Since this necrothread has been brought back to life, I will chime in. Mountain lions/cougars have been here for awhile. I can't remember what year it was, but my best guess would be 1992 or 1993. My aunt & uncle own alot of property near Salem, IN (I think that's Washingyon County) and most of it is raw wilderness. There is a fishing pond that I used to walk to about a half mile from the house and I always carried my S&W Model 411 with me when I went down. I had several nice bass splashing around on a stringer when I noticed something walking slowly around the pond towards me. At first I thought it was a large yellow dog, but it didn't move like a dog. It was "creeping", staying low and moving slowly towards me. The cattails were tall enough that I couldn't focus on it, until it cleared the cattails and was about 20' from me. I had already unholstered my S&W and was aiming right at its head, figuring that if it leaped I would at least hit it in the chest. I pulled the hammer back, and when it heard the "click", it just stopped. We stood there, eyes locked for what seemed an eternity (long enough for both of my forearms to be sore afterward), and finally he just stood up, turned around, and casually walked away like nothing ever happened. I can still picture its long thick tail twitching as it walked away. I have no idea how long we stood there in our "staredown". I think he was probably sizing me up, looking for a weakness, and waiting for me to run. It was AMAZING. And I'm here to tell you, from 20' away, there's no question about what it was. I feel very fortunate to have had this encounter, to have survived this encounter, and fortunate that I did not have kill him. That was, however, the end of my fishing trip.