Sometimes people feared fishers (erroneously attributing the blood-curdling screams of foxes to these hard-to-spot creatures), and in the late 1930s, after several animals were slain under strange circumstances in Glastonbury, the Hartford Courant dubbed the lion-like creature supposedly responsible, the Glawackus. Yet I also remembered something Sue Morse had told me months before, as we sat in her living room drinking beer and chatting cats. Mountain Lion Update - May 8, 2020, by Sam Wilson, Furbearer and Carnivore Program Manager. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. The bobcat population has since recovered due to improving forest habitat conditions and legal protections. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. Morse founded Keeping Track in the belief that getting citizens interested and engaged in wildlife will have the knock-on effect of getting them interested and engaged in how land-use decisions affect wild populationsand might provide the impetus for conservation efforts. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer. Mountain lions also have tails that can grow up to 3 feet. Especially when pictures are blurry which happens a lot in trail cameras or youll get pictures taken at night or something on Ring cameras that hind leg really does often look like a tail kind of curling up behind the animal.. Its not a bear, not a dog, not a deer, not a bobcat. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. July 20, 2022. It was definitely a cougar. He drove me out to the spot. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. he recalls. May 12, 2021. Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of The Coos County Democrat and began noticing the steady influx of reported sightings. In the first, there are those such as myself, whove maybe heard a few second- or third- or fourth-hand stories as well as official denials from state agencies or professional biologists, and therefore find themselves betwixt and between, neither believing nor disbelieving. He drove me out to the spot. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. Beautiful animal. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members Sue Morse, the founder and science director of Keeping Track, a Vermont-based organization dedicated to protecting wildlife habitats, has studied mountain lions over her career as a naturalist, and says the majority of cougar sightings in the Northeast are misidentifications. State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. To Betty and Ottmann, the dominant narrative of the occasional itinerant cougar from the West is not particularly relevant to the facts on the ground. Weve got a growing bear population. Mountain lion facts. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. Thats only a fraction of the supposed sightings. They are named for their short (bobbed) tail which is often about six inches in length. Snowy winter AM just before us neighbor kids were heading to catch the bus, we (myself, my dad and neighbor) all watched a large cat cross the yard and leave huge prints and a distinct tail drag mark in the snow! What time of day was it? A full-sized mountain line was photographed on the campus of the Brunswick School in Greenwich on Sunday, along with a matching paw print and a 9-inch lion dropping that seals the scientific deal. Sport hunting for cougars is not sustainable and shouldnt be allowed to go on. Im not surprised that various state officers deny the presence of cougars in new England. In my mind, I went through all the nots. Adult males can be around 8 feet in length and weigh between 130 and 150 pounds, while adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. If we end up with a population, it will be the result of a colonizer female who gets here somehow, some way, and the rest will be history.. Yes, of course they are here, transients. For a solid four seconds, Marchibroda watched as a large, sleek cat standing about three feet tall with a long, curled tail crossed Skyline Drive near Gavel Springs Gap less than 100 feet in front of them. We have people eating dinner in their kitchen, they hear a noise, all of a sudden a bear walks in, so they run into their bedroom to get away from the bear, while the bears out ransacking their refrigerator. of Energy & Environmental Protection. They are there and thriving!!!! They have been absent from this state since the late 1800s; however, there have been a few isolated sightings. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. MLF. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. The MPD Animal Care and Control Unit's report includes a fact sheet about mountain lions, which has many common names, including "puma, catamount and panther.". Lets learn to live alongside this very large animal is one of the schools of thought. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. It jumped 28 feet across the road. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. The mountain lion is believed to have had an encounter with a family on their lawn. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. Was INCREDIBLE! Several years ago, I saw what was definitely a cougar walking along a street. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. My assumption is it was the same animal. Apr 20, 2020. I lived in great Barrington mass and I took photos of tracks in a field in April of 2009 (and of course lost them). Mountain lions, however, arent seen much in the Nutmeg State, even though several have reportedly been spotted around the Woodbridge area this month. Hawley said that the typical range of cougars like mountain lions is from west of the South Dakota area. We strolled across the tavern parking lot and ducked into the forest, where Ottmann maintains a portion of his $15,000 worth of wildlife recording equipment (hes had no luck capturing a cougar on camera, though, despite more than a decade of trying). Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. There is also something appealing about the idea that there is an animal out there so cunning that it has escaped our notice and the eyes of our cameras. Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. On November 22, about 20 miles north of Rowlett there was another . Reading Time: 4 mins read . I appreciated Ottmann and Bettys confidence and commitment, but here I was, poking through thorny thickets behind a bar, trailing a bleeding man whose devotion to proving the presence of cougars was beginning to seem like a quixotic quest with no end. Bobcats: They are about two to three times larger than their distant relative. There was no mistake. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. Interesting article, but it is really incomplete without a discussion of the legal implications of having a confirmed endangered species such as the Eastern Cougar in New England. I think of Aldo Leopolds Thinking Like a Mountain essay about how deer decimated the forests and died of starvation because of humans incessant desire to kill. Early spring 2019 I caught a glimpse of one entering over grown brush on the side of the road very very early in the morning. I couldnt tell you how happy I would be if mountain lions were actually recolonizing the state of Connecticut, Hawley says, but its just not happening., Hawley spoke about bobcats, mountain lions and bears on The Colin McEnroe Show: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators.. The key to Morses assertion can be found in the term breeding population. Although the fact that cougars have traveled through New England is irrefutable (a DNA-confirmed roadkill is hard to deny), Morse believes its unlikely that they have settled here and created a self-sustaining population. Ask people who spend time outside Connecticut cities and you will hear firsthand or secondhand accounts of mountain lions. I have learned one thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. I wasnt planning to shoot her unless she moved in my direction. We clearly have migratory male cougars coming through. I saw a cougar in Wolfeboro NH crossing / running across 28 ; close call between myself and a car traveling in the opposite direction over 12 years ago . Can they really all be cases of false identification? Males can reach up to two metres in length and weigh over 60 kilograms. My stepfather had been a hunter and was no stranger to seeing animals in the woods and countryside, so when they came up over a knoll in the road and saw a large cat looking at them, he saw the face and thought, bobcatuntil they then saw the rest of the animals body: huge, beautifully tawny colored, and in possession of what my mother described as a very long tail, that was as thick as my wrist. ALSO KNOWN AS Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. That had to be a mountain lion. Im confident that we get occasional outlier animals.. They can be seen at any time of the day or night, but are most active at dawn and dusk, corresponding with deer activity. The Spatz and Sue Ottmann referred to are Christopher Spatz and Sue Morse, two of the better-known and arguably most experienced cougar skeptics in the Northeast. Mountain Lions in New York. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! However, Hawley noted that Eastern bobcats tend to have very few spots compared to bobcats that are out west or even in the Midwest. If they have spots, they are typically in the white, underside part of the bodies or on the insides of their legs. In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. Its OK, he told me. Mountain lion front tracks are 3 to 4 1/4 long and 3 1/4 to 4 3/4 wide. This was as clear as day had a long tail and long body I was thinking someones pet was on the loose or escaped form a zoo !! Watch Live at 7:00 PM: The U.S. and the Holocaust, a film by Ken Burns | Screening & Panel Discussion . The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book, Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. No doubt of what it was; size, color and recognizable tail. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. The big cat sighting is the third in the past month in New Canaan, and close to the previous one, Aug. 8, on White Oak Shade Lane.. The main habitat requirement for mountain lions is stalking cover to successfully hunt prey. In 2011, genetic testing confirmed that a mountain lion originated in South Dakota and traveled more than 1,500 miles before being struck by a car on the Merritt Parkway, according to Reuters. UConn women's basketball's Dorka Juhsz, Amari DeBerry play 'word sneak' at press conference, Fight breaks out after CT high school basketball game between Bassick, Wilbur Cross, Amanda Bynes, Steve from 'Blues Clues' to appear at 90s Con in CT, Connecticut paranormal convention coming back this spring, Bridgeport woman competes to find love on Paramount+ dating show, Self-taught pianist Serene to perform at Grace Farms. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal likely trekked more than 1,500 miles from South Dakota, a journey that was captured by trail camera (above). Ottmann nodded. The 2-year-old male cougar, dubbed P-89, was found dead early Monday on a shoulder along U.S. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Sometimes referred to as the ghosts of the forest, mountain lions or cougars are stealthy hunters that are hard to spot, even in areas they are known to inhabit. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. So theres fresh mud. A lifelong Connecticut resident, Nicole has a degree in Communications from Fairfield University. And theres another school of thought, Well, no, there just are too many of them probably we have to reduce that population somehow. Where do you fall in that whole continuum? October 12, 2020 10:47 pm ET. We were about 50 feet from it and it stood taller than any labrador and we watched it tail and all slink down the side of the lawn and the rabbits being surprised out of the bushes. You cant mistake the long tail. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. The big cat on the ground before him, motionless, yet somehow still embodying that particular feline litheness, as if, with the flick of its tail, it might bound to its feet and disappear into the woods. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. I lived in Woodstock, CT in 2005/2006. 2439 Adams Farm Ct, Snow Camp, NC 27349 $299,000 MLS# 2479163 PRICE REDUCTION!! Mountain lions, on the other hand, weigh in at between 130 to 150 pounds for males and between 65 and 90 pounds for females. There were caribou antlers mounted above the front doors, and the interior walls were covered in row upon row of books; a long table was piled high with still more books in seemingly random arrangements. It was his great coolness and daring (either that, or fear) that enabled Crowell to shoot the animal at a distance of one rod only (roughly 16 feet), first hitting it in the leg with his shotgun, then dispatching it with a bullet to the head from a borrowed rifle. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. Betty was quiet, and I wondered if even he, a man who does not doubt the presence of these cats in our midst and who himself claims multiple sightings, thought Ottmann was exaggerating. Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are a big cat species native to the Americas. He knew it was only a matter of time. You know, weve had so many home entries this year. Because while male cougars eventually strike out on their own and occasionally wander far from home, females are, as Morse puts it, hardwired to remain close to their mothers home range. Dogos have been DOCUMENTED killing mountain lion / wolf. My neighbors have seen several over the last 15-20 years. Bobcats top out at about 40 pounds (most are much lighter than that) and are only. For who but we humans can look across the landscape and not acknowledge our role in the diminishment of cougars and the myriad ways in which we have knocked the landscape out of balance? Even in parts of the country where there are documented breeding populations of mountain lions, there are still many false reports. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. . Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. Mountain lions are nocturnal hunters, mostly going after deer. Stephen Gencarella, professor of folklore studies at the University of Massachusetts and a Connecticut resident, says, The government coverup is only the latest version of something that could stretch back in the oral tradition to precolonial times. He notes that supposed mountain lion sightings spiked in the late 1800s and early 1900s shortly after the animals disappeared from New Englands woods. Where I live bears, wolves cougars etc roamed freely and now sadly if one of those apex predators is spotted our DNR will usually destroy it. Many, many times, in many different ways along its travel up through Minnesota, Michigan and to Canada, down through New York, through hair samples, blood samples, trail camera photos. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. Connecticut Dept. They are most definitely here. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. Given the long, shared border between these provinces and New England, along with plentiful evidence that other species cross this border regularly, it seems entirely possible that cougars would also engage in international travel. Now that USFW has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them. And the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be a couple hundred years ago, according to Hawley. Bobcats: Whiskered face and are gray in the winter and tan in the summer, with black spots on their fur that are not always visible. Even in the controlled environment of a lab, the truth about Eastern cougars seems to be almost willfully eluding its seekers. Facebook . Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. A month after the cat was struck and killed, researchers confirmed it had traveled more than 1,500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota. Next to the jaguar, it is the largest North American cat. Theres something in human nature to overestimate the size of wild animals we see, especially if we get a brief glance and if the animal is moving. He adds, Bobcats can get pretty large and some people believe they should have pretty visible spots and very often theyre pretty uniform in color. This is especially true in the summer, when my wifes sighting occurred. Yes I have seen several pictures on game cameras from people in Massachusetts in Central and western Mass that do have mountain lions on their game camera so please dont be ignorant. I must have looked doubtfulwe were within spitting distance of a heavily trafficked road and only 12 miles from downtown Hartfordbut both Ottmann and Betty told me that cougars actually prefer more populated areas, since thats where deer tend to congregate. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. Bios and videos of the New Haven Register's 90th First-Team All-State Football players. The big cat traveled some 1,100 miles before his life came to a tragic end after being hit by a SUV on Route 15 in . But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. Because they are.. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. I was aware, too, of how a certain mythology surrounding the animal had taken root in Vermonts culture and even its identity: The University of Vermonts athletic teams, for instance, are known as the Vermont Catamounts, and their logo features a snarling cat lunging through the cleft of a V., I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Learn More Who We Are & What We Do. The young typically remain with their mother for 2 years. You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says data dont support a breeding population of mountain lions in Connecticut. Regarding a breeding population that is the unknown. They are here & ..just a matter of time with photo or kill on a highway/road. When I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. The photos were time-stamped December 7, 2020. Mountain Lion Sightings in CT Was the animal a pet set free? In the 1930s, Bruce Wright, an influential wildlife manager from New Brunswick, Canada, began gathering reports of sightings of mountain lions in the East and searching for their tracks. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. Hunt By Species: Mountain Lion | Montana FWP Hunt Species Guide: Mountain Lion Download the 2022 Mountain Lion Hunting Regulations Download now Current Quota Status for Mountain Lions Check Status Find Harvest information for Mountain Lions Harvest Reports Mountain Lion Identification Program Learn More > Automatic Notifications Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Another important difference: bobcats are found in Connecticut while mountain lions are not. As a As I turned a corner going north toward Waterbury, I saw the cat come up from the cornfield, saunter across the highway, turn and look in my direction and then amble off into the brush. There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. The department has said it receives reports every year of. Weve had housecats misidentified as mountain lions and even deer, Rego says. Anyway I got to see that set of eyes way closer than I ever wanted, by the time my hand got on my pistol she was gone. It was hunted to extinction last century, but throughout the Blue Ridge, there are claims from locals that the cat has returned. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. Or at least theyre not supposed to be. Were arrogant if we think were the only species that makes decisions based on fear, he told me when I called him at his home in Oregon. Adult Cougars have short fur that is brown or greyish (sometimes reddish) over most of the body, with a white chest and belly. And yet there I was, on a Saturday in early November, crammed into a booth with Bo Ottmann, 48, and Bill Betty, 72, of Cougars of the Valley, the organization that Ottmann founded in 2007 to gather evidence of and alert the public to the big cats living among us. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it, he recalls. But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. However, the National Wildlife Federation notes that the mountain lions range spreads all across the Americas, from the Canadian Yukon to The Strait of Magellan, making it the greatest range of any living mammal in the Americas.. Wednesday, November 25th 2020. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Adult males may be more than 8 feet long (from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail), and can weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. The states beautiful wilderness and mountainous terrain are prime mountain lion habitats. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. To date, no footage of a mountain lion has surfaced. To answer these and other questions about sightings of mountain lions, I turned to DEEPs Rego, who has investigated many purported cougar sightings over the past three decades. Mountain lions have been dispersing away from these population areas, and researchers recently mapped all confirmed mountain lion observations from 1990-2008 (LaRue et al. If this habitat can support them, it should. Bill Betty of Matunuck, a mountain lion expert who spoke at the South Kingstown Land Trust barn Oct. 30, thinks there is ample evidence pointing to the existence of a mountain lion in Matunuck. We know that the closest established breeding population is in either the Everglades of Florida theres a small population down there and then out in South Dakota and Nebraska. Didnt it? For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. The official word is that mountain lions were declared extinct in Connecticut back in the late 1800s but sightings have become much more prevalent. She IS, perhaps, the most knowledgeable and experienced person in this arena and I listened intently to her presentation (Richmond, VT 2018). Those are the two closest populations that we have here. Residents of Greenwich, Conn., have reported seeing a mountain lion roaming the woods -- even though the species is extinct in the region, MyFoxNY.com reports. Theyre here. Someone told New Canaan police that a mountain lion was spotted on Gerdes Road, just north of the Darien-New Canaan border, at about 6 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 14.. To obtain grouse distribution and harvest information, the Wildlife Division is asking grouse hunters to submit hunting reports through the Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log . For decades, wildlife experts should have been seeing occasional scat and paw prints in the winter. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. There have been several sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. That maybe, just maybe, what my wife and others saw wasnt a bobcat that seemed bigger in the thrill of the moment, but a real, honest-to-goodness mountain lion, a long-lost ghost of the forest.
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