A trail cam photo in Galivants Ferry shows what looks to be a cougar wandering the woods in the early morning hours on Thursday and Friday.
The snapshot was uploaded in a Facebook group and has been shared over a hundred times, with comments ranging from the photo being a fake to people recounting their own cougar sightings.
A message left with the individual who shared the photographs, including a fresh one from Friday that appears to show the cougar walking away with a chicken in its mouth, was not returned before publication.
“I’m not gonna tell you that it’s not,” said Charles Ruth, a wildlife scientist and large game program coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Ruth stated that SCDNR had received trail cam images of probable cougars. While the black-and-white snapshot does not show the colour of the enormous cat, Ruth stated that if it is black, “we immediately say negative.”
If it’s brown or tawny, “it’s in the realm of possibilities,” Ruth added.
A reverse Google image search reveals no evidence that the shot has appeared elsewhere. However, this does not imply that the photograph was not manipulated in other ways, including the use of Photoshop.
Ruth stated there isn’t a large cat population anyplace in South Carolina. He stated that the last reported case of a cougar in the state occurred in the early 1900s.
Ruth explained that the eastern cougar, which has a small population in south Florida, has been proclaimed extinct in the Southeast. Of the 100 that remain in Florida, 10 to 12 are hit by cars each year, he said.
“We have never had that happen in South Carolina,” said Ruth, leading him to conclude that if a cougar is in Horry County, it is most likely a previous pet who has escaped or been released.
“You’d be surprised how many of these big cats were in private possession,” Ruth told me.
