Cougar in Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park

[whodowl]

Pretty darn sure I saw an adult cougar at Cades Cove a couple years ago.  It was late afternoon about halfway on the loop before the visitor's center.  The whitetail were keeping a really close eye on it as it crossed the meadow.  The lady in the store at the center said there weren't any cougar on the Tennessee side of the park.  Don't know why there wouldn't be and just wondered if anyone else has seen any cougar in the park?

[HipShot]

The lady at the store lied to you. TWRA will officially lie to you too, but the game wardens won't.

There are big cats all over around here.

[whodowl]

Hipshot, I also asked the woman if it was okay to harvest morels and she said 'no, it was against park regulations'.  The next day I read a sign at Sugarlands Welcome Center that said it was okay to harvest nuts, berries, and mushrooms for personal consumption.  I figured if she didn't know what a morel was, she probably didn't know much about cougar either.
I visit the area quite a bit and would love to have a little place back in the hills there, away from all the racket of Pigeon Forge that is.