Mountain Lions

For an interesting cougar story check out the articles from the Hartford Courant (iCONN) from 12/27/57 to 9/25/60. It tells the story of sitings of a blank panther in Granby, Simsbury, and Barhamsted. The sitings and nearly 30 news articles set off a general panic in the area, but no one mentions it today. Read the articles and decide for yourself – real or imaginary?

It’s not that the DEP doesn’t know there here, we do. It’s just the fact they need proof of their residence through a dated photograph, trail cam pic, or even a carcass,before it can be made known to the public that they are around.

Thanks Wayne.

Why is that fact so effin hard for people to understand? You want people and the dep to announce cougars are in connecticut,………bring in a pic at least!!

Look at Utube. Under cougar in connecticut. This is EXACTLY why the DEP doubts ALL accounts.
Pic, please. Body, maybe?? How about tracks? All these sightings and NOT ONE TRACK? NOT ONE????? What were all the sightings during a drought? How about the scat supposedly found by more than one poster? Uhhmmmmm maybe you scoop up a sample….MAYBE?

Me, I thing there are cougars here. But wanting the dep to believe it just because YOU’RE POSITIVE you saw one is just stupid.

KODAK.

There hhhhheeeeeeerrrrrrrreeeeee!!!!!!!!!!! But i will not tell where cause i do not want the cat to be killed or taken away. If you think you see one the easy way to tell is the tremendous muscle structure they have compared to there cats and the tail is long They are fast and can hide 10ft away and will not see them

Facts: I have an advanced degree of forestry management
I placed first in state of ct forestry contest in high school
i placed second at the big e in college for forestry management practices
i was awarded a bronze medal at the FFA national convention in kansas city kansas in college
Forestry management covers, well, anything to do with the management, consevation of wildlife, aquatic life, plant life forestry, and land management principles. I can legally teach any one of the courses that the DEP run throughout connecticut. I happen also to be a licenced hunter as well. I have extensive background in plant and animal identification. I can i dentify every tree and mamal species in conn.

O.K. Enough about me. My point is that i have been told by the state DEP that there are no mountain lions in ct. BS. Just this am on nettleton hollow road on the woodbury/roxbury line in a large field half way up the hill, something caught my eye. I stopped and looked as there are usually deer there at 6am. This time is was a little different. It was a mountain lion, absolutely zero question in my mind. It was approx 100 feet away, just on the edge of the woods/field where i usually see the deer. It was sitting looking at me and then back and forth to the field. Didnt seem to care i was there(i was in my truck) Golden color with flecks, dark tipped ears clear as day golden eyes, and as i opened my truck door it jumped about 10 feet in the air as i startled it. It darted off with its long cylindrical tail(3 feet long) waving behind it……….Yea some bobcat i know!!!!! But that what the dep said i saw. I go by here everyday atleast 3 times. Dawn and dusk. I will get that picture, i promise you that and i will hand deliver it to white memorial.

In 2006 while going down Sarah Sanford Road in Bridgewater I watched a mountain lion cross the road very casually at about 630AM. It was about 150 feet in front of me and 100% guaranteed to be a mountain lion.

OK. Here’s one hard to believe. But true…

Yesterday (July 28, 2010) around 3 PM, my 18 yr old

son and I were driving on Wolfpit Road in Wilton, nearly to the New Canaan border, when an animal ran out of the woods right in front of my car. Loping across the street – from the left (passenger side of the car) to the woods on my left. I was driving – and if I didn’t slam on my brakes, I’d have likely hit it. It was very, very close. And though it was moving quickly, I got a good look at it from above, as did my son.

The animal had all the appearances of being a feline cub. Not a mature animal. Paws too big for the body, body a more compact than adult felines. It’s coat was very short hair, but clearly dense, colored a spectacular golden brown, with a hint of a reddish cast. Tawny. The side of the face had some black stripe-like markings, possibly with some white mixed in. We did not get a good look at the tale.

But the most striking thing about this animal was how sturdy it was. Clearly densely muscled. Very densely muscled. From chest to rump, I’d estimate between 26″ and 32″ long. Height at the shoulder – a bit harder to guess as we saw it from above – but I’d say about 16″ to 20″. But it was stocky. I’ve got a good size house cat that weights about 15 lbs. So if my cat is 15 lbs, I’d have to estimate this to be 55 lbs if it was an ounce. My son’s guess was 60+ lbs.

Mountain lion cub?

Hard to say. We didn’t get a good look at the tail. You’d think we’d have clearly seen a big long tail. So that originally had me thinking bobcat or lynx. But every picture I can find of either of those, adult or juvenile, have some form of spotting, however subtle. We got a real good look at the very broad back and flanks of this animal, and there were no spots. None. Likewise in every picture of bobcat or lynx that I can find, their hair is not short and dense, but instead more like a medium haired cat. This animal’s fur was very dense, and short. And finally, you’d have to have seen how stocky this animal was. Not fat. Stocky.Built like a long furry brick on legs.

Mountain lion cub? You be the judge. But from all the pictures I’ve been able to find on-line, it looks like a dead ringer to me.

I’ll leave my email address – stephen.g@colley.org – just because I’m very happy to stand behind this story. I know what I saw.

I still am having a hard time believing this myself because it is West Hartford (The Simsbury side) however I saw a cat in my backyard a couple days ago that was about the size of a boxer. I grew up in Litchfield County and have seen both Bobcats and Coyotes. It definitely was not a coyote and the color and body profile was all wrong for a bobcat. My wife and I watched this cat from my son’s bedroom window as it prowled along the edge of the bushes in my back lawn. Like I said above it appeared to be about the size of a boxer (if I had to take a guess I would say 60 lbs). It was a tan color with a deep chest and the ears had black tips and a really long tail probably about the length of the cat. It was about 8:00 pm and slowly crept along the line of bushes that runs along the back of several houses. It reminded me of watching one of the cats I grew up with stalking something. By the time I got working batteries in my camera it was about two houses down and I couldn’t get a picture that wasn’t blurry in low light zoomed in with my camera. Based on the couple bobcat sightings I have had and pictures of bobcats and mountain lions on the internet I don’t see what else it could have been other than a small mountain lion.

Don’t be so sure about cougars being extinct. In 1958, a boyhood friend of mine was visiting East Rock Park outside New Haven. This kid was a trapper, well acquainted with bobcats and all CT wildlife. He swears he saw a cougar in the woods right off the road…I believe him. We questioned him closely: he was 18, not just a kid, and said is was definitely NOT a bobcat, which were common in our neck of the woods. (Mt. Carmel hills outside Hamden.) We didn’t give it much thought at the time; why would cougars be extinct? Most of the farmers were long gone, and farms had reverted to woods. Very few people hunted anymore, either…

September 7, 2010 – Burlington, CT

My wife and I both saw what was unmistakably a mountain lion walking apx. 100 yards from our back deck. It was close enough that you could see it’s long tail and muscular build as it walked along the edge of a beaver pond in our back yard…possibly hunting the beaver family that resides there. I don’t believe that was a bobcat, coyote, dog, deer, fox, bear, or any other animal that we have seen before in the back yard. This was a VERY large cat with huge muscles walking slowly along the water’s edge. I wish I had a camera nearby, but of course I didn’t at the time, and the cat was only visible for about 30 seconds before it disappeared into the brush.

doc, I think you are a little too extreme in pointing us toward Florida for the nearest big cat. I’m also wondering where that count of 20 whitetail came from. Who did the counting and did they look everywhere? In every single wodded area of CT or were there no trees whatsoever in the entire state so it was quite plain to see there were only 20? Eastern cougars were never hunted to a number of zero just like whitetail didn’t go down to 20. If so I would like to speak to the person who proved that beyond a doubt and find out the scientific method and theory they used to come to that conclusion.
People see things all the time that they don’t report for one reason or another. Who on earth can actually predict or claim extinsion with only a couple of centuries past unless its an animal the size of an elephant. Animal habituation is not like human citizenship. All wild animals inhabit areas and move in to new areas over the course of several years. From Maryland to Maine there have been several sightings recently and going back to when they were supposedly extinct. Point is that wild animals don’t need passports to cross borders. They don’t turn around when they realize they have just stepped in to Georgia. As for the people demanding evidence – try to get someone who has accidently shot or run over one of these things to come forward. The last guy that did a few years ago in Wisconsin (where they are also not supposed to exist) was almost prosecuted. I hope they are here and I hope poeple don’t give too much of an exact location unless it is close to where children gather.
I’m not saying they are here in CT but anyone who thinks that an animal that can travel 40 miles plus per day for several days at a time to stake their own area cannot end up in this state is very mistaken.

My husband saw, what he swears up and down was a Mountain Lion crossing a road in Windsor, CT. He was getting onto 91 North, and it crossed the road right in front of him, jumped the guard rail and went down into a corn field. He said it was definitely not a Bobcat, he said it had massive paws and a long tail. He said it looked like a female lion – which is what a Mountain would look like. He went into work and was talking to someone he works with that is a real nature/animal person and even he agreed, that it was probably a Mountain Lion. I’m sure they exist, why not ? You can’t tell me that they only exist in FL and there are none whatsoever that have not migrated back north again, especially with all the building, I’m sure they are being shuffled out of ther natural habitats and looking for new places.

Doc,

I very much respect your comments and point of view. I just don’t buy the escaped pets theory to explain everything though. Go a little further west – the mountain lions shot and killed in the last 5 years in Illinois, PA, Ohio have all been proved to not be domesticated. In fact the one shot in north Chicago suburbs was tracked via DNA to have travelled down from Wisconsin over the course of 18 months. I don’t think we can predict or deny how much further east they have travelled.

I don’t think they have existed here over all that time doc. I think they are coming back in to the area from the North and North West.

Thanks for pointing to that book and will definetly get me a copy to learn more. What can you recommend on Old New England especially focusing on Connecticut?

Jim

I live in Colchester, CT. My neighbor was driving down my street yesterday morning about 7:30 when he saw about 20 feet in front of him what looked like a “big cat, greyish to tannish in color, with a cat looking face and a very long slithery tail cross the street in front of him. He said this animal was definitely not a coyote, fisher cat or a bobcat. He said it was pretty big and muscular. It came from the front yard of my next door neighbor and crossed the street and went into an open lot that has alot of heavy brush. This is not the first time one of my neighbors has seen this animal and they both agree that it lokked like a Mountain lion.

Jim,
I have a couple of books I need to locate and will let you know. Regarding cougars migrating from the north there are no current populations north of here even in that part of Canada bordering ME, NH, VT. Granted there has been news of animals coming from out west migrating east such as that Chicago cat shot by the police but CT and even RI where animals are seen as well are just to far for that western line to have traveled. What the wildlife people will tell you is that people are funny and want animals as pets and these animals escape and those people don’t tell anybody because they were not suppose to have them in the first place. Currently in NH they are dealing with three hybrid wolves that escaped causing school lockdowns and concern in the community. What we need around here is a collection of an animal and testing to conclusively prove what people are seeing. Scat collected in the Quabbin in Mass proved to the Mass DEP that there existed a cougar at that location – however they felt it was a feral pet and left it at that.

Jon, You work for Mark? Please send picture to erinron@sbcglobal.net. Thanks. Research shows an Aug. 5th sighting in Plainville also. I’m his cousin Ron.

Really good post, it thought me alot, many thanks!

last fall i was riding my bike up by Winchester center .a large tan cat, the size of a German shepherd, popped out of the woods onto the road about 100 ft in front of me. i stopped and got off my bike and watched it for about 20 seconds. it then hopped back into the woods. i mounted my bike and went in the opposite direction.

Greg
Anychance you can get a copy of that picture?
Doc

My wife and I were going to dinner one evening to a restaurant at the airport in Oxford CT. There is a long winding road that leads to the airport itself. My wife pointed and asked what the heck was this creature lurking the wood line. It was as black as night and crept in stealth like motion through the underbrush. I am an avid hunter and I know the difference between a dog and a bobcat to anything else one may clam that I saw. I have a hard time saying that what I saw was a black panther but that was what it was. CRAZY!

Doc;

I contacted my client who’s is also named Greg and left him a message I know he lives in Windsor Ct now. I will post as soon as I recieve the picture. You will not believe it.

I saw a cougar this morning on Pinebrook Rd in Colchester. It was walking right down the road as I was driving to work. It hopped a large snow bank and ran into a field as our car approached. My wife and kids also in the car saw it too. No pics, but Im certain there are tracks that are probably now gone with the fresh snowfall.

I have seen them on a few different occasions out by black rock state park in litchfield toward leatherman’s cave as well as in the winsted area by the dam. The first time I was quite surprised, I had only seen them in patagonia and Colorado previously.

Response to Realtor Greg’s comments about mountain lion. I live right near dun caster I. Bloomfield and I was driving down a abandoned access road in broad daylight and right in front of me was a big cat about the size of a golden retriver, it had a tail that loooked
Ike it would knock you out and the hind leg muscles were awesome. I have been an outdoorsman all my life, I know my species of animals. The local farmer Wade knows that the cat exist also, he confirmed my sighting.

I want to thank all you folks, now my wife believes me, i am 60 years old and have had the privledge of seeing 3 panthers in my lifetime. The first panther i saw crossed the dirt road in front of my car while driving on Sanibel island Flordia, it was reddish brown, mid 1980s. my second encounter again driving appx. 10 years ago, about 2am near the intersection of route 7 and candlewood lake rd north new Milford Ct there is a stream with a guard rail, the tan panther was walking, across the road , turned its head to look at my car, then effortlessly sprung in the air ,and over the guard rail, my 3rd encounter was on railroad st new milford about 8:30 am sunday , memorial weekend 2006, quiet morning , no people or cars, walking i decided to look into the excavation hole for a new building, i was stunned to see a huge black panther comming up out of the basement excavation, it climbed to the top of the old stone foundation, i called to my wife who was behind the digger,i looked back at the panther looking at me as it walked along the top of the rear wall, then it jumped over a 3 ft high fence and disappered, solid black about 4 ft long with that long tail curled around at the end almost touching the ground, will never forget that image, the foot prints were not clear enough, but i did return with a magnifying glass and collected hair samples off the chain link fence top and from tree leaves it brushed past , I still have the samples if anyone out there knows where to have them tested, email me please

My wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, daughter, and some neighbors have seen one in Newtown several times. In 2009, it grabbed a stray cat that had adopted us. My wife chased it (I’m not sure why) and it dropped the cat and ran off, but it was too late for the cat. I got a trail camera to see if I could get a photo of it, but no luck so far. We live near a beaver pond and have lots of other wildlife in the vicinity.

I have also seen tracks and 1 sighting in northwestern connecticut in Roxbury and after 35 years hunting the woods the DEP tells me on the phone “no such thing”

Hey guys! Me and my family have been living in Connecticut for about 4-5 years now. We’ve been hearing ALL sorts of rumors of what kinds of cats are in the wildlife hear in the Northwest corner of Connecticut. As many of you are mentioning, we too have heard the great debate whether or not there are mountain lions in Connecticut… Tonight we experienced the mystery cat!

Tonight around 10:30 pm I was heading over to the detached inlaw suite, when I opened the back sliding door of the main house, our black lab went hauling-ass down our back yard (about a half acre deep). I was calling for her to come back and all I could hear was an insane loud chirping noise, hissing and very deep and loud growling! I was able to get our dog into the in-law suite and for about an hour I heard a very loud cat. The cat seemed to have been having dinner of some sorts, we could hear another animal crying along with the chirping and growling of the cat. The chirp was a cross between a dog squeeky toy and almost like a dolphin? I know that sounds weird, but thats really all I can compare it to. My mother grabbed an industrial flashlight and she was able to catch a reflection of the eyes. She said the cat was tall, lion tall, not bobcat 20 inches! Towards the end of the hour the chirping had dyed down. We heard little chirps here and there and lots of sticks and twigs breaking along with the sound of leaves being ruffled. Tomorrow we will go to the area right behind our backyard to see if there is anything dead back there and take photos and contact authorities. This animal sounded VERY scary. I don’t know how to describe, but my mother saw this cat and it was not a bobcat.

OK I was just laying out in the sun on my back porch in Colebrook CT I heard lots of sticks breaking and leaves moving around, I turned around to look and I didnt see anything!! after looking for a few mins i saw a set of eyes staring at me! the fur blended into the background. after sitting very still for what was about 2min the large cat walked away this was about the size of a bob cat with a totaly diff muscle build up. very furry with a tail just as long (if not longer then the body) about 1/2 way down the tail started black rings that went around it. perhaps this was a mountain lion cub????

well i am waiting for my husband to get home before i go back out there. i just looked up pictures of the serval, and no it did not look anything like that, its fur was more of a camoflouge dirt and leaves appearance. i did find a picture of a mountain lion cub that looked just like what i saw! a little too close for comfort! i enjoy seeing wildlife…. from afar and i have 4 small children that i used to allow to play out back but that is about to change.

I saw one last week on Thursday crossing the road in front of me on Rt. 63 in Watertown heading towards Morris, I had enough time and going slow enough for him to cross the road very slowly and watch him disapear into the woods, no doubt in my mind it was a cougar…

Doc-
Light brown color/golden, about the size of a large German Shepard dog, very long tail, there was no mistaling what this animal was, my Uncle was with me and he said look at that Catamount, At that time I had no idea what he was refering to, it was about 10AM, the animal was heading east into the woods as I was north on 63 about a 1/4 mile from Rt 132

I have video on my trail cam i need help identifying what i have seen on it. A medium cat with a long sweeping tail approx. 30 inches from nose to butt and 15 or so inches tall . I guaged it from a tree that was behind it. NEED EYES ON THIS PLEASE!!!!! Jay

hey jay i could tell you in a minute . is there any way you can post the picture?

Jay
Can you tell what color it is in the video or is that a night shot.

i live on the border of ct exit 93 off rt95 in RI . two hunters i know have seen one crossing a frozen pond 4 winters ago in north stonington CT. they watched it for 3 minutes plain as day . they said it was healthy and about 100-120 lbs . ive hiked that set of woods many times i would love to at least get a glimpse.

we regularly see bobcats & coyotes on our Redding, CT property that sits between two nature preserves. Twice in the past three years, we’ve seen a large cat with a ropey tail. Our understanding from the Redding Animal Control officer is that there were six other sightings in April 2010 in Redding…all clearly noting a long tail and over 40 lb cat.

It will be interesting to see how this Greenwich case works out: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/northern_suburbs&id=8177566

I live in Goshen, Ct and just the other day I saw a Mountain Lion crossing the road, coming out of a very wooded area and going back in to the woods. I was amazed at first and then people tried to tell me that it was just a bobcat, but it looked nothing like a bobcat. It was most definitely a moutain lion. I wish I had had my camera with me…I am sure I won’t see it again!

please consider sending a description of your sighting to CT DEP at “dep.dispatch@ct.gov” and to the Federal Fish & Wildlife Svc at “EasternCougar@fws.gov”. There were several sightings in Redding, Ridgefield, Wilton in mid-May this year. Here is a good ID guide…http://www.cougarnet.org/idguide.html

Does the parkway run through Milford.

Cause the debate is over. A dead ML on rt 15 (that is the MP, isn’t it??)

A pic of a ML in Greenwich….same one? Now DEP will try and find out if its a pet or …..

My guess, considering the location……..pet.

But, to all those who have sworn they are here….hats off.

YES, I know what Mountain Lions are as well as MANY animals & I will tell you that there ARE Mountain Lions in CT! I don’t care WHAT the DEP says. I HAVE seen them before myself. Once in Litchfield County and once in Bethany CT.

Just today June 11th 2011. Police confirmed a mountian lion was hit by a car in Milford CT.

http://www.wfsb.com/news/28205779/detail.html

crazy weather driving them around maybe??

Id LOVE for this animal to be a breeder………….but, that area is infamous for underground wild animal ownership, so I think its an escaped or released “pet”.

But, then again, there are SOOOOOOOOO many sightings, many reporting that unmistakable “long tail” if its NOT a cerval, it can’t be anything else…………..

Cant wait for the DEP report.

I saw a ML in Sharon in 2001. 4 other people were with me at the time. The animal was walking through a field that bordered a swamp that is loaded with deer. The animal was about 100 yards away and in plain sight for over 2 minutes. Roughly the color of brown mustard and with a long tail. At one point the animal stopped and looked right at us. There is no mistaking the difference between a feline face and a canine face. This was clearly feline. For years DEP has said that if their are any they are released or escaped pets. Which begs the question of what is going to happen if a released male pet comes across a released female pet? I grew up in Sharon (Litchfield County) in the late ’60s and early ’70s and well recall the stir that was created when people started to see Bald Eagles and Coyotes. It was exciting enough that it would make the local paper. DEP used to tell us there were no Coyotes, but that their might be “Coy-dogs”. 40 years later they are everywhere. I suspect that something similar will happen with Mountain Lions.

I am very interested in following this story. I think now the ball is in the DEP’s court to find out where this cat (that was killed by a car in Milford, CT.) originated from if possible. The DEP seems to be hiding information about cougar sitings in CT. I hope the DEP will follow up on this story and let public know what is fact or fiction.

18 years ago…..1993…..in Southport CT, I came face to face with a Mountain Lion while riding my mountain bike in the woods…..I turned a corner and we were three feet from each other…..I stopped, not knowing what it was, and he turned and loped about 20 yards away and stopped and turned broadsides to me and looked back. I thought “dog, no, thats a cat….or maybe a coyote….no, thats a cat…so a Bobcat? No, I see the long ropey tail curling and moving…holy crap thats a mountain lion!” We stood looking at each other for maybe 30 seconds, long enough for me to think about how I was going to defend myself if he came towards me, but he just slid into the woods. Many of my neighbors nearby saw a big cat in their yards for years, but not lately….I talked to a guy who lived nearby at the time and he said he had a picture of it, standing near a fencepost, and that the DEP said it was an Eastern Mountain Lion based on its size. Later that year, a big cat was seen down by the marshes in Fairfield, and also up in the woods a hunter found a half eaten deer with Mountain Lion tracks (certified). This is all nearly 20 years ago! I am thinking released pets are out there breeding…..

Saw a bob cat (we think) in Brookfield south part of town, just after most of the snow melted about 2 months ago for, 3 mornings. Went out to find tracks in side yard near gasline right of way. Didn’t look to hard, so didn’t find them. But before going into the house heard out back of the house a harrowing cat scream. No attenti0on given figuring it was the bob cat. But, a posting found this morning with the screams of a cougar/ lion were exactly the same I heard then. Really concerning, sounded like Mutual of Ohama show , lasred about 5 minutes. didn’t record unfortuantely.

My family owned a house o Botsford Hill Rd. in Roxbury Ct. It had been empty for 3 years and my dad and I went to do some work on it. At the bottom of the property was an old apple tree and when we went out on the porch we saw a mountain lion under that tree. I know what a lynx looks like and this cat had a 4 ft tail. The cat turned and looked at us without any fear whatsoever, turned back and dissapeared into the woods. We never saw anything like it again for the next ten years of weekend use at the house. I believe the cat was comfortable on that part of the property – when humans came back the cat never returned. Mountain lions once inhabited all of north america – when the white tailed deer was hunted to near extinction the lion population disappeared. The white tailed dear population is again thriving so it makes sense that their main predator would return as well.

six potential mountain lion sightings apparently were reported to the police in lower Fairfield this past week:
1) Around 8:30 on Sunday morning a mountain lion was spotted near Exit 31 on the Merritt Parkway.
2) About two hours later, a homeowner in northeast Greenwich reported seeing a “large tan cat.”
3) Monday morning, a mountain lion seen on the Merritt near Exit 27.
4) A mountain lion was allegedly spotted Tuesday afternoon in Fairfield.
5) Wednesday, a woman said saw two dogs chasing a mountain lion on Greenwich’s Lake Avenue.
6) Later that afternoon, a lion was allegedly spotted on a stone near the Audubon property in Greenwich.
Yet none of these sightings got posted to one of the several private websites. More disturbing is the number folks claiming to have pictures or have seen one killed by a car…yet none hits the press. While I do firmly believe there are more than a handful of wild mountain lions roaming New England, clearly the average claimed sighting is NOT a cougar.

Hey guys! This morning my mother and I were out in West Simsbury going to an estate sale… When driving back home to Winsted (where we have recently seen a mountain lion in our wooded backyard) we saw a sign saying: “Mountain Lion Sightings” and a telephone number: 860.324.3174

I have yet to call the number, not sure of who this number or sign is associated with… BUT! It looks as though the people in CT are starting to put the sightings into their own hands!! I do not have an account with a photo hosting website, but I do have an iphone where I use a photo sharing app… *To view the photo of sign click here!*

PHOTO:
http://inkstagram.com/#/photos/98919091

Agree that time will sort this out. If Eastern strain DNA is the critical piece of evidence, then why not consider the Eastern strain DNA collected in North Quabbin, MA ? Why not more discussion of the breeding population in Quebec given how far young males will travel? My view is that there will be a lot more CT based physical evidence in the coming years. Why then is CT DEP already making false press statements like “DEP spokesman Dennis Schain said the agency investigates all reports, but has not substantiated any sightings”? I suspect there are a growing number of us who are confident they have seen a mountain lion (either escaped or native born) called & written the DEP, and not had anyone willing to come out to look at the animals’ tracks besides their own town officials. My view is the CT DEP is actively trying to put this Genie back into the bottle. Lesson: refer to ID guide http://www.cougarnet.org/Assets/pumaidguide.pdf After a confident sighting, folks should call their Town’s Animal Control Officer / Police & then the Press.

The eastern cougar is extinct remember! Doc has said it, so it must be true. I must say doc you sound convincing (as you have in all of your posts) but suggesting there is some kind of illegal releasing of puma’s by a rogue movement is stretching it quite a bit. You do (with the released pet theory) try to make a sensible argument out of it but then again your claim (and that of the DEP) could be easily investigated and confirmed by just looking at purchases of puma’s in CT and surrounding border states going back to let’s say 1970. You can’t illegaly buy a big cat and anyone in this area who legally owns one would be more than happy to be checked or verified. Maybe one or two at a stretch could have made it here via illegal purchase but it isn’t a wide open market. You keep saying extinction is a fact when it quite clearly isn’t. Prove it. Not just because a biologist says so. Prove the extinction. Extinction is an extremely hard thing to prove unless several hundred years have passed without a sighting or evidence. Existence is easy to prove if you have the evidence. I can believe sabre tooth tigers don’t exist as ample time has passed. To try and tell people that because a biologist claimed it about an animal that was around less than a hundred years ago is something entirely different. Especially when the species is not extinct and thriving less than a thousand miles away. It is very similar to the tasmanian tiger or thylacine in Australasia. Not long enough has passed yet and still the odd questionable photo/sighting pops up even now. Look at the cylocoaenth as another example. That shut quite a few people up. Like Bill T I would be interested to hear someone dicsuss or explain away the eastern strain found in MA. If mountain lions are back in the mid west why can’t they be here in small pockets just like they seem to be in lower Delaware, PA, Virginia, NC etc etc? There are no borders here where wildlife is concerned. If we were on an island I would believe what you are saying but I think the argument is getting a little desperate now. They are here and whether it began 20 years ago with a few releases or not it is now a great possibility that they have bred in the wild. Reports from all across CT cannot be all mis-identification or people releasing pets.
The DEP is ruining their image as the days go by but you have to understand folks , if they give in now they look idiots either way so they may aswell stick with the generic belief and response they have always used. The longer they can hold out the more money they can save not creating policy and managing.
Even if the DNA test comes back as a western strain who is to say we are being told the truth of the results. Even if we trust the DEP and it is an escaped pet it doesn’t end the story just because of one dead animal. The sightings won’t end either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction

There are pictures circulating showing a very large mountain lion in Sharon, Ct.

i get a good laugh every time i log on to read everyone’s theory on this subject. people don’t like to be proven wrong especially when high paid officials jump the gun. extinct is a really big word to turn your back on ,and being the ones who made this determination must have based their information on eastern DNA and not the realization of seeing is be leaving,whatever DNA eastern or western these cats are here !!!!! get over it

according to NPR yesterday the big thing they were looking to determine was whether or not this was a North American cat versus a South American cat.

Sherman Ct here. I live on the new Fairfield line in the middle of the woods on a dirt road. Just about 5PM I was driving home and not more than 15 feet in front of me a cat the size of a medium size dog ran across the road. It was brown and was definitely a cat. I went to look for footprints but couldn’t find any. Incidentally there have been some larger predators turning up dead around here

Even more interesting is the comment by “gulo” on this site. I haven’t checked the validity of his comments, but it sounds like something typical.

http://www.adkforum.com/archive/index.php/t-9623.html

Good Article..http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2634721&archive=true
findings of an on-going five-year study of cougars in Ontario:
1) 95% of so-called cougar sightings are actually other animals
2) 30 pieces of verified Mountain Lion evidence has been collected (scat DNA) since 2006
3) no photos, nor any road kill yet

On July 2, 2011 a German shepard size golden, very muscular mountain lion casually walked across my lawn in the backwoods of Bethlehem, CT following a deer trail that runs in the same direction. Nice long tail, not a bobcat. Called DEP, they came and were very pleasant but insisted that they needed a picture. Now walk around with a camera. Who says there are no mountain lions in CT? Seen by 3 adults in late afternoon.

Correction on post #123 The correct date was June 30, 2011

@ doc….

With all due respect, your reliance on “biologists” for facts is about as well placed as relying on congress to balance the budget.

3 weeks later and the “professionals” still can’t seem to tell us a thing about the cat that was killed on the road.

YUP! The biologists know everything…for sure.

They go from college to an office.

All of Connecticut’s “biologists” combined haven’t spent 10,000 hours in the woods.

Talk to the farmers. Talk to the loggers. Talk to people that spend over 1000 hours in the woods or fields every year and have for 20, 30, 40 years.

Most of them know more about wildlife in the state in their fingernail clippings than the “biologists” do.

Is the “Eastern Mountain Lion” extinct? Maybe. But there are mountain lions living and breeding in the rural areas of Connecticut and most of New England. Whether their ancestry is “western” or “eastern”, they are here and only fools and “biologists” deny it.

An interesting document indeed, especially as it appears from the scratch out to be a draft rather than a final report.

The last thing I would want to see would be an announcement that the recently killed cat was in fact an Eastern Mountain Lion. We don’t need any “Snail Darters” around here.

The Eastern Mountain Lion has been declared extinct and we should leave them that way.

But the insistence from DEP that there are no Mountain Lions of any sort in Ct is simply a joke. Whether this specific animal turns out to have been wild or from a zoo, circus or an escaped or released pet is not the point. The point is that DEP has continued to stick with its story that there are none in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In 2005 I even spoke to a game warden who had investigated tracks and taken plaster casts. He told me his superiors told him to “Forget it”.

For a long time DEP policy has been that while there might from time to time be a few escaped or released animals there is no breeding population. Which begs the question of what happens when an escaped female runs into an escaped male at the right time of year. I suppose the escaped female says “You’re another escapee. I can’t breed with you.”

Leave the Eastern Mountain Lion extinct. Declare the existing animals “feral” and open a hunting season on them.

I just want DEP to give up their rediculous assertion that these animals don’t exist.

you should have blasted it. call me if you need a pistol permit !

Russ…..

A mountain lion hit on the road in Milford a month ago. Pictures from Greenwhich, LOTS of scat and tracks. You and DEP’s “official position” are the only naysayers there are. Even Encon officers will admit….in private….that there are at least a few wandering around the state.

I suppose that for your next act you will deny there are any Eastern Gray Wolves in Mass? And if you do, I’ll happily go you 10:1 on it. Try Google. Their DEP already confirmed it.

Use Google before you talk nonsense.

Ah yes….A released or escaped pet…..Always the convenient answer. But it ignores the question of what happens when a female escaped pet that is in heat meets a male escaped pet? I suppose the female say “I can’t breed with you! You’re an escaped pet!”

As for the wolf shot in Mass in 2007, extensive reading about that case does not show any indication that the animal was an escaped pet. Most of what I have read shows no confirmation one way or the other but says there were no signs of the animal having been a pet. The one exception to that is this quote “It was originally assumed that the animal was an escaped wolf but this has proven not to be the case.” from this website http://www.suite101.com/content/wild-wolf-killed-in-massachusetts-a47595

But again…all this talk of “escaped pets” begs the question of what happens when a female escaped pet meets a male escaped pet.

A good example of what I am talking about is the island of Naushon off the coast of Woods Hole. In the ’60s and early ’70s the island was overrun with deer. In the late ’70s or early ’80s a person or persons unknown released a small number of coyotes on the island. By the late ’90s the deer population was down dramatically and coyote sightings were common.

Whether an animal is “released” or escapes does not change the fact that it only takes two to tango. Escaped pets or released wild animals could fairly quickly build a small breeding population.

It is unimportant whether the Mountain Lion killed on the road was an Eastern or Western Mountain Lion. Its is unimportant whether it was a wild animal or a released or escaped pet. It was an unneutered Mountain Lion. What may have happened while it was on the loose is undeniable.

We also need to remember that their are plenty of wealthy “environmentalists” that would thing an unauthorized and illegal “restocking program” would be a neat thing to do.

on monday july 11, 2011 i saw a huge cougar run across the road into the woods in my neighborhood in east windsor ct. i couldnt believe my eyes!! needless to say my children wont be playing outside after dark any more! this cat weighed approx. 140-160 lbs.

Another person and I saw a very large cat (much larger than domestic) dash across Day Hill Road in Windsor, CT on July 20 about 7:15PM. Definitely a cat, very sleek and graceful. Not close enough to see markings.

Here’s the verdict:
http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/eastoncourier/news/localnews/99647-mountain-lion-killed-in-milford-traveled-here-from-south-dakota.html

I think it’s silly to disregard so many credible personal sightings for lack of photos. I live in Easton, right on the Fairfield line and I saw a fisher cat here a few years ago, a dead mink on the road, and a bald eagle at the reservoir last summer. We’ve had a black bear, moose, plenty of bobcats and a photograph taken in town of a wolf (could be a stray hybrid, but it’s still on the loose whatever it may be). I grew up here and the wildlife has changed quite a bit. I never saw turkeys or hawks as a child, and now they are everywhere – a sighting is almost mundane.

Oh my goodness. Winchester, I believe, is about 20 miles from where we saw the large cat. I wonder if this is the same one.

Thanks to PB for posting the article with test results on the Milford Mountain Lion. Most of us who have seen them here in the Northwest Corner are not surprised by the findings that a mountain lion originally from South Dakota ended up here in Connecticut. And, it’s not the first one, or the last one. In South Dakota, they know that the state is saturated with mountain lions. They know that the animals are spreading out to other states, and there is plenty of evidence. These two articles from National Geographic pretty much state the obvious – mountain lions, mostly males, are seeking new territory and mates. They keep going until they find what they are looking for. Connect the dots – a mountain lion from South Dakota wound up in downtown Chicago in 2008…

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0121_050121_tv_cougar_attacks.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080417-cougar-shot.html

Read the news about someone releasing cubs in the northwest corner of Connecticut near Granby:
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x1314055769/Bob-Sampson-Killed-mountain-lion-rare-in-many-ways#axzz1TPxnEU6Y

Big states like CA, AZ,… have big forests for mountain lions. CT is such a small state! How will these guys understand that when they release a lion in CT, they release it in someone’s back yard!

When there are sightings in CA, AZ,… DEP quickly looks at it. DEEP of CT can expect to stay a lot more busier than those other states’ simply because this state is so tiny. Hundreds of people will call them for help as lions go from yard to yard each day!

@ Randy…..

Do you have any confirmation on this? I see nothing on the web. Can you popint to any news articles?

Frederick,

More hunting? Sure… but to my knowledge hunters are pretty much encourage to take all they can as it is… at least as of a few years ago the state was re-issuing “Doe Tags” as in hunters that took a doe were simply re-issued additional tags…

The point is, deer are prolific beyond what hunting can control… and the NATURAL re-introduction of coyotes and possible mountain lions is a great thing in my opinion. I say Natural with a grain of salt…. as it is obvious that our relentless overdevelopment has resulted in everything but a natural enviorment.

The instances of mountain lions attacking humans is extremely rare… and in most cases the attacks are the result of people being stupid…. such as trying to attract the animals with food, or getting aggressive with denning mother lions. They hunt Deer, not people.

Introduction of the animals by human means is really pretty stupid. If the above posts refering to the two idiots who released cubs in the northwest corner is true, they should be arrested. Let mother nature do her thing…

Frederick,

I like your idea of educating people… It is the best solution in all ways. I love the anaolgy to lice as it is a common sense anology… something that there isn’t enough these days in my opinion.

I think the idea that these animals are dangerous to the human population is way overdone though. My thought here is that a few things are being overlooked. I see these animals as naturals way of natural balancing things… There is an over abundance of deer and as a result, a predator has been introduced.

I spent many an evening playing man hunt as a kid… and yeah, our kids should be able to do so as well. But I’d like to point something out… The overabundance of deer in the state has caused a massive problem with Lyme and other tick borne diseases. Mountain Lion attacks are rare …and as you point out not zero. But Lyme is very well doccumented and a prolific health issue… People do die from lyme… particulairly the ederly and young who have other complications and are mis diagnosed. That number IS real… and if i had to guess, is probably infinately higher than the instances of people being injured killed by Mountain lions. My point being is that your kids are millions times more likely to suffer the effects of Lyme while playing manhunt than suffer an attack from Mountain Lions. Maybe natures way of mitigating lyme disease is by introducing a predator to reduce the Deer population???

My grandfather once told me that all yankees were crotchety because life here was hard.. A century ago, most families were somewhat dependant on a backyard garden…chickens and livestock… He turned to me as he was turning his garden one day and said “everybody here is crochety because the ground is full of rocks and the soil sucks”. Point being is, when Mountain Lions were hunted into extinction back then, it had more to do with the threat they posed to livestock than they did humans.

Maybe a good way to move forward with this is to set up a volunteer program for tracking unusual animals. Coordinate the states many Hikers, Hunters, fishermen etc and train them to look for scat, tracks etc of Bear, Possible mountain lions, fisher cats etc… Its easy to ask the DEEP what are they doing… Its harder to actually get off our butts and actually do it ourselves…

While I don’t hunt…Im a BIG advocate of hunting. One, because its the hunters and fishers that give actual $$ to the state, $$ that SHOULD go into DEP interests (though Im not politically astute enough to know whether or not the money ACTUALLY GOES to where it is supposed to. Two because MOST hunters LOVE nature and activities tied to our woods and waters.

At the same time I don’t see hunting as a tool to keep the big cats OUT of the state. I, for one, would LOVE to see the things back here. Spotting one in the wild would be a sight I would cherish forever.

I am concerned, however, at what would happen IF someone, a trail runner, a mountain biker, a hiker, etc DID get attacked. What course of action would we take? Would the state put out the same old tired explaination of “the cat MUST have been old or injured” because they WANT people to think that humans are naturally immune to animal attack?? And would getting rid of a troublesome animal become a debate of animal and human rights? Any protective fear these big hunters had for man has long dissapeared. When parties of hunters, accompanied by dogs hunted these things to extinction, cougars had a REASON to fear us…it was a LEARNED response, passed on to offspring. Man became associated with death and DOGS terrified the lion. Now, dogs are one of their main treats. They’ve learned NOT to fear man and dogs BECAUSE THERE IS NO REASON TO FEAR THEM. How many times, out west, has a mountain lion who attacked a human hunted down and killed only to find that they were in “perfect” health, neither a young adult or old adult, with all their teeth and claws, showing NO sign of being FORCED to hunt man?? Lions will hunt man simply because ALL NATURAL signs point to an easy kill with little energy expended. Chasing down a camper is far easier than chasing down a deer.

What I am saying is that while I think its truly awesome to have these animals back, I want them here ALONG with truthful information about them, not fairy tales designed to make them look as if ANY confrontation is A FREAK of nature that would NEVER occur if all was right inthe world, when in fact it is simply something that MIGHT happen if and when these cats become re established here. I just don’t want to hear anymore “statistics” like how many more dogs kill humans than cougars do, when the two are not even remotely comparable.

I, for one, WANT them back her. And I am fully aware of the real danger they MAY pose if one is unfortunate (or fortunate) enough to actually pass one another in nature. I simply want a TRUE portrayal of these animals to be presented, not the skewed ANTI portait of the past NOR the FAIRYLAND portait of today.

NCK,

Not that I am an expert here or anything… but my view on the subject is largely based on discussions I’ve had with some friends out in Northwest Wyoming. Mountain Lions are well established there and there is even some heavily regulated hunting.

some links… Think this qualifies for stupid 🙂

http://forums.mtbr.com/california-socal/whiting-ranch-mountain-lion-attack-stupid-hiker-439741.html

Found this real interesting… lets put some perspective and numbers on the whole thing…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America

like your comment “Two because MOST hunters LOVE nature and activities tied to our woods and waters.”… Faaaaashizzle that! Im not a Hunter either, but know many and they are some of the biggest advocates of wildlife around. I also have questions about how much of the $ collected actually ends up in the DEEP budget… I am an avid fisherman and I know that subject was big over the last few years… especially when it started to cost $10 a year to fish in non stocked Long Island Sound.

While I’d rather wait till better economic times (I may be waiting a while!) I have often considered approaching a state rep with the idea of a bill that says money collected for hunting/fishing licenses as well as entrance fees for state parks be seperated from the general fund and MUST get put back into the DEEP budget and parks… Parks are for people, not politicians IMHO… I spend alot of time at the shore state parks… Hammonasset alone probably generates enough revenue for the entire DEEP budget. (I’m exagerating of course, but am probably not that far off).

i live about an hour away from CT,and i had a mountain lion in my back yard.got a pic of him to.i was in my house watching him before he went in the long grass.neighbor also seen him.

If this picture came in 2010, public should have been warned.

http://poststar.com/news/blotter/dec-confirms-wild-mountain-lion-in-lake-george/article_f70da502-ca83-11e0-b0bf-001cc4c03286.html

8-21-11, 7:30 am, full light, and I spotted a adult dog sized mountain lion on White Memorial Conservation Center (In Litchfield, Ct) boardwalk bridge. I stopped, it turned its head and saw me, turned away and walked down the boardwalk. I watched it for several minutes with my naked eyes, then with binoculars until it was out of sight because of brush. I was afraid to continue to my car, until another other walkers came up behind me. I told them what I saw, and we all walked to our cars. I checked right away online for images, and it was a mountain lion-not a coyote, as the DEP would suggest. There was no mistaking it.

My partner and I were deer hunting in Lakeville on a private farm that we have hunted for 30 years. My buddy was posted at the edge of the swamp when two mountain lions. male and female came out of the edge of the swamp crossed the field and went up into the woods on the other side. I did not believe him in that we saw at times bobcats up there. He showed me the prints in the snow and they were alot larger than bobcats. He told me he saw the tails. If they are here in a large amount then the state did the importing on their own. They are most likely using them to control the ever increasing deer population in the state. They would never admit to it as if one of those cats chews up some little child playing outside , could you see the lawsuits.

Maureen
You did the right thing posting the news for us. We need to warn people. If you were not afraid then I’d say you are very brave. Police with tranquilizars and guns run when a lion growls! We are so not used to them that we think they are pussy cats!

There are only 17 or 18 recorded deaths but there are numerous cougar attacks. In states where they have mountain lions, people are at least aware. We are clueless because we are denying a fact, ignoring a change around us, and not being educated because DEEP wants a proof.

If anyone is attacked the DEEP officers should lose their jobs. Unfortunately that won’t bring a dead person back to life. Are we in trouble or what?

A couple evenings ago my wife and I were watching deer in our field. As I’m looking at the deer with binoculars, she yells “THERE’S A MOUNTAIN LION IN THE BACKYARD”!! Sure enough, CLEAR AS DAY, there is a mountain lion sitting in our backyard, maybe 50-60 feet from us. I looked at it through the glasses, even though it was plain to see with the naked eye. We’ve had bobcats, dogs, cats, woodchucks, coyote, whatever else people are going to say we saw, but this was a mountain lion. This was on the Cheshire/Prospect line. August 2011.

I’ve been reading the mostly credible posts from people who have seen mountain lions in Connecticut. It seems that the state is unwilling to acknowledge that it might be time to undertake a serious study of how many mountain lions are present in Connecticut. It is no longer a question of ‘maybe’ – we know they are here. The hard evidence is the lion that was hit by a car in Milford in June of this year. It is simply unacceptable, irresponsible, and downright dangerous for the state to continue to ignore the numerous sightings. There are people who have photographs of mountain lions in this state, but they don’t report their sightings because the DEEP makes everyone feel like they are fools and didn’t see what they think they saw. This same attitude is now being expressed by the person who works at White Memorial where a person said she saw a mountain lion on the boardwalk trail recently(see article in this week’s Litchfield County Times). It is extremely difficult to track mountain lions, and even experienced trackers have a difficult time when they are brought in to do it. They have trained dogs to help find a scent, and even then it is difficult. I seriously doubt that the White Memorial staffer is an experienced lion tracker.
The other disturbing ‘trend’ among the DEEP staff is to assume that these animals are shy and won’t attack a human. This is far from the truth, and there is documented evidence showing that. Who wants to be the one DEEP staffer to have blood on their hands when, god forbid, a person is attacked in Connecticut because the state refused to even tell people that these large predators may be present in the forests where so many people hike, bike, and camp.
The following links provide backup to what I have just said. I think anyone who lives here should read the information in these links. I hope the DEEP sees this because they should be reading this information, too.
http://www.cougarinfo.org/facts.html
http://www.cougarinfo.org/lionsupl/coverup.html#coverup
http://www.cougarinfo.org/intro.html#confirmed
http://cougarinfo.org/attacks3.htm

Thanks for the note. I simply found this site doing a “Lion spotting in CT” search. I don’t care about believability, or credibility. I never even thought about mountain lions before. I didn’t even pay any attention to the one that was killed recently. But people on this site(and others)seem to have interest. But just to clarify, we were INSIDE the house, the lion was OUTSIDE. The cat wasn’t scared one bit. My wife ran to get her camera and close the front door(which was wide open) because she feared the dog would run outside. I ran to grab the children in from the deck. The cat turned and walked away when I opened the door to the deck and called the children inside. There were three kids(my two, and one neighbor) standing OUTSIDE on the deck. It’s a high deck off the second floor, with no stairs to ground level and the kids were actually as close(actually a few feet closer) to the lion than we were, and the cat seemed to pay them no mind. None of the kids saw it. The cat was sitting watching the deer just as we were. So basically there were two adults INSIDE watching deer, three children OUTSIDE on a high deck, and a MOUNTAIN LION outside(on the ground, ha). Thanks, CT

I am nearly positive there are mountain lions in the state. About two weeks ago I was in Oxford with a pal and we went out on a walk on a very dark night. We brought hunting knives with us, as even the coyotes in that area seem very content to attack two large people (previous encounter.) It was about 4:30 in the morning and on a long stretch of road I spotted eyes on the left of us, about 30 feet away. Shining the light on the creature, we saw it had a very well built all tan body and a triangular face like a cat. It could not have been a deer, a coyote, bobcat or anything else. It was just one of those once you see it so close, you know what it is. We immediately got ready for a fight, and did all we could to scare it off and be loud and seem as large as possible. The animal couldn’t care less, and eventually went out of sight, probably following us on the mile trek back to the house. It was one of the scariest encounters ive had up there, I would certainly not recommend going out there at night without being prepared.

While walking in the woods at 4:30 am on my last two deer hunts in Monroe Ct I encountered with my head lamp a large pair of green eyes about 30 feet away reflecting back at me the separation between the eyes were aroung 6 to 8 inches wide it held its ground then left, my second hunt I encountered the same eyes at 15 feet and this time I brought a second light and when I shined the additional light the animal moved its head side to side a little and the made this awlful very loud hiss and took off I was unable to see what the animal was. I know they say CT has no mountain lions and I am not saying that this is what I encountered but this was no small animal and the sound it made sounded like a mountain lion If anybody has any information about encountering a similar situation please let me know I hope to go back and althought I really don’t want another encounter I will bring a camera and hopfully the flash will capture whatever the eyes are attached too.

kris
When I read the following story I thought you may have given the right idea to Markbct and others of NE. If they want proof, and don’t check it out, how can it be proved? I am not understanding it.

“He covered the paw print in the mud with a bucket and called the local game warden, White says, as far as he knows, they never checked it out.”

http://www.whitemtnews.com/?p=6803

@ fdk……

Sorry not to reply earlier……been in Wyoming hunting Pronghorn and Sage Grouse since the 21st of September.

I can’t speak for the game departments of other New England states but the video you posted and the refusal to check out tracks could have come from Connecticut. Our DEP has a hard enough time acknowledging a mountain lion killed on a highway, more to the point tracks, scat, sightings.

Here in Ct, there is no season on Mountain Lions…..mainly because they “don’t exist”. HAHAHAHAHA. Therefore there is no reason to check out tracks of an animal that does not exist.

I’m a hunter and trapper…..have been for more than 40 years. In the ’60s DEP told us there were no Bobcats. So I burried the one I shot in ’71. In the early ’70s DEP said there were no Coyotes. Never shot one of them back then, but HA HA I guess the “no coyotes in Ct” turned out to be wrong too!

The important thing is that since the Eastern Mountain Lion has been declared extinct and DEP says there are no Mountain Lions in Ct there is therefore NO LEGAL PROTECTION for these animals.

A hunter seeing a Mountain Lion should shoot it on sight. After all…..they don’t exist. Bring the dead animal to DEP and say you thought it was a coyote. OOOOPS!

I saw a Mountain Lion in Sharon, Ct back in 2000.. I’m a long time hunter and know the difference between a Mountain lion, Bobcat and Coyote. I saw that Mountain Lion in clear daylight for over 1 minute at about 125 yards. NO mistaking what I saw.

There ARE Mountain Lions in Ct and I think it is pretty safe to assume there are Mountain Lions in VT, NH and Maine too. Probably upstate NY as well. There aren’t many, but the numbers certainly are increasing. In 1968 there were no Bald Eagles in Ct…..No Black Bears in Ct…..No Wild Turkeys in Ct……No Coyotes in CT…..No Moose in Ct…….Those are facts! 43 years later all of those 5 species are not unusual in Ct.

43 years from now everybody (including DEP) will admit that there are Mountain Lions in Ct.

I doubt it, but maybe I will be lucky enough to draw a tag in the 1st Mountain lion season Ct sees in the 21st century.

Meantime I’m applying for Moose tags in Maine……Oh yeah……back in the ’60s there were supposed to be no Moose in Maine.

Don’t trust the “experts”….most of them could not find their way out of a paper bag at high noon with a map, compass and a flashlight!

All good points nck.

I for one do not believe in any conspiracy theory about DEP. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just a bureaucracy sticking to the party line. Although the popular story that DEP released some mountain lions to control deer populations is certainly interesting and would give DEP a strong reason to stick to the party line.

The ML killed on the road this summer DOES PROVE that there have been MLs in Ct. This proof in the face of past denials by DEP does increase the chances that there are others.

If there are others, are they lone wanderers or a breeding population? I have no idea. But the more lone wanderers there are, the better the chances there is a breeding population.

As I mentioned earlier, DEP once denied the existence of coyotes, moose and bear in Ct. And at one time they were correct. But the sightings continued and were eventually proven true. The populations of moose, coyotes and bears all started out as lone wandering animals and eventually these lone wanderers met and we would up with breeding populations. Eventually the same will happen with MLs. This year? Next year? Next decade? I don’t know. But it will happen.

As to your DEP friend’s comment that MLs need 50 acres of territory to stay and breed…..I believe that either you or he was mistaken. I realize that 50 acres may seem like a lot of land to someone accustomed to the suburbs of Ct, but 50 acres is NOTHING. It’s little more than a large back yard. Within a 15 mile radius of where I am sitting, there are over 20,000 acres of publicly owned land. Most of it uninterrupted forest that is loaded with deer and would make fine ML territory. In addition to these public lands there are 10s of thousands of more acres of privately owned woodland…..all of it within 15 miles of where I am sitting. There is PLENTY of land to support a breeding pupulation of MLs here in Ct.

You are certainly correct that most ML “sightings” are not. Few people in Ct would recognize a ML if it bit them in the butt. In addition, many of the reports are nightime sightings of an animal running across the road. Difficult conditions to identify an animal….even if you are truly familiar with animals. As to the hundreds of reports your friend mentioned…..keep in mind that many sightings are never reported to DEP. I personally know of five people who are outdoorsmen and truly know their animals who have seen MLs in Ct and never reported them to DEP. Why did they not report them? Becuae they knew DEP wouldn’t believe them anyway.

Lastly…..Gray wolves…..These reports are far more difficult to believe. Wolves bear enough resemblance to coyotes that it is easy, even for people that know their animals, to confuse the two. Despite my 40+ years of hunting both here and throughout the West, I would never call anything I saw here in Ct a wolf…..simply because despite my knowledge of animals, it would be easy to mistake the two unless you had a lengthy sighting at under 100 yards with plenty of nearby objects to make an accurate size comparison.

Simply put….Wolves in Ct? Almost certainly not. Mountain Lions in Ct? Almost certainly…..although we may not yet have reached the point where there is a breeding population.

fdk….

Leaving for the airport in 4 hours for some hunting in Tx. No time to really look at the two sites tonight. I’ll take a serious look Thursday or Friday and give more detailed thoughts.

But there really isn’t much doubt that from time to time there are 1 or more Mountain Lions wandering around Ct. Most of the reports I’ve seen of Mountain Lion sightings are not very believable…..when someone says they saw one at night bounding across the road, your talking about an animal that was seen in poor light for somewhere between 1 and 3 seconds and generally by someone who lives in suburbia and has little real experience in identifying wild animals, especially uncommon ones. I’m not saying every such “sighting” is false, just that you have to put a very low reliability factor on them.

But the old saying is…..”Where there is smoke, there is fire” and the sheer numbers of reports makes it very hard to discount them all.

In addition you have to take into account that the most reliable sightings, those made by long time hunters never get reported to DEP. WHY? Because hunters know that DEP’s policy is that there are no Mountain Lions in Ct.

But there are some here….at least from time to time.

The real question is if there has been any breeding. If there has then it is only a matter of time before the Mountain Lion joins the several other animals that were once extinct in Ct but have now returned…..bear, coyotes, bald eagles, wild turkeys, moose all come to mind. Each of those animals were extinct in Ct by 1965. ALL of them are now to a greater or lesser extent common in Ct now.

The Mountain Lion will be too. The only question is how long it will take.

Kris
All great points….points Im GLAD came from a hunter.

That was one of my thoughts. Why, if cougars are really hear, so FEW sightings reported from hunters, most by SUV population. None on field camera’s? But your point of hunters reluctance to deal with DEP is true.

nck….

A good point about the lack of “trail-cam” pictures. But really not all that surprising when you really think about it.

First off, I doubt that the use of “trail cams” or “game-cams” is all that common here in Ct…..for the following reasons…..

1) The hunters I know here in the NW corner of Ct don’t use them. Because they don’t need them. They are not “trophy hunters”. They are mostly guys that hunt for meat to supplement the family budget or guys that just love hunting. They are not much into trying to kill a Boone and Crocket or Pope and Young trophy. “Trail-cams” are mostly used by trophy hunters to locate a potential trophy buck. Since Whitetail deer are territorial critters that are born, live and die in a comparatively small area (usually under 2 square miles) if you see a trophy buck a few times on a trail cam then you can target that particular animal. And ultimately, Ct is not known as trophy buck country. I’m not even sure there are ANY Ct deer on the Boone and Crocket or Pope and Young record books.

2) Trail-cams are like stairmasters. For every 5 bought, probably only 1 ever see’s any real usage. They are “gadgets” that are purchased far more than they are used.

3) Trail-cams are not cheap (at least good ones aren’t) and few people are going to hang one on public land where it might get stolen or destroyed. Many hunters would not hang one on public land or even on private land they had hunting permission on. I have hunting permission on approx 270 acres that abutts the Audobon Society land in Sharon, Ct. Enough people use the land that I have permission on (without permission) for taking walks, jogging, horseback riding etc that I wouldn’t hang a $250 trail cam on that land.

4) Tending a trail cam is WORK. Easy to use on a 10 acre property, but how many people are going to use one if they have to drive 40 minutes and then walk 3/4 of a mile uphill to get to it?

So all in all, I don’t find the lack of trail cam pics all that surprising….at least not here in Ct.

As an aside on the validity of ML “sightings”….

The night I left for my Texas Dove hunt I had to leave my house at 3:00 am to make my 6:50 am flight out of Bradley. At about 3:20 am between Norfolk and Winsted, an animal ran across the road. I had my low beams on and the animal crossed between 15 and 20 yards in front of me. I saw it for perhaps 1 – 2 seconds. It was light in color and from my brief sighting it appeared to be tawny in color, had yellow eyes. I did not notice a tail. The animal was too large to be a fox, coon, possum or anything like that. The gait of the animal eliminated deer as a possibility. I’ve hunted coyotes enough to say with a fair degree of confidence that it did not have the gait of any canine….coyote or dog. It also appeared too big to be a coyote.

I think a lot of people would have claimed this as a ML sighting.

I wouldn’t call it that. I simply didn’t get a good enough look to say what it was. So that night I saw an “unidentified large animal”. But in 2001 I most distinctly saw a ML.

Kris
All points I now take as true BECAUSE you are a hunter. And all points, now that I read them, that make sense. ANd yes, I think that may have been called a sighting from some.

As far as yotes are concerned, I must admit, I can’t stand them. I RESPECT their intelligence, cause that biologist friend I told you about is also an avid hunter, and he says they are UNBELIEVEABLY SMART. Tough as he ll to hunt. The stories he tells me on how they work deer as a couple are amazing. I can’t stand them still. Too damn many. And I’ve lost a big time favorite pet to them, nothing much left but paws, tail tip and entrails. Revenge? You bet…I want it. But anyways.

Its funny you live out that way in Connecticut. Supposedly you can say that Rt 44 is the “bear superhighway” in the state, no? Do you know, that in 10 years of owning a biz out that way, coming in many times at dawn and leaving at night, I NEVER ONCE SAW A BLACK BEAR? And I was DYING to see one……So, think about it, with so many bear around in CT, me, in the most populated place in CT, never layed eyes on one….AND they LOVE dumpsters, bird feeders and garbage cans. Thats another reason why I find all these tons of sightings not 100% believable.

How was the dove hunting??? I used to love hunting birds….long time ago.

Kris
You have made some good posts here. I think trail cams are used a lot more than you might think based on the people I know in the south central and eastern part of the state. Mostly on private land but few venture on state land and you are right that there is a constant fear of theft as it routinely occurs. I suspect mostly from trespassers who realize they were caught on someone’s camera. Some as you say are looking for that trophy buck but others just like to collect wildlife photos. There was a guy out your way on one of the Audubon properties who set a string of them out in search of documenting a ML after he saw one. The exact place escapes me now. Your comment about the animals you mentioned being declared to not have existed and now they are here is true. One thing of note and I commented on this in an earlier posting is that the animals that moved in came from established remnant populations that were healthy enough to support this migration of animals. The turkey was a restoration success for CT. You forgot to mention fisher cats which was another successful introduction effort. Biologist are quick to point out that there are no remnant populations to support a population expansion into new England. A couple of animals ping ponging between the borders does not make a viable population regardless how they got here. I personally am still not sold on the story of the love sick male cougar coming from the Dakota to meet its demise in Milford CT of all places. For some reason my gut is telling me there is too much of a gap between the data points. Technically speaking though the ML has been official recognized as being extinct which I too would think would remove the protective status on them. Because they are not a native animal and because they don’t exist they technically are not under the DEEP jurisdiction. They would technically be considered like an escaped pet much like if someone was keeping elk and they got out. You can’t shoot them unless you were threatened. Thus the ultimate control on these animals would be from the local animal control officers whom I would recommend is contacted on any sightings first by any readers on this page followed by the DEEP. They may be more inclined to have the right contacts especially following the Greenwich episode this past summer. Let me way in on the Wolves sightings. There are a lot of big coyote’s in CT that could easily be mistaken as a wolves from someone not accustomed to seeing how truly big a wolves is. I should like to also point out the Jon Way of Massachusetts did a study on the coyotes and determined that what we have is a blend between a wolf and the western coyote. http://www.easterncoyoteresearch.com/

Sorry about the mistakes on the previous post…. this voice activation texting stinks sometimes

I have menitioned in earlier posts about Ohio being a source for purchasing mountain lions as a pet. They have little regulations with exotic pets and they have escapes, some reported and some not. Currenlty they are under a full blown out kaos resulting from the intentional releases of exotic animals. One that remains at large is a mountain lion and I bet they don’t catch it. It goes to show you that for those that take the xtra inititive they can purchase an exotic cat and transport it anywhere they want. Granted it is illegal in most states but that does not stop people from doing things.

Doc, in August 2010, you wrote “For mountain lions there are no remnant populations nearby. You have to go to Florida. Thats based on scientific fact.” Why should the Quebec ML population be ruled out given Mt Sutton, Québec is only 250 miles from Connecticut?

@ WildBill…

Thanks for the interesting link to the Quebec monitoring program.

A couple of interesting points from the link…

1) The DNA collected from MLs in Quebec has indicated that the animals there tend to be from the Western subspecies, as was the animal killed here in Ct this summer.

2) Quebec believes that most if not all their MLs are released or escaped pets or the offspring of same.

3) They have not said categorically that they have breeding pairs.

Something of interest is that the ML that was killed in Ct is claimed to have come from the Dakotas and that it’s 1,500 or so mile journey included some time in Ontario. If indeed the CT ML did stop in Ontario this would make it even more likely that MLs from Quebec could eventually wander into Ct.

As to why Ct does not have a similar monitoring program…..

I’m inclined to believe that revolves around money. Such a monitoring program might prove beyond doubt that MLs do exist in Ct. The monitoring program itself would not cost a fortune, but we must keep in mind that the Eastern Mountain Lion has been declared extinct. If the monitoring program turned up evidence of an Eastern Mountain Lion then the Eastern Mountain Lion would immediately be added to the Endangered Species List and Ct would be forced to spend BIG MONEY to monitor, study and protect them. With the current budget situation Ct wants to avoid that at all costs.

So, as in so many things, the answer to your question can probably be answered by “Follow the Money”.

When I saw the mountain Lion about 6 years ago – it was in full daylight. There was no mistaking it. The animal was about 60 ft. away and I had an extremely good view of it. This was in Terryville, CT. Even if I’d had a camera on me – I don’t think I would have had the nerve to partially block my view by taking a photo. I was very nervous and backed away very cautiously as the thing was looking down at me (it had climbed a tree and was sitting in the fork), long tail wrapped around itself. We have 5 acres very close to Rte. 6. The last thing I expected to see was a mountain lion. I have lived on this property since 1974. We get deer on the property, Foxes, Racoons, Possums and Black bears visit occasionally. I had a brief glimpse of a bobcat once. I haven’t seen a mountain lion since and don’t particularly want to – the sighting scared the hell out of me.

I will kill any and all yotes I run across. I could give a ratz ass about being politically correct or not. Yotes have to live. Fine. I gotta kill em for every reason just as correct as anyone has to give.

That cat gave ENDLESS love to my family. Every single yote I blast their brains all over the ground the better. I loved that cat. its caused a bunch of heartache for my family members. And, truthfully, I would rather get a bunch of animal lover on my case than a tear from a single member of my family. So every single yote i come across of this winter, THEY ARE BUYING IT….OUT OF PURE REVENGE. AND I WILL WISTLE ALL THE WAY HOME.

Time to thin the herd, folks. Family cats MEAN something to families, yotes mean NOTHING. One bullet, but brain busting……..and it will never be enough.

Great link provided by Wildbill. Interesting to note that the article states they cannon use DNA to identify individual cougars. That is what was done for the Milford cougar in print to link it with sightings in Wisc, Minns & Mich. After reading the article from Quebec that to me says that those samples collected only link back to the S dakota population so again I am not sure that this animal made that trek they say it did.

CT in CT what town did you see your sighting in.

Nice posting lori. How can you dispute an animal control officer sighting. There has been reports of this animal in East Haddam for couple years. Now the town needs to get the officer a camera.

Lori…..

DEP found a way to explain away the one that was killed on the road in Milford a few months ago. Do you REALLY think this report by an animal control officer is going to put an end to the argument?

DEP will go on denying the existence of MLs until someone shoots one that is mauling a child.

Yes it is fustrating. People have the right to know. We have children to protect. Chances are if it does attack a human it will be a child, not an adult. They need to raise awareness because it is the last thing you think you will encounter on a stroll through the Hopyard or your own backyard etc. People need to know what to do, like not screaming in high pitch or turning your back to the animal etc. It can mean the difference between life & death. But like everything else they will wait for someone to get hurt.
I was talking to someone today & they said they knew someone who got a photo. Trying to get a copy. Could be the same one you saw.

Good stuff on the mushrooms nck! Picking wild mushrooms is a skill I’ve always wished I had learned, but somehow never did. Wish I knew how to learn. I know my critters, but not my vegetables! 🙁

As for the knife….lose it. Take the class and get a pistol permit. If the Governor of Texas can shoot ‘yotes while he is jogging, so can you.

Prospect has a lot of subdivisions but also there is a nice corridor of land this animal could use. Also noted a power line cut through that area and suspect this animal uses line or the edge for access. Dogs would bother them. I know a guy who saw one in Durham a few years back and I suspect its the same one you saw in Prospect. You probably wont see it again but in the event a picture would be nice.

Good news coverage in East Haddam last night. Probably made Mr. Rego of the DEP squirm a little bit in his seat. Unlikely Lori that animal will bother any persons as there is enough food for it in that area with deer its most desired food but you are right about the public being aware. Sounds like the animal control officer and the first selectman did a great job getting that information out.

I’ve got a pistol permit……yet to buy a pistol though….knives will have to be it for now.

Oh, and HOW is MUD not a PERFECT setting for a good print. ANd what is “inconclusive”

If its a ML, the print will be BIG and FELINE…….it may not be perfect, but can we at least narrow it down to “it PROBABLY is”?

Kris
Doc is THE hunter. Me, i’ve only upland birded…..

Funny, my DEP friend is an AVID hunter, travels for elk, bear, deer, ram….a realistic, knowledgable guy who spends a ton of time in the woods, mainly in the trout management end……and he TOTALLY doesn’t believe in breeding ML in ct…ML at all, I think. He’s the one who hears of all the mis sightings that they’ve investigated. We always battle.

And not to get off the subject….shroom hunting…..check out HEN OF THE WOODS. There is no dangerous look alike, all other lookalikes are edible. Bottom of oak trees, late august till probably right now…I think last nights snow officially ended the season. They’re huge and tasty.

This is a comment I came across and found very entertaining so I would like to share it with you. This is a person in CA (I think).

“Welcome to the country folks. Most animals feed in the early AM and evening. Limit your exposure during these times. If you plan to be out in a suspect area take a rifle or large caliber handgun. If you don’t plan on using the firearm on the attacking animal, just shoot yourself and getting eaten won’t be so bad. “

@ nck…..Thanks for the tip on hunting mushrooms. The storm left us without power for 72 hours and I suspect ended the mushroom season, but next year I will be out looking for Hen of the Woods. The fact that they grow in oak groves is convenient. Turkeys, squirrels and deer all rely heavily on acorns to fatten up for the winter, so most of my local hunting is mostly in and around oak groves. Hunting mushrooms will get me out in the woods earlier next year.

And good on you if you can get some “track hunting” done once we get some more snow!!! Don’t forget to bring a ruler or tape measure and a digital camera. Pictures that show scale will be critical to getting DEP to pay any attention. Once you have photographed tracks (with the ruler for scale), follow them looking for scat. Photograph the scat (with the ruler for scale) then bag the scat (picking it up with gloved hands) so as not to contaminate the sample with human DNA. Be sure to be familiar with the “macro” button on your camera so you can take clear closeups.

On a side note…..I was out last night about 7pm…..there was a Bobcat yowling across the road fairly close by. FUN to hear them!

@ fdk and nck….yeah all those stories about only attacking the weak and sick etc are the purest BS. Sure, predators take the easy prey first. Why wouldn’t they? They are hunting to eat not for trophies. I’m a hunter and I take the first legal deer I get a sure shot at. ‘Cause I hunt them to eat them. Same when I go to Wyoming to hunt Antelope every year.

As for the idea that a 40 pound coyote won’t attack a human being….that is so ignorant as to be almost comedic. Do a google search of “Woman killed by Coyote”. I expect you to report back on your findings 3 years from now ’cause that is how long it will take you to read of all the verified cases of coyote attacks on humans.

Generally, canines (coyotes and wolves) are a greater threat to humans for the simple reason that canines have less innate fear of humans than felines. In some areas of the country this has changed because all hunting of MLs has been stopped (like California), but in general the feline ML is more naturally shy of humans than canines.

Ct claims they are trying to cut the coyote population by having a season that runs roughly 10 1/2 months, but they squander the effort by not allowing nighttime hunting with lights for coyotes…..(though they do permit racoons to be hunted at night with lights…go figure). Coyotes hunt both day and night but primarily at night. If DEP really wanted to put a hurt on the ‘yotes they would open nightime hunting with lights.

Hope y’all made it through the storm and attendant power outages with no serious difficulties.

Best…..Kris

Thanks Kris for the info

The ONLY truth is that HUNTING predators will be the ONLY way to make them shy. ML used to be TERRIFIED of the barking of dogs BECAUSE hunting with dogs was THE way ML were taken from the population. Now….barking means LUNCH.

And thats not EVEN getting to the stories of how much canines and ML LOATHE each other.
Ever read stories of how much damage a pack of wolves do to a ML once they get on their trail??

But, again….I WANT these creatures here….I just want the REAL info passed on to residents, not a fairy tale composed by the rainbow family full of BS on how these things are harmless.

I have been a hunter for fifty plus years, in states from the east coast to the west coast. I know animals, know the difference between a bobcat and a lynx, a ocelot and a pole cat. I know the animal that ran in front of my car three years ago in Cornwall was a mountain lion. No if ands or buts about it. What a beautiful cat. Dangerous yes, but beautiful. I have suspected for some time that there could be a few in our state. Many people do not realize how much undeveloped land there is in this state. Couple that with the fact that Conn. has more deer per acre than any other state and it makes perfect sense to me that a few could survive. If you should be blessed enough to see one, or one of the wolves that have been spotted, please just let them be. It is so exciting to have them back in this state.

I agree.

Vermont declared the Eastern Mountain Lion extinct. My sister has a cabin in southern VT, on top of the mountain, in the Green Mountains. She was walking back to her cabin one afternoon and saw a young lion that had just walked into a clearing, about 50 feet from her. She stopped and they both stared at each other for literally over one minute. Then he, it, turned and walked back into the woods. She found out that a neighbor saw it the day before. Does extinct mean off the endangered species list? That they can be hunted again?

I check this site every now and then to see what people are seeing. What I am seeing makes me sick. As I mentioned before I am a long time hunter, I only hunt what I can eat, not for trophies, not when so many animals are on the verge of exstinction. I know to each its own but it makes me ill to read how many want to or would shoot a mountain lion if they saw one. Deer that’s another story. Talk to a farmer that has lost most of his crop in a single night how they feel about a cat or two a wolf or two back in Conn. It’s all about balance. Not just killing. But like I said, Thaat’s just me.

Peggy,
Thankyou for the heads up on the facebook site. Seems like there are more cats in this state than I thought. To many people seeing them for the d.e.p. to keep denying the fact that they are here, just hope they stay away from livestock and knuckleheads. Have a wonderful holiday.

Did anyone take a picture? It may not be something we’d like to see… but could work as a proof.

No photos were taken that I have heard of. Even a photo of the deer carcass up the tree would have been interesting…..don’t know if any hair or scat was found by deer carcass that could have been sent for testing.

well i guess all you ignorant people that didnt believe it or plain refused to think it was true now you cant eat your words. my husband saw one back in 2007 with a cub and every told him they arent in CT but he had one of his co-workers with him when they saw it so there are breeding mountain lions out there! and as far as the DEP maybe they should do some job cutting in that department and get some people in there that know what there doing and know there job!!!!!!!!!! @ DEP there must be alot of people out there raising MOUNTAIN LIONS for house pets LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well if they saw a female and a cub that would indicate a breeding took place but still lacks a defined population by wildlife standards which is what USF&W based their opionion on as well as DEP. Still an anoynomous posting on a website of a sighting four years ago without any valid proof really shows nothing and who is to say they didn’t see a bobcat. No details offered. Glad you LMAO, makes me wonder how your going to sit now..hmmm

Spent some time in texas recently and a local ranch hand offered that he had seen a cougar 4 time over the past year on this particular property. Down there they are listed as unprotected animals with no set season and can be shot year round 24/7. He said to shoot it on site if we saw it but we neither looked or desired to.

fdk
Doc and kris are the resident experts here……I’ve just become caught up in this because in 1992, my neighbor who was a prof at uconn in the field of biology (i don’t know which branch) swore to me that she saw a ML crossing our street on Minnechaug Mountain in glastonbury. Now across the street from my house runs all woods, containing a resevoir, case mountain and gay city state park, which is a large (for ct) chunk of woodland. I used to trail run, so I got real spooked for a while, especially because the woods around there were covered in rock outcropings and caves used by the native american population during colonial times. COmbine her with my friend the biologist from DEP who swears up and down there are NONE here (And he is a conservative, bigtime hunter, like DOC, who knows more about nature, animals and the outdoors than anyone I know) and I am caught up in the controversy.

Would love to see one, but, like doc, I agree, it wouldn’t be a good idea for a state like CT, its just to small, and I could see unfortunate people animal episodes that would bring in all the crazies……yotes are hideous enough for this state, thanks.

ML in Redding in Mid-May – Please refer back to my posts #79 & #83 (above) as we are also confident that we saw one a mile away from Gallows Hill just two weeks earlier. Did you talk to the Redding Animal Control Officer? Also please post your sighting on another site which is trying to link sightings by location & date, see: http://ctmountainlion.org/community_submitted/large-cat-in-redding-near-wilton/

On Route 244 in Pomfret a mountain lion was killed in Dec of 2011 by a property owner because it was in the horse paddock. The cat was collared and was brought into the woods in common property. Within 4 hours of the mountain lion being killed, the same d.e.e.p officers who deny their existance were searching and recovered the dead mountain lion, then questioned all homes in the area. I am afraid the state is being very dishonest on the subject

with prior experience. any trail cam footage or pics you take to DEP with a picture of a mountain lion they will just tell you “thats not a picture from connecticut.” many people have pictures. when you live in the deep litchfield hills you will be lucky to see a sighting a year. living on a dairy farm i can honestly say we see 4 or 5 sightings a year. its ok if DEP doesnt want to admit it. us around here know the ghost of the forest is here and we have to live with it. bottom line is the state of connecticut would have to set up more programs to protect its citizens and the “endangered species”. and they just dont want to do that at this piont…when more attacks and deaths happen they will be subject to think otherwise for the future.

There is no mistaking a mountain lion. Not everyone is stupid. There has been too many sightings. They are far different from bobcats, lynxes and other cats. The one I saw was definitely a mountain lion. There was absolutely no mistaking it. From all the reports I think they are definitely in the State.

That’s all we need. Gung ho-deer hunters, turned lion kings…

If there is that many mountain lions in the state at least the mountain lions will have a fighting change against deer hunters which is more than the deer have.

Peggy from the experiance of many hunters this past fall I would say the deer had bested more than you would think because of the poor acorn crop! On the flip side many a driver this fall wish they had a better chance against the deer with their vehicles as they jumped out in front of them. The hunters in this and many states are one of the most valuable and economical management tool a state could ask for in managing their wildlife populations. Like it or not, nothing works better.

Doc: It’s a shame that at least the highways can’t have some sort of wire netting strung along to prevent the deer from entering the roads – I am sure that would not be cost effective. I agree that deer jumping in front of drivers is a big problem – I was driving Rte 2 last year and saw a driver pulled over with a car severely damaged by a deer (which was lying dead in the road behind him). It’s just the hunting of them that I don’t like. We have about 7 that come into our yard – and they are just such beautiful creatures.

Peggy they are such beautiful animals and I hope they continue to be viewed as such by all though not many favor them in their yards, especially gardens!

fdk – followed your link. Wonder if that was just a troll posting. Possible follow up with the Southington animal control as they should know of any animals killed that could be a possible pet.

Peggy
Thanks for pointing again, I’m sure everyone knows about this one.

But good you mention it again cause it tells us unless there ‘s a picture, road kill stories are rumors.

doc
I will let this one pass. You see so many people wanted to see a picture, and the guy says nothing! Simply vanished!

I am a skeptic by nature. Scientist by profession. I want facts not rumors or unproven theories.
I was up late reading in bed in my house on a lake in Northern New Jersey. The place is surrounded by miles of protected forest and parkland. I heard a bloodcurdling scream that sounded like a woman or child except that it ended in a growl. It repeated 4 or 5 times. Since there had been a cougar “sighting” reported in Wawayonda State Park (bear country) by a hiker in the previous year i went online and listened to the cries of racoons, bobcats, lynx, bears and mountain lions. I found exactly what I heard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKw4OFAu1WM
Vedict – I heard a mountain lion on the prowl that night! I don’t care if it was a released animal or if it grew up under my porch, I have no axe to grind but when I read posts like the ones here, (and I completely endorse and respect those who are skeptical), I smile and know what I heard.

Allie
Sounds like you have a story and someone told you you saw nothing. So where did you see one.

Doc, I have talked to so many people and written so much that you may have already read a post of mine. I saw what I believe to be a young mountain lion on November 8, 2011 on the left shoulder of southbound I-81 just past Whitney Point and well before Castle Creek. I did not think I saw a mountain lion at the time. While approaching, I saw a large red (orange/tan) animal on its side-face south/tail north-facing towards the traffic. The tail was sufficiently long to clear the legs as it curved around towards the mid torso-so the tail was on the pavement and pavement showed between the tail and legs-I assume the legs were contracted or the animal was shorter than I had initially assumed but even if the legs were contracted the tail extended to mid torso. The tail did not taper and was rope like-thick-and the fur on the tail was neat-not long. The other thing notable was the face. It was cat like and sweet but heavier than a usual cat face-hard to describe-with markings that reminded me of a raccoon but the face did not protrude like a raccoon. Late for work and not thinking this any big deal except odd, I continued to work but called a sheriff. The sheriff said she would take a look and later said it was gone when she went on her lunchhour to see it. She gave me a list of possible animals and I google imaged them. The only one that matched was a mountain lion except this was not massive -about the height of a st Bernard if the legs were contracted-if not shorter-and the build of a Great Dane-lean. I know think maybe it was quite young because of the markings on the face and the roundness of the face. I did not see something and jump to the conclusion that I saw a mountain lion. I saw something that I know had certain features. Some detail was missed because I was driving. I looked up animals to identify ones with the features I saw. Mountain Lion was the only one I could not rule out. I was confused because the round face and markings did not match pictures I saw but have since seen pictures of mountain lion kittens and this one matches. Notable is that after I started reading about mountain lions I found a post from someone else who saw a live mountain lion on I-81 at Whitney Point in May. Two visions or maybe actual sightings. Parsimony is a good thing. I’d bet on real sightings as opposed to some bizarre idea that we are all hallucinating.

Why couldn’t the animal be native? The Florida Panther is the same as the mountain lion, which is the sam as the Puma, which is the same as the Cougar. These animals throughout time have been all over this continant not just the U.S.A.. The Mpuntain lion exists to our northern borders and to our southern. Why is it so hard to believe that it exists in our state. In 1979 when I was a little kid living in Simsbury CT I used to hear howling at night. At this time Simsbury was mostly woods, and my mother who is from western PA swore that the howling was coyotes but the DEP and the state of CT swore we did not have coyotes in the state of CT and here we are now where you can’t have your dog or cat outside in certain areas because a coyote will kill it. At the age of 30 I moved back to simsbury deep in the woods. i was bartending at the time so I was out pretty late. I was driving down the road in the summer at about 2 in the morning when i saw what i thought was a large golden lab but as I got closer I noticed it was a cat. When I got home I said something to my roomate and he laughed and told me to talk to all of our neighbors because everyone has seen this thing. these cats are here and they always have been. i have seen pumas in the wild in South America where I came dangerously close to being mauled by one in Patagonia Chile. oh and by the way to the previous author; excape, really? do you eat skrimp cocktail?

Im gonna respond before I read the past half dozen posts…..to Allie who copied and pasted my post of several months ago.

I, for one, BELIEVE there are cougars who live in connecticut. MY ISSUE is that people are coming up with these conspiracy theories when they bring NOT ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE, besides that THEY KNOW WHAT THEY SAW. Thats fine…..but there have been SEVERAL HUNDRED if not THOUSANDS of big food sightings….sightings are just that, SIGHTINGS.
The DEP wants EVIDENCE. The dead cat was a railroader, a hobo. I think many if not most state biologists believe that a few cats have come through CT…..theres HARD EVIDENCE that one was in Quabbin Res in Massachusetts..but for them to believe there is a breeding population, its gonna take evidence, not sightings, no matter how much the reporter has at a gut full of honesty. Again, look at the Utube video where the guy thinks that bobcat is a ML…., I KNOW that state biologists have been given photos that were supposedly of ML that turned out to be DOGS!, or tracks that were not even feline…….

Im not calling ANYONE a liar….but is it so hard to think that the majority of sightings were mistaken?? Now, when I read a sighting that states that a large cat with a long thick tail was spotted…well,…..UNLESS they are lying, a large cat with a long thick tail sounds reasonable…to me, the TAIL is just about everything, becasue people are WOEFULLY bad at guessing size and weight. Again, released pets doesn’t mean that they are here. Cervals, as similar as they are to ML, are not legitimate sightings.

There are hundreds of thousands of mysterious animal sightings in the usa…..the DEP cannot take the time to check all sightings out..you gotta give them some MEAT….something they CANNOT deny……

Can a coverup be a possiblity? Yeah, it can….theres a story about a coverup in a southern state where a mentally challenged woman was killed….the DEP said it was a dog attack..the owner shot almost all his dogs….but all the evidence pointed to cat attack, NOT a dog attack (ei: no ripping out of the throat). Now, that story sounded fishy….so I admit that there MAY be a reluctance on the part of DEP to admit the presence of ML…..BUT…..LETS GET SOME REAL EVIDENCE….Its gonna snow (hopefully) soon, how bout a track or two? Scat? Or, how bout all those posts about having pictures ACTUALLY post some of them??

That it. I hope I clearly stated my stance.

Thanks.

Sorry, thats BIGFOOT, NOT BIGFOOD….idiot.

Rodeo – Rider
Fishers account for a high kill of small pets as well. I suppose your neighbor still has some pics. If you have they can be posted for the public to see if you can get them. So far noone has had a decent picture to post or for that matter come through with a picture. The DEP stocking cats is an old tale told in every state around and has been dissmissed as just an old tale.(hows my typing in this post Bruce)

NCK, the reason I find the situation so disconcerting is the extent to which people seem to jump to the conclusion that I am mistaken about what I saw. I did not see something and jump to the conclusion it was a mountain lion. I saw certain features on a dead animal lying on the left shoulder of the rd. One post even questioned how I saw as much detail as I did passing by at 65mph. I did not see much detail at all. Red/tan/orange..much larger-longer than a domestic…long tail…round face w/some raccoon like markings but no muzzle or dog like features and dissimilar to the puma faces I initially saw because the face was round without narrowing around the nose-had a heavy appearance to the face not dainty but sweet ( very similar to pics I have seen more recently of kitten/cubs-very close to one featured today on zoo news-very round small but heavy head)..left with impression of very thick fur but not long fur.And, once I started reading about the topic it became clear that the officials had told people in the Lake George area that they had not seen what we now know they had seen.

http://ctmag.blogspot.com/2007/09/mountain-lions-in-connecticut.html?showComment=1195571940000#c3526505492672053262

Concerning Farmington, check out the Jan. 12 posting on this site…

Well, I for one believe that there are mountain lions in CT, whether they are transient animals who have migrated their way through to CT or they are actually from a remaining population that still possibly exists, they are here. There is proof that mountain lions have been in CT (see this article http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-mountain-lion-dna-20110726,0,3798831.story) while this specific cougar was documented to have traveled from South Dakota, it did in fact come to CT. It was not some domesticated pet, it was a wild mountain lion with a penchant for travel. If this one animal could travel to CT, why can’t others. Now some may claim that just because this mountain lion was here, it doesn’t mean that it was from here, but just because you are from originally from Indiana and you move to CT it doesn’t mean that you are still a resident of Indiana. If these mountain lions are traveling to CT, there is obviously a reason for it. Maybe there is not a steady population living in CT, but they do seem to travel through and therefore are temporary residents of CT. Like many other people on this sight, I have a mountain lion sighting story of my own. I grew up in the middle of the woods in the Litchfield Hills, I know what bobcats, coyotes, and bears look like, they lived in my backyard. I also worked at a museum for 8 years that had a large display of taxidermy,we had more then one mountain lion, I have also seen mountain lions in captivity. My point is, I know what they look like and I know what I saw. Maybe this mountain lion that I saw was just traveling through, he heard CT was nice in the summer and wanted to check it out, but it was here and I stand by that.

I’m sorry if this gets posted twice…….I don’t know what I did wrong the first time….but here it goes….

I don’t know why you think I would find this disgusting… percentage wise ,connecticut has more wooded area then most other states…. again, I believe there are mountain lions in connecticut…. I simply take issue with those people who think that the department of environmental protection should take sightings merely on hearsay…. I’ve seen the so called evidence…. and at times its ridiculous…. count the the posts here that say they have pictures….or know someone who has pictures, how many of those pictures have been posted? I while back there was a series of photos supposedly showing a mountain lion pearing through a sliding door into a kitchen…this was said to have been taken in Canton, CT among other towns….but, via the internet, you can’t trust it….and I beleive it was found to be a pic from North Dakota…. Always a promise a pic, or scat, or print…and NEVER is one posted…… I’m not the dep….. so I believe the sightings that state they saw a long tail…. what did d e p simply needs more than that. ANd there is a differnce between saying someone is being untruthful and saying someone makes a mistake.

I wish I could have a sighting….I look ALL the time when I mushroom hunt or trail run….its exciting to me to have the flicker of nervousness…..but, while I HOPE there are some big cats here…I shudder to think whats gonna happen when its finally validated.

Oh, and if I misunderstood the post directed towards me….sorry.

Thank you.

fdk… In what way??
Thank you

nick
When you start “I believe there are mountain lions in connecticut….” and then add “ANd there is a differnce between saying someone is being untruthful and saying someone makes a mistake.”

In saying this you show your respect for people. People get frustrated because they actually see & hear. DEP needs to understand that just because THEY did not see (may be) something, it is not here. You did not see any either, but you agree it is possible. By doing this you let people come forward and at least try to find proof for you. They way DEP talks, it shuts up people. They can’t do that.

Yeah, I guess I did……..
Usually the NCK was in the box to begin with…..I guess I typed it in differently…but, yeah, same guy.

Hi all,
I’m a birder and spend much of my time outdoors. I also agree with most people that there are ML in CT. A friend reports seeing one jump as high as 6? feet over a fence and noted the long tail – the diagnostic mark. Personally, I believe that the ML are migrants from out west coming to take advantage of the huge deer population here. But there needs to be more evidence that they’re here. As a birder (birdwatcher) if you find a rare bird, you will not be believed unless you provide a photograph. Most birders in the state deny the existence of ML in CT because they’ve never seen any throughout all this time. (And some are mindless and believe anything the DEEP says).

Peter

I would like to refer everyone to this new book that gives a good fair minded and equally sided account of the mountain lion or cougar in Connecticut and the East. The Quest For The Eastern Cougar – Extinction or Survival? by Robert Tougias…

You can by it On-line at BN.com or Amazon.com

contact Robert the author with questions..a friend of mine and very eager to answer questions or hear reported sightings..

This book is exciting and gives info the newpaper never reports..

Barb
I don’t know how much credence I would put on dogs barking automatically scaring a big cat away…..IVE READ (and Im not a scientist) and it makes sense to me, that bringing a dog along MAY actually entice a big cat. Dog barking USED to drive big cats away in earlier days because the cats had been HUNTED with dogs… (still today, I guess that is the main way)so, they began to associate the bay of dogs with hunters…but not so today.

In Cali, as well as other western states like Colorado, neighborhood dogs are looked upon as a meal. I know all this really has nothing to do with CT, at this point in time, but I just wanted to share some thoughts with other readers of this comment section. Mountain Lions fear of dogs seems to have dissipated, along with their fear of humans….

Comment on #303 Nck

Thanks for the dog/ML clarification. I read more and did find info on dogs mauled by MLs. I cringe at that possibility, yet still do it the same way though if it meant preserving human life, children, family, myself…neighbors. I couldn’t avoid entering the building, kept livestock in there at night. The dogs I had in 2006 have since died of old age and cancer and I have a beautiful red Golden Retriever now and she won’tl leave my property unless its chore time at my neighbors farm. For some reason my dog love to accompany him daily when he feeds all his animals. She feels compelled to touch her nose to theirs. Even the bunnies participate. Strangest sight. Yet she barks excessively when coyotes, bobcats or any other wildlife approaches. –
Undoubtably this ML has long since moved on.
I don’t understand the DEP’s reluctance to investigate, their outright refusal to check tracks preserved in the mud surrounding my neighbors barn.
Barbara

On Friday March 9, 2012 at 6:15 am on West Purchase Road in Southbury Ct. a mountain lion ran across the road. My nephew,Tyler was on his way to work and it ran in front of his car.
Tyler has lived all his life on this rural road in Southbury, and has observed all kinds of wildlife throughout the years. He is absolutely positive this was a mountain lion. He got a very good look at it.
There have been other sightings in this area, which is on the Roxbury/Southbury line.

I got a copy of The Quest For The Eastern Cougar from BN.com

this book has all the info and tons of stuff the newspaers never mentioned like lions right here and evidence..exciting book

Cougars are everywhere in Connecticut. Insurance companies paid the state to introduce them to reduce deer damage to cars. Everybody knows this, but nobody will tell.

Don is right on all accounts. The idea that I saw something other than a Cougar makes no sense because I did not jump to the conclusion I had seen a cougar. At the time, like 99.9%of the population, I did not know that there was any controversy about these animals and did not stop and take a picture. It is only after one sees a cougar and starts to want to know about them that it becomes apparent that a picture would have helped immensely but then it is too late. So, saw a red (you may call it tan) cat lying on its side on the shoulder of a road. It was about 4 times as long as it should had been if it were a domestic cat. It had a very round face with some black markings on it. It had very dense (but not long) fur, Its most pronounced feature was a very long tail that easily cleared the hind legs (which may have been bent) and went halfway the length of the torso. I did not notice how long the legs were. The face was very round and very sweet looking. There is no way that this was a bob cat or anything else really but a mountain lion. ANd the face was very similar to the cub that was adopted by an upstate NY zoo. Must have been quite young. I would certainly love to hear if you have another ideas. I have looked at thousands of pictures on the internet. Round face, dense fur, long tail, cat face without elongated nose. What else could it be?

Bad link…..Sorry…..Here is a cut and paste from an email I receive from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

March 22, 2012

A service of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

Genetic analysis from “Minco mountain lion” confirms ties to South Dakota

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation recently confirmed origins of the mountain lion struck and killed by a motorist in November 2011 near Minco.

According to Erik Bartholomew, furbearer biologist for the Wildlife Department, the 130-lb. male mountain lion that was found dead along HWY 81 north of Minco is closely tied genetically to populations in the Black Hills of South Dakota. DNA analyses performed on tissue collected from the cat also confirm it was a wild mountain lion and not an escaped domestic animal.

“The cat’s DNA shows a very close genetic relationship to wild populations in South Dakota,” Bartholomew said. “We can say with a high level of confidence that this male was born in the Black Hills region. Another clue that this animal was wild is the fact that it had porcupine quills in its stomach. Apparently mountain lions consider them to be good eating, or maybe they are easy to catch, but many times western states report mountain lions with porcupine quills in their front legs and digestive tract.”

A small tooth from the mountain lion’s upper jaw also was sent to a lab for aging. Much like the rings on a tree, the root portion of the tooth has rings that can be used by experts to age the animal. The tooth from the “Minco mountain lion” showed that the animal was at least three years old.

“We have no idea of the path he used to get to Oklahoma,” Bartholomew said. “However, with him being killed near the South Canadian, he likely was following the river where their primary prey – white-tailed deer – would be in high abundance. Males tend to have very large home ranges at or over 200 square miles. The Black Hills is a small island of habitat, and many times adult males will get in territorial disputes with young males and the loser leaves in search of new territory.”

This mountain lion represents a unique research opportunity for the Department since the animals are secretive and because biologists have had few other opportunities to study them up close in Oklahoma.

Other wild mountain lions documented in Oklahoma also have tested positive for Black Hills origins, such as the female captured in the city limits of Tulsa last year and another believed to have been killed by a train in 2004 near Red Rock. A male mountain lion that was shot in 2010 in the Panhandle by a Department of Agriculture employee while depredating livestock tested positive for genetic ties to populations in eastern Colorado, and another confiscated by the Department’s law enforcement division in southeast Oklahoma was genetically tied to populations in the Pine Ridge region of northwest Nebraska. Additionally, several other sightings have been documented, including a young radio-collared male from Colorado that traveled through the Panhandle’s Texas County in 2010 and is now living in New Mexico, and trail camera pictures from the fall of 2009 that show mountain lions in Tillman and Atoka counties.

Also called “panthers,” “cougars” and “pumas,” mountain lions are native to Oklahoma and historically would have been found statewide. Bartholomew said it is a common misconception that the Wildlife Department has released mountain lions in Oklahoma.

Officials with the Wildlife Department rely on the public to report verifiable sightings, photos and reports of mountain lions to help document the species in Oklahoma.

To submit photographs and report sightings of mountain lions in Oklahoma, log on to wildlifedepartment.com and report your sighting online or call Bartholomew at (405) 385-1791.

***Photo***

DNA analysis of the mountain lion that made headlines in November after being struck and killed by a vehicle near Minco has confirmed that the cat was a wild animal with genetic ties to populations in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. In this photo, Erik Bartholomew, furbearer biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, takes the rare opportunity to conduct research on the mountain lion, which was hit on HWY 81 north of Minco.

-30-

News Contacts: Michael Bergin or Micah Holmes (405) 521-3856

Website: http://www.wildlifedepartment.com

E-mail: info@odwc.state.ok.us

This program operates free from discrimination on the basis of political or religious opinion or affiliation, race, creed, color, gender, age, ancestry, marital status or disability. A person who feels he or she may have been discriminated against or would like further information should write: Director, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 53465, Oklahoma City, OK 73152, or Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

Well doc,
the jist is this. Many of you swear to the high heavens no one could have possibly seen either a Cat, a wild Cat or anything resembling one because the so-called Eastern cat is extinct. Fine from the premise you push forth I’ll grant you that. But none of you stop there, you continue on that NO CAT exists at all, ever, couldn’t be, You miss sighted, You aren’t trained , so on and so forth. NOW you want to simply claim there are NO EASTERN CATS ALIVE TO SEE. Make up my mind, A cat in the woods is as real as real gets and not all are true sightings i will cede that as well but your BELIEF is heavily outweighed by the belief of those that claim to have seen. If I sit on my deck in Connecticut everyday I’ll never see a Bull Tule Elk either., does that mean they don’t exsist? As for the Eastern Mountain Lion as a subspecies, NO, they do not exsist, never did, except in some small minds that like to think they’re important. There are no subsets of difference between the North American Mountain Lion, Never were and still aren’t today. Just an old Myth perpetuated at campfires of a long gone lifestyle. Because these cats were hunted out of the region in no way means they cannot repopulate areas that can harbor them. 40 years ago there were no coyotes in downtown Los Angeles either. You won’t hear that said today.

Junk science gives us new hypotheticals everyday doc. I could give you a number on Whitetail Deer but I haven’t a clue. Even if I did I’m positive you would disagree, as differing herds of any species has both similarities and differentiations they can be read either way. The only true too life distinctions in North American deer are 3 “main” spiecies. Whitetail, Blacktail and Mule. After that is said I can also say without a doubt that no 2 deer are alike therefore a mute subject, Care to guess how many subspiecies of frogs there are. Silly analogy, and as far as any research being heavily contested. I have no faith in USF&W making any determination as they will only farm out the data and come to an inconclusive result as always. Still remains though that a Mountian Lion in the wild cannot be identified as any one spiecies or another without physical sampling, In other words IF you saw one you could not tell it’s origin or family or genus or species. You would only have a visual and no corresponding evidence. I do not promote that there are any more Cats in the wild in Connecticut only that it COULD be possible, and staying open minded is real science, not closed to possibilities of the GEE! I ain’t seen one so they can’t exsist. That troubles me highly. The Pacific Grey Whale was considered extinct by the USF&W until they were spotted again off Salkalin Island in Russia 2 decades ago, now there are mating pairs again. So much for JUNK SCIENCE!

I tawt I taw a puttty tat; I tawt I taw a putty tat! Elmer Fudd

Hello. I just googled “caracal” images and looked at a ton of pictures. The cat I saw dead on the road could not have been one of those. The one I saw had a very very round face and regular cat ears. Those caracals have immense ears -like Spock–while the one I saw had cat like ears. Also the most obvious feature on the cat I saw was the tail that was a more tube or rope like and very long—did not taper towards the end -so the tail was very dissimilar to the cats that I have seen in the past which all had tails that taper at the end-this tail stayed thick with dense but not long fur. It is bumming me out that I have not found others that saw the cat or that saw my posts and the cat. Drag!

I understand the anger of those that know what they saw and are responded to in a condescending way. There is not reason to believe that most people claiming to see mountain lions are lying or even mistaken. Most people don’t know that much about bob cats or mountain lions-if there are mistakes made it probably goes both ways with some thinking they saw a bob cat but actually saw a mountain lion. Most of us know little about these animals until we see something and try to make sense of it so many of those reporting to see ml saw the features and looked up what it could be. There is also a distrust of the DEC and they brought it on themselves because they have been less than straight forward and they have failed to conduct timely analysis of evidence–making one wonder why. For example, it would have helped improve DEC’s relationship with the public if they had done the DNA analysis of the Lake George evidence from the sightings immediately after they got the DNA. Instead they simultaneiously told Lake George folks that they did not see a mountain lion and they knew they had the data but they sat on the data.Why? Then when the ml was killed in CT they decided to do the Lake George analysis and low and behold they had a match or they implied that they did. It makes them look dishonest. They lied to the Lake George residents so why should the public believe that they are not lying the next time they deny the likelihood that a sighting was a ml? They have lost credibility. It would help them immensely to do a mea culpa and say quite clearly that they made a huge mistake by telling the Lake George residents that they did not see a mountain lion. But they obviously do not have a PR person. When there are multiple sightings that show up in clusters -called in by people in a small geographic area who are unaware that others have also called in sightings and who have no reason to lie and who have been responsible citizens, it seems unlikely that they are mistaken. It is always possible, of course.But sometimes decisions need to be made on the basis of convergence of evidence rather than definitive findings. In the absence of definitive findings, but in the presence of a mound of supportive evidence, it is possible to draw likely conclusions. If all that report ML have only seen the front of the animal it is possible that what was seen was something other than a ml but when the tail is the first thing mentioned, it’s i simply unlikely to be a bobcat. I don’t think there needs to be so much conflict over this as most people are simply honestly trying to understand what they or others saw. But there is an element of hostility on these posts and I think they are driven by instances of dishonestly on the part of the officials of agencies like the DEC. Once you disagree with someone you know to have lied in the past it is harder to be civil about the disagreements.

Does anyone know what Officer Hilli means by “fishers”?

I was walking 3 dogs at about 9:00pm in waitsfield Vt on th common rd when I saw 2 eyes looking at us. I thought the animal was a deer because I had seen deer there in the day time. I walked to what I thought was a deer and a huge cat walked right to me. The cougar was lightish brown had a 4 foot tail or so. I was so close I could see the cat very well I think it weighed about 170- 150 live wt. The lion screamed yelled growed at my face at under 4 feet. I thought I was going I be killed. The dogs pulled me back to the farm. I never took my eyes of the cat while retreating it was comming after us. Anyway I made it to the house without incident. I am pro whitetail hunter and spend far more time in the woods than most avid hunters.

Hi Joy. You are welcome.Good luck with convincing your friend.

Don

Religion is based on FAITH. MY religion is based on FAITH, not proof. We are talking about apples and oranges.

I absolutely believe that a mistake could be made by someone DOUBTING a sighting. If you wish, you can look back at my posts. I am not someone who slams those who say they saw a mountain lion….not even ONCE. What I agrue about is this IDEA that the DEP should declare ML alive, thriving and populating SIMPLY because people SAY they see them. Its really that simple.

Do I think they are here, in CT- Yes
Do I think they are reproducing here- a little less than yes
Do I think people make mistakes in sightings- ABSOLUTELY.
Do I think ALL sightings are mistakes- NO. Especially when a poster mentions a TAIL
One thick and long as the body. To me, unless the
poster is lying, that is the proof, in my eyes that
he or she saw a ML or a caracal. People are horrible
guessing weight, its been proven time and again,
that long tail is something that is hard to argue
with.

Joy
I think youre right, most neighborhood cats get it from coyotes. THose damn things are all over the place (my 12 year old pal got it that way, ripped him to shreds, so I have to love for these things). But, don’t be fooled, a fisher could make quick work out of your cat. THose things are the quickest mammels I have ever seen. They chase squirrels, their main source of food, IN THE TREES! FROM BRANCH TO BRANCH!! To me, thats hard to believe, that an animal that size is that agile. They are gorgeous things, i give you that much.

Actually…the CT cat was tracked through Wisconsin and Michigan and NY state…..it covered a lot of ground! Which leads one to think that it would be pretty odd if only one cat did that……

It is interesting to note that states such as Missouri have now taken to posting the sightings on their Department of Conservation website.

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/wildlife-sightings/mountain-lions/confirmed-mountain-lion-reports

A friend who is a veterinarian in western Missouri told me that all sightings in that state used to be greeted with scorn, and people who reported seeing a mountain lion were told they didn’t see one. That was more than ten years ago. Now, the sightings on the official Missouri Dept. of Conservation website go back to 1994. The state of Missouri is taking this seriously, and warning people, appropriately, of what to do in the event that they encounter a mountain lion.That is the responsible thing to do, and CT should follow that example.

I think that most people on this website just want the state of Connecticut to issue the same guidance to the general public. We all know that a mountain lion was killed by a car in Milford, CT, last summer. If one could make it here from another state, others can do so, too. Ontario, Canada has done a study on their sightings and has concluded that these big cats are there. If they are in Canada, they can find their way to CT.

The sightings here continue. Not everyone is totally mistaken when they say they have seen a mountain lion. I saw one, I saw the very long tail, I got a good look at it, and no, it was not a bobcat. I have seen bobcats on my lawn and they are much smaller, have pointed ears, and a very short tail.Their bodies don’t even look feline, but more like dogs with cat faces.

The state of CT would be doing a public service by posting some information on their DEEP website about the possibility of an encounter with a mountain lion, and what to do if that happens. To continue the denials, even after a verified kill, is just irresponsible. There are large numbers of state and out of state residents that use the forests, and parks of Connecticut.

Perhaps if more people purchased a trail camera, and there was a network of these all around the state there would be some visual evidence. This is what is happening in all the other states that have accepted the presence of wild mountain lions. Hunters, homeowners, etc. are putting up trail cameras on their property, and finding pictures of these cats when they check the camera. It might be time for CT residents to do the same. I just purchased a trail camera because two of neighbors have seen a mountain lion within a mile of my home. I want to have some visual evidence.

nck,

My point in posting the link to the Missouri website was only to show that other states are admitting they have these critters, and are informing the public to some extent. Of course, they could do a better job, but it is a government agency, a bureaucracy, and perhaps can only go so far with the information.

FYI: even Walmart sells trail cameras (that’s what I mentioned in my post, not webcams), and there are also many different brands online. Check out some hunting websites – lots of good info on which trail cameras to buy.

i had about 10 TC’s and they all went missing in one night out here in torrington i was pissed you need to do something more then that leave the cat alone hes not bothering you right i see some one messing with that cat i will shoot you not him!

I live right on the Quinnipiac river in central Connecticut and my daughter, her friend and I were outside a couple Sundays ago. We spotted what I have no doubt was a mountain lion walking in our yard near the river, when we saw the big cat, he or she saw us and ran down to the river bank and ran down through the woods….real long fluffy tail, tannish color, tail longer than the hind legs, I got a long look at its back end running away. No way was it a bobcat nor a fisher cat. The tail, color and markings were all consistent with a cougar. I am convinced they still live in CT.

Ali C, strongly agree with your posts 294, 300 & 325. Repeatedly CT DEP has claimed the closest ML population / confirmed sightings were in Florida, ignoring both Quabbin Res & Quebec. Find it funny that folks are now citing the “Eastern Strain is a discrete species” as if it that is an absolutely fact…”The western species is not the eastern cat”. It is only an important distinction if someone is trying to declare any “Western” ML found go-forward is a mere “Hobo” and not worth of protection status.
Experts are still debating whether or not the eastern cougar population was/is a subspecies or genetically the same species as the western cougar. If they are genetically the same species, then technically the population was never extinct…just a change in range.
Milford answered the simple debate if a current claimed ML sighting was possible. As the CT ML population’s grow (just like our bear & moose did) & the dreaded attack on a human occurs, the real debate will shift to one about controlling either an invasive or endangered species.

Mike is an animal control officer so may be that is why his words are taken seriously

http://woodbury-middlebury.patch.com/articles/mountain-lion-sighting-in-east-haddam-again-0e663291

He must have seen one and even after almost a year he is not able to forget about it. Like him may here are well established, sensible people, and definitely have seen one, and not able to forget what they have seen.

There has been numerous eyewitness accounts in the East Haddam corridor area to support Mikes report. There is a strong outdoor community in that town that understand wildlife. There does appear to be a cat that is staying in that area. Again not native and not an animal that migrated in but has lasted through the years.

What kind of cat is this, these were taken in early September 2011 on the back perimeter of Bradley International Airport in East Granby.

http://tinypic.com/r/foopt/6

http://tinypic.com/r/jzv9tw/6

http://tinypic.com/r/mcb31j/6

http://tinypic.com/r/n1qmbp/6

@Marc, An Eastern Lynx, (Bobcat).

It’s a bobcat

Hello! kkfbbeg interesting kkfbbeg site! I’m really like it! Very, very kkfbbeg good!

That is a bobcat. Short tail apparent. Need several more feet of tail to make up a mountain lion.

Ed
Those two sightings are actually pretty close to each other and within a span of five days. Sounds like you got a good look but doesn’t appear any data was collected. I suspect this is the same cat they have been seeing in East Haddam and he is just working this area up here a bit. Last year there was a flurry of sightings in Colchester and Salem. Lot of food this time of year with all the new fawns being born and last years off spring that was cast off from the doe and not yet wise enough walking around. Chances are you will never see it again but having the camera out can’t hurt things. Those late night screams you hear, google fisher cat and fox sounds and listen to them as well.

Now look at Eds post. As much as I believe that 80% of the ML sightings are mistaken (a percentage stated my various natualists, not me) HOW can that post be a decription of ANYTHING but a MOUNTAIN LION. It WASN’T walking, it wasn’t a quick glipse, it wasn’t running, jumping, turning, skipping…it was STILL……..

UNLESS, Ed is lying, out and out (and Im not saying that) its GOT TO BE A MOUNTAIN LION.

Also, I’ve never been a big fan of the DEP conspiracy theory……..BBBBBUTTTT……

http://www.cougarinfo.org/lionsupl/coverup.html#coverup

I think I may be softening my stance here……

Nick…

That is most certainly a Bobcat. Yes, it is an unusually colored one, but if you watch the video in slow motion you will clearly see it wiggle it’s 3 or 4″ tail. What you are thinking is a longer tail is it’s hind leg. Watch the video in slow motion and look for the bobbed tail and hind leg. You will see what I am saying.

As to the DEP “conspiracy theory”…..If you are speaking of the popular story that DEP released several Mountain Lions to control deer populations, I find that a bit far-fetched, but if you are speaking of the notion that DEP has a policy of denying that there are Mountain Lions in the state then you are correct. DEP’s policy is there are no Mountain Lions and they are going to stick to it. They don’t have the money to do otherwise.

Personally, I don’t understand the worry about Mountain Lions. The video of the Bobcat from NH that was posted expresses concern about a Mountain Lion attacking a child and while in Western states where Mountain Lions are common there are VERY RARE attacks on humans, all this concern is rather curious given that just a couple of years ago a woman was attacked and killed by Coyotes up in Canada. CT is fair lousy with Coyotes and nobody worries much about it. It is far more likely that someone will be killed by Coyotes in CT than it is that someone will be killed in CT by a Mountain Lion.

Oh yeah, there are a TON of yotes around….getting bigger and bolder every year. I’ve lost two pets in the last year alone. They don’t belong here. BUt, UNTIL exactly what you said happens (a child gets attacked) nothing will be done. I’m currently looking at high power, high speed air guns in order to use it in my neighborhood….Im sick and tired of em. While I am amazed at ML, their grace, power, agility……..I LOOOOOOATHE YOTES (begrudgingly admitting to their intelligence) and I would GLADLY start stacking them like firewood…….

Do you know there are STILL stories going around from certain groups that that Canadian singer WASN’T killed by a coyote…or coyotes should I say?? Its UNBELIEVABLE the lies that will come out when someone has an agenda.

Thanks Kris

Yeah…Id like your opinion on airguns, ive gone back and forth between subs and AG’s for a few weeks now. Questions though..

I have no problem getting a hunting license, but I thought you don’t need one if the animal is on your property and is a danger to pets or farm animals?

I also thought that yotes were year round open season in CT, no??

MY biologist friend who I bring up now and then says that yotes are SOOO far ahead of other animals as far as brains is concerned that its not even a close race. He has told me stories on how they work together to bring down deer….it really is amazing…..but…..

as far as Im concerned, let them go be amazing somewhere else….I’ve seen my wife and kids crying for days cause of them taking two of our cats, the second one didn’t even last a night out. So, if nothing else I am honest about my intentions. A head shot for a clean kill?? I guess if I was pushed, yeah, I would admit that MAYBE I prefer that, but a slow agonizing death….shoot, means NOTHING to me, and I realize its pure vengeance, but hey, if its wrong, Ill pay for it later. They don’t belong here, and everybody is poo pooing the idea that they are gonna be MORE of a menace as the years go by.

I have read that a heavier load, slower, but heavier can make a big enough wind hole, so body shots are fatal also….but have you seen the $$ for those things.

You know, I don’t feel the same way about yotes as I do about ML. I mean a ML can be DEADLY dangerous to humans, but it not like they DEPEND on us….with yotes it seems that they NEED human population to REALLY thrive….like they use US and what belongs to us to a much greater extent than a ML…….I can’t really describe it…they are like TICKS, I guess….but the heart pain I’ve felt cause of these things……..I am closed to WHATEVER rational arguement pp have to why I should ONLY admire them.

NCK,

Yes, coyotes are dangerous to pets, so why put your cats out at night, if that is what you did? That is the most dangerous time for domestic pets to be outside. I have had to notify more than one neighbor in my area after finding their cat dead on my lawn ripped open by coyotes, or bobcats. It’s heartbreaking to see, and more heartbreaking to lose your pet to a cruel and violent death by a wild animal. Keep your cats inside at night, please.

Yote is a fairly common term amongst serious predator hunters.

@ Bob,
I never comment here but when I read you “sighting” of three “Sasquatch”, I just couldn’t help myself. It is fools like you, (I wanted to write a stronger word but am trying to restrain myself),that help discredit those of us who believe we have seen a cougar. It is a tough enough sell that there are ML in cougars in CT – please leave it that.

Do us all a favor and do not post Sasquatch sightings on this blog.
Stay tuned to “Art Bell” on the overnight and phone in all your wild conspriacy theories.
Good night…

@ JK Greyfriars –
I have been following this blog for nearly 2 years. Sadly, the site has slowly devolved from serious ML sightings and disscussion into rants by gun-nuts and crazed conspiracy theorists.
* Btw, what is the TITLE of this blog?

Hey friends, I see your still seeing the kitties. I recently got a pic on my trail cam, pretty nice for a moving target, but cougar or mtn lion for sure. I believe you all are seeing them in your state, matter a fact, I believe the old boys are relocating in all the eastern states a few at a time. People are now saying here in the mtns of Tn. we have allways had them in small numbers. Our deer pop has exploded, and we now have quite a few elk. I believe that’s why we have more cats and more bear. I am fifty and saw my first cougar a few years back, it is like all the animals my ancestors were blessed with are coming back. I am a hunter and a true conservationist for me it is like a dream come true to now have these majestic beast sharing our wilderness. I hope you all enjoy them with caution and respect, remember they are predators and built to kill. Good luck and good hunting, look forward to reading more soon.

Food for thought for the unbeliever, not confirmed in CT. yet, other than 1 male ML. Please read link of the population explosion heading east towards us. Link is below

http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9VCP7103%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=931&page=1

you can copy and paste this link into your browser bar.

I have a leopard for sell contact me on sekoali80@yahoo.com

The only cat (big) that comes in black phases are jaguar or leopords. Mountain lions do not come in black phases. When you hear someone reference a black panther that generally means a black jaguar. Neither exist in most of america.

Nick……

I’m a “Gun Nut”. I own no pistols and no EBRs (Evil Black Rifles) but double barreled shotguns and lever action rifles are as bad or worse than crack for me.

I’ve been a “Gun Nut” since I got my first BB gun at age 7 by selling flower seeds I got out of a comic book.

I shoot a minimum of 200 rounds of shotgun ammo every week at the Sporting Clays range and probably burn another 2-300 rounds per week of rifle ammo at the gun club I belong to.

YUP! I am a “Gun Nut”.

And I have been for almost 50 years And as I mentioned…..no pistols and no “assault rifles”…..though I am thinking about getting one just to piss off the liberals.

Most importantly….I have 48 years of being a “Gun Nut” and I have NEVER used a firearm to harm a human being. And that includes 6 years as a United States Infantryman. 11B and damned proud of it!!! Thank God I was never called upon to go into combat, but I volunteered, I served for 6 years and I’m PROUD I did.

I am PROUD to be a “Gun Nut” and more importantly a responsible gun owner.

No gun has EVER killed anyone. MANY people have been killed by idiots that had guns. It takes a finger to pull the trigger. Without that finger no gun will EVER hurt anyone.

Sorry to get testy, but I’m a “Gun Nut” and proud of it. Buying, selling and shooting guns is my “Joie to vivre”. I don’t even own a TV. I buy guns, I sell guns, I shoot guns, I hunt, I fish and I camp.

And when the money runs out….I work. 🙁

Dee,last year my nephew saw a mountain lion on West Purchase Brook in Southbury.
I also live in Roxbury, on South Street. West Purchase Brook is very close to South Street. Can you tell me if you are also in this part of town?
Tyler, my nephew got a very good look at the mountain lion.He certainly knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion.
Can you post the pictures?

Thanks Dee! Hope you will post your pics somewhere and then let us know where you have posted them.

Peggy: looked up cougars of the valley and it looks like the group that runs it is also ctmountainlions.org

Please check there. It may take a couple of days to see them posted.

No fault of your own on the pictures. They just are not detailed enought to say from the pictures. I am sure you got some feedback from others. However you saw what you saw and the DEEP will not offer any more support. I would recommend if you have not already done so, that you contact your animal control officer with your details. He/she will be the one that will address this issue. There was a meeting held last year with area animal control officeres and the DEEP following the Greenwich sightings on how to handle future calls and what to do if they come across one in their followups. I firmly believe any and all future sightings are going to be more managed/lead by local animal controls than DEEP. Keep the camera ready though!

In response to all you non believers, critics, and skeptics, i respond with dignity, I will once again proclaim the existence of sasquatches, i have seen them myself. the sightings of sasquatches in the buckingham reservoir prove that the area can sustain large wildlife, more specifically predators, the category under which mountain lions fall. i am not a looney bird or a crazy gun nut, but an avid hiker and experienced woodsman.

Bob…..I’m sure you know what you think you saw. Anybody that spends a lot of time in the woods and on the waters of this great country sees some strange things. I’ve seen a few unusual things myself.

But when you say you are not a “crazy gun nut” you demean the value of anything you say. Hunters spend more cumulative hours in the woods than just about anybody else…birders, hikers…what have you. Hunters spend more time in the woods than any of them. And they do it quietly, not crashing through the woods like a herd of cattle….so hunters are more likely to see unusual things, because they are part of the woods, not an intruder.

If you expect anybody to take you seriously, you need to think before you type, rather than randomly insulting entire classes of people.

Ok….as someone who forages in buckingham res in Glastonbury on a regular basis….I gotta know WHERE in the res area have these numerous Sasquatch sightings been occurring?

I lived in a neighborhood bordering the reservoir for 10 years and NEVER even heard an old timer ever mention an apeman…THOUGH this is where I first heard the possibility of a ML being in ct…a neighbor who told me she had seen one cross the road………

Ridgefield’s Reik????

In response to Nck

I had my fist encounter while searching for the indian caves. The Sasquatch was in the swamp across from the main trail as you are about to cross the first bridge if you enter from mountain road. The second sasquatch was located near the sawmill, but far up the trail once again and off aways.

Have we settled this yet?

Hi, I saw one of these one moth ago in my backyard. He was hunting deer. I am sure that it was a puma. I have seen a lot of them from my early age in the Andes mountains. I can recognize them easily. This was close to Mansfield.

We have launched a major initiative to bridge the gap between mountain lion sightings in Connecticut and the lack of photographic evidence. You can read about our project at http://www.indiegogo.com/ctmountainlion.

The highest likelihood of attaining high quality, undisputable video evidence will be with the use of high definition remote tripped trail cameras. A common theme in sightings is nearly 80% are from cars, and are very brief…not optimal for photography.

The newest generation of trail cams are reliable, record in hi-def, and are relatively reasonable in cost. We have six in use now by our field researchers and are appealing to the public through on campaign on indiegogo to raise enough funds to purchase twenty cameras as well as scent stations.

Of note, I was sent the photos mentioned in post 389 by Dee, and although they do remain in the possible category only because of the quality, they are very compelling as is her discription. On the profile view standing under the hammock, the head to body ration is around 1:5.9 which is consistent with a mountain lion.

We truly hope to undisputedly document a wild mountain lion population in Connecticut with our initiative. If you are able to support or campaign with a contribution, it would be greatly appreciated.

Spread the word of our campaign on your social media sites, and PLEASE CONTINUE TO REPORT your sightings on our website at ctmountainlion.org. Reports are taken seriously.

Thanks,
John P

Look forward to seeing the pic

You Connecticut folks sound like you might have it figured it. Here in Massachusetts, the DCR, better known as the Department of Conservation & Recreation have their own theorys on the subject of mountain lions here in the Bay State. Lion sightings in Massachusetts are reported quite regularly and for those who make those reports to the DCR, the response is pretty much the same…”Mountain Lions do not exist in Massachusetts”. When the truth is just the opposite, but the DCR in its infinite wisdom have taken a state-mandated stance that reads “The commonwealth and its citizens have been misinformed as to the presence of mountain lions within its borders…we believe that more often than not, what people believe to be a mountain lion is more often than not, a bobcat or large dog”.
Back in 2004, while driving south on Rt. 7 in Williamstown, MA in a somewhat heavy line of traffic in the vicinity of the Waubeeka Springs Golf Course, something caught my eye running across the green. At first I wasn’t sure as to what it was until I was within 300 feet and as this animal was running toward the highway at a tremendous rate of speed, I saw clearly that it was a mountain lion. How can you tell you ask?…simple…The animal’s tail was as nearly as long as its body with a two tone color of tan and dark brown in the facial area. I was not the only one who saw this as there were dozens of cars traveling both north and south and this cat passed right between them and tore across the cornfield and disappeared into the nearby woods. As of late, mountain lion tracks were discovered on Potter Mountain in Lanesboro, MA, just 13 miles south of Williamstown, MA along with a deer that was splayed in an oak tree 30 feet off the ground with the telltale laceration of the throat that indicated that a large predator with tremendous strength and expert tree-climbing ability was in the vicinity. When contacted, the usual DCR ‘line’ had changed a bit. Their response was “We don’t have mountain lions…we have ‘Ghost Cats” and the telephone at that point was hung up at their end. For me, seeing a mountain lion in this region was quite exhilarating and at the same time, somewhat alarming. Good people of Connecticut, draw your own conclusions because I have my own, and I say there are ‘mountain lions in New England’.

FYI, the state of RI has turned tail on two deer kill sites they originally said were “coyote or bobcat”. They now say they are likely mountain lion sites. This after a number of witnesses confronted them, and an exam was done of the sites. At one, a deer over 100 lbs was killed, and dragged by the head, with the head off the ground, a considerable distance and hidden. Mountain lion tracks were found at both sites. Witnesses all said they saw a cat the size of which clearly wasnt a bobcat. So what now? Guess… its likely an “escaped pet”!!!
Remember the Milford CT. one? They threw that out there when that one came on the scene as well. These agencies have to start changing their approach here, or risk further damaging their credibility.

Heres one link
http://narragansett.patch.com/articles/matunuck-cat-sighting-reviewed-dem-changes-original-position#c

Thats good stuff right there from the Narrangasett patch. Very interesting.

This particular article, “Mountain Lions – Damned Connecticut” illustrates that u truly understand what u r communicating about!
I really entirely agree with your post. Many thanks -George

mdc workers see them on a regular baisis around barkhamstead reservoir and colebrook reservoir.There here and breeding. Fire dep heads who arnt doing there job to inform and protect the public! If any lions are reading this, bite a dep officer in the ass and wakr them up

http://monroe.patch.com/articles/exploring-the-mystery-of-the-monroe-mountain-lion looks like a bobcat to me….https://www.facebook.com/132896883402793/posts/613126728713137

The tail on that cat appears to be too long for a bobcat. However, we (Cougars of the Valley) tried several times to get to the person that took this photo, starting in February. We wished to verify the location where it was taken, and examine the original video and authenticate it. The person would never contact back. This appears to be a “picture of a picture”, which could have been taken virtually anyplace. It becomes very suspect when people dont allow any measures to authenticate the surroundings, and see the originals to confirm them. In February when it was posted, there wasnt as much snow in that town as portrayed, so its unsure when it was allegedly taken. There have been quite a few hoaxes floating around, so these measures have to be taken to take the picture seriously.

Whats a hunters take on finding a dear carcass, tucked away under a river bank, not bloated, neck really, really bent, no visible wounds.

I just found one….NEVER have seen one before. Funny, I just thought of a ML possibility now….at the time, didn’t even cross my mind.

Nothing, right?

It happened last week…..wed. In marlborough on the salmon river. I wasn’t thinking ML at the time, so I didn’t intentionally look for tracks or scat…..but none jumped out at me. It just hit me weird. I USED to hunt and fish, several times a week…back in the 80s and 90s. I NEVER saw any evidence of dead deer, except for an antler…..and

NOW, THIS week, hiking, I came across a deer spine with half a head attached……the spine was clean, the head was just about…….just weird. It could be anything, I know……..and this spot was were a person told me they saw a big cat 2 or 3 times. Huge forest area, for CT. But NOT loaded with those big glacier rock croppings you see in western Connecticut.

Kris….

of course! Yotes! My ole “friends”. Can’t believe i didn’t think of those nasty,mangy things. I loathe those things………too bad, cause they are so intelligent. It’s amazing when you learn about their behavior…..they just don’t belong in ct….

Yep….if these were killed deer, chances are those are the culprits.

At least one of us is thinking!

She was only trying to protect her cubs – not so crazy.

A defensive move isn’t a real “attack”. People should not feed bears, and don’t go near cubs, and there is no problem. Encountered many of them, never an issue.

Coyote attacks have already occurred. In Massacusetts on a kid, New Jersey on a kid, in Connecticut (Branford area I believe) on an adult, Canadian singer mauled and killed by coyote. They present a real concern. Bears are going to be real tough in CT. Weather is correct in his/her assessment. Generally not a problem but they love to eat and the easier the meal the better the reason they are successfully hunted over bait up north. They are proposing a season in CT which will have limited impact on troublesome bears in ag fields for example. The bear in west Hartford had the whole MDC reservoir system to be in. That will always be protected. Yet she ventured out to the houses most likely because there was easy food. If you look at the news articles about incidents with bears in CT most will involve a dog around houses. Some on leashes, tethered outside or loose. I am not sure how you go about managing that other than to tell people that live in bear areas they can only have an indoor dog or you have to move the bear.

Weather and Doc……..
This is a RUMOR going on with this “attack. Again, it is a rumor I heard from a friend in the DEP. I am backing down on my take on this story though, I thought it was really strange her story was that the bear tried to enter the home. On top of the fact that you guys already advised me that you were hesitant to call it an attack…..in fact, you guys pretty much already knew the real story. So here it is….from a dep employee, a field biologist.

This woman had been visited by bears rather on a number of occasions. I guess she was an avid bird feeder and had several feeding places in her yard. Each time a bear was there, she called DEP. DEP responded and on every visit told her that the bear would stop coming if she removed her feeding contraptions. She refused saying that birds had a right to eat also.

From the evidence that dep saw, they THINK that the bear and her cubs got into a face down with this womans dog and the lady kicked the mother bear in an attempt to protect her dog. In kicking the bear, which was CLOSE to the house, NOT trying to get in, her leg swiped across the bears face and she suffered a CUT…..the dep guy told me that if you saw it, it would seem like a scratch from walking through prickers.

Now, they put the bear down, and they say that the woman INSISTED on putting it down. Now, I would think that they would be opposed to putting it down, but I guess not. I guess the people at the DEP are ripping mad…..the whole situation could have been avoided.

I tell you, there have been several instances of bear man encounters in CT. Earlier this year, a guy shot a 40 lb cub with a BB gun (said he was defending his dog), which is stupid, but you would think it would be harmless, but the bb imbedded into the spine, paralyzing the poor thing….and it too had to put down…..really sad. I bet the guy feels like crap too.

I had a business in Canton Ct…..basically in Bear Ally….and in six years of driving back and forth…..at dawn and at night……i NEVER say one lousy bear……im dying to see one.

Well, that story was for what its worth. Sounds believable….to me. Again, its just a rumor.

As far as mountain cats in CT. A few years before my father passed he had told me he saw a mountain lion walked pass the front of his parked car while sitting in if at the base of talcot mountain in bloomfield, CT. I asked him if he could have been mistaken, but he was convinced he knew what he saw. He is from the west coast and has seen them in the northern parts of california growing up. He told me it had a very long tail and walked so close to the front of the car he could clearly see the back of the cat was as high as the hood on his car. Thats a pretty big cat. He has seen bobcats and said what he saw was not a bobcat. I live West Granby where I’ve seen moose twice and bobcats on ocasion … Plenty of wildlife here. Aside from all of that, im wrting this since my wife was in the garden today and saw a larger than normal cat jump from the tall grass behind our stone wall and then run into the woods only 50 feet from her. Im not sure what my wife saw, but what she described doesnt fit the description of any wild cats i know, and seemed to small to be a mountain lion. She said it was not as big as a german shepard, but much larger than a cat. When it jumped she could hear the thump of its paws so the cat had considerable weight. The cat was seen near our stone wall where we knew of a rabbits den. Heres whats puzzling about what my wife saw. No spots or flecks, long tail that was “S” shaped unlike a bobcat, darker tip tail, but probably only 60lbs. Doesnt sound like a bobcat, but too small for a mountain lion. Hmmmm – dont know? ive never seen a mountain lion here, but i do believe some of the mountain lion sightings to be credible. I know growing up there was less wildlife in this area, but now returning and believe its very possible a very few (or faimly) of mountain lions are here.

FYI guys we did do a podcast on this recently.
http://goo.gl/95QLVn

Ok, I’m going to let the cat out of the bag (sorry). You want to find a mountain lion? Those of us that live where they are have known for years the secret. Just go take a drive around the Barkhamsted Resevoir. It’s MDC property and off limits to the public, but if you head through Hartland and go around the backside to Riverton enough times, you’ll eventually see what you’re looking for. Couple years back there was even a pair seen together on multiple occasions, breeding?

most definite been seen in Washington and Woodbury off Flanders

Oh Russ, Russ, you must work for the DEEP. Don’t you recall one got hit in Milford a couple of years ago? Don’t you recall the instant claim it was an “escaped pet”? Well it turns out it wasn’t. Then the silly story of the cat that walked from South Dakota, that doesn’t hold up when you examine it closely. That being said, This same scenario is playing out in Michigan, but they are a bit ahead of us. Years of sightings, no pictures, no scat, no hit cat, DFW saying that alone means they aren’t here. Well guess what, the Michigan wildlife conservancy got angry being told they were nuts, and flooded the area with game cams. It took 6 years before they got the first photo. Guess what? It was right where the reports were coming from for decades. Then the wildlife folks from the state did an inventory of sorts, and while they didn’t see a cat (They do hide from people you know), they found scat from up to 20 individuals present. So now they admit, they are there. Now confirmed in New Brunswick, and Quebec as well. And guess what? Similar DNA to the CT cat, similar to the South Dakota cats. Turns out all the Michigan ones were too. Why? They are and all have been from the same roots. Lets see, confirmations in Maine, Vt, Rhode Island, it goes on and on. Now we have tracks from Winchester, MA. as well. You can continue to be a member of the friends of DEEP, but be aware, you are going to look very silly over the next decade. Awful lot of evidence around lately. Keep in mind, this animal is the most elusive animal on the planet.

Well I guess a cougar dead on the road isn’t good enough, tracks and scat aren’t good enough, not sure what “proof” to you is. Nobody has hit bigfoot or a alien with a car on the road in CT yet I guess so all is well.

DNA tests show that a 140-pound mountain lion killed last month on a Connecticut highway had walked more than 1,500 miles east from the Black Hills of South Dakota., state officials said today.

The epic journey was the longest ever recorded for a mountain lion.

“The confirmation of a wild mountain lion in our state was the first recorded in more than 100 years,” said Daniel Esty, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “This is the first evidence of a mountain lion making its way to Connecticut from western states and there is still no evidence indicating that there is a native population of mountain lions in Connecticut.”

The department explained the genetic sleuthing in a news release:

The genetic tests reveal information about the mountain lion’s origin and travels were conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Wildlife Genetics Laboratory in Missoula, Montana. DNA tests show that tissue from the Milford mountain lion matches the genetic structure of the mountain lion population in the Black Hills region of South Dakota.

The Forest Service lab also compared the Milford mountain lion’s DNA to DNA samples collected from individual animals occurring outside of the core South Dakota population. This led to a match with DNA collected from an animal whose movements were tracked in Minnesota and Wisconsin from late 2009 through early 2010. DNA from the Connecticut specimen exactly matched DNA collected from an individual mountain lion at one site in Minnesota and three sites in Wisconsin.

The Midwestern DNA samples were obtained by collecting scat (droppings), blood and hair found while snow tracking the mountain lion at locations where sightings of the animal were confirmed. In addition, at least a half dozen confirmed sightings of a mountain lion in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are believed to be of the same animal. The distance between the first documentation in Minnesota and the spot where the animal was killed by a vehicle is nearly 1,000 miles and is nearly double the longest distance previously recorded for a dispersing mountain lion.

Male mountain lions normally “disperse” in search of females, but usually travel only about 100 miles.

The big cat, which was fully grown and younger than six, was hit by a car and killed June 11 on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Conn. It had been seen earlier in June in Greenwich

This is so ridiculous, just like “Champ” in Lake Champlain, and bigfoot all over the country, skunk ape in Florida, Nessie in England, and the list goes on and on. This is like Santa Claus, until you finally grow up and realize there isn’t one. Everyone delves in this type of fantasy, because it is fun to believe in. Somehow they have been seen in the state for 50 years, yet have been known not to be in the state for over 100 years. So many sightings, but no evidence! Florida has a small population of 100 or so, yet every year 10-15 are found dead on the highway, from automobile impact, so in 100 years 1 gets hit, originating from another state, and presto, they are now populating CT. Funny, no one has scat, a camera when siting them, or no other factual evidence of any kind.

See this, THE DNA SAMPLES WERE NOT SIMILAR, THEY WERE AN EXACT MATCH!

This led to a match with DNA collected from an animal whose movements were tracked in Minnesota and Wisconsin from late 2009 through early 2010. DNA from the Connecticut specimen exactly matched DNA collected from an individual mountain lion at one site in Minnesota and three sites in Wisconsin. – See more at: https://damnedct.kathrynfrank.com/dmndwp/mountain-lions-litchfield-hills/#sthash.2VKAdwEc.dpuf

Look, I’m done with this foolish argument, they don’t exist in CT, and the population in Florida is not dense, it is 100 total, and there is more undeveloped land in Florida by a 1000-1 ration than Ct. Yet, evidence exists everywhere they are here, with 100 spread over an area so much greater than CT. I’m done with this foolish thread, let me know when you spot one, might be 100 yrs.

Interesting that the officials have been phrasing things so carefully that they have gotten quoted as saying the match was identical. They are liers.

I have a client who lived on Duncaster Road in Bloomfield who’s father is well know for a reproduction period home builder who has a photo of which I have personally seen with a mountain lion or cougar sitting next to a two car garage. If you think this id fake your are living in denial. I own a real estate company for over 20 years and only have saw 1.

Greg Heineman

P.s. I wish these people who deny the fact them of seeing them really enjoy their pay. Because you are FULL OF BENEFITS. Enjoy.

not seeing them really enjoy their pay.

Connecticut is FULL of Mountain Lions
Tthere most certainly are mountain lions living AND breeding here! I’ve seen actual lions and/or scat, pawprints w/ claws and tail-drags, smelled their territorial markings, seen felled deer with back legs gone or neck twisted, and lastly – proof that they’re breeding – seen a mother lion after feeding and an unmistakable cub. These are NOT bobcats, they have long tails unlike the ‘bob’ cat which is so named for its stubby tail and, there’s no mistaking one if you know the simple difference. I’ve come to the conclusion that the officials are lying because they’ve never followed up on my claims and for the one that WAS caught dead a few years ago, they said it came from Montana…simply bs! Their territorial range is only 60 miles normally. My father saw one in the 1930s right in East Windsor. I saw one several times in East Windsor (where I found two dead deer on separate occasions and the cub with light colored furr and spots that looked like a raccoon-sized, fat tummy kitten). Saw one in Cheshire. Found dead deer in Cheshire, another time a bone left over from a meal. Tracks and bone in Middletown by Wadsworth Falls. One up on Meriden Mountain. I suspect they live in any and every forest in Connecticut that is not inhabited by people. The officials know better, so do the state police who are aware. They need to come clean because there IS evidence out there that a lot of other people have as well.

Mountain Lions
Depending on the region you live in, mountain lions are also referred to as mountain cats, panthers, and cougars. Anyway, with that said, I have seen mountain lions near my home here in eastern Connecticut. Some, even cross the highway (Route 6 East), about a mile up the road, into wooded areas off the highway. There is nothing cryptozoological about these cats.

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