NATCHEZ — After laying low for months, one notorious Natchezian has once again made his, or her, presence known.

Local resident Don Estes said he spotted what he believes to be a cougar at approximately 8:20 a.m. Estes was riding his bike between the first and second milepost on the Natchez Trace.

“It shocked me,” Estes said. “She was just crossing the road at a lope.”

Estes said he was traveling southbound on the Trace when the animal crossed the road approximately 100 yards in front of him then walked up the embankment, paused to look at him, and walked off into the woods.

Estes said he believes the animal to be female because it was smaller than he thought a male cougar would be.

Since Estes was riding on a downhill slope, he was forced to ride past the spot were the animal had just walked in to the woods.

Estes said while he could not see the animal, he felt sure he was being watched as he rode past.

“I took my chances and rode past her,” he said. “At which point I felt like (I was) breakfast.”

After biking on the Trace for the past year, Estes said this was his most exciting wildlife sighting yet.

Estes said he has seen a few doe with their fawns in the same spot where the cougar was spotted — and he’s not sure it’s just a coincidence.

“I hope they’re all right,” he said of the deer.

Estes’ sighting is the second, including one in June, when two Natchez women reported seeing a cougar on Briel Avenue.

Estes said after talking to one of the witnesses in the June incident on Tuesday he believes he saw the same cat.

Estes said the color and description of the cat match and he estimated the animal to weigh approximately 100 pounds.

Kurt Foote, Natchez Trace Parkway’s natural resource management specialist, said if what Estes saw really was a cougar, it’s a rare sighting.

But Foote said he would not be surprised if there were a very small number of cougars in the area.

“It’s exciting,” Foote said.

Foote also said the area where Estes had his sighting is filled with dense brush and ravines would be an ideal habitat for such an animal.

“They like to be where they can’t be seen,” he said.

While Foote said there’s no way to substantiate Estes’ claim, Estes said he’s sure of what he saw.

“It was a cougar,” he said.

And even after the sighting, Estes said he has no plans to change his morning routine, in fact he said he feels fortunate to have spotted such an elusive creature.

“I’ll be on the lookout for it,” he said.