Do not bend, squat, or sit down. Mountain lions would have inhabited all of what is now Nebraska, roaming the hills and plains as an apex predator, hunting deer, elk and other large game. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. You cansubscribe here, orfind the current issue on sale here. Bobcats, also, only hunt small prey. She said the size made her do a double take and indeed she seen it had a very long tail, Bullsh** "We get calls about mountain lions all the time, but they turn out to be unprovable," Brown told the Independent in March. 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. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Mountain lion, cougar, puma, panther, painter, and catamount are all different names for the same animal ( Puma concolor ). On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. There have been no "confirmed" reports of mountain lions, AKA Puma concolor, in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. What would motivate DEEP officials to do this isnt clear. to scare it off. Mountain lions weigh 105 to 140 pounds and can be up to eight feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail. It provided absolutely irrefutable proof that a wild Mountain Lion, at least occasionally, can make its way to New England. They also have facial ruffs and ear tufts on the tips of their ears, as well as shorter tails. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. Almost daily, there are claims of mountain lion sightings in CT, though. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. The Canada Lynxs geographic territory in New England only extends as far south as northern New Hampshire and parts of Maine, though. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. They can be seen at any time of the day or night, but are most active at dawn and . Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. The current editor of the publication, which is based in New Hampshire, explains why the job is worth sticking around. Beautiful clear day just like this, and there in my backyard I see this huge golden animal, walking through the yard, Bachelder said. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. So why does the conspiracy theory that theyre here in significant numbers persist? More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. Dashboard for displaying mountain lion reports to the public. Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Cassano Being Honored For Contributions To Manchester Children, Sandwich Giant Again Pledging Sales Proceeds To Major Charity In March, Snow Day For Schools, Parking Ban Issued In Manchester, Book Release Event: Bad Hair Day on Planet Earth, a memoir by Barbara Ruzansky, Jazz Series: Luke Hendon & Jack Soref - An Evening of Gypsy Jazz, The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time, Brady Sullivan Properties Supports Elliot Emergency Department, Public Access TV Show Focuses On Non-Profits And Community Heroes, Pairings Released For CIAC Boys Basketball State Tournaments, 4 Students Injured In 2 Collisions On UConn's Horsebarn Hill. You really couldnt ask for a better place for mountain lions.. 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. Here are the Winter Storm Anthony snowfall totals so far, Melting Pot restaurant in Darien closes down. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. 47 6 thatphanom.techno@gmail.com 042-532028 , 042-532027 Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. When we lived in Suffield, we had MANY Mountain Lion sightings.probably 4-5 sightings (which qualifies as many to me) and they were definitely not Bobcats, @Craig, what town is Wtn? State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. However, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEE. My buddy told me he saw one in our hometown (in litchfield county) 10 or so years ago and I called bullshit. Mountain lions were hunted to extinction near the end of the 19th century. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. A mountain lion is a wild cat ranging from two to three feet tall, with females weighing up to 120lbs and males up to 200lbs, making it the fourth largest cat in the world. Contrary to traditional thought, population studies have shown that mountain lions prefer rolling hills and more heavily developed areas to remote mountain regions. I have a fence in the backyard, it was above the bottom rail, so its back was probably this big, this long, the tail, said John Bachelder. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. Im watching it, its big, its got the body, and the thing that really gave it away was the tail, had that mountain lion long tail that goes down to the ground and comes up at the end, saw that and was like, thats a freaking mountain lion.. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Here are some physical differences between mountain lions and bobcats: These 2 big cats also behave differently. Weve had housecats misidentified as mountain lions and even deer, Rego says. 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. 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. 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. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. So theres fresh mud. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. While the state says it was likely a bobcat, one of the people who reported the sighting says it was unlike anything hes ever seen before. 'Bo was a legend', Los Charros Cantina closes in Essex, will relocate to Branford, Elizabeth's Cafe in Madison to be razed for new restaurant, housing, CT fathers coaching daughters in girls basketball navigate life lessons at home and on the court, 5 CT companies hiring for 100 or more positions, Celebrity gossip and sightings in and around CT, February 2023, John Mayer to appear on Impractical Jokers Thursday, Stamford's Alive At Five concert series announces 2023 dates, Dionne Warwick, '80 for Brady producer bring music review to CT. If you have a worldview in which the government is conspiring to do weird stuff, than thats what youre going to see, and all the evidence is going to point to exactly what you believe, he says. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Meanwhile, a family in Redwood City has shared footage of a big cat seen recently in It was a lion-like cat with a tan coat and no spots that was about three times the size of our 30- to 35-pound dog. He points out that when there was a real mountain lion in the state in 2011, his office publicized it immediately. Bobcats typically have brown fur with a reddish tinge that is marked with black or brown spots or stripes, according to the National Zoo. Due to mountain lions large size, they require larger meals. While Betty had plenty of evidence to support a mountain lion population, the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection still lists the mountain lion as extinct under the Endangered Species Act. It was a flooded area. Another important difference: bobcats are found in Connecticut while mountain lions are not. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. Police have a warning after there were multiple mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge. Coyotes have been mistaken for mountain lions. Weve got a growing bear population. Lets learn to live alongside this very large animal is one of the schools of thought. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. Time changes all and Im not going to shut the door on the future and say that a breeding population of cougars is not here because the day after tomorrow they could be here its just a matter of time., Though a deer hunter herself, Morse is opposed to the way mountain lions have been hunted in the western U.S., where they are found. The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Im no wilderness expert, but it sure looked like a mountain lion to me, he said. A threat to livestock, they were hunted out of the state and driven to parts more wild. So theres fresh mud. 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. Two mountain lion sightings have been confirmed in Tennessee. 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. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. 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. State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut for more than 100 years. If you follow local news outlets and local social media pages, youll notice a common theme when it comes to wildlife sightings people often mistake one type of animal for another. 105 of 119 106 of 119 A dead mountain lion, killed on the Merritt Parkway in Milford in June 2011. Despite annual reports since the 1950s, no confirmed sighting was made in the state until the 1990s. The more everyone knows and understands, the better it is for us all.. Five summers ago, a mountain lion made regional headlines after it was photographed in Greenwich and later struck and killed by a motor vehicle on the parkway in Milford a young male that DEEP officials determined through DNA evidence had traveled east all the way from South Dakota. He said that the conservation organization,Cougars of the Valley, has compiled 300 sightings in the Farmington Valley region of the state alone. 2012). It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. There are mountain lions in connecticut. They also generally have spots on their fur. This mountain lion was documented by DNA samples from Minnesota and Wisconsin between December 2009 and early 2010. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. Habitat. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Ive been doing this for 40 years. Police have a warning after there were multiple mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge. Last week was no different, as various reports began trickling in of a mountain lion roaming around, in of all places, Greenwich, Conn. But Bachelder stresses he knows what he saw. The Division also collects carcasses of road-killed bobcats as part of the study. Youll get the answer to this question in this article. Hawley: That animal was documented. In the 1930s, Bruce Wright, an influential wildlife manager from New Brunswick, Canada, began gathering reports of sightings of mountain lions in the East and searching for their tracks. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. The last confirmed sighting of a mountain lion in CT was in 2011 when a driver struck and killed one on the Merrit Parkway. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. Canton and Simsbury have also had about 70 sightings. 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. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. For decades, wildlife experts should have been seeing occasional scat and paw prints in the winter. Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, For the first time in decades, The Old Farmer's Almanac is looking for a new editor, NSC-131 members say they can't find a NH defense lawyer for pending civil rights case, Cautiously optimistic: Maple syrup producers expect a good season this year, In Spokane, Washington, officials test a housing strategy rejected by NH lawmakers. For over 30 years the CT DEEP has been tracking reported sightings and maintain it has never observed or found proof that mountain lions are still here in the state. Betty, however, said that the sheer number of sightings and evidence substantiates a native population of cougars. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. 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. The main habitat requirement for mountain lions is stalking cover to successfully hunt prey. This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members NOW - 4:30 PM. Bobcats are found across Connecticut, but even fully grown they are much smaller than what she was describing, only weighing between 18 and 35 pounds. Since May 21, three other lion sightings were reported in the Chubbuck and Pocatello areas and one in Inkom. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an, on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Betty recommended that anyone who encounters a cougar should make themselves large, raise their hands and yell. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. Anyone can get fooled. Breweries in New Haven, CT you MUST Visit! As a Theres something in human nature to overestimate the size of wild animals we see, especially if we get a brief glance and if the animal is moving. He adds, Bobcats can get pretty large and some people believe they should have pretty visible spots and very often theyre pretty uniform in color. This is especially true in the summer, when my wifes sighting occurred. But honest misidentifications are more common. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. Even in parts of the country where there are documented breeding populations of mountain lions, there are still many false reports. This is a carousel. They have been absent from this state since the late 1800s; however, there have been a few isolated sightings. Report a new sighting Sightings List 1 2 This one cat left DNA and/or photographic evidence of its presence in at least four states Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. Didnt it? About 80 people gathered at Tolland High School Thursday night to take in a mountain lion lecture sponsored byConserving Tolland. He published his first book in 1959, The Ghost of North America: The Story of the Eastern Panther. In some versions, state officials dont want to alarm people about the feline predators in their midst. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. Want to post on Patch? A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. And theyre not going to find one, because the females don't disperse like that. When it comes to mountain lions, (also called cougars, pumas, or panthers) is there really a chance you will come across one in the wild, or will you need to visit a zoo to see one of these magnificent animals in real life? Body length: 3-4 ft. Tail: 2.5-3 ft. ', 'Saturday Night Live' skit with Woody Harrelson takes place at Naval Submarine Base New London, Bo Hickey, former New Canaan hockey, football coach and NFL player, has died. These were reported to CT DEEP and though the sightings may not have been confirmed as true mountain Lion sightings, this post is to spread awareness on the issue in case youre presented with such situation. His office publicized it immediately @ connecticutmag numbers persist from mountain lion sightings in ct map nose to the tip the. 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