Eastern Cougar (from
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/i/a/saa48.html)
"RANGE AND POPULATION LEVEL: Historic records indicate that the eastern cougar once occurred from eastern Canada southward into Tennessee and South Carolina, where its range merged with that of the Florida panther (F. c. coryi). Present United States distribution is limited to only a few scattered areas at best. Recently there have been some sightings reported in Minnesota and Michigan. These individuals are believed to have originated from around New Brunswick or Manatoba, Canada (Bob Downing, personal communication 1991). In the Southeast Region, there have been a number of sightings, but the best evidence for a small permanent population has come from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park Region. Based on a National Park Service study that included both sighting reports and field observations, there were an estimated three to six cougars living in the park in 1975. Sightings have also be reported in three other North Carolina areas including the Nantahala National Forest, the northern portion of the Uwharrie National Forest, and the State's southeastern counties. The remaining population of this species is extremely small; exact numbers are unknown.
HABITAT: No preference for specific habitat types has been noted. The primary need is apparently for a large wilderness area with an adequate food supply. Male cougars of other subspecies have been observed to occupy a range of 25 or more square miles, and females from 5 to 2O square miles.
REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS: The eastern cougar has been hunted and trapped relentlessly as a pest. Much of its habitat has been eliminated through extensive deforestation, and its primary prey, the white-tailed deer, has suffered significant population and range reductions.
MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION: The Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service jointly completed a 5-year survey in an attempt to determine the presence of self-sustaining cougar populations in the southern Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to Northern Georgia. The primary survey method was to search for cougar tracks in the snow, especially in remote areas such as closed sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Other utilized techniques were scent stations using cougar urine, catnip, or other scents, and recorded sounds such as cougar screams, predator calls, and deer bleats. Although many promising leads were pursued, no concrete evidence was ever obtained for the existence of eastern cougar populations.
One of the more promising ways to positively determine if cougars are present is to collect and analyze scats (fecal droppings). A technique has been developed at Mississippi State University for identifying predator scats by thin layer and gas chromatography analysis of the various bile acids they contain. "
Like Richard says; no print, no scat, no cat!!!
(I am still laughing, who would have thought) 
