They're out hunting for deer and where there's deer, there's people. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. [An overabundance of deer] means our forests are getting older and older and not being replaced. He also points to the influx of invasive plant species in New England as evidence of an out-of-control deer population. I saidholy cow, what is that? He said look at the tail, it is a mountain lion. I questioned if we even had them and quickly googled. I studied the track it was the front paw left in the silt while the cat was drinking from the brook. It was dark so I couldnt get a good look but I waited till it came out past a vehicle and saw the outline of the entire body. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. Its tail was gigantic and it was swishing it back and forth. 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. Thank you for reading. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. I never told anyone but family. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. In 2011, the U.S. These experienced trackers unanimously confirmed that the tracks were made by a Mountain Lion. There was a tin of American Spirit tobacco on the table (Ottmanns), a laptop (Bettys), a notebook (mine), and a tumbler of Bacardi and Coke (Ottmanns again). What else could it be so big I thought it was a deer with a long cat tail? McEnroe: Scientifically, this is a case where absence of evidence is kind of evidence of absence, right? While the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks department hesitates to give solid numbers because they feel methods for tracking the population need to be improved, their estimate in 2019 was about 4,000 - 4,500 mountain lions. When a cats around, its not hard to find evidence. In that time frame, have collected over 9,500 excellent reports from responsible witnesses, which includes law enforcement & forestry personnel. Besides, Ottmann had revealed that hed been charged by a bear in this same piece of woods, and I felt conflicted about diverting my gaze from the underbrush. 2023 The Mountain Times, Outer Limits Publishing LLC | All rights reserved. "Of those . 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. The debate rages in Maine, where the last confirmed cougar kill occurred in 1938, and in New Hampshire, where the last confirmed kill was in 1885. I know it wasnt a Bob Cat, as I have seen them a few times in the wild, while hiking in the woods in southern Connecticut. Canada Lynx. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. All reports are the wee hours of the morning. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. I wanted to see how close I could get walking closer and closer the eyes did not run in fact they started to come to us. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. Canada lynx are breeding in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. After telling some other locals there has been some other sightings in the Black mountain vicinity around Dummerston both before and after I saw the one I saw. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. What a site. My favorite mountain lion story while living in California years ago was the turkey hunter who crouched down in front of a rock then used his call several times. The other, a utility worker checking the meter on Ripley Road, claimed he saw two mountain lions when describing the encounter to Ripley Road resident Russell Snow. I am willing to put my hand on the bible or take a polygraph. The cat was huge and tail was at least 3 feet long and thick. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. By C.L. The cat was a goldish / tan color not real big but at least twice the size of a full grown fox,very long thick bushy tail.The tail was almost as long as its body. The lion three feet away crouched down and screamed in my face, at that point i have never been so scared in my life i thought this is it i am a dead man. And identifying which is which is all in the tail, according to Bernier. They were very large, light tan, with long legs, and long white tipped tail, Kilgore wrote, relaying the account. They were at least 4-5 inches at the widest part of the pad. We watched it for nearly 10mins trying to figure out what it was (not thinking for a second that it could possibly be a mountain lion). Another big cat look-alike in the area is the Canada Lynx, distinguishable from Eastern bobcats by their large feet. When you look at a state like Connecticut, with all the people we have here, all the trail cameras we have in the woods, all the cars we have driving you can imagine if we had an established population here in Connecticut, we would know about it pretty quickly. Lynx sightings and Catamount sightings have been on the increase every year since 2003. I can unsubscribe any time using the unsubscribe link at the end of all emails. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. I thought it might be a bob cat or a huge fox but I wasnt sure. 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.. Hes also unafraid to take unpopular positions when he deems it necessary: Shortly before our meeting, hed signed a petition in favor of keeping ATVs off public roads. Subsequent DNA testing found that the animal was from South Dakota. Yet dozens of. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. By now, I knew the answer to that one. Credit: ViralHog VT - Cougar tries to break in house When I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. His studies NEVER ended, even after going nearly blind by the mid-1990s. 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. Hi Mike. Evidently it was authentic because a mountain lion pounced on him. Now, lets start talking about our favorite big cat! Whats happening in Waterbury? Reported catamount sightings all over Vermont MyNBC5-WPTZ 16.6K subscribers Subscribe 15 Share 4.5K views 10 years ago Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont. The cougar appeared injured and stunned, but eventually ran away . You dont even have to go out and look for it.. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. A few days ago my husband was jogging at 5 am near our farm in Morgan Vermont, and a huge BLACK Cougar stepped out onto the road. What color was it? I did not see [the cats], but I did talk to the guy. 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. Like Tate, he gets a lot of photos and . Bill and I are full-throttle. 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? Welcome to the blog dedicated to discussing mountain lion sightings in Vermont! Lou: I am still awaiting your pictureit is now October 1st. I am quite sure that I saw a mountain lion (a juvenile) yesterday afternoon north of the Dummerston Covered bridge along the West River. There was NO doubt it was a cat, it was huge about the size of a Great Dane, sleek and leggy. The tail was very long and we estimate it to have been at least a hundred pounds. Box, city, zip-code, so a copy can be sent in early April. They especially come down from the mountains when there is a big water shortgage. At first I thought it was a deer because of the color and size but as we drew closer I saw the thick long tail and realized what it was. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them., Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. In many cases, what people may think is a mountain lion is actually an Eastern bobcat, a species with a breeding population in Vermont. ALSO KNOWN AS Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Send picture to epuma@frontier.com Would greatly like to see your picture. However they put out a statement that IF there were to be a wild cat such as this it was illegal to shoot it. The U.S. If you have a cell phone telephone number I can send photos to, I will send you photos of the prints in the snow around my porchside door. It stared at him for a few seconds and then took some steps towards him, eventually turning the other way and sliding into the undergrowth. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. I noticed that there were many great websites, blogs, and discussion boards devoted to mountain lion sightings in other states of New England, but not one just for Vermont. Photo courtesy National Wildlife Federation. After registering, I can manage my newsletter subscriptions by visiting my Profile Settings page. Harrigan nodded. 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. She will also discuss the latest confirmations of cougars in the East, including the recently documented suitability of a substantial amount of wild habitats from Manitoba to Louisiana and Maine to Georgia. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. Here's a link to one of his columns. Paul Barrile Senior Capstone and GIS Project Number of Sightings Per Year 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 0 000 0 0 09 0 0 0 00 0 0 000 o Legend "Cougars in the East are the equivalent of Bigfoot or UFO's," according to Mark Dowling of the Eastern Cougar I can unsubscribe any time using the unsubscribe link at the end of all emails. Monday Friday: 10 a.m. 3 p.m. There were pine cones on window sills, a well-used hatchet and a variety of animal figurines on display, and, near the television, a stack of videos including. As a hobby gone astray, I have recorded more than 20,000 big cat sightings, from all states, east of Mississippi River since 1969. Look out for our newsletters with travel tips and special offers. Also the hotel keeper at top of Mt. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. Occasionally 3 times a year, I send out news-letters telling of latest reportsby concerned persons collecting such data.. Please contact me at epuma@frontier.com or 304-749-7778. I thought it was a deer and slowed in case it ran in front of me. 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. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. I am 6-2 200lbs at the time I was looking like Bruce lee because of working out daily for dirt bike racing. Mountain Lions Not Just a Tall Tale in Adirondacks. I can send the pics I have. I have seen a bobcat as I had one that hung around one of the places I lived-I believe he may have been hurt because he hung around for about a month which is uncharacteristic of them if I remember correctly, and I also believe he same one was hit by Harpoon Brewery in Windsor and boy do they clean up wild cats fast. This indoor environmental education talk is geared to adults and children over 10. Sign up below to receive the weekly newsletter, which also includes top trending stories and what all the locals are talking about! 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? So theres fresh mud. When seen in Florida, they are of approx. I dont know what they are, bigger than my 50 pound dogs foot prints. Sincerely, John Lutz, 99 Beagle boots Lane, Maysville, WV 26833 or epuma@frontier.com, Hellomy husband and I were at our Vermont vacation home taking a furniture delivery. The cat traveled down through New York and was last sighted at Lake George in New York state before it was hit by a car and killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Connecticut. Your email address will not be published. Massachusetts, Virginia, Vermont, and Wyoming. 1 talking about this. Because he lives among them, Harrigan understands that no one knows the woods better. The regions top predator, the coyote, is classified by biologists as a mesopredator (a type that in New England includes skunks and raccoons), which feeds primarily on smaller animals. Li mistaking that long swaying tail. Of course no real good tracks on the hard packed driveway but I know what I saw and heard. As livestock farming came to dominate the landscape, pressure on the big cats slowly mounted on two fronts: The number of farmers wanting them dead was increasing, while the rapid transition from forest to farmland meant their habitat was shrinking. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. 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. Though the infamous catamount has been declared extinct in Vermont since 2018, several people spotted big cats that they thought to be mountain lions on Ripley Road two weeks ago, according to posts on Front Porch Forum. 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. If theyre in one, theyre in the other.. I read John Harrigan's weekly wildlife column in the Sunday Manchester Union Leader (NH). It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. About 70 feet from the table, appeared to be a very large cat standing . 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. And that is often what people see when they get a fleeting glimpse of a bobcat is that white tail because bobcats walk with their tails up, Bernier said. I was awakened by a wailing sound that I thought was a woman in great pain and fear in my front yard. Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of The Coos County Democrat and began noticing the steady influx of reported sightings. It could simply mean someone who had an illegal pet or captive animal released the cougar into the wild. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. They have not received any reports of large cats in Waterbury so far. Director, Eastern Puma Research Network Cat. Killington, VT 05751, Hours: Help us document the biodiversity of the Green Mountain State. I worked in Hartland for a few years and it seemed to be common talk. my friend has agreat hunting camp in sandgate vt. he just sent me a photo from a trailcam on his property,and without a doubt he got a picture of a mountain lion I dont know how to transfer photos to here,but I can do it to an e-mail. It crossed the road just below where the Jaquiths lived. Felis concolor couguar. I saw an animal hunting in the back of a graveyard but couldnt tell what it was. I could shoot my self in the rear for not taking a cast or picture. The eastern cougar or eastern puma ( Puma concolor couguar) is a subspecies designation proposed in 1946 for cougar populations in eastern North America. But every once in a while, you'll be on your property, on your deck or in your house, and you'll see one walk across your yard or something. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. In early 1980s I saw a large tawny colored cougar in Leyden, Massachusetts, crossing a dirt road with uninhabited woods with many deer and critters to eat and hills with cliffs and likely caves for dens. I did a triple take as I gazed up to a rocky cliff and saw without a doubt a mountain lion. Local game officials are saying that this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a mountain lion. We watched it kill an animal (a woodchuck or something). 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. The Grandfather of eastern Cougar Studies, began investigating big cat sightings in the 1940s. More information visit www.nature-museum.org. of Energy & Environmental Protection. He was also convinced, wild pumas were traveling South from the eastern Canadian Provinces of Ontario & Quebec, into northern Maines vast wilderness.I have an assortment of reports from across Vermont, if interested in copies. It had a round, pudgy wild cat face with black accents. I showed several farmers and they all said wow that is a huge cat track. I was driving yesterday (July 31st '13) around midnight on northbound I-89 about half way between Wight River Junction and Montpelier when a beautiful cat creature a size of a greyhound jumped from the midroad bushes and sped in front of my car across the road. A few years latter our friends saw the mt lion cross rt 100 directly below the spot of my incounter. I pulled over along Rt 30 to walk down to a swimming hole. But I still wouldn;t want to run into one. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: It is possible that cougars of unknown origin may be breeding to a limited extent in Vermont. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. Maysville, WV 26833 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. Were getting more and more home entries every year. So I walked out of the driveway turned right when I saw a pair of yellow greenish eyes under an apple tree I asumed it was a deer because I had seen many deer their earlier in the day. http://www.unionleader.com/pda-articrespectful+way. We see Bear every day, and Fishers it was none of those, nor a Bobcat as it was twice the size of our Belgian Shepherd dog. How big was the animal? You were the first person I thought of after I calmed down enough to think straight! We live pretty much in the midst of the Green Mountains in the town of Andover. sunnyside village cohousing; federal halfway house rules and regulations; Owners. And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. What time of day was it? Though not native to Vermont, Canada lynx occasionally make their way down into Vermont. Back in the 60s a traveling zoo lost their black panther, and denied it. John Lutz, Eastern Puma Research Network. A rare Missouri mountain lion sighting was reported recently after one of the big cats was hit by a vehicle in Franklin County. And, a couple of biologists I talked to when I was putting this exhibit together, said that it's. 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. Founded in 1971, the paper has gone through many transitions, now expanding into web and mobile platforms in addition to its weekly newspaper and semi-annual magazines. She is the editor-in-chief of Headwaters Magazine, UVMs environmental publication. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. I took pictures but now wished I had placed an object to get the scale of the prints. Dan Moore::: IN reference to your big cat crossing Route 113, YES, mountain lions/cougars/pumas, 3 of the most popular names for North Americas largest unspotted, lion-cat, travelling free in almost every state, across the USA. (Photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society) Proctor to vote on what constitutes a public nu Hartland board appoints acting town manager, First spring flowers are in bloom in Rutland, Rutland Area Robotics receive 2016 challenge, EPA honors Efficiency Vermont as 2023 Energy Star Partner of the Year, We must have courage to address gun problem, Confused about Affordable Heat Bill? 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 think they never left, Ottmann piped in. Its important not to rule any possibilities out, including the chance of a mountain lion, according to Bernier. Identifying which is all in the midst of the Green Mountains have.. We have here testing found that the animal was shot in the of. Here in Connecticut silt while the cat was drinking from the brook said at. 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