We have a lot of them here in N CA. 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. Length of body. First about the animal, itself, and then about the lore and the possibility that the catamount was not, in fact, extinct in Vermont. So it is possible that, on occasion, someone would catch a glimpse of one of these animals. 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). But they would certainly pay attention if they did see one. 8 Arlington (9-10) and No. Matthew Johnson/Vermont Historical Society. If its not, you just thank the person and say good-bye.. And its not just Vermont. Out & About | Best New England Holiday Events for 2019. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. Obviously, this is the reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here. Lacked, almost any tail at all, for that matter. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one, but have heard credible reports of them in Western Mass. 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. 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. I only saw the back side, but he was huge. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. 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. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. In this case, there was the carcass of a deer, recently killed in the area where a couple had reported seeing what looked like a mountain lion on land they owned. All of us with rifles, most of them scoped. She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. It is hard for me to believe that the big cats havent found plenty of space to roam without regular detection. I live in New Milford and I saw one crossing the road in front of me when I stopped to get my mail from my mailbox. Inslerman said the DEC received about a half-dozen calls reporting sightings of mountain lions last year; two calls this week. In Vermont, in the late 19th century, this meant, especially, sheep. I lived in Woodstock, CT in 2005/2006. I had seen bear, deer, coyotes, foxes, that one bobcat all the usual suspects. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. So the initial assumption was that the animal was one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner. What time of day was it? 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. 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. Until 2011, that question rested upon a hypothetical. I wasnt planning to shoot her unless she moved in my direction. 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.). He soon developed a five-question litmus test: How far away were you? A far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont. Its OK, he told me. 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: Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of, Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here, After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. And consider, for a moment, the concern and outright fear an official acknowledgment of such a carnivorous and predatory creature might evoke. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. 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. And, if those people who said they were seeing catamounts were wrong, and not just making it up, then what were they seeing? In my case, I had seen just about everything else in the Vermont woods in the several years that I had been going out, and not just during deer season. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. Sue Morse, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. The last catamount killed in Vermont was shot in 1881. Probably are lions in western NC, too. Most of those sightings were misidentifications, Doug Blodgett says. The Strafford & Area Lions conducted its Food From The Heart food drive February 11th through the 18th, collecting 981.6 pounds of food and receiving monetary donations of $1,262 which were used to purchase food and other items to be donated to the Sharon, Vershire and Thetford food shelves. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. Typical species behavior is for males to disperse from an area when the population reaches the carrying capacity of the habitat. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. This assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. ), 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. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. And, in the real world, a black bears fatal attack on a hiker in New Jersey last year made many people reconsider their warm feelings for that animal. How big was the animal? There was no denying that the carcass, which was examined by experts, was that of a mountain lion. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. I also know of someone who said they showed F&G a photo of one from a game camera in NH. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. Some of them, he says, we could close the books on pretty quickly. 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. This was, after all, a long, long way from the nearest known population of mountain lions and virtually the heart of the suburban East. If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! The glasses I carried were of good quality with exceptional light-gathering property. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. o" which translates to " the mountain like a seat." Samuel de Champlain's exploration party in the 1630's called the mountain " lion couchant " or resting lion. Scat, tracks, lays, scratch mounds youll see these things.. That was plain, right away. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. Wildlife biologists, as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. 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. There is a reason that millions of people were afraid to go in the water after they saw the movie Jaws. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Probably because of all the hunters that would be out trying to get their trophy and endangering others. Their bodies are mainly covered in tawny-beige fur, except for the whitish-gray belly and chest. It was a bright sunny summer day. 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. I also had a coworker report a similar experience around the same time. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. People in Colorado communities might need to warn their children and to look over their own shoulders when they were out jogging, but not here. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. It seems humans just cant resist destroying these animals and either dont realize or dont care what damage we have done to our natural environment over the centuries. They knew what they were doing, Blodgett says. In their estimation, the presence of a breeding cougar population in New England would likely stem from our proximity to Canada, where, as they rightly point out, DNA analysis has resulted in 19 positive identifications across Quebec and New Brunswick since 2001 (although some of these were shown to be of South American lineage, suggesting escaped pets). Not a bobcat 100% mountain lion and anybody that tries to think a bobcat as any resemblance to a mountain lion clearly has no idea about wildlife there are a lot of false reports because of this however they are without a doubt in part of New England and fish and game has as usual covered up despite coming out and following mountain lion tracks in the snow through the woods in Central Mass and finding a deer carcass 20 feet up in a tree and said to the landowner yep you probably have a mountain lion passing through and asked for the homeowner not to speak much about it furthermore DNA confirmation of a horse that was attacked in Petersham Massachusetts in the last several years and also the Quabbin Reservoir DNA were mountain lion without a doubt they are here. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. 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. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. on route to stone tower on Quabbin Hill. I moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around the glasses. They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. Wildlife management programs succeeded in reintroducing species to areas where they had not been seen for years. Mountain lions are large, tan cats. She said it was long and thick. Clearly, Puma concolor once inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. Long Trail Mountain Lion roster: Myra Aldanondo, Olivia Cole-Bugay, Liz Daara, Rose Johnson, Aubrey Lanning, Molly Luikart, Camilla Marcy, Meara Morgan, Harlow Quail, . If this habitat can support them, it should. The captive narrative also helped explain why there had been so many sightings reported, including some in Greenwich, among the richest and most domesticated suburbs in America. Prior to the mid-1990s, the late Wildlife Professor Harold Hitchcock of Middlebury College, became Vermont's Official Big Cat 'hunter', who sought evidence of the Big Cats across the Maple State. 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. 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. Morse has been tracking cougars for 45 years, mostly in the mountains of the West, where their existence is not in doubt. I will never forget what I saw! By the late 20th century, the range of the catamount was confined to several western states and a small remnant population along the Gulf Coast that was eventually squeezed down into the Everglades/Big Cypress area of Florida and reduced to a couple of dozen animals of poor genetic quality due to inbreeding. I wished it were a camera with a long lens to document the sighting. There was one young kid, in his 20s, who had been doing it since he was in high school and he walked and thought like a cat. Indeed! 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). 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. "The catamount, which is also a mountain lion, a cougar, a panther and a ton of other words, is actually one of the most widely distributed mammals in the whole world. Last documented and killed in Vermont in 1881, the catamount, also known as a mountain lion or cougar, could be making its way back to the Green Mountain State. Provided by Touchpoints Im not surprised that various state officers deny the presence of cougars in new England. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. Concerned for people / pets and a school just down the street, stopped to report the sighting where dispatch told me that if I did not have proof they would not respond. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. Still, I wanted to believe those sightings were real. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. Ottmann and I walked farther. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. I could hear the steady rush of traffic on Route 315. These were old growth woods and the canopy had kept the ground cover down, so I could see three or four hundred yards ahead of me but not clearly, because of the gloom. Among the mountain lions typical behaviors is the way it will revisit, for several days, the carcass of an animal it has killed, moving it and cacheing it until there is nothing left to eat or the flesh has turned. The one killed on the Connecticut highway was on a journey worthy of Odysseus so it isnt likely that there will be a thriving population of mountain lions in Fairfield County, raiding backyard cocktail parties, anytime soon. Records suggest that cash bounties for cougar kills were relatively common in the late 1700s and early 1800s; in the Adirondacks, a trapper named Thomas Meacham was credited with 77 cougar kills. And there have been fatal attacks. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. It was definitely a cougar. Spatz and Sue dont want to go where were going.. Actually, Blodgett says, something of the opposite was true. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. Refuge volunteer Dale Erz originally. Blodgett and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species that is endangered in Vermont. The 1881 death of this catamount officially marked the end of cougars in Vermont; however, the very last Eastern cougar is thought to be an animal that was killed in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938. Especially among those who did believe. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. vital part of this countries ecosystem. Yes I have seen several pictures on game cameras from people in Massachusetts in Central and western Mass that do have mountain lions on their game camera so please dont be ignorant. So I asked him about the catamount and if the animal in Connecticut was some sort of advance scout for a coming wave of resident lions. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. Beautiful animal. If these people say they saw something, Im going to listen., If theres one thing people on all sides of the debate can agree on, its that a breeding population of cougars is essential to the overall health of New Englands ecosystems, which currently lack an apex predator. Nostalgia for the Wild The key to Morses assertion can be found in the term breeding population. Although the fact that cougars have traveled through New England is irrefutable (a DNA-confirmed roadkill is hard to deny), Morse believes its unlikely that they have settled here and created a self-sustaining population. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. I knew it was a cat track because the tracks were in a straight line and no signs of claws like you would see with a coyote track. Morse is a Vermont-based naturalist and the founder of Keeping Track, a nonprofit that trains people in the scientific protocols needed to detect, interpret, record, and monitor wildlife tracks and signs. The females are where its at, she said. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . 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. Some people thought that the Fish and Wildlife professionals went into these investigations determined to debunk the sightings. my husband tapped my leg and asked what is that crossing the road It was a Cougar tan in color long tail which had a slight curl upward .I wish I had my camera to prove it but I know We saw it. 104 Williston, VT 05495. When I shared their story with the staff at the center where my sister lived, I expected surprise and interested. They may get here, Doug Blodgett said to me one afternoon. There is no shortage of deer for all apex predators whether they are canine, feline, or human. hen 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. My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. Morse founded Keeping Track in the belief that getting citizens interested and engaged in wildlife will have the knock-on effect of getting them interested and engaged in how land-use decisions affect wild populationsand might provide the impetus for conservation efforts. To Betty and Ottmann, the dominant narrative of the occasional itinerant cougar from the West is not particularly relevant to the facts on the ground. Lizzie Post Would Like Your Attention. I had been foraging up in an area that is rocky. I now live in Boulder, CO where we have regular sightings.same animal as 35 yrs agohands down, Warren ,Ma early morning having my coffee on my front steps and noticed about 50 feet across the Road something coming out of the trail as it did it looked out at the road and turned around as it did I could see that it was a mountain lion ! He never found the evidence. Phone: . If he was not determined to prove that someone had actually seen a mountain lion in Vermonthe is a scientist, after allhe was still excited by the possibility. 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. He worked, in Wyoming and Arizona, with other professionals, some with government agencies, like the one he works for, and others who were hunters and trappers, often employed by ranchers who had lost stock to mountain lions. We were talking about those animals, like coyotes and turkeys, that have re-established themselves in Vermont and, unlike the rattlers, are thriving. 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. Was INCREDIBLE! Geoffrey Norman is a Dorset author and a frequent contributor to Stratton Magazine. Then saw him a few more times from further away across the road and along the edge sometimes of the woods. What set it off was a National Geographic special on mountain lions in California, right after my daughter and I had two encounters in my driveway, Betty told me. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. But it seems virtually inevitable that a time is coming when that thing you see on the trail up ahead of you might be something to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. In Vermont, the last known mountain lion was shot near Barnard in 1881, ending an era when the predators were such a nuisance that the state offered a $20 bounty per pelt. So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. Whatever it was, it was standing motionless and, I thought, looking back at me as intently as I was staring at it. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. If LTS can take care of business in that one, it would host the winner of the Bennington County matchup between No. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. A journey of nearly 2,000 miles. If the mountain lion is a certified killer of sheep and, sometimes, cattle, it has also occasionally attacked humans. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. 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. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. I kept trying to make it be something else because I was shocked that I was, indeed, watching a mountain lion pass in front of me. Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings The truth is, I was by this point dubious. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. Cougars, Lynx, Bobcats, Wolves, Bears etc were and are a Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. Its not a bear, not a dog, not a deer, not a bobcat. And, according to people who swear they know what they saw the catamount. People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. Apex predators like the cougar and wolf make for a healthier ecosystem. Id been excited to read the news that wildlife officials would be releasing wolves in Yellowstone and thrilled, a few years later, when I heard, from a campsite on Slough Creek, the music of their howling. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. As I turned a corner going north toward Waterbury, I saw the cat come up from the cornfield, saunter across the highway, turn and look in my direction and then amble off into the brush. I heard from Neighbors that they have been sighting from the mass pike which runs along this area but also very close to Quabbin! The Vermont woods would be a lot more interesting with mountain lions in them. My husband and where riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH 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 Life of a Predator and The African Lion. We lived off of Mountain Rd in Granby, Ct for 8 years and I can say that without a doubt I am 100% sure that there are mountain lions living there. How did I know? They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. This was as clear as day had a long tail and long body I was thinking someones pet was on the loose or escaped form a zoo !! We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. 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? Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. 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