Mountain Lion Encounters Getting More Common in Oklahoma

Even though the state has denied it for decades, the overwhelming amount of evidence supports the fact that mountain lions are native to Oklahoma as part of their natural, normal habitat.

This is not a bombshell to those who live out in the sticks. Rumors of mountain lions and black panthers have persisted for decades, especially in the far West and Southwestern portions of the state.

I think everyone in rural Oklahoma knows a guy who saw a big cat at some time or another. I've been lucky enough to see one myself, but only for a fleeting moment as it crossed a county road on our way to hunt one Thanksgiving morning years ago.

The most recent confirmed spotting came on July 3rd out in Greer County. 

If you're curious, Greer County is everything around Mangum, including Quartz Mountain State Park.

Even though the big lake there, Altus-Lugert, is still a bit low given the record rains, you can bet there has been a boom in animal populations alongside everything green out that way too.

They've been here a lot longer than the state would have you believe. 

Of course, when you ask farmers and such, mountain lions are in Oklahoma thanks to the introduction of whitetail deer, but it wasn't an introduction as much as a reintroduction. The state started rebuilding the deer population in the 1970s, but big cats had been here hunting native deer long before that.

As the United States expanded Westward, settlers seemingly chased off the big cats.

One, "kill them all" was the commonplace standard as families settled into the Oklahoma Territory. They were perceived as a threat to the new American way of life and liberty, so cohabitation wasn't an option.

Two, deer became a main source of food across our plains. Settlers drove the deer population to the brink of extinction in the Sooner State. Without that big food source, big cats moved off in search of their meals.

Why are sightings increasing so exponentially fast compared to previous eras? 

Personally, I think our modern technology is to thank for it. We've got cameras all over Oklahoma. They're set up on trees and stakes all across the countryside. The more eyes there are, the more we see, right?

Add in the decline of hunting over the years, even with recent record deer culls, and the population of deer just keeps booming. As a mountain lion's prime food source, more prey equals more predators.

Still, it's probably the same number of big cats we've always had, it's just easier to confirm sightings with so much photo and video evidence.

Then again, we've only recently proven the fact that mountain lions are here in Oklahoma to stay, mating and birthing kits within the Sooner State.