Evidence, Eye-witness, and Credibility I used to live in a suburban town on Long Island Sound, less than 50 miles from New York City. On a very clear day, one could just make out the WTC towers from the shore.  There was a golf course near the water...a few holes went along the marshland that extended into the Sound.  A road went along the course, separating the golf course from the sound and the marsh.   There was a  drop-off of four or five feet from road grade to the marsh. One day late summer day, I was playing by myself hit a ball that rolled onto the road and into the marsh. I decided to take a quick look for the ball...I play and expensive brand and disllike losing balls. As I walked along the road, I heard a rustle in the marsh.  And there, less than 25 feet from me, I saw a mountain lion.   It had turned tail and was running away from me.  I saw a mountain lion,  in the wild, within sight of the World Trade Towers, in suburbia, less than 50 miles from New York City. I called the police department.   I called animal control.  No one would believe me.  "You saw a coyote. Or a dog. There haven't been mountain lions here for 100 or 150 years". Except that...I did see it. I do a little birdwatching, so I know to make a mental notes of animals I see for only a few moments. Size. Weight. Color. Tail, Ears. Markings. Poof, it's gone.  And what I saw was a CAT, brownish grey, round ears, about the size of a German shepherd.  Long tail. Bounding away from me.  It was a mountain lion. Everyone said I was crazy.   They looked at me like I was a lunatic.   They asked me about my meds. All the same shit I get here. But I did some research, and in my opinion the evidence about mountain lions was consistent with what I knew that I had seen. That winter,  there was an article in the local paper.  A woman had a photograph of a footprint in the snow in her back yard. It was the footprint of a mountain lion. Sometimes you just have to believe your own eyes. No matter what the authorities and other people say or think about you.