Up until last year I had an outside cat. The coyotes probably got him. I sure need to get some more. Anyhow, about ten to twelve years ago I "lost" nine cats in one week and seven of them in one night. I called the Fish & Game Dept - the wildlife biologist came out - took one look at the cat bodies and said - the cougars are seldom seen this far east. I'm a fisheries biologist by my college degree so I didn't question his proclamation. Two year later, four fellows showed up at my house - they had lost two of their hunting dogs - they were hunting cougar just three miles west of my place. They definitely confirmed the presence of cougars - as a matter of fact, they showed me the dead one in the back of their pickup. Their two dogs showed up at my place later that evening and the guys had to make a one way 55 mile trip to get them.
All the cats died the same way - as if you held on to the body and slowly pulled the head off. Only one of the nine cats had any evidence of being chewed on. Fortunately, this is the only evidence I've ever seen of cougars in my area. The coyotes do a good enough job of population control.
