What color was it? Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. 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. Additional samples were collected and are pending DNA analysis. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This setting should only be used on your home or work computer. 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. TOLLAND A local woman reported Friday that she saw a mountain lion in the area of Sand Hill Road, . Hey, I know what I saw. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Beautiful animal. Clearly, Puma concolor once inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. 75-170 pounds. 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). In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. my father was recently trout fishing in central Mass. 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. Distinguished by a boxy head, big paws and a VERY long tail. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. Still, sightings are common. This assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years. To report grouse sightings, please contact Wildlife Division biologist Will Cassidy at william.cassidy@ct.gov or 860-418-5961. . Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. You know, weve had so many home entries this year. Weve got a growing bear population. Not long after, what was believed to be the same mountain lion was struck and killed on Route 15 in Milford. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. 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. ALSO KNOWN AS Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. Hawley said the last confirmed mountain lion sighting in the state was one that was killed on the Merritt Parkway in 2011 when a car struck the animal near Exit 55. hen 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. Yet I also remembered something Sue Morse had told me months before, as we sat in her living room drinking beer and chatting cats. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. 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 State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Dogos have been DOCUMENTED killing mountain lion / wolf. If these people say they saw something, Im going to listen., If theres one thing people on all sides of the debate can agree on, its that a breeding population of cougars is essential to the overall health of New Englands ecosystems, which currently lack an apex predator. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. But honest misidentifications are more common. If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! My assumption is it was the same animal. Box 1896 Sacramento, CA 95812 916-442-2666 info@mountainlion.org. Could UConn women's basketball be back to 'square one' with seven available players at Seton Hall? 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. I saw one about 10 years ago, on our road. The range of a Mountain Lion may cover 25 to 785 square miles. Facebook Twitter Email Copy to clipboard Live Now All times eastern NOW - 8:30 AM 8:30 AM 9:00 AM 9:30 AM 10:00 AM 10:30 AM Fox News. 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. Manchester, CT 06045 Phone: 800-237-3606 Email: service@journalinquirer.com. Having retired from a career at General Dynamics, he devotes many of his waking hours to cougar research, a passion hes cultivated for nearly twodecades. 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. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. of Energy & Environmental Protection. Weights range from 80 to 225 pounds, but the average is 140 pounds. The tail, I said. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. But what about the sightings in Connecticut that are made by experienced outdoorsmen and women, people who know the difference between bobcats and mountain lions? Two were confirmed in Logan County (2014 and 2015), and one . Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. The mountain lion is believed to have had an encounter with a family on their lawn. 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. Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. Learn More Who We Are & What We Do. Hawley: That animal was documented. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. It was a spotless cat she estimated at close to 100 pounds. 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. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. 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. Today, nearly 60% of Connecticut is covered in forest, and bobcats are regularly observed throughout the state. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. 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. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. Connecticut Public Radio | So its this gathering storm. But a high-profile sighting in 2011 stirred up renewed interest in the animals here, when a mountain lion from South Dakota was hit and killed by a car on a Connecticut highway. 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. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. N.H.'s Fish and Game They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. 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. Even in parts of the country where there are documented breeding populations of mountain lions, there are still many false reports. 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! 60-108 inches. Verified Mountain Lion-Human Attacks. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann, A Lobster Trap Menorah Shines in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Chips Off the Old Block | Knowledge & Wisdom, Yankee Candle | New England by the Numbers, First Christmas | Krissy OSheas Scandinavian-Inspired Holiday Cottage, The Sweet Life | Holiday Baking with Dorie Greenspan, 2019 Yankee Magazine Editors Choice Food Awards, In the Kitchen at Mayfair Farm | Weekends with Yankee. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. Even so, for decades, skeptics dismissed mountain lion sightings in Connecticut out of hand, pointing out that if the cats were here in anywhere close to the number of reported sightings, there would be DNA and physical evidence of their presence, not to mention photos and videos. . It continues in Connecticut, where that South Dakota cat was killed in 2011, and in Massachusetts, despite two credible reports in the past quarter century (in one case, DNA-confirmed scat; in the other, verified tracks). Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. near Greenfield with an experienced guide that hed worked with several times. [An overabundance of deer] means our forests are getting older and older and not being replaced. He also points to the influx of invasive plant species in New England as evidence of an out-of-control deer population. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. 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. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. The cougar and the states refusal to admit it was here made the local paper. Harold Davis just bought a new snowplow. Mountain Lions in New York. We clearly have migratory male cougars coming through. Updated . 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. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. I was outdoor with my two pugs and quickly scooped them up and brought them in the house. Listen & Learn. Emaileditor@connecticutmag.com, or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. DEEP believes their numbers have increased in recent years. About two years ago in July 2020, there were around 1,500 reports of bobcat sightings in the state, with some bobcat sightings in Brookfield and Ridgefield that year. 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.. And even the home entries are kind of changing. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. Several years ago, I saw what was definitely a cougar walking along a street. Nowhere in New England is the matter definitively settled. The 2-year-old male cougar, dubbed P-89, was found dead early Monday on a shoulder along U.S. 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). It was a flooded area. Its length varies from five to . Height. my husband tapped my leg and asked what is that crossing the road It was a Cougar tan in color long tail which had a slight curl upward .I wish I had my camera to prove it but I know We saw it. According to Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protections Wildlife Division, the department gets around 100 sighting reports of mountain lions each year, but upon further investigation, a good proportion of the sightings end up being bobcats. Icould hear the panic in my wifes voice. Lizzie Post Would Like Your Attention. Today marks the date of our inception. vital part of this countries ecosystem. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. 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. Mountain lions in Eastern Connecticut? This is the second mountain lion sighting in North Texas in less than a month. Adult mountain lions can be 7-8 feet long, including their tails. Mountain lion front tracks are 3 to 4 1/4 long and 3 1/4 to 4 3/4 wide. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. 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 . About Us; 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. 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. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. 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. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. At the time, a specialist from the Iowa Department of Natural. Of course. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. His Tail was very long almost touching the ground and as thick as velvet rope. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. The Mountain Lion Celebrates its 35th year protecting and preserving America's Lion! All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. She adds, I think its because a lot of people are fascinated by wild cats; they are the embodiment of the wild.. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. 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. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. About six years ago, my mother and step-father were traveling some back roads down to New Boston, NH to visit my sister where she lived in an extended care facility. 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. Hes spent this winter hoping for colder temperatures so he can use it. Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. - YouTube Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. 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. To obtain grouse distribution and harvest information, the Wildlife Division is asking grouse hunters to submit hunting reports through the Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log . However, the Department of Energy and. 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. Ive been doing this for 40 years. There are an estimated 3,000 - 7,000 Mountain lions in Colorado. If this habitat can support them, it should. 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. It's rare to see an up-close look at mountain lion behavior out in the wild, let alone a whole family. Forty years of reporting on New Hampshire cougar sightings has convinced Harrigan that the state is home to at least a handful of breeding animals. 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. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. I did call in a report to CT DEP and they basically dismissed my narrative questioning whether I made a mistake confusing the animal I saw with a bobcat or fisher cat. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. Mountain Lion Sightings in CT Was the animal a pet set free? My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. Theyre here. Rego says that the way bobcats stride when they run, often times a rear leg is kicked up in the back and that could be mistaken for a long tail.. Officially, there are no mountain lions in New England, although there is a good possibility the big cats could be here, Tate said. 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. An attack is verified only when a physician, law enforcement officer or CDFW personnel determine the injuries were caused by a . I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. 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. . A threat to livestock, they were hunted out of the state and driven to parts more wild. 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).