Theres also the lack of visual evidence, more glaring each passing year as so many hikers and hunters now carry phones with cameras. 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. It is what wildlife biologists call an apex carnivore, which means it can overpower pretty much any other creature in its environmentwith the exception of an armed human. But you are talking Pacquiao (Pit) vs. Tyson (Dogo) in their prime. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. So long as the tails there, that is. They also want to foster the formation and protection of migration pathways for them and other animals to enter new states. People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Typically, they will slink out of there as quickly as they can to get away from humans. 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. Earlier in the year, Id attended one of these presentations, and even in the tiny village of Woodbury, Vermont, on a stiflingly hot summer evening, nearly 100 people showed up to hear her speak and see her photographs (Morse is a magnificent wildlife photographer). And theyre not going to find one, because the females don't disperse like that. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. My assumption is it was the same animal. 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 After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Here in southern Utah, lions have been known to occupy home ranges as large as 513 square miles. 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. Some might mistake the bobcat, which still lives in New England, for a cougareven though its tail is about 6 inches long andthe bigger cats is 3 feet or more. Mountain lions in Eastern Connecticut? Morse has been tracking cougars for 45 years, mostly in the mountains of the West, where their existence is not in doubt. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. By mid-19th century, forests made up only about 30 percent of New England (its notable that today that number stands at approximately 80 percent, nearer to what it was when cougars thrived here). Its fur is a light, tawny brown color which can appear gray or almost black, depending on light conditions. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. This is a carousel. A trail camera was set up and confirmed the presence of a mountain lion on February 16, 2020. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. Connecticut 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.. And even the home entries are kind of changing. 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 started to get nervous so I was scanning the area low and high in the trees. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. He is a consummate storyteller, and he wears on his sleeve his affection for the region and the hard-working, commonsense people who inhabit it. Indeed, in 2011, a male cougar was hit and killed by a car in Milford, Connecticut; through its DNA, wildlife biologists were able to trace the cat back to South Dakotas Black Hills, some 2,000 miles distant. Bobcats and a possible mountain lion have been mentioned within the past few weeks. We told him what we saw, and he confirmed other sightings on the property. 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. 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. And even the home entries are kind of changing. However, because they are capable of traveling great distances, they have turned up in all parts of North Dakota. are received by 1:00 p.m. CT, June 9, 2020 by Sheri Henderson at the Lincoln . And its not just Vermont. It was a flooded area. 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. 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 harvest is kind of twofold. His bicycle was later found with the chain unbroken, but off the sprockets. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. Almost every state has some sort of legend of something thats hiding somewhere, he says. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. As unlikely as it sounds, it was a more believable theory than some of the alternatives, among them that the cat was evidence of a breeding population in the state that was being kept secret by, . Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. Females ranges are much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few savvy wildlife biologist in the dead of night. Hawley: Yeah. We dont have extra money to do secret projects, he says. Bios and videos of the New Haven Register's 90th First-Team All-State Football players. The expert opinion held up until a man was killed by a Great White not too far away. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. Respect predators, protect them but dont worship or try to hug them! State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. When a cats around, its not hard to find evidence. 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. Neither resemble a cougar! Hes spent this winter hoping for colder temperatures so he can use it. 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. They can subsist on one deer a week, though they will also hunt coyotes, raccoons, rodents, elk, feral hogs, and even porcupines.. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! There, too, is Crowells photograph, grainy and old: the hunter leaning against a tree stump, his head propped casually on his left hand, elbow to stump, shotgun cradled in the crook of his right arm. Over the years, there even have been a few mountain lions documented in central Oklahoma. This is the second mountain lion sighting in North Texas in less than a month. There was a tin of American Spirit tobacco on the table (Ottmanns), a laptop (Bettys), a notebook (mine), and a tumbler of Bacardi and Coke (Ottmanns again). Still more confusion ensued when a lab technician said she might have gotten some samples confused, and thus the canid result was thrown into doubt. Learn More Who We Are & What We Do. He soon developed a five-question litmus test: How far away were you? Mountain lion facts. It is also the most common wild cat found in North America. Connecticut Dept. They take down boats, bulls, etc. Weight. If its not, you just thank the person and say good-bye.. I heard from Neighbors that they have been sighting from the mass pike which runs along this area but also very close to Quabbin! 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. It was a spotless cat she estimated at close to 100 pounds. Mountain Lion Update - May 8, 2020, by Sam Wilson, Furbearer and Carnivore Program Manager. Verified Mountain Lion-Human Attacks. To report grouse sightings, please contact Wildlife Division biologist Will Cassidy at william.cassidy@ct.gov or 860-418-5961. He was a dark butterscotch color, very tall and lanky (taller and thinner than a really big German Shepard) and that tail. March 20, 2022; Bob Dylan is Staying Busy in Isolation May 5, 2020; An Argument Against Gen Eds February 18, 2013; Forgive or Forsake: When an Artist Messes Up April 6, 2018; Computer Science and ESPN: An Interview with Christine Chung February 18, 2015; The Emperor Has No Clothes: Trump and COVID-19 April 22, 2020 On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. 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. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Abbott believes it is possible that more mountain lions such as the one that was killed in Milford in 2011 could migrate here. According to the Connecticut DEEP, the bobcat is the only wild cat found in Connecticut. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. The 2-year-old male cougar, dubbed P-89, was found dead early Monday on a shoulder along U.S. It was a lion-like cat with a tan coat and no spots that was about three times the size of our 30- to 35-pound dog. So its this gathering storm. 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. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. A trail runner in Utah experienced a terrifying encounter with a mother mountain lion that stalked him on a trail for six minutes, lunging him at least three times . In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. They can be found in several different ecosystems including mountains, forests, wetlands, and deserts. The Mountain Lion Celebrates its 35th year protecting and preserving America's Lion! So theres fresh mud. Mrgunsngear (Mr. LINCOLN, Neb. 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. The department has said it receives reports every year of. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. Anyone who encounters a Mountain lion should file a report with CPW online or by calling CPW Headquarters in Denver at (303) 297-1192, or the Northeast Region Office (also in Denver) at (303) 291 . CT Style. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one, but have heard credible reports of them in Western Mass. The one thing that jumped out at her the tail. Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer. My husband and where riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH Mountain lions (commonly called cougar or puma) vary in size and weight. . On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. When you look at a state like Connecticut, with all the people we have here, all the trail cameras we have in the woods, all the cars we have driving you can imagine if we had an established population here in Connecticut, we would know about it pretty quickly. Distinguished by a boxy head, big paws and a VERY long tail. Next to the jaguar, it is the largest North American cat. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. Bill and I are full-throttle. Box 1896 Sacramento, CA 95812 916-442-2666 info@mountainlion.org. However, the population declined in the early 1900's due to unregulated hunting and bounties were placed on mountain lions until 1966. Police Chief. 8 January. 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. 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. 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! Can they really all be cases of false identification? I was deer hunting with my father, it was in the fall about 7 years ago, in Barre Ma towards the Templeton Ma lines. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Didnt it? A lifelong Connecticut resident, Nicole has a degree in Communications from Fairfield University. Zillow has 20 photos of this $299,000 3 beds, 2 baths, -- sqft single family home located at 2439 Adams Farm Ct, Snow Camp, NC 27349 built in 1999. ), or someones coworkers mother had seen one from the back porch of a summer camp back in 07 or maybe 08, and shed tried to get a picture but this was before she got her first iPhone, and by the time shed retrieved her camera from the living room, the cat was long gone. Even in areas of high cougar density, the there are far more attacks on humans by domesticated dogs or deer/car collision fatalities than those due to cougar attack. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Height. The cougar and the states refusal to admit it was here made the local paper. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? Hawley: Yeah. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! Beautiful creature. The Great Divide | Are There Mountain Lions in New England. 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. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. He published his first book in 1959, Joel Samberg: I-95 is the highway from hell CT loves to hate, A CT gadget guru offers tips on the latest devices, Non-alcoholic wines to try for Dry January, This Stamford home is a stylish, indoor-outdoor oasis, CT film professor's new book is an oral history of Hollywood, A CT novelist seeks to shed light on a centuries-old hanging, Nmade in Westport is a globe-wandering culinary adventure, Connecticut Magazine's 40 Under 40: Meet the Class of 2023, Longtime CT lawyer's passion project is music from the heart, UConn athletics operated at $53 million deficit following Kevin Ollie payment. And there are different schools of thought about that. Weights range from 80 to 225 pounds, but the average is 140 pounds. Newspaperman John Harrigan has long covered the New England outdoors, including writing the New Hampshire Sunday News column Woods, Water & Wildlife which ran for almost 40 years. Of course. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. . 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. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. Its OK, he told me. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. 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). After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. Besides, Ottmann had revealed that hed been charged by a bear in this same piece of woods, and I felt conflicted about diverting my gaze from the underbrush. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. A mountain lion was responsible for that too. 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. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. There have been 40 confirmed mountain lion sightings since 2002 in the state, according to the Wildlife Department. On the other side, there are those (as represented here by Bill Betty and Bo Ottmann, along with a number of others I spoke with) who say the overwhelming quantity of anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. But perhaps an even larger portion is the product of his enduring faith in the men and womanloggers, hunters, trapperswhose vocations and avocations have instilled in them a deep familiarity with wild places and the creatures who inhabit them. . And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. 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. But honest misidentifications are more common. on route to stone tower on Quabbin Hill. 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. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. 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. 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 found in eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the move to find new territory. Connecticut Republicans are proposing to reduce the cost of electricity by removing state taxes and surcharges from customer invoices. It was a flooded area. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. She had seen an animal on foot in broad daylight. Emaileditor@connecticutmag.com, or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. 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.. As they watched in amazement, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the surrounding woods. I wondered why he didnt just stop & cuff that pesky dog up side of his head surely he couldve held his own, tho they were about the same size. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. They usually either don't disperse at all or they'll kind of overlap their mother's home range, or they'll disperse very short distances.. Not long after, what was believed to be the same mountain lion was struck and killed on Route 15 in Milford. The cat is dead. ), or someones coworkers mother had seen one from the back porch of a summer camp back in 07 or maybe 08, and shed tried to get a picture but this was before she got her first iPhone, and by the time shed retrieved her camera from the living room, the cat was long gone. He and his clients were 100% sure of what they saw, and its very difficult to imagine any other animal being mistaken for a cougar in this case. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. An Arkansas woman captured a big cat on her doorbell camera that she believes is a mountain lion or cougar. Even though the experts say there arent any mountain lions in CT, there are. Got a question or comment? 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. The size of a lion's territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality. Our hunter friend was hunting in central NH when they came upon an adult deer carcass way up in a tree. But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. We really must establish first that these beautiful animals SHOULD be in every state that was once THEIR habitat. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. N.H.'s Fish and Game 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. DEEP believes their numbers have increased in recent years. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. For helpful information on identifying mountain lion tracks and more, visit the Missouri Department of . 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. Manchester, CT 06045 Phone: 800-237-3606 Email: service@journalinquirer.com. The image has since been deleted from social media. 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: Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of, Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here, After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. Vermont-based naturalist SueMorse has spent decades studying, tracking, andphotographing cougars outwest. 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). And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. Here are some things to keep in mind if you come across or see a big cat like a mountain lion: Be mindful of . Ive seen bobcats before, this wasnt a bobcat. And its a lose-lose situation, because theres really not a whole lot you can tell them in most cases thats going to change their mind.. 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.. Growing up in northern Vermont, Id heard stories of sightings, though always a few steps removed from the tellersomebodys cousin had seen a cougar cross the road on their way home from deer camp up in Canaan (or was it Coventry? 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. Bobcat sightings are not uncommon in Connecticut. Hes even had his own false sighting. According to the Smithsonians National Zoo, bobcats are part of the lynx genus, which means they are related to other cats like the Canadian lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. 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