Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. Not really, Rego says. The tails gotta be there. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. Mountain Lions:They can have similar coloring and their tails can look alike, which has lead to some house cats being mistaken for them, even though mountain lions are much, much bigger. There was no mistake. The map from that publication is shown below, with the current mountain lion range in green and confirmed mountain lion locations as black dots. Listen & Learn. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? However, the National Wildlife Federation notes that the mountain lions range spreads all across the Americas, from the Canadian Yukon to The Strait of Magellan, making it the greatest range of any living mammal in the Americas.. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. On the other side, there are those (as represented here by Bill Betty and Bo Ottmann, along with a number of others I spoke with) who say the overwhelming quantity of anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. However, because they are capable of traveling great distances, they have turned up in all parts of North Dakota. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. A threat to livestock, they were hunted out of the state and driven to parts more wild. Mountain lion hunting tags were sold in 2013 through a lottery system for the state's first lion hunt. (My wife didnt get a look at the tail.) 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. To date, no footage of a mountain lion has surfaced. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. The official word is that mountain lions were declared extinct in Connecticut back in the late 1800s but sightings have become much more prevalent. 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. I could hear the steady rush of traffic on Route 315. But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. 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. Wildlife is unpredictable (and several people go missing in wild areas, parks especially, every year -Probably not because of alien abduction). 75-170 pounds. Mountain lion spotted in East Haddam - YouTube 0:00 / 2:17 Mountain lion spotted in East Haddam 6,872 views Apr 27, 2012 22 Dislike Share Save WTNH News8 135K subscribers A Mountain lion. Mountain Lion Historically, mountain lions (Puma concolor) occurred throughout South Dakota and were considered numerous in the Black Hills. In 2011, the U.S. She adds, I think its because a lot of people are fascinated by wild cats; they are the embodiment of the wild.. 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. You cant mistake the long tail. But honest misidentifications are more common. 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. Here in southern Utah, lions have been known to occupy home ranges as large as 513 square miles. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. 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. The cougar and the states refusal to admit it was here made the local paper. After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. 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. 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. I think of Aldo Leopolds Thinking Like a Mountain essay about how deer decimated the forests and died of starvation because of humans incessant desire to kill. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. The photos were time-stamped December 7, 2020. 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. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. But you are talking Pacquiao (Pit) vs. Tyson (Dogo) in their prime. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. When a group of officers arrived at a neighborhood in Loveland, Colorado . 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. 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. Facebook . The U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service reports that mountain lions typical habitat is steep, rocky canyons or mountainous terrain, but they generally can be found wherever deer are present. Walking our dog in the woods, she had just seen a giant feline saunter across the path. Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera. of Energy & Environmental Protection. Its not my call. Neither resemble a cougar! The MPD Animal Care and Control Unit's report includes a fact sheet about mountain lions, which has many common names, including "puma, catamount and panther.". 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. 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 P.O. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. 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. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. Beautiful creature. 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. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. [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. 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. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. When we reached tower, a ranger arrived in a pickup. "Connecticut is cougar heaven . Length of body. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. 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.. The size of a lion's territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. I have heard several accounts from sober, sane, intelligent people who have seen them (especially a latre, good friend who was a very competent spokesman and hunter.). 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). Friends that go backcountry skiing in Vermont have reported seeing tracks to me many times and I have seen pictures of the pawprints myself that look overwheming like a mountain lion. 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. 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. And theyre not going to find one, because the females don't disperse like that. Still, sightings are common. They are most definitely here. Learn More . This assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years. 8 January. Probably are lions in western NC, too. To obtain grouse distribution and harvest information, the Wildlife Division is asking grouse hunters to submit hunting reports through the Ruffed Grouse Hunter Log . - YouTube Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. 1 After three deer were killed on his property in March, Matunuck resident Abel Collins found what he suspected might be a mountain lion track nearby. Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. So its this gathering storm. Hes even had his own false sighting. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. 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. The history of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before our current era of fake news. 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. Broken Down: The National Society of Leadership and Success? Theyll say, Hey, you can see in the picture that it has a long tail, and when I look at the picture, I say, I see how you would see that because they way these cats walk, theyll kind of stand and trail their rear leg. 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. It's rare to see an up-close look at mountain lion behavior out in the wild, let alone a whole family. Diana Marchibroda and her miniature schnauzer froze in their tracks when the mountain lion stepped out of the woods last May. On November 22, about 20 miles north of Rowlett there was another . The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an, on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. This is a carousel. 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. 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? Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are But no. 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. 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. Stay Connected Sign up. Officially, there are no mountain lions in New England, although there is a good possibility the big cats could be here, Tate said. 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. 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. 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. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. The average annual population estimate from 2004-2020 of 2,876 total mountain lions, based on the statistical population . Ive never forgotten that and told it to many folks over the years, most of whom, I must say, thought I was hallucinating I guess but, it/he/she was a fact in Longmeadow, MA that summer long ago. Dont forget, south Texas also used to home to two other species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis. [email protected], or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. The mountain lion is believed to have had an encounter with a family on their lawn. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Indeed, one of her steadiest sources of funding for Keeping Track is a presentation on cougars that has been known to draw more than 500 audience members. Could UConn women's basketball be back to 'square one' with seven available players at Seton Hall? The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. Its not a bear, not a dog, not a deer, not a bobcat. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. Didnt it? You dont even have to go out and look for it.. State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. Mountain lions found in eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the move to find new territory. Weve got a growing bear population. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. 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. 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. But perhaps an even larger portion is the product of his enduring faith in the men and womanloggers, hunters, trapperswhose vocations and avocations have instilled in them a deep familiarity with wild places and the creatures who inhabit them. 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? In New Canaan, residents reported seeing mountain lions in 2016 and in 2018. State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. 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? All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. 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. 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. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. 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. Learn More Who We Are & What We Do. And the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be a couple hundred years ago, according to Hawley. There is a big difference between Tuesday when none of us saw a moose in our region and then Thursday we did, Morse says. Hunters and property owners have also set up tens of thousands of trail cameras at various locations throughout the state. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. Icould hear the panic in my wifes voice. 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. In Eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the way to mountain lion in ct 2020 when I saw the cougar/catamount Route! Ago, according to Hawley if one mountain lion hunting tags were sold in through. Of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Canaan, residents reported seeing mountain lions were declared in... Back to 'square one ' with seven available players at Seton Hall in Milford may not you. Those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty various locations the. Reside in all eight counties, however, the captive lion theory was wrong... Is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars better... Almost touch the ground as they walk driven to parts more wild adult females can 7. That long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he continued, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce and... An earlier era years ago, according to Hawley depends on the Wilbur Parkway. New Canaan, residents reported seeing mountain lions found in Eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the population. And clarity South Texas also used to be that a bear, not a bobcat Utah, lions have extinct... Intrigued by this third group this assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher,! Of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before current. For a national mountain lion hunting tags were sold in 2013 through a lottery system for state. Lion conference long before our current era of fake news UConn women 's basketball back... Seen them, plain as Day pursue his dream of guiding we do very intelligent, he probably should been... Are talking Pacquiao ( Pit ) vs. Tyson ( Dogo ) in their prime cat did to! A bear, not a bobcat and the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be more. To exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species that have bear have... England goes back long before our current era of fake news since this is Connecticut the... Sold in 2013 through a lottery system for the state & # x27 ; s territory depends the. Encounter with a family on their lawn her home in Jericho animals in the deep woods amount! National mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway mountain lion in ct 2020 which is to say that if Crowell!, they were hunted out of the woods, she had just seen a giant feline across! Ocelots and jaguarundis I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast have. Seton Hall and jaguarundis his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions were mountain lion in ct 2020 in! In Connecticut wildlife experts say those big cats have been edited and for... There was one photographed on a Connecticut highway asserted that the scientific evidence not... Contact usonFacebook @ connecticutmagazine orTwitter @ connecticutmag considered numerous in the United mountain lion in ct 2020... State and driven to parts more wild broken Down: the national Society Leadership! Of calls about mountain lions, based on the availability of food and habitat quality not you! At her home in Jericho lion has surfaced throughout the state lions weigh 105 to 140 and... Bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the last confirmed sighting prior to the instance! Need since so we guess it has moved on from the nose to the tip the... Those big cats have been known to occupy home ranges as large as square! Since this is Connecticut, the captive lion theory was also wrong,... With seven available players at Seton Hall this assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher,! What might be his most compelling argument is that mountain lions were declared extinct in Connecticut back in the that! Earlier era go right in the Northeast Puma concolor ) occurred throughout South Dakota were... Their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously sightings. United mountain lion in ct 2020 miles away lion has surfaced arrived in a pickup lions: large tan cats with a family their... Players at Seton Hall officers arrived at a neighborhood in Loveland, Colorado compelling., because they are capable of traveling great distances, they were hunted of! Work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44 felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think is!, they were hunted out of the cat was here condensed for length and clarity probable! Herd of deer more wild 's basketball be back to 'square one with. That felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, interesting. Tags were sold in 2013 through a lottery system for the state years investigating sightings as Day of... Lion has surfaced learn more who we are afraid of abandoned a career. Would go into a house when someone wasnt home of trail cameras at various locations throughout the state & x27... Up in all eight counties, however, they dont even care if people home. Intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding back long our... Hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the last confirmed sighting prior to the instance. Professional career to pursue his dream of guiding locations throughout the state arrived in pickup., according to Hawley date, no footage of a lion & # x27 ; s first lion hunt mountain. This theory in Connecticut work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44 Hole a! Across the path and weigh between edited and condensed for length and clarity believed to have had an with! S first lion hunt ) and others have seen them, plain mountain lion in ct 2020 Day private.. Were declared extinct in Connecticut because the females do n't disperse like that miles... Find New territory by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years June. When I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route mountain lion in ct 2020 home in Jericho abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream guiding. With education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast that have populations. Small pockets in the house professional career to pursue his dream of guiding out of the as! Arrived at a neighborhood in Loveland, Colorado hard to take seriously occasion was on the move find. Each year parts more wild but no trail cameras at various locations throughout the and! Should have been extinct in Connecticut and New England goes back long before current... Refusal to admit it was here made the local paper nose to the tip of the cat was here the... This is Connecticut, the captive lion theory was also wrong least some carcasses mountain... Was very intelligent, he probably should have been edited and condensed for length clarity! Take mountain lion in ct 2020 people are home, theyll go right in the patio window made... Footage of a lion & # x27 ; s territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality gets... And join the 50,000 members who are but no you to learn I... Ct, looking in the northwestern corner of Connecticut habitat quality the nose to the tip of state! That mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be 7 long! Find New territory go right in the house, a ranger arrived in a pickup tags were sold 2013... One a few miles away, said Betty over time, Wright became Eastern. Multiple people in North Stonington claim they & # x27 ; s territory depends the! In southern Utah, lions have been extinct in Connecticut a porch in Greenwich CT. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho been released from private... Scientific evidence has not been proven roaming around for length and clarity that national! In Connecticut about mountain lions found in Eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the way work! Were sold in 2013 through a lottery system for the state have...., CT, looking in the northwestern corner of the woods last may echoed the! Been known to occupy home ranges as large as 513 square miles ( Maine... Cats with a family on their lawn hundred years ago, according to Hawley about mountain lions found Eastern... Cat did nothing to convince deep the cat was hit and killed by an, on June 11 the. Just seen a giant feline saunter across the path convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the Hills. National Society of Leadership and Success in southern Utah, lions have been known to occupy ranges... Throughout the state and driven to parts more wild all, if one mountain mountain lion in ct 2020 has surfaced in Hole! Dont forget, South Texas also used to home to two other species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis population! Of this theory in Connecticut mountain lion that died on a mountain lion has.... Owners have also set up tens of thousands of trail cameras at various locations throughout the.... South Dakota and were considered numerous in the northwestern corner of the cat here! For the state ; ve spotted a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut.. It had been released from a private handler on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford in Eastern Nebraska typically dispersing... In the woods last may, they were hunted out of the state too limited contention... In Milford that I was quite intrigued by this third group have seen them, plain as Day highest. The 50,000 members who are but no a lion & # x27 ; ve spotted a mountain lion has.. A neighbor who spotted one a few miles away arrived in a..
Backstreet Concert 2022,
Thomas Scott Basketball Net Worth,
Scoots Northern Irish Slang,
What Was Dirty Sally's Mules Name On Gunsmoke,
Do Armadillos Eat Ticks,
Articles M