While other states have their Bigfoot and sea monster sightings, in Connecticut, and throughout much of the Northeast, we see mountain lions even when were told such sightings are unlikely, if not outright impossible. When it comes to mountain lions, (also called cougars, pumas, or panthers) is there really a chance you will come across one in the wild, or will you need to visit a zoo to see one of these magnificent animals in real life? Theyll say, Hey, you can see in the picture that it has a long tail, and when I look at the picture, I say, I see how you would see that because they way these cats walk, theyll kind of stand and trail their rear leg. Mountain lion sightings in New Hampshire have increased along . Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. . WOODBRIDGE Police are offering tips after they said there have been several mountain lion sightings in town. Anyone can get fooled. She was calling from a trail in Pootatuck State Forest, the 1,200-acre strip of nature occupying the hills above Squantz Pond in New Fairfield. My wife is not a wildlife expert, but is not prone to flights of fancy. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. For decades afterward, there were reported sightings of the mythical creature prowling the woods around town. not all bobcats are heavily spotted either - just to add to the confusion.. ago. 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This young male cougar was found to have DNA from other cougars found in South Dakota which means it traveled about 1,800 miles east. In 2011, genetic testing confirmed that a mountain lion originated in South Dakota and traveled more than 1,500 miles before being struck by a car on the Merritt Parkway, according to Reuters. Make yourself BIG. Not long after, what was believed to be the same mountain lion was struck and killed on Route 15 in Milford. 5. People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. If it really comes down to it do what you have to do to deter it from following you. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. The only types of lynx that are indigenous to New England are the Canada Lynx and the Lynx rufus (bobcat). A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. Many, many times, in many different ways along its travel up through Minnesota, Michigan and to Canada, down through New York, through hair samples, blood samples, trail camera photos. 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. After traveling more than 1,500 miles, the lean, male cat met an untimely end in a collision with an SUV. The police department decided to put out a warning to those in town. Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, Pastry artwork pits bakery against town of Conway in free speech suit, In latest school funding trial, state attorneys argue NH districts' budgets are bloated, Lawmakers, advocates, families in NH react to Biden Admin's proposed Title IX change, Give Back NH: The New England Grassroots Environment Fund. His mountain lion was over twice the size of the bobcat which the bobcat had killed half my flock of chickens. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. It continues in Connecticut, where that South Dakota cat was killed in 2011, and in Massachusetts, despite two credible reports in the past quarter century (in one case, DNA-confirmed scat; in the other, verified tracks). Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. You may also be interested in: Mountain Lion population by U.S. state They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. We know that the closest established breeding population is in either the Everglades of Florida theres a small population down there and then out in South Dakota and Nebraska. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Connecticut's official position is that mountain lions have been extinct in the state since the late 1800s. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. Officials are reminding residents to be mindful of small pets and children wandering out of sight, to not approach the animal and give it space to turn around if faced with a big cat, like a mountain lion. It was a flooded area. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. When we lived in Suffield, we had MANY Mountain Lion sightings.probably 4-5 sightings (which qualifies as many to me) and they were definitely not Bobcats, @Craig, what town is Wtn? This article appeared in theNovember 2019issue ofConnecticut Magazine. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. There is also something appealing about the idea that there is an animal out there so cunning that it has escaped our notice and the eyes of our cameras. His mentor, Aldo Leopold, a prominent wildlife biologist, also believed this, but felt if people learned about these populations, they would be hunted to extinction. As a Two women's solution: salvage it instead, Hampden County DA: Massachusetts troopers acted 'lawfully' in shooting death of William Tisdol, As Vt. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. Having spent much time outdoors hunting deer . State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. A month after the cat was struck and killed, researchers confirmed it had traveled more than 1,500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota. We have plenty of suitable habitat, he says. Weve got a growing bear population. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. Just had one over in Windsor last week. Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. 40K views 8 years ago Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. Of course. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. Especially, when they do migrate across country. 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. They have NEVER observed a single mountain lion track. You know, weve had so many home entries this year. The U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service reports that mountain lions typical habitat is steep, rocky canyons or mountainous terrain, but they generally can be found wherever deer are present. If you follow local news outlets and local social media pages, youll notice a common theme when it comes to wildlife sightings people often mistake one type of animal for another. "The journey of this mountain lion is a testament to the wonders of. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. Ancient_Ad126 4 mo. They also have facial ruffs and ear tufts on the tips of their ears, as well as shorter tails. Also, there has been a rash of cats and dogs gone missing out of here with the DPs. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. In the 1930s, Bruce Wright, an influential wildlife manager from New Brunswick, Canada, began gathering reports of sightings of mountain lions in the East and searching for their tracks. Beautiful clear day just like this, and there in my backyard I see this huge golden animal, walking through the yard, Bachelder said. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. This is a carousel. So theres fresh mud. If it really comes down to it do what you have to do to deter it from following you. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wrights conclusions, at least at first. Copyright 2023 The Connecticut Explorer | Wisteria on Trellis Framework by Mediavine, Connecticut Explorer Home Find Things to do in CT. And even the home entries are kind of changing. What would motivate DEEP officials to do this isnt clear. It had rained previously. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. 6. In the 1930s, Bruce Wright, an influential wildlife manager from New Brunswick, Canada, began gathering reports of sightings of mountain lions in the East and searching for their tracks. 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. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. The gate of a bobcat can often make it look like it has a long tail. One has been spotted on our street for the last four or five years. That report was accompanied by a blurry photo, an indistinct paw print, and a scat sample. While this isn't the norm, it is becoming slightly more common as mountain lions are striking out further east in search of territory. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. Don't be a fool and be caught off guard by believing they don't exist in Connecticut. At that point, they realized my family was not crazy and it was identified as a cougar and it was about 100 lbs. Mountain lions were hunted to extinction near the end of the 19th century. And theres another school of thought, Well, no, there just are too many of them probably we have to reduce that population somehow. Where do you fall in that whole continuum? The one confirmed case, sometimes referred to as the " Connecticut Mountain Lion " happened in June 2011 when an SUV struck and killed a cougar in Milford. 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. . A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Truth & Reconciliation Commission begins, Odanak chief repeats request for inclusion. Weve had coyotes misidentified. According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, mountain lions became extinct in Connecticut in the 1800s, and bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. Give it space to turn around without feeling threatened to get away from you and your family. For over 30 years, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has been tracking reported mountain lion sightings. Dickson, however, said the agency is not aware of any such reports. After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didnt that mean that others could have? McEnroe: Scientifically, this is a case where absence of evidence is kind of evidence of absence, right? Possible mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Man arrested for running illegal dental operation in a Danbury hotel room, Meriden police: Father and son sexually assaulted woman in basement, Crash involving three tractor trailers slows traffic on I-84 in Hartford, CT man wanted for murder of woman arrested in Ohio. A harvest is kind of twofold. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. On June 11, 2011, in Milford, CT, a mountain lion was killed by a motor vehicle. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Were getting more and more home entries every year. State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut. I believe that was about 10 years ago. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. Tim Abbott, the regional land conservation and greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association, says that during a lecture on mountain lions last winter at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, when the speaker asked if anyone had seen a mountain lion, half of the roughly 400 people in attendance raised their hands. Mountain lions, however, arent seen much in the Nutmeg State, even though several have reportedly been spotted around the Woodbridge area this month. Typically, they will slink out of there as quickly as they can to get away from humans. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. It is the only confirmed presence of a cougar in recent years. So, there you have it an answer to the question of whether or not there are mountain lions in CT. The last confirmed sighting of a mountain lion in CT was in 2011 when a driver struck and killed one on the Merrit Parkway. I am 58 years old and another cougar was identified when I was much younger by the Deep in Meriden. Yet we see nothing about what is being planned except how to scare them away if one sees them. Bobcats are found across Connecticut, but even fully grown they are much smaller than what she was describing, only weighing between 18 and 35 pounds. According to authorities, the mountain lion was reportedly seen on Friday including on Salem. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. Hey, I know what I saw. Hi! Watch Live at 7:00 PM: The U.S. and the Holocaust, a film by Ken Burns | Screening & Panel Discussion . 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