And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. Sign up below to receive the weekly newsletter, which also includes top trending stories and what all the locals are talking about! I told family and close friends as I was very excited about it .I have hunted deer my whole life and had seen bobcats and lynx but there was no mistaken this catamount! Bernier gets more than 50 reports of mountain lions a year. The regions top predator, the coyote, is classified by biologists as a mesopredator (a type that in New England includes skunks and raccoons), which feeds primarily on smaller animals. There is no question about it: cougars are not only being seen in eastern North America, some are attempting to recolonize their former habitats. More information visit www.nature-museum.org. Records suggest that cash bounties for cougar kills were relatively common in the late 1700s and early 1800s; in the Adirondacks, a trapper named Thomas Meacham was credited with 77 cougar kills. Its important not to rule any possibilities out, including the chance of a mountain lion, according to Bernier. Another big cat look-alike in the area is the Canada Lynx, distinguishable from Eastern bobcats by their large feet. [4] However, the 1946 taxonomy is now in question. And yet there I was, on a Saturday in early November, crammed into a booth with Bo Ottmann, 48, and Bill Betty, 72, of Cougars of the Valley, the organization that Ottmann founded in 2007 to gather evidence of and alert the public to the big cats living among us. There was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a sharp-thorned bush that soon drew blood from Ottmanns right hand. Mountain Lion fever Back in 2002 I saw a full grown mountain lion in Dummerston Vermont on east/west road. There are also many unconfirmed sightings. If you dont think cougars are coming to the East, think again, she said, leaning forward for emphasis. Mountain Lion. Skip to content. You could have 50. Mountain Lions Are Back in Vermont! Until recently, it was thought that the last mountain lion (a very big cat -- aka a catamount) disappeared from our state decades ago. I dont know what they are, bigger than my 50 pound dogs foot prints. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. It stared at him for a few seconds and then took some steps towards him, eventually turning the other way and sliding into the undergrowth. Morally i mean Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. By mid-19th century, forests made up only about 30 percent of New England (its notable that today that number stands at approximately 80 percent, nearer to what it was when cougars thrived here). http://www.unionleader.com/pda-articrespectful+way. In 2011, a cougar was hit by a car and killed on a Connecticut highway. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. I noticed that there were many great websites, blogs, and discussion boards devoted to mountain lion sightings in other states of New England, but not one just for Vermont. Lutz, P.O. 0. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. There was NO doubt it was a cat, it was huge about the size of a Great Dane, sleek and leggy. But that was OK. Bo Ottmannknew they were out there. One time a found a perfect mt lion print in the soft silt by the bull run stream only 70 yards from my front door. Hed encouraged me to keep my eyes open for deer carcasses cached in the trees (according to Ottmann, cougars are fantastic climbers and are known to stash their kills high in trees), but I saw only leaf-bare branches. Still, sightings are common. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. The worker was in his truck when the cats crossed the road in front of the dog-walker, Snow said. Cris Ericson 802-289-1000. Sincerely, We strolled across the tavern parking lot and ducked into the forest, where Ottmann maintains a portion of his $15,000 worth of wildlife recording equipment (hes had no luck capturing a cougar on camera, though, despite more than a decade of trying). In many cases, what people may think is a mountain lion is actually an Eastern bobcat, a species with a breeding population in Vermont. Or click the map itself. One cat will leave more than 10,000 tracks per day. I never told anyone but family. The cat is dead. There were reported sighting of it but Vermont and NH denied the allegations. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. At first my husband thoughtwow huge dog and it turned its head and it was a cat. John Lutz, Eastern Puma Research network.. Hi I am from Arlington, vt. could you email me the pic and the story behind it please, thanks. A few years latter our friends saw the mt lion cross rt 100 directly below the spot of my incounter. But a high-profile sighting in 2011 stirred up renewed interest in the animals here, when a mountain lion from South Dakota was hit and killed by a car on a Connecticut highway. Hi Mike. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. What a site. The tavern was quiet except for some hard-rock music playing on the radio, the murmur of a handful of men at the bar, and us. Until recently, it was thought that the last mountain lion (a very big cat -- aka a catamount) disappeared from our state decades ago. of Energy & Environmental Protection. Morse is a Vermont-based naturalist and the founder of Keeping Track, a nonprofit that trains people in the scientific protocols needed to detect, interpret, record, and monitor wildlife tracks and signs. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. Yet I also remembered something Sue Morse had told me months before, as we sat in her living room drinking beer and chatting cats. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. And its not just Vermont. You might enjoy reading the comments, > There are plenty of places for a family of animals. 99 Beagle Boot Lane For example, a mountain lion native to North Dakota made it as far as Connecticut in 2011, according to Bernier. Visit VAL and learn more . Welcome to the blog dedicated to discussing mountain lion sightings in Vermont! The cougar was so close I could smell it. Laura: Did you report the dead mountain lion to the state Highway Dept. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann. If you have a cell phone telephone number I can send photos to, I will send you photos of the prints in the snow around my porchside door. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. Subsequent DNA testing found that the animal was from South Dakota. Please email us at editor@staging.mountaintimes.info thank you!! This is Christina, I used to work with you at the YMCA in Burlington. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. According to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, only four confirmed sightings occurred in the state from the late 1700s to the early 2000s. Cat. I showed several farmers and they all said wow that is a huge cat track. Like Tate, he gets a lot of photos and . The Network's interactive map also shows confirmed sightings in Quebec, Maine, Connecticut and New York State. Of course no real good tracks on the hard packed driveway but I know what I saw and heard. Apparently, Barnaby is blind because he couldnt see it. He didn't want to dispute what people are saying they saw, he simply says they need proof to substantiate it. Dashboard for displaying mountain lion reports to the public. We walked to the other side of it to get a better view (its back was to us) and it suddenly realized we were there and jumped up and looked right at us. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Mountain Lions Not Just a Tall Tale in Adirondacks. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: It is possible that cougars of unknown origin may be breeding to a limited extent in Vermont. I studied the track it was the front paw left in the silt while the cat was drinking from the brook. And somebody hollering. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. On the other side, there are those (as represented here by Bill Betty and Bo Ottmann, along with a number of others I spoke with) who say the overwhelming quantity of anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. I could never forget your love for the big cats! Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. I know it wasnt a Bob Cat, as I have seen them a few times in the wild, while hiking in the woods in southern Connecticut. We need them for the health of our forests.. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. Maysville, WV 26833 3 Last 10 Years. Anyway, I hope you see this message. I have been investigating big cat reports across the eastern U.S., since 1963, have collected over 11,000 sightingsThis message is NOT a joke!! Indeed, in 2011, a male cougar was hit and killed by a car in Milford, Connecticut; through its DNA, wildlife biologists were able to trace the cat back to South Dakotas Black Hills, some 2,000 miles distant. Growing up in northern Vermont, Id heard stories of sightings, though always a few steps removed from the tellersomebodys cousin had seen a cougar cross the road on their way home from deer camp up in Canaan (or was it Coventry? Take some great pictures, leave it alone and enjoy the experience, Barrett said. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. The cat traveled down through New York and was last sighted at Lake George in New York state before it was hit by a car and killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Connecticut. I do this shit.. Your email address will not be published. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. dr bondra fremont, ohio obituary; is francis leo marcos related to ferdinand marcos Vermont's last known cougar, also known as a mountain lion or catamount, was killed in 1881 in Barnard. (Photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society) 35 wild cougars, known as the Florida Panther, of which a few are totally BLACK, and known as panther, but are actually of the jaguar family In the last few days, 3 sightings have been reported to us, large brown cats in Tennessee and Indiana, a total black cat, in Virginia. In 2011, genetic testing confirmed that a mountain lion originated in South Dakota and traveled more than 1,500 miles before being struck by a car on the Merritt Parkway, according to Reuters. The last catamount killed in Vermont stands under glass just inside the doors to the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier, a hop, skip, and a jump down the block from the statehouse. Founded in 1971, the paper has gone through many transitions, now expanding into web and mobile platforms in addition to its weekly newspaper and semi-annual magazines. I will not go into the woods unarmed anymore ever. Canada Lynx. There were also people who spoke of seeing prints in a specific area in Hartland as well. Around 7:10 pm this evening August 02, 2022 my wife entered our Oakwood Farm business off 6 Weed Road in Essex Center with headlights on. It was dark so I couldnt get a good look but I waited till it came out past a vehicle and saw the outline of the entire body. When one person submitted a blurry photo to the newspaper-they printed it, the authorities saying it was a dog I believe if I recall correctly. Brown. Dan Moore::: IN reference to your big cat crossing Route 113, YES, mountain lions/cougars/pumas, 3 of the most popular names for North Americas largest unspotted, lion-cat, travelling free in almost every state, across the USA. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. The tails gotta be there. Though the infamous catamount has been declared extinct in Vermont since 2018, several people spotted big cats that they thought to be mountain lions on Ripley Road two weeks ago, according to posts on Front Porch Forum. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. So special. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. 2023 The Mountain Times, Outer Limits Publishing LLC | All rights reserved. And consider, for a moment, the concern and outright fear an official acknowledgment of such a carnivorous and predatory creature might evoke. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, Connecticut Dept. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of, Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here, After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Much as I liked Ottmann and Betty, and much as I found some of their evidence compelling, I was struggling to reconcile their more provocative claims with the restraint expressed by the many other experts Id spoken with. Li mistaking that long swaying tail. Hawley: That animal was documented. I'll tell you that.. Very Very fast. 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