Our Mission. Records suggest that cash bounties for cougar kills were relatively common in the late 1700s and early 1800s; in the Adirondacks, a trapper named Thomas Meacham was credited with 77 cougar kills. So long as the tails there, that is. Ottmann grew up and still lives just minutes from the tavern; his familiarity with the establishment was obvious (after we met in the parking lot, he led me into the building through the kitchen, greeting each of the staff by name). Lets learn to live alongside this very large animal is one of the schools of thought. But its also a great story that lays out how an animal this large, at 150 pounds, traveling through even rural areas, leaves signs and is detected. Can they really all be cases of false identification? These powerful cats can weigh between 70-220 pounds, with males weighing more. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. 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 only saw the back side, but he was huge. 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). Beautiful creature. 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. And there are different schools of thought about that. Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. Its OK, he told me. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. 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. What we do not have is a secure predator corridor.. The tavern was quiet except for some hard-rock music playing on the radio, the murmur of a handful of men at the bar, and us. Mountain Lion Weight: 80-160 pounds Length: About 7-8 feet long Tail: 2-3 feet long (up to half of the total length) Identification The mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. The photos were time-stamped December 7, 2020. There are many officials in denial up here, but we know what we saw and there are too many sightings by the local folks to be ignored. What time of day was it? People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. I live in Hopkinton, NH and saw one coming up from the Contoocook River one misty morning. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. 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. I now live in Boulder, CO where we have regular sightings.same animal as 35 yrs agohands down, Warren ,Ma early morning having my coffee on my front steps and noticed about 50 feet across the Road something coming out of the trail as it did it looked out at the road and turned around as it did I could see that it was a mountain lion ! Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. Unlike male cougars, the femaleslike this Montana cat with her cubdont tend to strike out for new territory, which makes it unlikely that a breeding population would establish itself far from the cougars current habitatsbut not impossible. He knew it was only a matter of time. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. Emaileditor@connecticutmag.com, or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. 75-170 pounds. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. 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. Bobcats and a possible mountain lion have been mentioned within the past few weeks. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. 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. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. He points out that when there was a real mountain lion in the state in 2011, his office publicized it immediately. 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. The bobcat population has since recovered due to improving forest habitat conditions and legal protections. They can subsist on one deer a week, though they will also hunt coyotes, raccoons, rodents, elk, feral hogs, and even porcupines.. Ive seen more field evidence in a couple of hours tracking out west than Ive seen in 100 years on the East Coast, he said. Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. Join Us. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. I was tracking some deer tracks and I came to a promising deer run with a lot of deer scat on the ground when I noticed a cat track amongst the sign. 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. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. The sighting on Gerdes Road is the third in the past month and very close to the most recent one, on . It jumped 28 feet across the road. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. At the time, a specialist from the Iowa Department of Natural. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. Males can reach up to two metres in length and weigh over 60 kilograms. Ive never forgotten that and told it to many folks over the years, most of whom, I must say, thought I was hallucinating I guess but, it/he/she was a fact in Longmeadow, MA that summer long ago. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. It is hard for me to believe that the big cats havent found plenty of space to roam without regular detection. , located in the golf course community of Coyote Lakes. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. Got a question or comment? 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. Im confident that we get occasional outlier animals.. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. You could have 50. This article appeared in theNovember 2019issue ofConnecticut Magazine. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. - YouTube Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. Once at dusk driving in the Berkshires, he saw what he initially thought was a cat-like creature that was far bigger than a bobcat leap across the road. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! Distinguished by a boxy head, big paws and a VERY long tail. The CDFW defines a mountain lion attack as an incident resulting in direct physical contact between a human and a mountain lion resulting in physical injury or death to the person. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. Our hunter friend was hunting in central NH when they came upon an adult deer carcass way up in a tree. Of course. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. It had rained previously. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Hes also unafraid to take unpopular positions when he deems it necessary: Shortly before our meeting, hed signed a petition in favor of keeping ATVs off public roads. 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. (Attacks #12 and 13; death #6) 35-year-old Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, an amateur mountain bike racer, was reported as being killed by a mountain lion sometime after 1:25 p.m. at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in southern Orange County. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. And the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be a couple hundred years ago, according to Hawley. We lived off of Mountain Rd in Granby, Ct for 8 years and I can say that without a doubt I am 100% sure that there are mountain lions living there. They are most definitely here. He coined the term landscape of fear to describe the relationship between predator and prey in the wild. Today, instead of focusing on cougar sightings in Eastern states, many cougar enthusiasts want to protect the animal from being hunted in the regions in which they are currently found. Hes even had his own false sighting. My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. For helpful information on identifying mountain lion tracks and more, visit the Missouri Department of . If these animals are not in the habitat, what we see is an overabundance of herbivores., The ecologist John Laundre, who has spent 35 years studying cougars, concurs. A mountain lion was confirmed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission through trail camera photos taken Dec. 9 east of Lincoln. of Energy & Environmental Protection. If its not, you just thank the person and say good-bye.. And, 18 months ago, a Cedar Rapids man bagged a mountain lion that was perched in a tree while deer hunting south of Marengo. State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. 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. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. Neither resemble a cougar! CT Style. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: It is possible that cougars of unknown origin may be breeding to a limited extent in Vermont. Snow Camp Market. You cant mistake the long tail. 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. Connecticut Dept. In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. It was hunted to extinction last century, but throughout the Blue Ridge, there are claims from locals that the cat has returned. It was fast as hell but there was no mistaking its not only long,but THICK tail as it disappeared into the woods. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. 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, Guide to Legal Cannabis Dispensaries in CT, The Best Bathroom Remodeling Companies in CT, recent mountain lion sightings in Connecticut have not been confirmed, 10 criminal cases to watch in Connecticut in 2023, Haar: Pepperidge Farm HQ to exit CT for NJ with 170 jobs, After 350 years, the name of a CT river could be changed. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. 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. It's rare to see an up-close look at mountain lion behavior out in the wild, let alone a whole family. And consider, for a moment, the concern and outright fear an official acknowledgment of such a carnivorous and predatory creature might evoke. Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. The U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service reports that mountain lions typical habitat is steep, rocky canyons or mountainous terrain, but they generally can be found wherever deer are present. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? There have been 40 confirmed mountain lion sightings since 2002 in the state, according to the Wildlife Department. 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. With all the thousands of trail cameras in the woods of New England, one would think that there would be at least one picture taken of a catamount. He drove me out to the spot. 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. They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. Bobcats typically have brown fur with a reddish tinge that is marked with black or brown spots or stripes, according to the National Zoo. Hawley: Yeah. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. Otherwise, Hawley said cats like bobcats want nothing to do with people, and they will generally prey on chickens, small dogs or cats. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. 11538 W MOUNTAIN LION Ct, Surprise, AZ 85378 $404,055 Redfin Estimate 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,289 Sq Ft Off Market This home last sold for $236,000 on Mar 31, 2020. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. Adult mountain lions can be 7-8 feet long, including their tails. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. With 18 native South American names, 25 Native American names, and 40 English names, this big cat has a big list of sobriquets that all boil down to the same thing: mountain lion. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. She IS, perhaps, the most knowledgeable and experienced person in this arena and I listened intently to her presentation (Richmond, VT 2018). We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. Updated . Saw one on old mountain rd Peterborough N.H. a few years ago on my property followed it and ran to get my camera have a photo but in distance by time got it was amazing animal t Metcalf. Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. I saw one about 10 years ago, on our road. 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