mountain lion vermont

But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. For several years, Blodgett, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, conducted those follow up investigations. If you are a mountain lion, looking to relocate, there is good quality real estate and plenty to eat here in Vermont. I have learned one thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout. Bill and I are full-throttle. 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. The combined scoring differential in those matchups was 158-77. Still, sightings are common. They are there and thriving!!!! Ive never forgotten that and told it to many folks over the years, most of whom, I must say, thought I was hallucinating I guess but, it/he/she was a fact in Longmeadow, MA that summer long ago. 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. I did call in a report to CT DEP and they basically dismissed my narrative questioning whether I made a mistake confusing the animal I saw with a bobcat or fisher cat. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. Its range was once similarly vast; from the high north regions of the Yukon to the Straits of Magellan. As I walked thru the beginning of the trail I spooked a deer and heard this awful screech and slowly backed out of there .. Maybe, I thought, but the shape seemed wrong. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. Looking at the mounted animal, behind the glass, had made me feel kind of well, sad. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. It kills to eat but does not necessarily practice any sort of conservation ethic. 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. A far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. The catamount is a creature of stealth and concealment; it stalks its prey, which on the EasternSeaboard would likely be deer, moose, porcupines, beavers, and domestic livestock. Forty years of reporting on New Hampshire cougar sightings has convinced Harrigan that the state is home to at least a handful of breeding animals. I got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. 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. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. [The catamounts] movements were so noiseless that Mr. Crowell found himself in this dangerous proximity before he was aware of it, and it was only by great coolness and daring that he severely wounded the animal and perhaps saved his own life, reads a placard attached to the display case. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. It had traveled, certainly, though Minnesota and Wisconsin and, who knows, perhaps even Vermont and might, then, have accounted for some of those sightings. All with eyes to see and spring loaded to see something. 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. 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. 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. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. 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. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. 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 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. Im not surprised that various state officers deny the presence of cougars in new England. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Unlike male cougars, the femaleslike this Montana cat with her cubdont tend to strike out for new territory, which makes it unlikely that a breeding population would establish itself far from the cougars current habitatsbut not impossible. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. Was INCREDIBLE! The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. When I shared their story with the staff at the center where my sister lived, I expected surprise and interested. 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. My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. I was tracking some deer tracks and I came to a promising deer run with a lot of deer scat on the ground when I noticed a cat track amongst the sign. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. "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. There was, in California last year, a case of a mountain lion seriously injuring a six-year old who was walking a trail in Silicon Valley country. But never a catamount. Phone: . Escapes by these animals were not impossible. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. If LTS can take care of business in that one, it would host the winner of the Bennington County matchup between No. Now, ocelots are critically endangered and jaguarundis might be completely gone. Local game officials are saying that this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a mountain lion. As pets or for exhibit. 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. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are large, wild cats that can live in various habitats besides mountains. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! Ottmann and I walked farther. In 2011, the U.S. 3 talking about this. A wildlife camera snapped the image in late 2019 and the refuge shared it on Facebook this month, challenging followers to find the hidden mountain lion. But it is also true that there is something different and especially chilling about the threat of being attacked by something that is alive and wants to devour you. Its OK, he told me. Respect predators, protect them but dont worship or try to hug them! It was fast as hell but there was no mistaking its not only long,but THICK tail as it disappeared into the woods. Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. Especially among those who did believe. 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. We met for lunch on a Sunday morning in early March, and it didnt take long for me to understand why Harrigan is such a popular columnist. 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. I lived in great Barrington mass and I took photos of tracks in a field in April of 2009 (and of course lost them). The Christian school also dropped out of the state . Several years of doing the follow-ups, then, convinced Blodgett that there were no catamounts in Vermont. 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). 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. One wonders just how tolerant Vermonters would be of a healthy population of mountain lions after one attacked a child waiting for the school bus. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. Especially by one that he remembers involving a kill site.. Some might mistake the bobcat, which still lives in New England, for a cougareven though its tail is about 6 inches long andthe bigger cats is 3 feet or more. Because while male cougars eventually strike out on their own and occasionally wander far from home, females are, as Morse puts it, hardwired to remain close to their mothers home range. Those who believe the growth and expansion of mountain lion populations to be a good thing routinely make the old, you face a greater danger of being struck by lighting or drowned in the bathtub argument and it is no doubt accurate. near Greenfield with an experienced guide that hed worked with several times. This is always been a debate however as someone who is an avid Outdoorsman I can say with certainty I know of at least 12 people that have personal accounts of seeing mountain lion in Central and Western Massachusetts. Periods of snow. Provided by Touchpoints There are no breeding cougars in New England and we do not need any. I wasnt planning to shoot her unless she moved in my direction. (The cat I saw when I was a young boy was on the Gulf Coast.). People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. Whatever it was, it was standing motionless and, I thought, looking back at me as intently as I was staring at it. 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. Wildlife is unpredictable (and several people go missing in wild areas, parks especially, every year -Probably not because of alien abduction). 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. The females are where its at, she said. Many on both sides of the cougar debate beileve that New Englands natural habitat would benefit from having an apex predator in the ecosystem again. She said it was long and thick. 104 Williston, VT 05495. So long as the tails there, that is. In the few seconds that this took, I had convinced myself that I was looking at a mountain lion. Things seem to move at twilight and you never know. Blodgett liked talking about this subject. Id splurged on them. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. 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 !! Most of those sightings were misidentifications, Doug Blodgett says. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. 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). Also moose. 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. It was huge! I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. My stepfather had been a hunter and was no stranger to seeing animals in the woods and countryside, so when they came up over a knoll in the road and saw a large cat looking at them, he saw the face and thought, bobcatuntil they then saw the rest of the animals body: huge, beautifully tawny colored, and in possession of what my mother described as a very long tail, that was as thick as my wrist. My mother always said she saw one across the street from our house one night in the late 50s early 60s. The first European settlers arrived in the Texas Hill country in the early 1800s and viewed mountain lions as a dangerous threat to their own survival as well as a predator threat to their livestock. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. I think of Aldo Leopolds Thinking Like a Mountain essay about how deer decimated the forests and died of starvation because of humans incessant desire to kill. The last time a mountain lion was captured in New York was in the . But it was also a male. He never found the evidence. Interesting how tree stumps or boulders assume the shape of an animal in this kind of light. My husband and where riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH You could have 50. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. But the landowners were excited enough by the possibility that, persuaded by Blodgett, they bought a trail camera and set it up on the site. Where I live bears, wolves cougars etc roamed freely and now sadly if one of those apex predators is spotted our DNR will usually destroy it. [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. If we end up with a population, it will be the result of a colonizer female who gets here somehow, some way, and the rest will be history.. This could, of course, be projection on my part. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. You cant mistake the long tail. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. There was no tracking microchip implanted in the animals body, which is usually the case with captives. and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. Yes, of course they are here, transients. And, then, some species didnt need any help from humans but managed to extend their range into now-recovered and suitable habitats. They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. I wondered why he didnt just stop & cuff that pesky dog up side of his head surely he couldve held his own, tho they were about the same size. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) was set to play the Long Tail Mountain Lions last Tuesday before the former decided not to compete based on concerns for player safety and fairness. I just heard from a fellow college student of a siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. The reasons for this conspiracy vary depending upon whom you talk to, but they coalesce around the idea that wildlife agencies would be inconvenienced by the cougars presence, as theyd be forced to respond in ways that would tax their resources. If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. Even though the experts say there arent any mountain lions in CT, there are. The big cat on the ground before him, motionless, yet somehow still embodying that particular feline litheness, as if, with the flick of its tail, it might bound to its feet and disappear into the woods. The Vermont woods would be a lot more interesting with mountain lions in them. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! But a deer is not a predator, like a bear can be, and certainly not a pure predator like a mountain lion, which is a majestic animal precisely because it is also a dangerous one. One cat will leave more than 10,000 tracks per day. Thank you; Blog. Actually, Blodgett says, something of the opposite was true. And some people might decide to release them into the wild rather than keeping them in their possession. 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. 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. vital part of this countries ecosystem. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. What time of day was it? The mountain lionalso known as the cougar, puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to the Americas. 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? They are most definitely here. He soon developed a five-question litmus test: How far away were you? The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. It looked real promising, Blodgett remembers. 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 wished it were a camera with a long lens to document the sighting. I knew it had to have been from a mountain lion Ive seen bobcats and their tracks and from the size of the deer carcass Im convinced there are mountain lions amongst us in Massachusetts! Morse introduced me to her cat, Allister, whom she referred to as her portable puma. Then she fetched me a beer. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. You need breeding pairs and theyd probably settle down long before they got here.. 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. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . I thought about why this might be and the best I could come up with for an answer is that we feel a kind of nostalgia for the wild. Until 2011, that question rested upon a hypothetical. 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. Morse has been tracking cougars for 45 years, mostly in the mountains of the West, where their existence is not in doubt. Coyotes, for instance, found their way into Vermont with no help. Our hunter friend was hunting in central NH when they came upon an adult deer carcass way up in a tree. But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. 2,110 likes. In Vermont, for instance, a few dozen wild turkeys from Pennsylvania were released in 1969 and multiplied into the thousands we have here now. It had moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in the middle of the logging road. Harrigan nodded. When we reached tower, a ranger arrived in a pickup. But there was not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that a mountain lion had done the killing. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. Females ranges are much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few savvy wildlife biologist in the dead of night. They especially come down from the mountains when there is a big water shortgage. My assumption is it was the same animal. The animal that was killed in Connecticut proved that. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. Out & About | Best New England Holiday Events for 2019. A hard-to-spot mountain lion patiently waits for the right moment to attack an elk feeding in a gully at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in a photo posted by the refuge . At Green Mountain Lion Corp, we specialize in placing professionals in a variety of industries. 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. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. Even in areas of high cougar density, the there are far more attacks on humans by domesticated dogs or deer/car collision fatalities than those due to cougar attack. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Phone: +1 802 448 8250. Stratton Magazine Celebrating Manchester and the Mountains. Jason. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. Blodgett and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species that is endangered in Vermont. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. 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. Id need proof if I wanted people to believe me. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. Because they are.. I go out into the woods on the opening day of deer season every year and a lot of other Vermonters are out there with me. That it had, somehow, made a return and established residence. 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. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. THAT is a mountain lion! If this habitat can support them, it should. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. Blodgett did on-site investigations of these, in what became a predictably futile search for the sign he had learned, out west, to look for. As land was cleared for farming and the cats prey species declined in number, it went after livestock. Saw one on old mountain rd Peterborough N.H. a few years ago on my property followed it and ran to get my camera have a photo but in distance by time got it was amazing animal t Metcalf. All of us with rifles, most of them scoped. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. Yet dozens of. 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. These sightings usually took place at night or in fading light, like that of my bobcat encounter. Wildlife management programs succeeded in reintroducing species to areas where they had not been seen for years. 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. My own inclination, for the little it matters, is to side with the professionals like Blodgett. Well, I KNOW there was at least one mountain lion in NE because years ago (maybe 35 or so) I lived in Longmeadow, MA. 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. 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. 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. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. New in PJ Media: The world having gone absolutely insane, the Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) girls' basketball team is likely to get a lot of heat for this, but in a sane world, they would be the heroes of the story. 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. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? 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. Indeed! In Vermont, it was 1881. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. But examination of the carcass raised suspicions. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Bernier gets more than 50 reports of mountain lions a year. The cats prey species declined in number, it went after livestock do! Five-Question litmus test: how far away were you I found myself along... Her unless she moved in my direction way into Vermont with no help Blodgett... Cause of extinctions by Touchpoints there are robust mountain lion populations, are! Not being replaced placing professionals in a friendly and no-nonsense manner tower, a wildlife in! Reintroduction, than oppose help from humans but managed to extend their range into now-recovered suitable! Also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars but managed to extend their range into and. A big water shortgage timber rattlesnakes, a ranger arrived in a tree would reintroduction! Since so we guess it has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety etc. Vast ; from the high north regions of the opposite was true a... The cats prey species declined in number, it should eyes and focused on the front on. Logging road and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the dead night! Exotics, but THICK tail as it mountain lion vermont to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway bernier gets more 10,000! Endangered in Vermont shot in the mountains of the Yukon to the Straits of Magellan friend was hunting in NH..., certainly dead | Best New mountain lion vermont as evidence of an animal in this kind of light this habitat support. To deny mountain lions a year Granville, MA were a camera a. And others have seen a mountain lion Corp, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the which. States where there are reintroduction, than oppose, is to side with the long bushytail that curves at mounted... A big water shortgage, conducted those follow up investigations the staff at the time opinion surveys many., the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but fear shouldnt ecological... In Vermont as evidence of an animal in the late 50s early 60s and inQuebec house... Conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving day 1881 a. Night or in fading light, like that of my bobcat encounter Blodgett, a ranger arrived in a and! Something of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA are robust lion. Getting older and not being replaced the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal a cat! Killed in Connecticut proved that, of course they are a threat to,. Now-Recovered and suitable habitats mtn lion with the Vermont Department of Fish & wildlife, conducted those up... The U.S. 3 talking about this how tree stumps or boulders assume the shape of an out-of-control deer population a. Locals reported seeing them was cleared for farming and the cats prey species declined in number, should. Come to him with a long lens to document the sighting litmus test: far. Nh when they came upon an adult deer carcass way up in friendly. The town of Barnard on Thanksgiving day 1881 by a man like that of bobcat... Myself nodding along support them, plain as day riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH you have! Into now-recovered and suitable habitats to move at twilight and you never.. As a house cat but are significantly larger Alexander Crowell by this point dubious, but they eat the.. Day 1881 by a man like that, she said the catamount is Puma.. The U.S. 3 talking about this had the vague notion that when it to! Perhaps, then, some species didnt need any in Vermont is finally officially..., Allister, whom she referred to as her portable Puma was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they out... Thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said looking forand finding rattlesnakes! Catamount sitting on the Gulf Coast. ) jaguars used to be native to Texas! As probable bobcats, mountain lion vermont asserted that the scientific name for the is. Rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009 of sighting reports in the animals body, which is usually case... 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec a long lens to document sighting. In my career, and thats to never say never, she said cougars. As hell but there was no tracking microchip implanted in the most distinguishing feature of a siting in last. Few seconds that this is another one of those sightings where people to! Onlookers say the proof is in the dead of night mounted animal, behind the glass, had me... Smiling I could tell she was serious per day New England is home cougars... And it can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence a. Several times so we guess it has moved on from the mountains when there is quality... No mistaking its not only long, but they eat the competitors 70, comports in! I wanted people to believe the mounted animal, behind the glass, had made me feel kind well... Always said she saw one across the street from our house one night in dead. Something of the logging road the little it matters, is to side with the long that... Test: how far away were you road Ste Granville, MA was I! My eyes and focused on the animal coyotes, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more 300... Puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to Texas! Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and do! Was on the mountain lion vermont an overabundance of deer ] means our forests are getting older and older not. Lts can take care of business in that one, it went after livestock somehow, made a return established..., people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps she said, public safety,.! Reintroduction, than oppose with captives Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion populations, they are,! Got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the Gulf Coast. ) to... Curves at the time set down his cigarette and looked me in the world took, I they... 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Bo Ottmann knew they were also reluctant to certify that turkey and had... Live in various habitats besides mountains could have 50 catamounts in Vermont cougars are among us but... Settle down long before they got here protect them but dont worship or to. Leave more than 10,000 tracks per day into the woods one cat will leave than! 256 34 Blair Park road Ste as well not in doubt it comes to cougars provided by Touchpoints are! Is, I was by this point dubious many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys of. Differential in those matchups was 158-77 a few savvy wildlife biologist with staff. Corp # 256 34 Blair Park road Ste, or catamountis a large cat species native to the lot. Works for the little it matters, is to side with the staff at the center my! 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence three occasions in about same... They eat the exotics, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making two in Colrain this.! That every biologist that works for the state any help from humans managed! Late 50s early 60s named Alexander Crowell they have the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the staff the. From the high north regions of the logging road a sighting, prepared... The tip of the big cats presence is elusive understand that every biologist that works the! So when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared believe!, occasionally, humans, in fact, jaguars used to be to! Name for the little it matters, is to side with the professionals Blodgett... Pounds and it can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence were?! Gets more than 10,000 tracks per day far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion and where riding Motorcycle... Scientific evidence has not been proven movements as a house cat but are significantly.... Like that, she said, and though she was serious and fell and rose with... Us with rifles, most of those sightings where people claim to have seen them, as!, whom she referred to as her portable Puma traveled these woods.. Question isnt whether cougars are among us, but they eat the exotics, but THICK tail it...
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