mountain lion vermont
So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. Large swaths of Vermont and nearby states along the Appalachian spine have gone from cleared land back to the kind of second-growth forest that is excellent habitat for deer and, thus, their predators, the most efficiently lethal of which is the mountain lion. But, yes, thats exactly what it was. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. And there have been fatal attacks. Harrigan is 72 and lives just outside the northern New Hampshire town of Colebrook; he has a long, craggy face that seems almost to have molded itself after the mountainous landscape of his home state. Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. 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 !! Had trouble sleeping last night cause that was to close and I think she may have stalked me from where I was in the woods. 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. Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. 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. But it was also a male. 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. 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. 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. If there is a follow up investigation, it turns out that people were mistaken about what they saw.. But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. That it had, somehow, made a return and established residence. There is a lot of good habitat between here and the places where there are established populations of mountain lions, he said. Ottmann nodded. Bill and I are full-throttle. Its OK, he told me. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. One summer I saw what I assumed was the same cougar several different times in my neighborhood which was near a long strip of woods along I 91 and used to be a large open field across the road from our home. The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. I saw a cougar in Wolfeboro NH crossing / running across 28 ; close call between myself and a car traveling in the opposite direction over 12 years ago . 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. People could have been looking at a catamount that was not, in fact, a wild animal. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. This could, of course, be projection on my part. Long Trail Mountain Lion roster: Myra Aldanondo, Olivia Cole-Bugay, Liz Daara, Rose Johnson, Aubrey Lanning, Molly Luikart, Camilla Marcy, Meara Morgan, Harlow Quail, . 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. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. 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. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. No way to proveor disproveit. It was a bright sunny summer day. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. 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. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. Please. What color was it? There was no denying that the carcass, which was examined by experts, was that of a mountain lion. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. There is a reason that millions of people were afraid to go in the water after they saw the movie Jaws. Ottmann and I walked farther. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. I had a clear look, through the glasses at a bobcat. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. There are so many great sites out there devoted to. 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. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? Anticipating, perhaps, a moment like this. Feb 28, 2023 4:00 am By Robert Spencer 1 Comment. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches.. . These settlers established measures for predator control by any means possible. There was no mistake. Mountain lions are around 4 feet long with a two-and-a-half foot tail and can stand 24-30 inches tall at the shoulder. 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. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. Videos. Yes, of course they are here, transients. I had seen bear, deer, coyotes, foxes, that one bobcat all the usual suspects. We were talking about those animals, like coyotes and turkeys, that have re-established themselves in Vermont and, unlike the rattlers, are thriving. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! There are no breeding cougars in New England and we do not need any. Phone: +1 802 448 8250. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. This was, after all, a long, long way from the nearest known population of mountain lions and virtually the heart of the suburban East. my father was recently trout fishing in central Mass. I wasnt planning to shoot her unless she moved in my direction. The animal that was killed in Connecticut proved that. Dont forget, south Texas also used to home to two other species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. The last time a mountain lion was captured in New York was in the . Id splurged on them. The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. Still, sightings are common. Adult males can be around 8 feet in length and weigh between 130 and 150 pounds, while adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds. The evidence, he says, just wasnt there., Mountain Lions Revisit Kill Sites So Blodgett brought what he had learned in Wyoming and Arizona back to Vermont with him and began following up on catamount sightings. My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. My encounter was in Middlesex, VT along the river road (Route 2) just below I89. In 2011, the U.S. 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. Its mounted carcass is on display in Montpelier where Id seen it when I was the adult supervision for my daughters sixth-grade class trip to the capital. Can they really all be cases of false identification? Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. 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. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. So it is possible that, on occasion, someone would catch a glimpse of one of these animals. We really must establish first that these beautiful animals SHOULD be in every state that was once THEIR habitat. And, furthermore, the animal still had its claws, though those have usually been removed from captive animals. So if coyotes could return and establish robust populations, why not a few catamounts? Mountain lions are large, tan cats. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. Its range was once similarly vast; from the high north regions of the Yukon to the Straits of Magellan. He is a consummate storyteller, and he wears on his sleeve his affection for the region and the hard-working, commonsense people who inhabit it. And why not? You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. It is hard for me to believe that the big cats havent found plenty of space to roam without regular detection. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. Several years ago, I saw what was definitely a cougar walking along a street. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. That was plain, right away. Catamounts are large wild cats that are also called panthers, cougars or mountain lions. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. They are most definitely here. The old logging road was easy enough to navigate and I let my feet follow it while I kept my eyes up and scanning. This much was certain: it was a wild mountain lion and it was in an area where one had not been seen for more than 100 years. No An official form of the United States government. Growing up in northern Vermont, Id heard stories of sightings, though always a few steps removed from the tellersomebodys cousin had seen a cougar cross the road on their way home from deer camp up in Canaan (or was it Coventry? 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. In my mind, I went through all the nots. Also moose. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. Something I had not expected ever to experience. But never a catamount. [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. She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. What time of day was it? He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. 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. The tails gotta be there. Harrigan nodded. 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. I live in Vermont and have seen, in broad daylight, a mountain lion (catamount, cougar, puma). And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. And its not just Vermont. It kills to eat but does not necessarily practice any sort of conservation ethic. They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. As I looked at my daughter and then turned to follow the direction she was looking, I saw the animal in my side mirror. 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. 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. I also had a coworker report a similar experience around the same time. 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. By now, I knew the answer to that one. 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. In the few seconds that this took, I had convinced myself that I was looking at a mountain lion. It was definitely a cougar. If these animals are not in the habitat, what we see is an overabundance of herbivores., The ecologist John Laundre, who has spent 35 years studying cougars, concurs. 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. I saw a Mountain Lion in 2007 in Northfield, MA at the junctions of Rtes 10 and 63. This assessment is echoed by the aforementioned Christopher Spatz, who has been studying cougars for better than 20 years. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Several years of doing the follow-ups, then, convinced Blodgett that there were no catamounts in Vermont. Escapes by these animals were not impossible. Phone: . We were about 50 feet from it and it stood taller than any labrador and we watched it tail and all slink down the side of the lawn and the rabbits being surprised out of the bushes. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal likely trekked more than 1,500 miles from South Dakota, a journey that was captured by trail camera (above). Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. They are here & ..just a matter of time with photo or kill on a highway/road. Snowy winter AM just before us neighbor kids were heading to catch the bus, we (myself, my dad and neighbor) all watched a large cat cross the yard and leave huge prints and a distinct tail drag mark in the snow! One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. In Vermont, in the late 19th century, this meant, especially, sheep. In March of 1965, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $50, which was first enacted in 1924. 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. Sue Morse, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont. I moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around the glasses. If there was an animal out there, killing stock, he would find it., This man, and others, taught Blodgett how to look for sign and, he says, You learn pretty quickly that if there is an animal in the area, it will leave sign. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. Hed encouraged me to keep my eyes open for deer carcasses cached in the trees (according to Ottmann, cougars are fantastic climbers and are known to stash their kills high in trees), but I saw only leaf-bare branches. So you can imagine there. But I learned something else in my ad hoc researchesnamely that this was a question that aroused a lot of passion in people. Newspaperman John Harrigan has long covered the New England outdoors, including writing the New Hampshire Sunday News column Woods, Water & Wildlife which ran for almost 40 years. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! 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. I just heard from a fellow college student of a siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring. Everglades Panther The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. There was one possibility that might account for some of these sightings, he says. 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. Periods of snow. 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. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. At Green Mountain Lion Corp, we specialize in placing professionals in a variety of industries. 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 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. My assumption is it was the same animal. Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings. 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). 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. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. I started to get nervous so I was scanning the area low and high in the trees. 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. 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. Of false identification fall and two in Colrain this spring encounter was in,. Traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes was scanning the area low and high the! For some of these animals it was probably a basking shark a variety of industries any possible. 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