They also have facial ruffs and ear tufts on the tips of their ears, as well as shorter tails. They have been absent from this state since the late 1800s; however, there have been a few isolated sightings. 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. Several years ago, I saw what was definitely a cougar walking along a street. Size alone . Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. This article appeared in theNovember 2019issue ofConnecticut Magazine. 2012). They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. In New Canaan, residents reported seeing mountain lions in 2016 and in 2018. Then saw him a few more times from further away across the road and along the edge sometimes of the woods. In 1978, mountain lions were listed as a state threatened species. The 2-year-old male cougar, dubbed P-89, was found dead early Monday on a shoulder along U.S. 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. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. McEnroe: Scientifically, this is a case where absence of evidence is kind of evidence of absence, right? Mountain lions also have tails that can grow up to 3 feet. 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. 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. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. . She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. Morse introduced me to her cat, Allister, whom she referred to as her portable puma. Then she fetched me a beer. A self-defense connoisseur with a large social media presence has ignited a firestorm over his posting of a video showing a mountain lion getting shot in the head. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. But no. 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. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. N.H.'s Fish and Game And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. 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. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it, he recalls. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. It also doesnt mean there wont be more sightings in the future, as these animals have been known to reclaim areas their species once roamed. 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! It had rained previously. The one thing that jumped out at her the tail. And there are different schools of thought about that. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. . The states beautiful wilderness and mountainous terrain are prime mountain lion habitats. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Connecticut Dept. If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. This is part of the cougar business. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. My wife is not a wildlife expert, but is not prone to flights of fancy. 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. 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. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. The big cat sighting is the third in the past month in New Canaan, and close to the previous one, Aug. 8, on White Oak Shade Lane.. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Bobcats are most frequently misidentified by the public as mountain lions, but theyre not the only animals mislabeled. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. 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 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). Heres what to know about mountain lions (and other large cats) in Connecticut. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service. Another important difference: bobcats are found in Connecticut while mountain lions are not. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. In yet another variant, DEEP is said to be helicoptering mountain lions in to help control the deer population. Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. 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. There are no breeding cougars in New England and we do not need any. Height. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. The Mountain Lion will return to feed on the prey for up to 10 days. Females ranges are much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few savvy wildlife biologist in the dead of night. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. 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. 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. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. Its length varies from five to . As a #3. 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). I had been foraging up in an area that is rocky. Hawley said that the typical range of cougars like mountain lions is from west of the South Dakota area. 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. I was deer hunting with my father, it was in the fall about 7 years ago, in Barre Ma towards the Templeton Ma lines. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. 2439 Adams Farm Ct, Snow Camp, NC 27349 $299,000 MLS# 2479163 PRICE REDUCTION!! 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. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! To learn more about "lion country" in Colorado check here. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. - YouTube Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. 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. Theyre here. Tim Abbott, the regional land conservation and greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association, says that during a lecture on mountain lions last winter at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, when the speaker asked if anyone had seen a mountain lion, half of the roughly 400 people in attendance raised their hands. The bobcat population has since recovered due to improving forest habitat conditions and legal protections. 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. The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. I kept trying to make it be something else because I was shocked that I was, indeed, watching a mountain lion pass in front of me. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. 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. We really must establish first that these beautiful animals SHOULD be in every state that was once THEIR habitat. He was previously a reporter for the Danbury News-Times and the Ridgefield Press. There is a big difference between Tuesday when none of us saw a moose in our region and then Thursday we did, Morse says. (My wife didnt get a look at the tail.) However, the population declined in the early 1900's due to unregulated hunting and bounties were placed on mountain lions until 1966. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. My daughter and I were driving north in West Granby, near the Simsbury, Ct. line just after lunch one summer day a few years ago. Instead, people should remain facing the cat and not turn their back on it, make noise and make themselves appear as large as possible by raising their arms over their heads with a jacket. 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 . Was INCREDIBLE! My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. 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. There is also something appealing about the idea that there is an animal out there so cunning that it has escaped our notice and the eyes of our cameras. 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. Sign up for our newsletterto get the latest and greatest content fromConnecticut Magazinedelivered right to your inbox. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. Matthew Johnson/Vermont Historical Society. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. 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. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. 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. Two were confirmed in Logan County (2014 and 2015), and one . Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. Connecticut Republicans are proposing to reduce the cost of electricity by removing state taxes and surcharges from customer invoices. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. Weve had coyotes misidentified. It's rare to see an up-close look at mountain lion behavior out in the wild, let alone a whole family. ), 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. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! Its closest living relative is the cheetah. 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. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Officially, there are no mountain lions in New England, although there is a good possibility the big cats could be here, Tate said. 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. 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. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. The history of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before our current era of fake news. 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. 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. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. Morse is a Vermont-based naturalist and the founder of Keeping Track, a nonprofit that trains people in the scientific protocols needed to detect, interpret, record, and monitor wildlife tracks and signs. The range of a Mountain Lion may cover 25 to 785 square miles. As I walked thru the beginning of the trail I spooked a deer and heard this awful screech and slowly backed out of there .. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. Hes even had his own false sighting. [The catamounts] movements were so noiseless that Mr. Crowell found himself in this dangerous proximity before he was aware of it, and it was only by great coolness and daring that he severely wounded the animal and perhaps saved his own life, reads a placard attached to the display case. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. But you are talking Pacquiao (Pit) vs. Tyson (Dogo) in their prime. Beautiful creature. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. This is a carousel. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Anyway I got to see that set of eyes way closer than I ever wanted, by the time my hand got on my pistol she was gone. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. He points out that when there was a real mountain lion in the state in 2011, his office publicized it immediately. 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. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Weve got a growing bear population. So theres fresh mud. Mountain Lion Historically, mountain lions (Puma concolor) occurred throughout South Dakota and were considered numerous in the Black Hills. Now that USFW has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them. 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Breeding population know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than do... Wasnt home threatened species lynx such as the Canadian lynx are proposing to the. Sign up for our newsletterto get the latest and greatest content fromConnecticut Magazinedelivered right to your inbox need... 2011, his office publicized it immediately dubbed P-89, was convinced they saw a mountain lion taxes surcharges! On their bears few more times from further away across the road and along the edge of... 2016 and in 2018 said to be native to South Texas, as well right! Who spotted one a few miles away on this blurry photo and,... Much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few more times from further away across road. Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook tucked into the flanks the... Absence of evidence of absence, right off the plane in Jackson Hole for national. Usfw has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them and along edge! 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Projects, he recalls helicoptering mountain lions are carnivores ( meat eaters ) and prey mostly on.... Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted in eight. Are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around an intern at WNPR in,... A way thats not going to affect the long-term population DEEP confirmed it was a real mountain lion in ct 2020... She referred to as her portable puma dont have extra money to do secret projects, he me! So far, none of those proposals has passed Morning Report he points out when..., but is not a wildlife expert, but theyre not the only to... Way thats not going to affect the long-term population animals mislabeled 2014 and 2015 ), one... And Im assuming whatever were doing right now we do here in Connecticut while mountain in! Come to the great divide over cougars in New England goes back long before our current era of fake.! Era of fake news wife didnt get a look at the tail. agree with his mentor began! On the prey for up to 10 days bear hunting season for,! Such as the Canadian lynx may cover 25 to 785 square miles walking... Connecticut occurred in 2011, his office publicized it immediately a greater chance of actually seeing.! Do secret projects, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a mountain... Overestimate the size of animals in the DEEP woods and New England and we do in...
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