleys. The calls were very close to our site on the ridge, but came from the Telleck Branch side. We told him how we slept in the car and he said, "If I heard one down there at night, I'd go hop in my car too." Made us feel a little better that the USFS biologist would do the same. He said they'd might have to start putting some posters up around the area.

This is what the call sounded like-

Pretty cool to have mountain lions back in Missouri just like black bears. Might just want to be aware when you're down in the area now.

[mcompton]

I heard something "taken down" while camping at Hawn about a year ago.  The fight was scary at about 2:00 am.  In my head was a murder scene.  The next morning I found just one person out of about ten who also heard it.  The screams seemed human.  The Ranger did not think much of it and nothing was in the news.
I now believe it was an act of nature and wish I could have been closer to witness it.

[tweiss]

Saw an ad in Outside magazine... commented on the food chain inverting at night. Makes tent camping a little more adventurous.

[Brad W]

I think Bobcats make a noise like a woman screaming as well.. I know there are a lot more Bobcats out there than mountain lions.. but who really knows??

At least I know there is something out there for them to eat..  hahaha I was doing a solo lap yesterday at CB right before sunset..  Right between Enough boat ramp and the 2nd big climb going counter clockwise I came around a corner and boom!!  About 20-25 wild hogs or ferrel pigs or whatever they are called 30 feet in front of me... ABSOLUTLEY no need for anyone to be worried about these guys at all..  Trust me, they are scared as hell..  I heard them running away from me as fast as they could go before I actually saw them..  I stopped to watch them run away and to make sure they didnt have any further intentions..  So anyway, the mountain lion probably (hopefully) aint to hungry...

[TTM]

Been seeing lots of Hog activity all over the backside of the lake.  As the seasonal traffic tapers off I wouldn't be surprised to see them around by the campground.  Deer hunters may thin a few soon.   WILD BACON!!!!

Edited by TTM, 07 September 2012 - 08:29 AM.