July 14, 2025 • 6 mins
“What would you do if a mountain lion locked eyes with you in the middle of your neighborhood?”That’s the question that sets off this segment of The Ben and Skin Show yet. Join hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray as they dive into the viral saga of Curtis Jones, a Rochester, NY local who claims he came face-to-face with a mountain lion… and lived to tell the tale—with a baseball bat in hand and a whole lot of charisma.🦁 Wildlife News Gets Wild: The episode kicks off with the now-iconic “Wildlife News” jingle before launching into the Curtis Jones saga. From his unforgettable quote—“I seen it, seen me, see it”—to his impassioned vow to protect the community with a youth-sized aluminum bat, Curtis becomes an instant folk hero.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome the wild Life News, the wild Life New.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Occasionally we have what I like to call eyewitnesses who
get put on the news and they just have that
main character energy, you know. Sometimes you see people get
cast in like she's not really a star caliber. We
got a star here. Let's go to Rochester, New York,
where there has been a mountain lion on the loose.
We think from.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Your breaking news and weather authority. This is thirteen WHAM
News at six.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
What is a mountain lion roaming the streets of Rochester?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The search continues tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
One man claims he came face to face with that
big cat.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
It said, rah, not just I'll just cut Look, I've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Seen me see it. Oh boy, here we go.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We begin with this search for what appears to be
a mountain light or some sort of other large cat
roaming Rochester streets. Good evening, I'm Matt Malloy, thirteen WABS
now Lee cals A Tony met with the man who
claims he came face to face with this elusive animal. Natalie,
this is what everyone is talking about tonight.
Speaker 6 (01:14):
The animal does appear to possibly be a cougar and
if so it most likely did not arrive to the
region on its own. Now, I spoke with a man
who says he came across the wild cat while on
a walk.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
I heard, I heard raw, I felt, I felt dow
raur or. I know, to keep it pushing, I know that.
Speaker 6 (01:29):
Curtis Jones says he was walking near Robber Street late
Wednesday when he saw people running from what appeared to
be a large wild cat right.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
Over here, right every way, right over here. I swear
I promised him right over there. Hey, it's a raw,
not just I just cut walk. I've seen it, seen
me see it, so in my head I might not
gotta go.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Man, I'm know right, Okay, that's why I want to
pose it account. We're kind of halfway halftime at this clip.
I now I need to tell you guys that he
is holding a bat. He's got a base with him.
While he's talking. I got him behind his head. Do
you think mid middle aged or younger?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Hard to tell?
Speaker 7 (02:06):
Man, Yeah, why does he have a baseball bat with him?
Did you wearing street clothes? You'll find out he just
left practice. Middle aged too? Is I ain't define middle age.
I think technically is like thirty eight. I was gonna
say forties, forties to fifties.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'd say forties, all right, yeah, uh yeah, baseball bat
though in hand the whole time.
Speaker 6 (02:26):
Rochester Police say officers became aware of a video on
social media that appears to show a wildcat, which some
people claim is a mountain lion. RPD says it received
numerous calls of reported sightings just after midnight.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
This bit it was.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
It was just walk a slytherin like it was.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
A shelter in place was ordered and then lifted when
RPD was unable to verify the presence of a wild animal.
Police say no reports have been substantiated. Jones tells me
he remains on edge.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
I keep this bad right here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I'm gonna keep this bad right here.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
That's okay.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I'm gonna protect us.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
I ain't gonna let not happen to us. Not okay,
they ain't find it last night.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's still out here.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
It could be all heard one of these bushes or something,
you know them mountain Linay.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Wow, I'm crawling a lie.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
It's serious. I don't play with lions.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I don't play with tigers, bears, not with the wild.
I don't play with those, I promise you. I don't
even do roller coasters.
Speaker 6 (03:25):
And Arpedia says until the validity of the original video
can be confirmed, it urges the public to remain vigilant.
If anyone observed a large wild animal, they are advised
to go indoors.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
And on that one one, Oh, Natalie, thank you so much. Okay,
let's keep it. There's a mountain lion on the loser.
Some professionalism, please?
Speaker 8 (03:43):
Can I say that if someone said, hey, man, if
you heard this Curtis Jones audio, I would expect a
dude to sound exactly like he sounds. Curtis Jones is
a dope name for a guy that sounds like that.
And I think you're right. I think you have a
good eye for talent. And I would like you to
track him down.
Speaker 7 (04:01):
And I would like to do a weekly Rochester report,
all right, and we have Curtis Jones call in and
just tell us what's going on from his perspective in Rochester,
New York.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I mean, I'm looking at pictures of him. Now you
got him. Yeah, So when he.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Talking about the slithering and stuff, he's like.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Acting it out too, Like that's incredible. It's amazing. That
dude is badass.
Speaker 7 (04:22):
And he's wearing a tank top, so he yeah, he
had what he appears to have. Looking at this baseball,
it looks to be a youth aluminum bat, like it's
way too small for him. It's maybe like a fungo
bat or something, but it's too small of a boat.
He couldn't use it, maybe like twenty six inches or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
And it's old like it was at.
Speaker 7 (04:41):
A batting cage for many years and they were like
discarded it. But he is vowing to protect the community
with that, Like he's like, I'm a going to protect
all of us with this.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Is I'm not to let anything happen to us. He's
probably talking to the newsgirl who's there right. Uh, you
know what, I really like he knew, you know what
he was doing a lit little bit, I think. But
also I really think he was a little upset that
they called off the dogs on the search because they
made the town shelter in place for a little bit. Okay,
(05:10):
and the cops do a once over and they're like, uh,
I didn't see it. It's a bear story from you know,
we talked about a few weeks ago.
Speaker 8 (05:17):
It kind of feels like, though, with upstate New York,
that that's probably not that uncommon to have a wild
creature of some kind kind of roamanto your town.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Right now, I want to tell you that there's a
fifteen second commercial that's been made for an attorney up
there in Rochester by the name of al Parici. All right,
and he's got Curtis Jones in the ad. Okay, so
Curtis Jones is making off this all right, Curtis.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
If that mountain lion would have attacked you, would you
have done?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Called the best attorney around.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
Called attorney al Parise at eight.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Thousand ra just there.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Hey, I'm mountain lion behind him, creeping up on him.
Speaker 8 (05:56):
Rochester, al PARISEI sounds like you might be really related
to Frank Frankel.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Curtis Jones. I have found his profile online, so maybe
we'll get him on the show.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Get him on, yes, please, he may have.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
A talent for you at this point though.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
Yeah, that's fantastic stuff there, some of the best audio
we've ever played. All right, coming up in just over
three minutes, it's the big finish. Has a local news
anchor lost his will to present the news. You've got
to hear this audio that's coming your way next
It's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome the wild Life News, the wild Life New.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Occasionally we have what I like to call eyewitnesses who
get put on the news and they just have that
main character energy, you know. Sometimes you see people get
cast in like she's not really a star caliber. We
got a star here. Let's go to Rochester, New York,
where there has been a mountain lion on the loose.
We think from.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Your breaking news and weather authority. This is thirteen WHAM
News at six.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
What is a mountain lion roaming the streets of Rochester?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
The search continues tonight.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
One man claims he came face to face with that
big cat.
Speaker 5 (00:52):
It said, rah, not just I'll just cut Look, I've
seen it.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Seen me see it. Oh boy, here we go.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We begin with this search for what appears to be
a mountain light or some sort of other large cat
roaming Rochester streets. Good evening, I'm Matt Malloy, thirteen WABS
now Lee cals A Tony met with the man who
claims he came face to face with this elusive animal. Natalie,
this is what everyone is talking about tonight.
Speaker 6 (01:14):
The animal does appear to possibly be a cougar and
if so it most likely did not arrive to the
region on its own. Now, I spoke with a man
who says he came across the wild cat while on
a walk.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
I heard, I heard raw, I felt, I felt dow
raur or. I know, to keep it pushing, I know that.
Speaker 6 (01:29):
Curtis Jones says he was walking near Robber Street late
Wednesday when he saw people running from what appeared to
be a large wild cat right.
Speaker 5 (01:38):
Over here, right every way, right over here. I swear
I promised him right over there. Hey, it's a raw,
not just I just cut walk. I've seen it, seen
me see it, so in my head I might not
gotta go.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Man, I'm know right, Okay, that's why I want to
pose it account. We're kind of halfway halftime at this clip.
I now I need to tell you guys that he
is holding a bat. He's got a base with him.
While he's talking. I got him behind his head. Do
you think mid middle aged or younger?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Hard to tell?
Speaker 7 (02:06):
Man, Yeah, why does he have a baseball bat with him?
Did you wearing street clothes? You'll find out he just
left practice. Middle aged too? Is I ain't define middle age.
I think technically is like thirty eight. I was gonna
say forties, forties to fifties.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
I'd say forties, all right, yeah, uh yeah, baseball bat
though in hand the whole time.
Speaker 6 (02:26):
Rochester Police say officers became aware of a video on
social media that appears to show a wildcat, which some
people claim is a mountain lion. RPD says it received
numerous calls of reported sightings just after midnight.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
This bit it was.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
It was just walk a slytherin like it was.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I don't know, man.
Speaker 6 (02:47):
A shelter in place was ordered and then lifted when
RPD was unable to verify the presence of a wild animal.
Police say no reports have been substantiated. Jones tells me
he remains on edge.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
I keep this bad right here.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
I'm gonna keep this bad right here.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
That's okay.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I'm gonna protect us.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
I ain't gonna let not happen to us. Not okay,
they ain't find it last night.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It's still out here.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
It could be all heard one of these bushes or something,
you know them mountain Linay.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Wow, I'm crawling a lie.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
It's serious. I don't play with lions.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I don't play with tigers, bears, not with the wild.
I don't play with those, I promise you. I don't
even do roller coasters.
Speaker 6 (03:25):
And Arpedia says until the validity of the original video
can be confirmed, it urges the public to remain vigilant.
If anyone observed a large wild animal, they are advised
to go indoors.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
And on that one one, Oh, Natalie, thank you so much. Okay,
let's keep it. There's a mountain lion on the loser.
Some professionalism, please?
Speaker 8 (03:43):
Can I say that if someone said, hey, man, if
you heard this Curtis Jones audio, I would expect a
dude to sound exactly like he sounds. Curtis Jones is
a dope name for a guy that sounds like that.
And I think you're right. I think you have a
good eye for talent. And I would like you to
track him down.
Speaker 7 (04:01):
And I would like to do a weekly Rochester report,
all right, and we have Curtis Jones call in and
just tell us what's going on from his perspective in Rochester,
New York.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I mean, I'm looking at pictures of him. Now you
got him. Yeah, So when he.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Talking about the slithering and stuff, he's like.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Acting it out too, Like that's incredible. It's amazing. That
dude is badass.
Speaker 7 (04:22):
And he's wearing a tank top, so he yeah, he
had what he appears to have. Looking at this baseball,
it looks to be a youth aluminum bat, like it's
way too small for him. It's maybe like a fungo
bat or something, but it's too small of a boat.
He couldn't use it, maybe like twenty six inches or
something like that.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
And it's old like it was at.
Speaker 7 (04:41):
A batting cage for many years and they were like
discarded it. But he is vowing to protect the community
with that, Like he's like, I'm a going to protect
all of us with this.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Is I'm not to let anything happen to us. He's
probably talking to the newsgirl who's there right. Uh, you
know what, I really like he knew, you know what
he was doing a lit little bit, I think. But
also I really think he was a little upset that
they called off the dogs on the search because they
made the town shelter in place for a little bit. Okay,
(05:10):
and the cops do a once over and they're like, uh,
I didn't see it. It's a bear story from you know,
we talked about a few weeks ago.
Speaker 8 (05:17):
It kind of feels like, though, with upstate New York,
that that's probably not that uncommon to have a wild
creature of some kind kind of roamanto your town.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Right now, I want to tell you that there's a
fifteen second commercial that's been made for an attorney up
there in Rochester by the name of al Parici. All right,
and he's got Curtis Jones in the ad. Okay, so
Curtis Jones is making off this all right, Curtis.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
If that mountain lion would have attacked you, would you
have done?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Called the best attorney around.
Speaker 8 (05:47):
Called attorney al Parise at eight.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Thousand ra just there.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Hey, I'm mountain lion behind him, creeping up on him.
Speaker 8 (05:56):
Rochester, al PARISEI sounds like you might be really related
to Frank Frankel.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Curtis Jones. I have found his profile online, so maybe
we'll get him on the show.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Get him on, yes, please, he may have.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
A talent for you at this point though.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
Yeah, that's fantastic stuff there, some of the best audio
we've ever played. All right, coming up in just over
three minutes, it's the big finish. Has a local news
anchor lost his will to present the news. You've got
to hear this audio that's coming your way next
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