She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. I had a clear look, through the glasses at a bobcat. Neither resemble a cougar! Low 24F. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. Green Mountain Lion Corp. Home; Apply Now! Phone: . 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. 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 !! And, he says, if they were here, wouldnt one have been killed on one of the states highways where cars and trucks travel some 9 million miles every year? It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. I moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around the glasses. 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.. 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 . Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. But they would certainly pay attention if they did see one. A far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont. These settlers established measures for predator control by any means possible. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! The last time a mountain lion was captured in New York was in the . 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). People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. 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.. 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. The Mountain Lions won both regular season margins by 30-plus points. 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. And, now, here I was. Nostalgia for the Wild They are most definitely here. However, when I asked the room of 200 or so people how many believe they had seen a mountain lion/cougar/puma/catamount, hands shot up all around the room about 25% of those present. And, according to people who swear they know what they saw the catamount. 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). He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. Some with cameras. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. There are many officials in denial up here, but we know what we saw and there are too many sightings by the local folks to be ignored. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Its OK, he told me. 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. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. 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. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. He and his clients were 100% sure of what they saw, and its very difficult to imagine any other animal being mistaken for a cougar in this case. Also moose. There was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a sharp-thorned bush that soon drew blood from Ottmanns right hand. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. 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 ! If LTS can take care of business in that one, it would host the winner of the Bennington County matchup between No. 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. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. And, more often than not, when I told it, the person listening would nod and tell me about someone who had definitely seen a mountain lion/catamount in the Vermont woods or crossing a highway or, even, in the back yard. Then, follow-up DNA researchmatching samples from the carcass with those from scat and hair collected in other locationsestablished that the animal had come to Connecticut from the Black Hills of North Dakota. Respect predators, protect them but dont worship or try to hug them! The reason why experts wont admit to a breeding population existing is that there is NO PROOF. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. 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 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. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. 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. If the mountain lion is a certified killer of sheep and, sometimes, cattle, it has also occasionally attacked humans. 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. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. People said that the catamountas the animal is called in Vermontwas still around and you heard stories about someone who would swear to having seen one. Thats a reasonable assertion. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann, A Lobster Trap Menorah Shines in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Chips Off the Old Block | Knowledge & Wisdom, Yankee Candle | New England by the Numbers, First Christmas | Krissy OSheas Scandinavian-Inspired Holiday Cottage, The Sweet Life | Holiday Baking with Dorie Greenspan, 2019 Yankee Magazine Editors Choice Food Awards, In the Kitchen at Mayfair Farm | Weekends with Yankee. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. Videos. Whenever I drive up and through my home state of Vermont, I look into the hills that surround me that have no sign of development for miles and miles. Apex predators like the cougar and wolf make for a healthier ecosystem. Bill and I are full-throttle. Regarding a breeding population that is the unknown. Length of body. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. [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. Now that USFW has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them. The females are where its at, she said. Long Trail Mountain Lion roster: Myra Aldanondo, Olivia Cole-Bugay, Liz Daara, Rose Johnson, Aubrey Lanning, Molly Luikart, Camilla Marcy, Meara Morgan, Harlow Quail, . When we reached tower, a ranger arrived in a pickup. I had seen bear, deer, coyotes, foxes, that one bobcat all the usual suspects. 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. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! But examination of the carcass raised suspicions. But perhaps an even larger portion is the product of his enduring faith in the men and womanloggers, hunters, trapperswhose vocations and avocations have instilled in them a deep familiarity with wild places and the creatures who inhabit them. I was curious enough at the time to do a little research. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. It is what wildlife biologists call an apex carnivore, which means it can overpower pretty much any other creature in its environmentwith the exception of an armed human. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. They are here in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the magnificent felines. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. 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