So you know until I found those two scats I didn't think that mountain lions were here in the east. And its not just Vermont. Mar 1, 2017 - All the latest news and updates of New England Mountain Lion Sighting Bulletin Board's Message Board. Yet this young male traveled about 1,800 miles. They lived perhaps elsewhere in New England and they were just passing through and happened to have an encounter of some sort. Someone photographed the animal at the Brunswick School on Greenwich, Connecticut about 40 miles away on June 5th. If theyre in one, theyre in the other.. Patrick Tate: Martin Like what about Panther Panther saying animals same animal and like a bit of trivia Guinness Book of World Records says the animal with the most names is in English alone they're supposedly 40 names for Mount lion. Over a period of a year and a half, this mountain lion left DNA evidence in at least four states. Mike thanks for your call. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. We have people eating dinner in their kitchen, they hear a noise, all of a sudden a bear walks in, so they run into their bedroom to get away from the bear, while the bears out ransacking their refrigerator. Rick your thoughts. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Right. Have you heard stories do you have questions about the mountain line. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. A harvest is kind of twofold. But I do think that it's appropriate that a fishing game agency would recognize verifiable proof if they could. It is a low, sprawling plant with small 1.4-inch scarlet flowers. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HD PR fine Peter Biello and today we're talking with folks who can tell us about the mysterious elusive mountain line and whether or not it is actually here in New Hampshire. Re(1): ANOTHER female disperser in addition to the one BELOW! When you look at a state like Connecticut, with all the people we have here, all the trail cameras we have in the woods, all the cars we have driving you can imagine if we had an established population here in Connecticut, we would know about it pretty quickly. Patrick Tate: Yes. Well let's hear from from Sue Morse again science director for the organization keeping track. I'll send it to you. Patrick Tate: While a juvenile not a juvenile I guess if you want nodes to the base of the tail for juvenile that wouldn't be small at all. And I think this is a really interesting story for a couple of reasons one is that it proves what Pat was saying which that basically from New York state where its traces was really picked up on a game camera around Lake George all the way down to Connecticut there was numerous. Much as I liked Ottmann and Betty, and much as I found some of their evidence compelling, I was struggling to reconcile their more provocative claims with the restraint expressed by the many other experts Id spoken with. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. Many people do not realize how large a grown Bobcat is. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. State law protects all species unless otherwise noted. You have permission to edit this article. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. It's conceivable, he said, that like the 2011 mountain lion, which took a two-year journey to Connecticut from South Dakota, others might occasionally turn up here. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. So I learned about what Rick just reported through a heart of heart of New Hampshire a letter and. Cougar truthers are certain that the big cat is living and breeding again in New England. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. Its not my call. That's next time on one day. All other reports of mountain lions in Massachusetts have turned out to be other animals. The Connecticut mountain lion is the best documented wild Mountain Lion in New England. And they asked me about the tail which I just did not remember that tail out of that whole experience. This is part of the cougar business. Patrick Tate: In theory it's a passing ball of a court and it goes wherever the bottom Ball wants to go. I must have looked doubtfulwe were within spitting distance of a heavily traffickedroad and only 12 miles from downtown Hartfordbut both Ottmann and Betty told me that cougars actually prefer more populated areas, since thats where deer tend to congregate. MassWildlife uses evidence-based criteria for confirming reports of mountain lions. Thom Smith says it was more likely a large bobcat. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. 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. So one thing I'd point out is we've been talking about situations with no evidence a number of them come in with photographs and yet what they fit what they description of the animal they saw and by the way I got a picture of what I saw. Peter Biello: Well Mike thanks very much for sharing your story. And so far we have not had any positive mark lion scats or any DNA. Thank you. MassWildlifecannot investigate or confirm mountain lion reports without any evidence. Because he lives among them, Harrigan understands that no one knows the woods better. Mountain lion or cat running across. Q: Can you give me an idea if wild turkeyscan fly? There's no logic for why they'd be listed as an endangered species. 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). There is no evidence of a reproducing mountain lion population in Massachusetts, MassWildlife says on its website. It's got a a smudge of black and bobcats and links just don't have that we don't have any other cards. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. Sam what's the incentive for the government to deny allegedly. But its also a great story that lays out how an animal this large, at 150 pounds, traveling through even rural areas, leaves signs and is detected. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them., Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Someone's got to see one they're very secretive. And so. Despite this fact, Massachusetts residents continue to report mountain lion sightings. We have seen them run through our yard. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. So long as the tails there, that is. ghost. An official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, This page, Are there mountain lions in Massachusetts?, is. And last year, Ben Tanner, a Lady's Island resident, captured video footage of what appears to be a large cat stalking a deer. John is calling from Bennington. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Both labs confirmed the sample came from a mountain lion. 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. Like why would you want one wildlife. 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. So so do what you can get to do what you can to get proof. Patrick Tate: So it's very typical. Thanks for calling. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. Someone photographed the animal at the Brunswick School on Greenwich, Connecticut about 40 miles away on June 5th. I wonder if it grows around here at all? Ottmann grew up and still lives just minutes from the tavern; his familiarity with the establishment was obvious (after we met in the parking lot, he led me into the building through the kitchen, greeting each of the staff by name). Peter Biello: This is NHK PR Good morning and HP are summer car raffle is back and now's the time to get your early bird tickets. And I can recall its information but I can't confirm or verify anything. She was having a garden party on her back porch and everybody in the party saw this mountain lion across the field down below the porch. But but I've also seen it cited the opposite way that look they're very secretive. An adult male bobcat can reach four feet in length and 35 to 40 pounds. Re (1): Bobcats in Feeding Hills - By weather01089 October 6, 2014 at 06:44:20 PM. You need you need either a really good photograph or you need you know fresh scat that can be sent to a lab out West that can they can be identified there. Caller: Yeah. Some of the reports that I looked into that were actually on file at the local fish and game office were even from people who did not live locally. A .mass.gov website belongs to an official government organization in Massachusetts. There is also a small population in southern Florida. An adult male bobcat can reach four feet in length and 35 to 40 pounds. I just stood there just a second and I came to a complete stop and then I ran away. ml central ma. [Betty] and the other guys dont do this shit. Patrick Tate: And there's one other way to model that is the same animal. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. So you want identifiable backgrounds. Morse introduced me to her cat, Allister, whom she referred to as her portable puma. Then she fetched me a beer. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. Please do not include personal or contact information. Seal pup cuteness best observed from a distance, 70% ineligible in start of NH Medicaid unwinding. A hiker fought off a mountain lion that ambushed him in a canyon in Utah by throwing rocks at it, wildlife officials say. The tavern was quiet except for some hard-rock music playing on the radio, the murmur of a handful of men at the bar, and us. I'm Peter Biello. You've got you've got biologists right who are trying to make their make their way in the world make a career if you are the biologists who confirmed a sighting of mountain lions in the state that would be very good for you like you would be all over the news. Peter Biello: Sam I wanted to ask you a little bit about that first and then turn to Patrick Tate efficient game. 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. Listeners give us a call if you'd like. That's the real story is they can't follow up on every one of these sightings. So Marty can you see what I'm getting at is the public sees different names and thinks that they're different animals but it's all the same animal. Sam Evans-Brown: Well first I want to sort of explain why what the theory is but then also throw a bit of cold water on it because I don't think there's much much logic behind it but essentially is that if fish and game were to acknowledge that there was a population of Mount lions in the state there's a chance that something like a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act might happen and then there'd be you know some they'd have to put a plan in place to protect the species there'd be you know restrictions put on development. And then just up behind it you know at about 11 o'clock on one side and whatever that would be on the other side it's black. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. I'm sorry go ahead you're on the air. (Dont use my name as others think Im crazy). 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. of Energy & Environmental Protection. Give us a call if you have a question or comments or story about perhaps seeing a mountain lion here in New Hampshire. 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.