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. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. Anticipating, perhaps, a moment like this. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. 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. We got a picture of our culprit, he says, that very first night.. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . 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. Obviously, this is the reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here. So you can imagine there. No doubt of what it was; size, color and recognizable tail. The females are where its at, she said. The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. 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. At Green Mountain Lion Corp, we specialize in placing professionals in a variety of industries. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. Provided by Touchpoints Public opinion surveys show many more would support reintroduction, than oppose. So it is possible that, on occasion, someone would catch a glimpse of one of these animals. The first European settlers arrived in the Texas Hill country in the early 1800s and viewed mountain lions as a dangerous threat to their own survival as well as a predator threat to their livestock. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. The one killed on the Connecticut highway was on a journey worthy of Odysseus so it isnt likely that there will be a thriving population of mountain lions in Fairfield County, raiding backyard cocktail parties, anytime soon. 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. 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. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. And, now, here I was. He coined the term landscape of fear to describe the relationship between predator and prey in the wild. 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. Mountain Lions have been more prevalent to the west in the last 100 years, but many of the pockets of breeding populations east of the Mississippi River have been wiped out over the decades due to habitat loss and hunting. As cleared lands became reforested, many species that had been squeezed into small regions where there was still habitat,or hunted to near extinction, could be replanted in their former range. The Great Divide | Are There Mountain Lions in New England. I wasnt the only one to see the big cat. Yet dozens of. They may get here, Doug Blodgett said to me one afternoon. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? I think I may have pissed her off since I was up in that area X2 this week. I appreciated Ottmann and Bettys confidence and commitment, but here I was, poking through thorny thickets behind a bar, trailing a bleeding man whose devotion to proving the presence of cougars was beginning to seem like a quixotic quest with no end. The Mountain Lions won both regular season margins by 30-plus points. Ottmann nodded. The old logging road was easy enough to navigate and I let my feet follow it while I kept my eyes up and scanning. But this requires a breeding pair. Ordinary, the lone males do not range much more than 100 miles. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. But no. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. I go out into the woods on the opening day of deer season every year and a lot of other Vermonters are out there with me. ), 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 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 ! Mountain Lions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) NPS.gov Park Home Learn About the Park Nature Animals Mammals Mountain Lion Mountain Lion Last updated: May 4, 2018 Was this page helpful? There was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a sharp-thorned bush that soon drew blood from Ottmanns right hand. I went back and told the tale to anyone who would listen. People could have been looking at a catamount that was not, in fact, a wild animal. In March of 1965, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $50, which was first enacted in 1924. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. But my eyes picked up something and I knew, right away, that it was alive. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! Concerned for people / pets and a school just down the street, stopped to report the sighting where dispatch told me that if I did not have proof they would not respond. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. I had seen bear, deer, coyotes, foxes, that one bobcat all the usual suspects. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. "The catamount, which is also a mountain lion, a cougar, a panther and a ton of other words, is actually one of the most widely distributed mammals in the whole world. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. Cougars, Lynx, Bobcats, Wolves, Bears etc were and are a They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. 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). 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., I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Before I departed the Old Well Tavern, Bo Ottmann offered to lead me on a walk into an adjacent stretch of woods, where, he assured me, cougars might be found. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. Things seem to move at twilight and you never know. She said it was long and thick. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. Our hunter friend was hunting in central NH when they came upon an adult deer carcass way up in a tree. The 1881 death of this catamount officially marked the end of cougars in Vermont; however, the very last Eastern cougar is thought to be an animal that was killed in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938. Bernier gets more than 50 reports of mountain lions a year. Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. Wildlife management programs succeeded in reintroducing species to areas where they had not been seen for years. 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). 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. Interesting how tree stumps or boulders assume the shape of an animal in this kind of light. Scat, tracks, lays, scratch mounds youll see these things.. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. 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. The last catamount killed in Vermont stands under glass just inside the doors to the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier, a hop, skip, and a jump down the block from the statehouse. In the first, there are those such as myself, whove maybe heard a few second- or third- or fourth-hand stories as well as official denials from state agencies or professional biologists, and therefore find themselves betwixt and between, neither believing nor disbelieving. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. They are here & ..just a matter of time with photo or kill on a highway/road. I thought I saw signs posted in Pawling NY about 8 years ago, that DEC released a pair to control deer population,mane several people have seen them in Wingdale, NY. My encounter was in Middlesex, VT along the river road (Route 2) just below I89. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. 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. Big kitty. Chance of snow 90%. What time of day was it? 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. We have a lot of them here in N CA. 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. We were talking about those animals, like coyotes and turkeys, that have re-established themselves in Vermont and, unlike the rattlers, are thriving. 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. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. I must have looked doubtfulwe were within spitting distance of a heavily trafficked road 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. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. I noticed that there were many great websites, blogs, and discussion boards devoted to mountain lion sightings in other states of New England, but not one just for Vermont. He says that if mountain lions do . The captive narrative also helped explain why there had been so many sightings reported, including some in Greenwich, among the richest and most domesticated suburbs in America. And, if those people who said they were seeing catamounts were wrong, and not just making it up, then what were they seeing? People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. Some people say they have seen a catamount in the woods. Blodgett and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species that is endangered in Vermont. Nowhere in New England is the matter definitively settled. 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. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. 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. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. Mr. Betty and Mr.Ottomans passion and efforts are impressive. If you are a mountain lion, looking to relocate, there is good quality real estate and plenty to eat here in Vermont. All with eyes to see and spring loaded to see something. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! Spring Loaded to See Something The expert opinion held up until a man was killed by a Great White not too far away. Theymay not be looking, specifically, for a catamount. My daughter said to me thats the biggest cat Ive ever seen. One wonders just how tolerant Vermonters would be of a healthy population of mountain lions after one attacked a child waiting for the school bus. I will never forget what I saw! I knew it had to have been from a mountain lion Ive seen bobcats and their tracks and from the size of the deer carcass Im convinced there are mountain lions amongst us in Massachusetts! Height. Especially by one that he remembers involving a kill site.. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. This was after the department sent him out west to study the behavior of mountain lions. Could be a deer, but it didnt seem to be tall enough. I also know of someone who said they showed F&G a photo of one from a game camera in NH. Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. We lived off of Mountain Rd in Granby, Ct for 8 years and I can say that without a doubt I am 100% sure that there are mountain lions living there. 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. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. They are most definitely here. I have heard several accounts from sober, sane, intelligent people who have seen them (especially a latre, good friend who was a very competent spokesman and hunter.). For who but we humans can look across the landscape and not acknowledge our role in the diminishment of cougars and the myriad ways in which we have knocked the landscape out of balance? Its closest living relative is the cheetah. 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. 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. 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. Bennington, VT (05201) Today. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of, Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here, After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Green Mountain Lion Corp. Home; Apply Now! It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. What color was it? His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. Tom Stearns, a Vermont Game Warden says they get reports all the time. Long Trail beat Arlington 62-40 on Feb. 7. So the initial assumption was that the animal was one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner. So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. Because they are.. The debate rages in Maine, where the last confirmed cougar kill occurred in 1938, and in New Hampshire, where the last confirmed kill was in 1885. All of us with rifles, most of them scoped. Several years ago, I was bicycling with a buddy up Quabbin Reservoirs Administration Rd. 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? 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.. 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. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. 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. 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. The reason why experts wont admit to a breeding population existing is that there is NO PROOF. Our county. 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. 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. Of course. As livestock farming came to dominate the landscape, pressure on the big cats slowly mounted on two fronts: The number of farmers wanting them dead was increasing, while the rapid transition from forest to farmland meant their habitat was shrinking. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. I had seen only one in my life and it was not in Vermont, where the mountain lion was officially extinct, the last one having been killed in 1881. 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. There was no denying that the carcass, which was examined by experts, was that of a mountain lion. The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. The animal was too small and it lacked the long, sinuous tail of the catamount. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. Yes, of course they are here, transients. Part of this belief is rooted in his journalistic experience, which across the decades has cultivated his nose for sincerity. 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. They especially come down from the mountains when there is a big water shortgage. I saw one about 10 years ago, on our road. I have pictures of tracks around my car and up to the back steps of my deck in Arkville, NY . I got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. Feb 28, 2023 4:00 am By Robert Spencer 1 Comment. But there was not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that a mountain lion had done the killing. There, too, is Crowells photograph, grainy and old: the hunter leaning against a tree stump, his head propped casually on his left hand, elbow to stump, shotgun cradled in the crook of his right arm. If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. 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. Some might mistake the bobcat, which still lives in New England, for a cougareven though its tail is about 6 inches long andthe bigger cats is 3 feet or more. 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. . I had been foraging up in an area that is rocky. I also had a coworker report a similar experience around the same time. Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. He worked, in Wyoming and Arizona, with other professionals, some with government agencies, like the one he works for, and others who were hunters and trappers, often employed by ranchers who had lost stock to mountain lions. Dont forget, south Texas also used to home to two other species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis. It was fast as hell but there was no mistaking its not only long,but THICK tail as it disappeared into the woods. 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. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. You dont even have to go out and look for it.. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. No need since so we guess it has moved on from the northeast corner of Connecticut. Still, I wanted to believe those sightings were real. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. I knew it was a cat track because the tracks were in a straight line and no signs of claws like you would see with a coyote track. 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. Stratton Magazine Celebrating Manchester and the Mountains. 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 reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. Females ranges are much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few savvy wildlife biologist in the dead of night. Anyway I got to see that set of eyes way closer than I ever wanted, by the time my hand got on my pistol she was gone. 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. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. I live in New Milford and I saw one crossing the road in front of me when I stopped to get my mail from my mailbox. This Everglades panther population has recently recovered after wildlife biologists brought in some animals from Texas to breed with the last few native cats and this story is typical of the conservation ethic that has taken hold in the United States. Besides, Ottmann had revealed that hed been charged by a bear in this same piece of woods, and I felt conflicted about diverting my gaze from the underbrush. A mountain lion was responsible for that too. Records suggest that cash bounties for cougar kills were relatively common in the late 1700s and early 1800s; in the Adirondacks, a trapper named Thomas Meacham was credited with 77 cougar kills. The cougar and the states refusal to admit it was here made the local paper. Beautiful creature. It had moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in the middle of the logging road. Low 24F. When I shared their story with the staff at the center where my sister lived, I expected surprise and interested. 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). A journey of nearly 2,000 miles. Typical species behavior is for males to disperse from an area when the population reaches the carrying capacity of the habitat. And why not? I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. 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. 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