Hawley: Yeah. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. She was also the voice behind the weekly Connecticut Real Estate newsletter by CT Insider. And there are different schools of thought about that. Weve got a growing bear population. 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? But honest misidentifications are more common. 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. However, that doesnt mean that mountain lion sightings are all false or that there havent been roaming cats sighted. Finally, in the third camp, there are the true believersthe cougar truthers, if you willthe men and women for whom the only logical conclusion (often reached after a significant investment of time, thought, and sometimes money) is that right here, right now, cougars live among us, feeding and breeding and rearing their young, and that suggesting otherwise is sheer ignorance, willful denial, or part of a mosaic of conspiracy. 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. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. So theres fresh mud. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Yes, of course they are here, transients. I live in New Milford and I saw one crossing the road in front of me when I stopped to get my mail from my mailbox. He published his first book in 1959, The Ghost of North America: The Story of the Eastern Panther. Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. October 12, 2020 10:47 pm ET. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. He drove me out to the spot. Weight. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. 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. 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? By 1825, only 25% of Connecticut was forested due to deforestation from agricultural activities and other uses of timber. Hawley: Yeah. 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. When we reached tower, a ranger arrived in a pickup. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. They can be seen at any time of the day or night, but are most active at dawn and dusk, corresponding with deer activity. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. I have pictures of tracks around my car and up to the back steps of my deck in Arkville, NY . Have a question or comment? But as Eastern cougar search efforts became more organized and still there were no concrete signs of the creatures, many became more skeptical. 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. Nearby grocery stores include Food Lion, Star Food. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. A mountain lion was confirmed by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission through trail camera photos taken Dec. 9 east of Lincoln. 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). For anyone stuck with using Mountain Lion, I can recommend without hesitation Waterfox Classic web browser. The size of a lion's territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality. 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. 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, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. It had rained previously. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it, he recalls. 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. 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. I saw a Mountain Lion in 2007 in Northfield, MA at the junctions of Rtes 10 and 63. They are there and thriving!!!! Body length: 3-4 ft. Tail: 2.5-3 ft. on the regular. I thought I saw signs posted in Pawling NY about 8 years ago, that DEC released a pair to control deer population,mane several people have seen them in Wingdale, NY. 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. Adult Cougars have short fur that is brown or greyish (sometimes reddish) over most of the body, with a white chest and belly. Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. 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.. 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. Beautiful creature. The females are where its at, she said. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. 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. The big cat traveled some 1,100 miles before his life came to a tragic end after being hit by a SUV on Route 15 in . Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. Mountain lion facts. CT Style. And the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be a couple hundred years ago, according to Hawley. Today marks the date of our inception. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. For a solid four seconds, Marchibroda watched as a large, sleek cat standing about three feet tall with a long, curled tail crossed Skyline Drive near Gavel Springs Gap less than 100 feet in front of them. It is hard for me to believe that the big cats havent found plenty of space to roam without regular detection. My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. 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! On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Continued investigation revealed mountain lion tracks, scat deposits and an additional cache of an elk calf. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? The last catamount killed in Vermont stands under glass just inside the doors to the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier, a hop, skip, and a jump down the block from the statehouse. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. 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. Hes even had his own false sighting. Mountain lions are nocturnal hunters, mostly going after deer. The history of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before our current era of fake news. And, 18 months ago, a Cedar Rapids man bagged a mountain lion that was perched in a tree while deer hunting south of Marengo. So long as the tails there, that is. of Energy & Environmental Protection. On November 22, about 20 miles north of Rowlett there was another . How big was the animal? Harold Davis just bought a new snowplow. I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. She said it was long and thick. Abbott believes it is possible that more mountain lions such as the one that was killed in Milford in 2011 could migrate here. 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. Apex predators like the cougar and wolf make for a healthier ecosystem. Box 1896 Sacramento, CA 95812 916-442-2666 info@mountainlion.org. Learn More . Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. The one thing that jumped out at her the tail. Stephen Gencarella, professor of folklore studies at the University of Massachusetts and a Connecticut resident, says, The government coverup is only the latest version of something that could stretch back in the oral tradition to precolonial times. He notes that supposed mountain lion sightings spiked in the late 1800s and early 1900s shortly after the animals disappeared from New Englands woods. We guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut box 1896 Sacramento, CA 95812 916-442-2666 @... 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