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I received an e-mail the other day that was titled “Fw: Big Cats in Local Area (not a joke).” The photo was taken by a trail camera and contained a mountain lion dragging a nice whitetail buck. It was a great photo, but perhaps more interesting was that the e-mail stated the photo was taken in Fulton County. Remember, this is not a joke.
The body of the e-mail stated: “This picture was taken by a game camera that a nurse in the ICU at Baxter Regional has set up at her deer feeder in Fulton County, about 20 or 30 miles from Mountain Home. I guess there is no more doubt about whether big cats are roaming around these parts.” Since the e-mail stated that this wasn’t a joke and someone knew someone who knew someone that originally took the photo, surely it was real. The fact that Arkansas doesn’t have a population of mountain lions (although lots of sightings each year), one huge cat apparently found his dinner at a deer feeder.
Our newspaper’s sports department was sent the photo too, but even they were a little skeptical. They’re always having to ask for names and telephone numbers of people so they can verify what they print. Apparently the nurse’s phone had been disconnected or something because they could never confirm the ICU nurse’s story. Probably a good reason behind that, but remember, this photo was not a joke.
Being a sometime outdoor columnist gives me access to lots of reader e-mails and I’ve been forwarded photos of no fewer than five “New world record whitetails” a week. The fact that none of them actually are doesn’t mean I don’t like looking at photos of huge bucks, even though some of them have been doctored skillfully through Photoshop. Remember Mitch Rompolla, the Traverse City, Mich., hunter who supposedly killed a world record deer a few years back?
Curiosity gave me a little motivation to see if I could verify this cougar-deer photo. A quick trip to outdooroddities.com gave me the answer I was looking for. Seems as though way back in April the photo was flying around the Internet, each one a little different. Seems as though the big cat photo was from Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska and South Dakota. Not sure how that photo could have been taken in all of those states, plus just outside of Salem, but it had to be because this was not a joke!
Reminds me of that gossip exercise we did in grade school where you whisper to the person next to you a fact. By the time it’s whispered around the room and makes it back to the originator, the story is completely different. The Internet is a worldwide classroom and everyone that logs on is exposed to its gossip, even we hunters.
I’m not sure how the ICU nurse at the Baxter County Hospital got her name associated with the e-mail that was making its way around Arkansas. Perhaps it started as a joke and someone passed it along as fact. Hitting the “forward” button is a lot like whispering in the ear of the person next to you if you can’t 100-percent confirm what you’re forwarding.
Maybe this proves that we’re easily entertained and we are likely to believe something if we see it with our own eyes. This photo, and hundreds like it that are circulating around the Internet, are proof of that. Maybe it’s “no harm, no foul,” and we’re just wanting to be entertained. Unfortunately, misinformation can be damaging and those who hide behind a faceless e-mail account have no accountability. We should always remember that.
Whether it’s a story about a 1,000-pound hog, a 10-foot long rattlesnake, or a 250-inch typical whitetail, if the sender didn’t originate the message to you and you know the sender well, there’s a good chance it’s bogus.
Perhaps the biggest indication of a bogus story is, if in the headline, it states “Not a joke.” Then, you can pretty much bet that it is.

dmosesso@jonesborosun.com