Seriously, driving on the Merritt Parkway at night is like a game of dodge ’em.

Bill-
I lived in the area of NoCal that they use to drop off “problem” cougars from down south, and another area that has at least one llama kill a year by cougars for a total of nearly twenty years, and the only one I’ve seen outside of a zoo was a “problem” one waiting for release when I was a little kid! My folks saw one run across the road in Modoc in the early 80s, even though dad had been in the area since the 50s. It really isn’t fair! (Although I’d really rather not see one because it’s not near me, than see one that’s not scared of people…a little too familiar with the habits of house cats to want to see a house cat that weighs more than I do.)

Turns out the DNA testing says it wandered hundreds of miles up from the FL population – probably up the west coast and then up the Chattahoochee. IIRC, subsequent radio-collar studies on young males showed that they managed to wander all over South GA, with no “official” sightings. But growing up hunting in South GA, every one of us understood that people still see them sometimes.

But declaring it extinct to avoid the ESA stuff? Nah. I think it’s just hubris. The hunters see them, but the scientists don’t. I would imagine the scientists think something like “We’re the guys that get to make it official, and until WE see them, they don’t exist. We’re certainly not listening to the likes of you – everyone knows you guys love to embellish.”