I knew it had to have been from a mountain lion Ive seen bobcats and their tracks and from the size of the deer carcass Im convinced there are mountain lions amongst us in Massachusetts! For decades afterward, there were reported sightings of the mythical creature prowling the woods around town. Icould hear the panic in my wifes voice. 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. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Respect predators, protect them but dont worship or try to hug them! Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. Learn More . The catamount is a creature of stealth and concealment; it stalks its prey, which on the EasternSeaboard would likely be deer, moose, porcupines, beavers, and domestic livestock. Was INCREDIBLE! In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wrights conclusions, at least at first. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. Continued investigation revealed mountain lion tracks, scat deposits and an additional cache of an elk calf. Harold Davis just bought a new snowplow. We dont have extra money to do secret projects, he says. LINCOLN, Neb. I lived in Woodstock, CT in 2005/2006. Guns n' Gear), whose first name is Mike, is a United States Air Force and Army Veteran who uses his "experience on a . Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. Almost every state has some sort of legend of something thats hiding somewhere, he says. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. How did I know? 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. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. They take down boats, bulls, etc. Its fur is a light, tawny brown color which can appear gray or almost black, depending on light conditions. Bobcats top out at about 40 pounds (most are much lighter than that) and are only. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. 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. - YouTube Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. . She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. This assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years. Osage County leads the list with seven, followed by Cimarron County with six. While other states have their Bigfoot and sea monster sightings, in Connecticut, and throughout much of the Northeast, we see mountain lions even when were told such sightings are unlikely, if not outright impossible. Not really, Rego says. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. Before I departed the Old Well Tavern, Bo Ottmann offered to lead me on a walk into an adjacent stretch of woods, where, he assured me, cougars might be found. 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. Mountain lions found in eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the move to find new territory. Mountain lion front tracks are 3 to 4 1/4 long and 3 1/4 to 4 3/4 wide. Bobcats and a possible mountain lion have been mentioned within the past few weeks. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. One summer I saw what I assumed was the same cougar several different times in my neighborhood which was near a long strip of woods along I 91 and used to be a large open field across the road from our home. THAT is a mountain lion! Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. Hed encouraged me to keep my eyes open for deer carcasses cached in the trees (according to Ottmann, cougars are fantastic climbers and are known to stash their kills high in trees), but I saw only leaf-bare branches. are larger and heavier than females (60 to 100 lbs.). There also should have been evidence of animals killed by the predators and roadkill. Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Young pumas dispersing from Western habitats are being killed at the source, compromising the Easts critical opportunity for ecosystem health and the return of an apex carnivore., Regardless of where they are found, or whether people want to hunt or protect them, people are enchanted by mountain lions. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! Mountain lions are nocturnal hunters, mostly going after deer. DEEP believes their numbers have increased in recent years. 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. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. Otherwise, Hawley said cats like bobcats want nothing to do with people, and they will generally prey on chickens, small dogs or cats. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. How big was the animal? The photos were time-stamped December 7, 2020. She had seen an animal on foot in broad daylight. vital part of this countries ecosystem. Body length: 3-4 ft. Tail: 2.5-3 ft. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. She adds, I think its because a lot of people are fascinated by wild cats; they are the embodiment of the wild.. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. 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. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. There have been several sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. They can be seen at any time of the day or night, but are most active at dawn and dusk, corresponding with deer activity. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Much as I liked Ottmann and Betty, and much as I found some of their evidence compelling, I was struggling to reconcile their more provocative claims with the restraint expressed by the many other experts Id spoken with. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. (My wife didnt get a look at the tail.) Mountain Lion Sightings in CT Was the animal a pet set free? Defenders of Wildlife developed funding to support wolf predation on cattle which I believe worked. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. He coined the term landscape of fear to describe the relationship between predator and prey in the wild. Weights range from 80 to 225 pounds, but the average is 140 pounds. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. To obtain grouse distribution and harvest information, the Wildlife Division is asking grouse hunters to submit hunting reports through the Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log . On November 22, about 20 miles north of Rowlett there was another . For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. Mrgunsngear (Mr. That had to be a mountain lion. A lifelong Connecticut resident, Nicole has a degree in Communications from Fairfield University. 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. His Tail was very long almost touching the ground and as thick as velvet rope. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. 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. Bobcat sightings are not uncommon in Connecticut. What set it off was a National Geographic special on mountain lions in California, right after my daughter and I had two encounters in my driveway, Betty told me. 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 ! And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. Theyre here. The sighting on Gerdes Road is the third in the past month and very close to the most recent one, on . So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! 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. 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 Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection receives 50-100 reports of mountain lions each year, says Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist with the department. The real reason that they wont admit that a breeding population exists, is that listing a population of endangered species would wreak ECONOMIC havoc in a number of arenas, mostly logging/forestry. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Still, sightings are common. Description. She was calling from a trail in Pootatuck State Forest, the 1,200-acre strip of nature occupying the hills above Squantz Pond in New Fairfield. These sightings are so persistent that there is a conspiracy theory that says DEEP officials know mountain lions are in the state but cover up their existence. The arrival of a real mountain lion in the state reframed the discussion in Connecticut surrounding the animal. And there are different schools of thought about that. The map from that publication is shown below, with the current mountain lion range in green and confirmed mountain lion locations as black dots. Kim Royar, a biologist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, told me she receives 40 to 50 reports annually, and although she believes that few, if any, are actual cougar sightings, she doesnt dismiss the possibility that someday someone will happen upon the real deal. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. In yet another variant, DEEP is said to be helicoptering mountain lions in to help control the deer population. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. As livestock farming came to dominate the landscape, pressure on the big cats slowly mounted on two fronts: The number of farmers wanting them dead was increasing, while the rapid transition from forest to farmland meant their habitat was shrinking. The Mountain Lion will return to feed on the prey for up to 10 days. However, that doesnt mean that mountain lion sightings are all false or that there havent been roaming cats sighted. 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 . 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? Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. 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. He knew it was only a matter of time. In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. The Department of Environmental . 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. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. Not a bobcat 100% mountain lion and anybody that tries to think a bobcat as any resemblance to a mountain lion clearly has no idea about wildlife there are a lot of false reports because of this however they are without a doubt in part of New England and fish and game has as usual covered up despite coming out and following mountain lion tracks in the snow through the woods in Central Mass and finding a deer carcass 20 feet up in a tree and said to the landowner yep you probably have a mountain lion passing through and asked for the homeowner not to speak much about it furthermore DNA confirmation of a horse that was attacked in Petersham Massachusetts in the last several years and also the Quabbin Reservoir DNA were mountain lion without a doubt they are here. 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. So its this gathering storm. The debate rages in Maine, where the last confirmed cougar kill occurred in 1938, and in New Hampshire, where the last confirmed kill was in 1885. Rego says that if there were many other animals like the 2011 cat that died in Milford, there would be more visual or physical evidence. 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. 8 January. In another version, its about habitat protection and the onerous federal regulations the state would have to follow if we found a mountain lion within the state. Weve had coyotes misidentified. and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. Learn More Who We Are & What We Do. No doubt of what it was; size, color and recognizable tail. 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. 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I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. Harrigan nodded. But no. There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. There was no mistake. But, yes, thats exactly what it was. 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. 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. 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. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) By, Corporate Support: Advertising & Sponsorship, Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, 'Just weird': Rash of injuries hits women's college hoops, Alex Jones' lawyer avoids discipline over records release, Grieving family members plead for CT legislators to pass Aid in Dying bill, Milder winters mean Connecticut's ticks are now active all year long, You cant plow a puddle: How warmer winters are changing snowplowing, Connecticut COVID data: Your town's infection rate, hospitalizations & vaccinations, Long COVID researchers in CT to get part of $10 million in federal funding, New omicron subvariant fuels COVID surge throughout the Northeast, Connecticut GOP lawmakers counter with their own plan to reduce energy prices. Im not surprised that various state officers deny the presence of cougars in new England. We clearly have migratory male cougars coming through. 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.. There were pine cones on window sills, a well-used hatchet and a variety of animal figurines on display, and, near the television, a stack of videos including Life of a Predator and The African Lion. Mountain lions in Eastern Connecticut? Mountain lions are solitary animals, traveling alone except during mating season or when a female is supporting young. 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. This is part of the cougar business. Published: Dec 17, 2022 SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom issued the below statement today after the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that mountain lion P-22 has been humanely euthanized following a comprehensive medical evaluation that found severe injuries and chronic health problems. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. 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. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. His mentor, Aldo Leopold, a prominent wildlife biologist, also believed this, but felt if people learned about these populations, they would be hunted to extinction. Bill and I are full-throttle. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. His bicycle was later found with the chain unbroken, but off the sprockets. Adult Cougars have short fur that is brown or greyish (sometimes reddish) over most of the body, with a white chest and belly. he recalls. We met for lunch on a Sunday morning in early March, and it didnt take long for me to understand why Harrigan is such a popular columnist. The Mountain Lion Celebrates its 35th year protecting and preserving America's Lion! The females are where its at, she said. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. 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. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. 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? Here in southern Utah, lions have been known to occupy home ranges as large as 513 square miles. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . Action Alerts. Males can reach up to two metres in length and weigh over 60 kilograms. Even though the experts say there arent any mountain lions in CT, there are. Vermont-based naturalist SueMorse has spent decades studying, tracking, andphotographing cougars outwest. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. Weve got a growing bear population. 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. 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. The 1881 death of this catamount officially marked the end of cougars in Vermont; however, the very last Eastern cougar is thought to be an animal that was killed in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938. It was hunted to extinction last century, but throughout the Blue Ridge, there are claims from locals that the cat has returned. So its this gathering storm. However, the Department of Energy and. Although there are numerous reported sightings of mountain lions in Connecticut every year, the animals have actually been extinct in this state for more than a century. The regions top predator, the coyote, is classified by biologists as a mesopredator (a type that in New England includes skunks and raccoons), which feeds primarily on smaller animals. It seems humans just cant resist destroying these animals and either dont realize or dont care what damage we have done to our natural environment over the centuries. Size alone . 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.. 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. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. The reasons for this conspiracy vary depending upon whom you talk to, but they coalesce around the idea that wildlife agencies would be inconvenienced by the cougars presence, as theyd be forced to respond in ways that would tax their resources. Manchester, CT 06045 Phone: 800-237-3606 Email: service@journalinquirer.com. By now, I knew the answer to that one. 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. Length of body. You cansubscribe here, orfind the current issue on sale here. To report grouse sightings, please contact Wildlife Division biologist Will Cassidy at william.cassidy@ct.gov or 860-418-5961. If a young male Cougar disperses East, instead of West, they're going to keep walking because they're going tokeep looking for an area where they can find a mate, he said. 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. We told him what we saw, and he confirmed other sightings on the property. By Cameron Arcand October 3, 2021 at 2:07pm. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! of Energy & Environmental Protection. Advocates of the proposed Aid in Dying bill made an emotional plea to state legislators in Hartford on Wednesday to approve the legislation, introduced 15 separate times in Connecticut since 1994. His office gets lots of calls about mountain lions will allow us to continue this on... 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Phone: 800-237-3606 Email: service @ journalinquirer.com chided me for shaking her hand too gently has stepped foot New... Deny the presence of cougars in New Hampshire recently that we need a harvest here in.... Of those proposals has passed seedlings of forest tree species a DEEP fear of animals... October 3, 2021 at 2:07pm there arent any mountain lions: cougars, pumas panthers. Also should have been mentioned within the past century for up to 3 feet were.