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A man in Middle Tennessee reported seeing a cougar outside his home earlier this month.
A hunter in Dickson County was leaving his Ridge Road home on January 18 when he saw what he believed to be a cougar sprint across his yard before disappearing into the woods, the Dickson Post reports. He described the animal as being light in color and approximately 2.5 feet tall and 4 feet long.
While not totally unheard of, cougar sightings in Middle Tennessee are pretty rare. The last confirmed sighting of a cougar was seven years ago in Humphreys County, per WKRN. According to wildlife officials, most sightings reported in the mid-state turn out to be much more common to the region.
"People can mistake a house cat, coyote or bobcat as a cougar," said Barry Cross, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency official. "But a lone cougar searching for a home range can happen."
Cross said cougars tend to shy away from humans as they don't like people and will most likely run away if a person is near. He did, however, tell the news outlet of a bigger worry for people in the mid-state: bears.
"A bigger concern is black bears that are growing in population," he said. "And adult male will look for a new home range which could lead him into Middle Tennessee."
Anyone who's been to the Smoky Mountains knows bears are a feature of the wilderness, but there have reports of them getting closer to people in populated areas, like when one bear took a stroll along a crowded sidewalk or when a group of bears stopped by a hotel pool for a dip in the water.
Anyone who sees a cougar or a bear should not get close to the animal, instead safely leave the area and contact the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. It is illegal in the state of Tennessee to kill a cougar unless you're life is in immediate danger.