People see mountain lions in soviet Red Hampshire now and then, even though they technically ‘don’t exist’ in that area. Bobcats quite common...saw one myself from about three feet away. Stared him down, he/she ran off.
Same thing here in Mississippi with panthers/cougars, but there have been documented cases in neighboring states. People need to stop it with the “black panther” stuff though; there has never been a documented case of a black (melanistic) cougar anywhere.
OMG, NO!!! And here I've been bragging to my Arkansas Ozarks friends that as a child in NH I never had to worry about anything more dangerous than black flies! Out here we have everything from bears to brown recluse spiders to rattlesnakes! But I think you've got us beat now!!!