The habitat is certainly right, with so many farms having gone by and so much formerly cleared land returning to second growth forest and with the populations of prey species suchas deer and porcupines having reached abundant proportions. It was his great coolness and daring (either that, or fear) that enabled Crowell to shoot the animal at a distance of one rod only (roughly 16 feet), first hitting it in the leg with his shotgun, then dispatching it with a bullet to the head from a borrowed rifle. Probably because of all the hunters that would be out trying to get their trophy and endangering others. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. All of us with rifles, most of them scoped. 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. A far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont. Green Mountain Lion Corp. Home; Apply Now! near Greenfield with an experienced guide that hed worked with several times. There are also many unconfirmed sightings. So you can imagine there. 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. I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. Can they really all be cases of false identification? Face to face, maybe, with a sure enough catamount. It had moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in the middle of the logging road. 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. Now that USFW has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them. So the initial assumption was that the animal was one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner. The discussion of whether federal lands should be a place to subsidize cattle ranching is another question. But this requires a breeding pair. Ordinary, the lone males do not range much more than 100 miles. 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. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. I dont ever say to people, Thats not what you saw. I say, I hope you saw one, Spatz told me when I called him at his home in upstate New York. 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. Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. I heard from Neighbors that they have been sighting from the mass pike which runs along this area but also very close to Quabbin! A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. These sightings usually took place at night or in fading light, like that of my bobcat encounter. The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. Interesting article, but it is really incomplete without a discussion of the legal implications of having a confirmed endangered species such as the Eastern Cougar in New England. 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. 5-7 yards from me. This, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife fur-bearer project leader Chris Bernier, is why he takes reports of mountain lion sightings seriously. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. 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. In the few seconds that this took, I had convinced myself that I was looking at a mountain lion. Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . But, I think with education and planning, we should reintroduce wolves and cougar in the Northeast. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one, but have heard credible reports of them in Western Mass. The Great Divide | Are There Mountain Lions in New England. If someone described seeing a black panther, for example, then you knew right away and you didnt need to do any more investigating.. Bennington, VT (05201) Today. You cant mistake the long tail. Even though the experts say there arent any mountain lions in CT, there are. 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. Responding to complaints about a predator eating a local farmers sheep, Crowell and a small group of fellow hunters had tracked the big cat through the snow. 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. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. 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. Harrigan nodded. But examination of the carcass raised suspicions. And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. They are there and thriving!!!! The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. 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. ), 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. 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. The solitary animal seeks out new territory and eventually a new population will be established. Morse introduced me to her cat, Allister, whom she referred to as her portable puma. Then she fetched me a beer. I lived in Woodstock, CT in 2005/2006. 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. I got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. With all the thousands of trail cameras in the woods of New England, one would think that there would be at least one picture taken of a catamount. The tail, I said. Whatever it was, it was standing motionless and, I thought, looking back at me as intently as I was staring at it. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. I do this shit.. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Lacked, almost any tail at all, for that matter. Watching a potential winter storm. What are the chances of wolves coming back to Vermont? We were talking about those animals, like coyotes and turkeys, that have re-established themselves in Vermont and, unlike the rattlers, are thriving. 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. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. At the head of the driveway is a flower sales table in front of a modest size greenhouse. In the United States the animal could, at one time, be found in all the states but with civilization, came a decline, the Vermont experience being more or less typical. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. On one side, there are those (as represented here by Sue Morse, Kim Royar, and Christopher Spatz, along with a number of others I spoke with) who contend that the lack of verifiable evidence is proof that the animals are not here. My encounter was in Middlesex, VT along the river road (Route 2) just below I89. And consider, for a moment, the concern and outright fear an official acknowledgment of such a carnivorous and predatory creature might evoke. [Betty] and the other guys dont do this shit. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. 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. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. But I dont think it will happen any time soon.. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. A journey of nearly 2,000 miles. I was curious enough at the time to do a little research. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. 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. Regarding a breeding population that is the unknown. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. Several years ago, I was bicycling with a buddy up Quabbin Reservoirs Administration Rd. Camel's Hump (alternatively Camels Hump) is a mountain in the Green Mountains in the U.S. state of Vermont.The north slope of the mountain borders the Winooski River, which has carved through the Green Mountains over eons.At 4,083 ft (1,244 m), it is tied (with Mount Ellen) for the third-highest mountain in Vermont.Surrounded by 10 acres (4 ha) of alpine tundra, the mountain is the most . Catamounts are large wild cats that are also called panthers, cougars or mountain lions. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. And there have been fatal attacks. 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. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. They especially come down from the mountains when there is a big water shortgage. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. I had seen bear, deer, coyotes, foxes, that one bobcat all the usual suspects. [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. Tried to see "mountain lion" and agree that what appears to be a long tail is most likely the . Around 7:10 pm this evening August 02, 2022 my wife entered our Oakwood Farm business off 6 Weed Road in Essex Center with headlights on. I only saw the back side, but he was huge. But they would certainly pay attention if they did see one. Obviously, this is the reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here. By now, I knew the answer to that one. Stupid me grabbed my camera and a stick as to protect myself ( yes stupid idea as I could stop this thing from attacking me lol. 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. Several years ago, I saw what was definitely a cougar walking along a street. There was never, of course, a photograph. And, furthermore, the animal still had its claws, though those have usually been removed from captive animals. She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. I was just amazed as I watched this scene in my own back yard. 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