mountain lion in ct 2020

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mountain lion in ct 2020

He/she was UNMISTAKEABLY a mountain lion: stretched out straight, long tail straight out behind him, golden/beigey color, and smallish head, little ears. Still more confusion ensued when a lab technician said she might have gotten some samples confused, and thus the canid result was thrown into doubt. This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members 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. By 1825, only 25% of Connecticut was forested due to deforestation from agricultural activities and other uses of timber. There is no shortage of deer for all apex predators whether they are canine, feline, or human. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. These sightings are so persistent that there is a conspiracy theory that says DEEP officials know mountain lions are in the state but cover up their existence. However, because they are capable of traveling great distances, they have turned up in all parts of North Dakota. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. But no. Mr. Betty and Mr.Ottomans passion and efforts are impressive. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. Action Alerts. 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.. She adds, I think its because a lot of people are fascinated by wild cats; they are the embodiment of the wild.. This is a carousel. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. Although there are numerous reported sightings of mountain lions in Connecticut every year, the animals have actually been extinct in this state for more than a century. She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. Weve got a growing bear population. I will never forget what I saw! They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. Habitat. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. It is also the most common wild cat found in North America. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. (My wife didnt get a look at the tail.) 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 last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. 2439 Adams Farm Ct, Snow Camp, NC 27349 $299,000 MLS# 2479163 PRICE REDUCTION!! ), 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. Stay Connected Sign up. 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. I also know of someone who said they showed F&G a photo of one from a game camera in NH. THAT is a mountain lion! At the time, a specialist from the Iowa Department of Natural. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. It was definitely a cougar. And its not just Vermont. 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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? So its this gathering storm. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. If a young male Cougar disperses East, instead of West, they're going to keep walking because they're going tokeep looking for an area where they can find a mate, he said. My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. Betty was quiet, and I wondered if even he, a man who does not doubt the presence of these cats in our midst and who himself claims multiple sightings, thought Ottmann was exaggerating. Apr 20, 2020. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. WOODBRIDGE, CT (WFSB) - Police in Woodbridge said they have received reports of mountain lion sightings in town. He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. 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). Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. Hawley: Yeah. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. They also want to foster the formation and protection of migration pathways for them and other animals to enter new states. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Sport hunting for cougars is not sustainable and shouldnt be allowed to go on. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. I also had a coworker report a similar experience around the same time. We told him what we saw, and he confirmed other sightings on the property. Young pumas dispersing from Western habitats are being killed at the source, compromising the Easts critical opportunity for ecosystem health and the return of an apex carnivore., Regardless of where they are found, or whether people want to hunt or protect them, people are enchanted by mountain lions. 60-108 inches. Police Chief. Uscinski, a Connecticut native, adds that the theory that the government is covering up the existence of mountain lions is likely motivated by a distrust of authority. October 12, 2020 10:47 pm ET. According to the Connecticut DEEP, the bobcat is the only wild cat found in Connecticut. There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. 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. Could UConn women's basketball be back to 'square one' with seven available players at Seton Hall? 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. I heard from Neighbors that they have been sighting from the mass pike which runs along this area but also very close to Quabbin! Sue Morse, the founder and science director of Keeping Track, a Vermont-based organization dedicated to protecting wildlife habitats, has studied mountain lions over her career as a naturalist, and says the majority of cougar sightings in the Northeast are misidentifications. Learn More . She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. 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. There are no breeding cougars in New England and we do not need any. Height. We really must establish first that these beautiful animals SHOULD be in every state that was once THEIR habitat. Probably because of all the hunters that would be out trying to get their trophy and endangering others. It had rained previously. Hey, I know what I saw. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. This article appeared in theNovember 2019issue ofConnecticut Magazine. Hey, I know what I saw. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. Wild Turkey Brood Survey However, the population declined in the early 1900's due to unregulated hunting and bounties were placed on mountain lions until 1966. Were getting more and more home entries every year. Part of this belief is rooted in his journalistic experience, which across the decades has cultivated his nose for sincerity. Its length varies from five to . 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. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. . Mountain lions are nocturnal hunters, mostly going after deer. There are an estimated 3,000 - 7,000 Mountain lions in Colorado. 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? I appreciated Ottmann and Bettys confidence and commitment, but here I was, poking through thorny thickets behind a bar, trailing a bleeding man whose devotion to proving the presence of cougars was beginning to seem like a quixotic quest with no end. Facebook . (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Because he lives among them, Harrigan understands that no one knows the woods better. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, Connecticut Dept. They are there and thriving!!!! 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. I could hear the steady rush of traffic on Route 315. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Lizzie Post Would Like Your Attention. It has a long, black-tipped tail and black . He and his clients were 100% sure of what they saw, and its very difficult to imagine any other animal being mistaken for a cougar in this case. 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. Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Weve had coyotes misidentified. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. And it was this curiosity that led me to the Old Well Tavern in Simsbury, Connecticut, at a time of day (11:30 a.m.) that does not normally find me ensconced in the dim confines of a drinking establishment. Weight. I was deer hunting with my father, it was in the fall about 7 years ago, in Barre Ma towards the Templeton Ma lines. Yes, of course they are here, transients. 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. I do this shit.. Nowhere in New England is the matter definitively settled. Males (100 to 170 lbs.) You know, weve had so many home entries this year. 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. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. By now, I knew the answer to that one. That's not to say that pits are not formidable dogs, they are. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Newspaperman John Harrigan has long covered the New England outdoors, including writing the New Hampshire Sunday News column Woods, Water & Wildlife which ran for almost 40 years. 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.. Especially when pictures are blurry which happens a lot in trail cameras or youll get pictures taken at night or something on Ring cameras that hind leg really does often look like a tail kind of curling up behind the animal.. The size of a lion's territory depends on the availability of food and habitat quality. 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. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. I started to get nervous so I was scanning the area low and high in the trees. Yale New Haven Health Check; . In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wrights conclusions, at least at first. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. Were arrogant if we think were the only species that makes decisions based on fear, he told me when I called him at his home in Oregon. I only saw the back side, but he was huge. 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. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. Then saw him a few more times from further away across the road and along the edge sometimes of the woods. He coined the term landscape of fear to describe the relationship between predator and prey in the wild. My assumption is it was the same animal. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. That maybe, just maybe, what my wife and others saw wasnt a bobcat that seemed bigger in the thrill of the moment, but a real, honest-to-goodness mountain lion, a long-lost ghost of the forest. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. With 18 native South American names, 25 Native American names, and 40 English names, this big cat has a big list of sobriquets that all boil down to the same thing: mountain lion. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. As I looked at my daughter and then turned to follow the direction she was looking, I saw the animal in my side mirror. Continued investigation revealed mountain lion tracks, scat deposits and an additional cache of an elk calf. Mrgunsngear (Mr. 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. 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. Matthew Johnson/Vermont Historical Society. Theres also the lack of visual evidence, more glaring each passing year as so many hikers and hunters now carry phones with cameras. If you dont think cougars are coming to the East, think again, she said, leaning forward for emphasis. And even the home entries are kind of changing. But honest misidentifications are more common. Got a question or comment? So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! Hawley: Yeah. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? 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. 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). building a betterand more civilConnecticut to live, work, and play. The discussion of whether federal lands should be a place to subsidize cattle ranching is another question. The 2-year-old male cougar, dubbed P-89, was found dead early Monday on a shoulder along U.S. 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. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. It is hard for me to believe that the big cats havent found plenty of space to roam without regular detection. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. CNN . So why does the conspiracy theory that theyre here in significant numbers persist? 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.). Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal. 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. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Mountain lions (commonly called cougar or puma) vary in size and weight. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. This is part of the cougar business. 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. he recalls. Not really, Rego says. ), 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. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. Wildlife biologists, as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof. Beautiful animal. It was a spotless cat she estimated at close to 100 pounds. 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). If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. Can they really all be cases of false identification? 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. Mountain lions found in eastern Nebraska typically are dispersing young animals on the move to find new territory. Ive seen bobcats before, this wasnt a bobcat. And its a lose-lose situation, because theres really not a whole lot you can tell them in most cases thats going to change their mind.. 5-7 yards from me. I lived in Woodstock, CT in 2005/2006. Obviously, this is the reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here. TOLLAND A local woman reported Friday that she saw a mountain lion in the area of Sand Hill Road, . When a cats around, its not hard to find evidence. Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer. Osage County leads the list with seven, followed by Cimarron County with six. Zillow has 20 photos of this $299,000 3 beds, 2 baths, -- sqft single family home located at 2439 Adams Farm Ct, Snow Camp, NC 27349 built in 1999. Though promoted as a once in a lifetime event and offered at the dirt-cheap price of $15, only 395 Nebraskans applied for the chance to hunt a mountain lion. 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. Additional samples were collected and are pending DNA analysis. It was a flooded area. and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. Mountain Lions:100 all the way up to 200 pounds, Mountain Lions:Can grow up to 6 feet long. 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. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. The department has said it receives reports every year of. 10186. Another possibility is to use the dosdude1 patcher to upgrade the MacBook to Sierra, this being generally possible on any unsupported machines mid-2008 or later. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. 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. He points out that when there was a real mountain lion in the state in 2011, his office publicized it immediately. LINCOLN, Neb. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. Pictured is an image shared earlier this month on Facebook of what was claimed to be a mountain lion sighting this past fall in Prairie du Rocher. Regarding a breeding population that is the unknown. Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. If this habitat can support them, it should. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. 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. Anyone can get fooled. Bill and I are full-throttle. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. Mountain Lions in New York. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! 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. Photo of a mountain lion taken by a game camera. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. For helpful information on identifying mountain lion tracks and more, visit the Missouri Department of . 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 . In my mind, I went through all the nots. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. He knew it was only a matter of time. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. The tail, I said. Mountain Lion Historically, mountain lions (Puma concolor) occurred throughout South Dakota and were considered numerous in the Black Hills. So long as the tails there, that is. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. What to know about unconfirmed mountain lion sightings in CT. Nicole Funaro was formerly a statewide trending reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group, covering everything from the most fascinating properties for sale in the Nutmeg State to the latest movie filming in the state. People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. 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. 2012). vital part of this countries ecosystem. As unlikely as it sounds, it was a more believable theory than some of the alternatives, among them that the cat was evidence of a breeding population in the state that was being kept secret by DEEP. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. For who but we humans can look across the landscape and not acknowledge our role in the diminishment of cougars and the myriad ways in which we have knocked the landscape out of balance? And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. 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. He was a dark butterscotch color, very tall and lanky (taller and thinner than a really big German Shepard) and that tail. Howard Nevison Obituary, Crawford County, Pa Police Reports, Deni Montana Harrelson, Articles M