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By Jackson Brower

Here in Pennsyltucky, they call those big wildcats of the woods panthers in the western part and mountain lions in the central part, and they are huge; hence the names Pitt Panthers & Penn State Nittany Lions, a few of which still live on nearby Mt. Nittany. Down in Kentucky, where this writer lived for nine years, the just call them wildcats: hence the UK Wildcats.

A western state mountain Lion Photo

Here in Washington County, they are pretty rare, but that doesn't mean they haven't been seen. These monsterious felines deserve serious respect.

"They are nothing to mess with," says Jim Avallone of Prosperity, PA, a security manager at Atlas Energy, in Findlay.

Jim has a lovely small home on an old farm out in the boonies of Washington County near Prosperity, PA, and he told me about one approximately 100 feet from his back door, chomping on a deer like 3 summers ago, 2011.

He said, "I got my shotgun and snuck out to about gun range of 55 feet." Then, the thing made the most hideous growl he had ever heard.

"A fear came over me like I never experienced before in my life, and my whole body literally froze in its tracks. It was like the beast had complete telepathic control over me, sort of like thinking your gonna drown in the ocean...there's no hope...I'm a gonner"

Jim goes on, "I had to just will all the strength I had to backpedal to my porch for like 20 minutes, while the big cat just stared my down with glowing gold demonic eyes."

He said his shotgun just froze up. The mountain lion let him get back to his house, and then ran away. Jim said he and his wife locked themselves in their house and didn't come out for 3 days. The game warden did confirm that the "cat monster" was also sighted 10 miles away in Greene County, where he slaughtered 5 sheep.

Jim said the thing then vanished, and hasn't been seen since. "It probably went back up into the mountains.".

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