I also know of someone who said they showed F&G a photo of one from a game camera in NH. Distinguished by a boxy head, big paws and a VERY long tail. Apex predators like the cougar and wolf make for a healthier ecosystem. 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. Cougars, Lynx, Bobcats, Wolves, Bears etc were and are a October 12, 2020 10:47 pm ET. Hawley: Yeah. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. It was a bright sunny summer day. 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. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. I have learned one thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. The range of a Mountain Lion may cover 25 to 785 square miles. Hey, I know what I saw. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. 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. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. Was INCREDIBLE! Morse has been tracking cougars for 45 years, mostly in the mountains of the West, where their existence is not in doubt. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. 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 . And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. Nearby grocery stores include Food Lion, Star Food. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. Its length varies from five to . Ottmann and I walked farther. Bobcats are found across Connecticut, but even fully grown they are much smaller than what she was describing, only weighing between 18 and 35 pounds. They also have facial ruffs and ear tufts on the tips of their ears, as well as shorter tails. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. Nowhere in New England is the matter definitively settled. A quick Google search reveals that the theory is not limited to Connecticut and similar tales are told throughout the Northeast. Mountain lion hunting tags were sold in 2013 through a lottery system for the state's first lion hunt. 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. Time changes all and Im not going to shut the door on the future and say that a breeding population of cougars is not here because the day after tomorrow they could be here its just a matter of time., Though a deer hunter herself, Morse is opposed to the way mountain lions have been hunted in the western U.S., where they are found. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? Its OK, he told me. However, the population declined in the early 1900's due to unregulated hunting and bounties were placed on mountain lions until 1966. 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). Fear is actually one of the most powerful ecological forces we know, and its a really important management tool., According to Laundre, the problems caused by a relatively fear-free ecosystem are not always obvious, in part because they can take decades to fully manifest. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Bobcats top out at about 40 pounds (most are much lighter than that) and are only. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. 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 . And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. 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.. I was driving to work in Greenfield heading south on 10 and had just taken a right hand turn at the junction when the big cat crossed the road in front of me. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. A lifelong Connecticut resident, Nicole has a degree in Communications from Fairfield University. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. It was definitely a cougar. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. Were getting more and more home entries every year. 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. So theres fresh mud. We were about 50 feet from it and it stood taller than any labrador and we watched it tail and all slink down the side of the lawn and the rabbits being surprised out of the bushes. near Greenfield with an experienced guide that hed worked with several times. are larger and heavier than females (60 to 100 lbs.). It is also the most common wild cat found in North America. The tail, I said. Weve got a growing bear population. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. A harvest is kind of twofold. 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. 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. Bobcats: Whiskered face and are gray in the winter and tan in the summer, with black spots on their fur that are not always visible. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. 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? Mountain lions, on the other hand, weigh in at between 130 to 150 pounds for males and between 65 and 90 pounds for females. Big kitty. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. A full-sized mountain line was photographed on the campus of the Brunswick School in Greenwich on Sunday, along with a matching paw print and a 9-inch lion dropping that seals the scientific deal. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Mountain lions also have tails that can grow up to 3 feet. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. While recent mountain lion sightings in Connecticut have not been confirmed, if someone suspects they encountered a mountain lion, they should not run away, as it might spur a chase. Bobcats: They are are the only wild cat found in the state and the most common in North America. There also should have been evidence of animals killed by the predators and roadkill. Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. To date, no footage of a mountain lion has surfaced. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. DEEP believes their numbers have increased in recent years. The police and everyone else just shook their heads but she to her dying breath said she saw a mountain lion in Lexington MA. As they watched in amazement, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the surrounding woods. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. 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. I live in Hopkinton, NH and saw one coming up from the Contoocook River one misty morning. 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. I started asking a lot of questions, and realized theres only one explanation for the answers I was getting: They are here., You could have 30 in Connecticut alone. The main habitat requirement for mountain lions is stalking cover to successfully hunt prey. But that doesnt stop people from seeing them. THAT is a mountain lion! The guide told him earlier in the summer he and a couple clients had watched a moutain lion come down to the bank of the Deerfield River just upstream and take a small deer, fawn, drag it into the woods and it kill it, they could hear the screams of the deer as the cougar finished the job. Yale New Haven Health Check; . We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. But you are talking Pacquiao (Pit) vs. Tyson (Dogo) in their prime. Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Thats a reasonable assertion. 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. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. . Stupid me grabbed my camera and a stick as to protect myself ( yes stupid idea as I could stop this thing from attacking me lol. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. We have plenty of suitable habitat, he says. To Betty and Ottmann, the dominant narrative of the occasional itinerant cougar from the West is not particularly relevant to the facts on the ground. Neither resemble a cougar! This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. 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. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. Connecticut Public Radio | The Mountain Lion will return to feed on the prey for up to 10 days. Had trouble sleeping last night cause that was to close and I think she may have stalked me from where I was in the woods. Apr 20, 2020. Harrigan is 72 and lives just outside the northern New Hampshire town of Colebrook; he has a long, craggy face that seems almost to have molded itself after the mountainous landscape of his home state. So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. In the second camp, there are those issuing the denials, pointing to the lack of photographic evidence, or the absence of tracks, or the simple truth that many people dont seem to know the difference between a cougar and a bobcat and a lynx and even, in some cases, a golden retriever. Harrigan nodded. If we end up with a population, it will be the result of a colonizer female who gets here somehow, some way, and the rest will be history.. The mountain lion occurs throughout the Western Hemisphere and has one of the most extensive ranges of any land mammal, from the southern tip of Argentina in South America to northern British Columbia in North America. To obtain grouse distribution and harvest information, the Wildlife Division is asking grouse hunters to submit hunting reports through the Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log . Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . Ottmann nodded. 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