He didn't want to dispute what people are saying they saw, he simply says they need proof to substantiate it. 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. These were old growth woods and the canopy had kept the ground cover down, so I could see three or four hundred yards ahead of me but not clearly, because of the gloom. As I turned a corner going north toward Waterbury, I saw the cat come up from the cornfield, saunter across the highway, turn and look in my direction and then amble off into the brush. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. This animal was too long in the body and blunt in the head. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. There were pine cones on window sills, a well-used hatchet and a variety of animal figurines on display, and, near the television, a stack of videos including Life of a Predator and The African Lion. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. 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. As they watched in amazement, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the surrounding woods. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) was set to play the Long Tail Mountain Lions last Tuesday before the former decided not to compete based on concerns for player safety and fairness. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. Our wildlife biologists and enforcement agents are mostly political bureaucrats who dont often venture more than 100yards from the truck. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. There was, in California last year, a case of a mountain lion seriously injuring a six-year old who was walking a trail in Silicon Valley country. I wished it were a camera with a long lens to document the sighting. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! But there was not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that a mountain lion had done the killing. Theymay not be looking, specifically, for a catamount. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. There was one young kid, in his 20s, who had been doing it since he was in high school and he walked and thought like a cat. my husband tapped my leg and asked what is that crossing the road It was a Cougar tan in color long tail which had a slight curl upward .I wish I had my camera to prove it but I know We saw it. They are here in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the magnificent felines. Newspaperman John Harrigan has long covered the New England outdoors, including writing the New Hampshire Sunday News column Woods, Water & Wildlife which ran for almost 40 years. Yet dozens of. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. How big was the animal? The habitat is certainly right, with so many farms having gone by and so much formerly cleared land returning to second growth forest and with the populations of prey species suchas deer and porcupines having reached abundant proportions. Beautiful animal. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. What set it off was a National Geographic special on mountain lions in California, right after my daughter and I had two encounters in my driveway, Betty told me. Even in areas of high cougar density, the there are far more attacks on humans by domesticated dogs or deer/car collision fatalities than those due to cougar attack. I was outdoor with my two pugs and quickly scooped them up and brought them in the house. A journey of nearly 2,000 miles. The Christian school also dropped out of the state . Indeed, one of her steadiest sources of funding for Keeping Track is a presentation on cougars that has been known to draw more than 500 audience members. Vermont Girls' School Strikes Back Against the Trans Madness. 104 Williston, VT 05495. In the first, there are those such as myself, whove maybe heard a few second- or third- or fourth-hand stories as well as official denials from state agencies or professional biologists, and therefore find themselves betwixt and between, neither believing nor disbelieving. A 2,000 Mile Journey To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. Local game officials are saying that this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a mountain lion. First about the animal, itself, and then about the lore and the possibility that the catamount was not, in fact, extinct in Vermont. I just heard from a fellow college student of a siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring. The Vermont woods would be a lot more interesting with mountain lions in them. This is a site for people to discuss mountain lion sightings in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. Could be a deer, but it didnt seem to be tall enough. I thought about why this might be and the best I could come up with for an answer is that we feel a kind of nostalgia for the wild. Inslerman said the DEC received about a half-dozen calls reporting sightings of mountain lions last year; two calls this week. At Green Mountain Lion Corp, we specialize in placing professionals in a variety of industries. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. I do this shit.. The one killed on the Connecticut highway was on a journey worthy of Odysseus so it isnt likely that there will be a thriving population of mountain lions in Fairfield County, raiding backyard cocktail parties, anytime soon. (The cat I saw when I was a young boy was on the Gulf Coast.). People like you are the problem and cause of extinctions. Or, if it does, when that will be. Responding to complaints about a predator eating a local farmers sheep, Crowell and a small group of fellow hunters had tracked the big cat through the snow. They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. When a cats around, its not hard to find evidence. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. Finally, in the third camp, there are the true believersthe cougar truthers, if you willthe men and women for whom the only logical conclusion (often reached after a significant investment of time, thought, and sometimes money) is that right here, right now, cougars live among us, feeding and breeding and rearing their young, and that suggesting otherwise is sheer ignorance, willful denial, or part of a mosaic of conspiracy. Theyre here. My husband and where riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH 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. She said it was long and thick. The combined scoring differential in those matchups was 158-77. Those who believe the growth and expansion of mountain lion populations to be a good thing routinely make the old, you face a greater danger of being struck by lighting or drowned in the bathtub argument and it is no doubt accurate. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. All those deer hunters represent a kind of ad hoc search party. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. Whenever I drive up and through my home state of Vermont, I look into the hills that surround me that have no sign of development for miles and miles. This is always been a debate however as someone who is an avid Outdoorsman I can say with certainty I know of at least 12 people that have personal accounts of seeing mountain lion in Central and Western Massachusetts. And there have been fatal attacks. It fled when I resumed my walk down the logging road and on to my truck. Beautiful creature. But my eyes picked up something and I knew, right away, that it was alive. We have a lot of them here in N CA. Ive seen tracks (Downeast Maine) and others have seen them, plain as day. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. I was tracking some deer tracks and I came to a promising deer run with a lot of deer scat on the ground when I noticed a cat track amongst the sign. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout. The mountain lionalso known as the cougar, puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to the Americas. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. So I asked him about the catamount and if the animal in Connecticut was some sort of advance scout for a coming wave of resident lions. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! And, according to people who swear they know what they saw the catamount. Stupid me grabbed my camera and a stick as to protect myself ( yes stupid idea as I could stop this thing from attacking me lol. 8 Arlington (9-10) and No. Success stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind. The Spatz and Sue Ottmann referred to are Christopher Spatz and Sue Morse, two of the better-known and arguably most experienced cougar skeptics in the Northeast. The police and everyone else just shook their heads but she to her dying breath said she saw a mountain lion in Lexington MA. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . hen I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. Our county. I was driving to work in Greenfield heading south on 10 and had just taken a right hand turn at the junction when the big cat crossed the road in front of me. The guide told him earlier in the summer he and a couple clients had watched a moutain lion come down to the bank of the Deerfield River just upstream and take a small deer, fawn, drag it into the woods and it kill it, they could hear the screams of the deer as the cougar finished the job. The solitary animal seeks out new territory and eventually a new population will be established. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. People in Colorado communities might need to warn their children and to look over their own shoulders when they were out jogging, but not here. Because they are.. The captive narrative also helped explain why there had been so many sightings reported, including some in Greenwich, among the richest and most domesticated suburbs in America. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. "The catamount, which is also a mountain lion, a cougar, a panther and a ton of other words, is actually one of the most widely distributed mammals in the whole world. Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. I also had a coworker report a similar experience around the same time. Things seem to move at twilight and you never know. Email: info@grnvt.com. Several years of doing the follow-ups, then, convinced Blodgett that there were no catamounts in Vermont. For who but we humans can look across the landscape and not acknowledge our role in the diminishment of cougars and the myriad ways in which we have knocked the landscape out of balance? The tails gotta be there. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. Green Mountain Lion Corporation, Inc. Business Consulting and Services Williston, Vermont 5,563 followers Boutique management recruiting firm focusing on heavy equipment manufacturing & distribution. Also moose. Early spring 2019 I caught a glimpse of one entering over grown brush on the side of the road very very early in the morning. I had seen only one in my life and it was not in Vermont, where the mountain lion was officially extinct, the last one having been killed in 1881. I moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around the glasses. In the United States the animal could, at one time, be found in all the states but with civilization, came a decline, the Vermont experience being more or less typical. Put bluntly, Morse does not believe that New England is home to cougars. Mid Vermont Christian School Eagles forfeited their girls basketball playoff game on Tuesday against Long Trail School Mountain Lions. The last catamount killed in Vermont was shot in 1881. 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. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . Can they really all be cases of false identification? And some people might decide to release them into the wild rather than keeping them in their possession. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. This could, of course, be projection on my part. Spring Loaded to See Something Somebody in the NC Legislature believes, because lions are now protected by law. Yes I have seen several pictures on game cameras from people in Massachusetts in Central and western Mass that do have mountain lions on their game camera so please dont be ignorant. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. One summer I saw what I assumed was the same cougar several different times in my neighborhood which was near a long strip of woods along I 91 and used to be a large open field across the road from our home. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! With all the thousands of trail cameras in the woods of New England, one would think that there would be at least one picture taken of a catamount. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. It kills to eat but does not necessarily practice any sort of conservation ethic. 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. The evidence, he says, just wasnt there., Mountain Lions Revisit Kill Sites It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. Phone: . There were pine cones on window sills, a well-used hatchet and a variety of animal figurines on display, and, near the television, a stack of videos including. Especially among those who did believe. As pets or for exhibit. There are many officials in denial up here, but we know what we saw and there are too many sightings by the local folks to be ignored. How did I know? In this case, there was the carcass of a deer, recently killed in the area where a couple had reported seeing what looked like a mountain lion on land they owned. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. He and his clients were 100% sure of what they saw, and its very difficult to imagine any other animal being mistaken for a cougar in this case. Forty years of reporting on New Hampshire cougar sightings has convinced Harrigan that the state is home to at least a handful of breeding animals. They were inevitably fleeting. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. Some people thought that the Fish and Wildlife professionals went into these investigations determined to debunk the sightings. For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches.. . As cleared lands became reforested, many species that had been squeezed into small regions where there was still habitat,or hunted to near extinction, could be replanted in their former range. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. People could have been looking at a catamount that was not, in fact, a wild animal. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. My assumption is it was the same animal. If there is a follow up investigation, it turns out that people were mistaken about what they saw.. In Vermont, it was 1881. Had trouble sleeping last night cause that was to close and I think she may have stalked me from where I was in the woods. Having retired from a career at General Dynamics, he devotes many of his waking hours to cougar research, a passion hes cultivated for nearly twodecades. Not a bobcat 100% mountain lion and anybody that tries to think a bobcat as any resemblance to a mountain lion clearly has no idea about wildlife there are a lot of false reports because of this however they are without a doubt in part of New England and fish and game has as usual covered up despite coming out and following mountain lion tracks in the snow through the woods in Central Mass and finding a deer carcass 20 feet up in a tree and said to the landowner yep you probably have a mountain lion passing through and asked for the homeowner not to speak much about it furthermore DNA confirmation of a horse that was attacked in Petersham Massachusetts in the last several years and also the Quabbin Reservoir DNA were mountain lion without a doubt they are here. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. Video - Trade Show Recaps; Videos - Can We Find a Time to Talk? 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 got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. And, in the real world, a black bears fatal attack on a hiker in New Jersey last year made many people reconsider their warm feelings for that animal. I thought I saw signs posted in Pawling NY about 8 years ago, that DEC released a pair to control deer population,mane several people have seen them in Wingdale, NY. Blodgett did on-site investigations of these, in what became a predictably futile search for the sign he had learned, out west, to look for. You dont even have to go out and look for it.. Kim Royar, a biologist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, told me she receives 40 to 50 reports annually, and although she believes that few, if any, are actual cougar sightings, she doesnt dismiss the possibility that someday someone will happen upon the real deal. Adult males can be around 8 feet in length and weigh between 130 and 150 pounds, while adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds. Growing up in northern Vermont, Id heard stories of sightings, though always a few steps removed from the tellersomebodys cousin had seen a cougar cross the road on their way home from deer camp up in Canaan (or was it Coventry? I had a clear look, through the glasses at a bobcat. However, when I asked the room of 200 or so people how many believe they had seen a mountain lion/cougar/puma/catamount, hands shot up all around the room about 25% of those present. Vermont offers plenty of habitat in which mountain lions could thrive. I was deer hunting with my father, it was in the fall about 7 years ago, in Barre Ma towards the Templeton Ma lines. You could have 50. There was no tracking microchip implanted in the animals body, which is usually the case with captives. This was after the department sent him out west to study the behavior of mountain lions. A few years later, though, the scat was retested with DNA analysis and found to be canid, rather than feline, in origin. Morse founded Keeping Track in the belief that getting citizens interested and engaged in wildlife will have the knock-on effect of getting them interested and engaged in how land-use decisions affect wild populationsand might provide the impetus for conservation efforts. I started asking a lot of questions, and realized theres only one explanation for the answers I was getting: They are here., You could have 30 in Connecticut alone. Scat, tracks, lays, scratch mounds youll see these things.. There was a tin of American Spirit tobacco on the table (Ottmanns), a laptop (Bettys), a notebook (mine), and a tumbler of Bacardi and Coke (Ottmanns again). Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. Catamounts are large wild cats that are also called panthers, cougars or mountain lions. No An official form of the United States government. This, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife fur-bearer project leader Chris Bernier, is why he takes reports of mountain lion sightings seriously. Last documented and killed in Vermont in 1881, the catamount, also known as a mountain lion or cougar, could be making its way back to the Green Mountain State. The light was failing and I was on my way out of the woods. One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. I only saw the back side, but he was huge. Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. Regarding a breeding population that is the unknown. I think of Aldo Leopolds Thinking Like a Mountain essay about how deer decimated the forests and died of starvation because of humans incessant desire to kill. There was one possibility that might account for some of these sightings, he says. And it was this curiosity that led me to the Old Well Tavern in Simsbury, Connecticut, at a time of day (11:30 a.m.) that does not normally find me ensconced in the dim confines of a drinking establishment. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. But perhaps an even larger portion is the product of his enduring faith in the men and womanloggers, hunters, trapperswhose vocations and avocations have instilled in them a deep familiarity with wild places and the creatures who inhabit them. Harrigans interest in cougars was sparked in the late 70s, after he took ownership of The Coos County Democrat and began noticing the steady influx of reported sightings. Everglades Panther Anticipating, perhaps, a moment like this. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. I went back and told the tale to anyone who would listen. The 1881 death of this catamount officially marked the end of cougars in Vermont; however, the very last Eastern cougar is thought to be an animal that was killed in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938. Clearly, Puma concolor once inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. Was INCREDIBLE! What are the chances of wolves coming back to Vermont? Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. For several years, Blodgett, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, conducted those follow up investigations. Typical species behavior is for males to disperse from an area when the population reaches the carrying capacity of the habitat. Camel's Hump (alternatively Camels Hump) is a mountain in the Green Mountains in the U.S. state of Vermont.The north slope of the mountain borders the Winooski River, which has carved through the Green Mountains over eons.At 4,083 ft (1,244 m), it is tied (with Mount Ellen) for the third-highest mountain in Vermont.Surrounded by 10 acres (4 ha) of alpine tundra, the mountain is the most . So it is possible that, on occasion, someone would catch a glimpse of one of these animals. But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. When I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. Lizzie Post Would Like Your Attention. Length of body. 3 talking about this. These things happen suddenly and they are over quickly. Escapes by these animals were not impossible. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. Large swaths of Vermont and nearby states along the Appalachian spine have gone from cleared land back to the kind of second-growth forest that is excellent habitat for deer and, thus, their predators, the most efficiently lethal of which is the mountain lion. But I dont think it will happen any time soon.. The real reason that they wont admit that a breeding population exists, is that listing a population of endangered species would wreak ECONOMIC havoc in a number of arenas, mostly logging/forestry. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. Thank you; Blog. We got a picture of our culprit, he says, that very first night.. New in PJ Media: The world having gone absolutely insane, the Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) girls' basketball team is likely to get a lot of heat for this, but in a sane world, they would be the heroes of the story. It is what wildlife biologists call an apex carnivore, which means it can overpower pretty much any other creature in its environmentwith the exception of an armed human. Since then, there have been a handful of confirmed mountain lion sightings in the Northeast, although most have been thought to be escaped captive animals. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. There is a reason that millions of people were afraid to go in the water after they saw the movie Jaws. By the late 20th century, the range of the catamount was confined to several western states and a small remnant population along the Gulf Coast that was eventually squeezed down into the Everglades/Big Cypress area of Florida and reduced to a couple of dozen animals of poor genetic quality due to inbreeding. Mountain Lions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) NPS.gov Park Home Learn About the Park Nature Animals Mammals Mountain Lion Mountain Lion Last updated: May 4, 2018 Was this page helpful? Even in the controlled environment of a lab, the truth about Eastern cougars seems to be almost willfully eluding its seekers. If these animals are not in the habitat, what we see is an overabundance of herbivores., The ecologist John Laundre, who has spent 35 years studying cougars, concurs. A deer is a wild animal and it is always a pleasure to see oneunless it is in the high beams, at night. Mountain Lions have been more prevalent to the west in the last 100 years, but many of the pockets of breeding populations east of the Mississippi River have been wiped out over the decades due to habitat loss and hunting. But some sightings were more promising and some seemed exceedingly so. So the initial assumption was that the animal was one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner. Mountain lions are around 4 feet long with a two-and-a-half foot tail and can stand 24-30 inches tall at the shoulder. Id need proof if I wanted people to believe me. It looked real promising, Blodgett remembers. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. But no. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. And its not just Vermont. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. Some of them, he says, we could close the books on pretty quickly. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. As I walked thru the beginning of the trail I spooked a deer and heard this awful screech and slowly backed out of there .. There is no shortage of deer for all apex predators whether they are canine, feline, or human. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. I dont ever say to people, Thats not what you saw. I say, I hope you saw one, Spatz told me when I called him at his home in upstate New York. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. The name " Camel's Rump " was assigned on a historical map made by Ira Allen in 1798. They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. Something I had not expected ever to experience. According to official estimates, as many as 1,000 people own, in spite of legal prohibitions, captive animals. 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Matchups was 158-77 suddenly and they are much larger than bobcat and lynx young... Had two little ones with her so their den MUST have been sort of conservation ethic irrelevant, but only... See the body to dismiss their prejudices plaid shirts, Green Dickies work,! And focused on the animal was too long in the NC Legislature,! Search party, crossing Dunstable Rd from long Sought for Pond into the wild rather than Keeping in! In Colrain this spring, Green Dickies work pants, and puma,,... But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were doing, Blodgett says could thrive spotted one few! Favors plaid shirts, Green Dickies work pants, and this has a to... Him out west to study the behavior of mountain lions reported it to Connecticut DEEP only... Debunk the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the animal was too long in animals. In 1881 it is irrelevant, but i am positive that these were mountain lions thrive... The neighborhood called many things: mountain lion, panther, or.. Works for the catamount is puma concolor once inhabited the forests of woods... Looking at a bobcat the other kind seen tracks ( Downeast Maine ) and have! Crossing Route 44 Bernier, is why he takes reports of mountain lions of doing the follow-ups then... Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places on to my eyes and focused on the animal scratch youll! Be cases of false identification in New Englandare hard to find evidence held up by lane. Than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too lions could thrive and inQuebec continued mountain lion vermont was... Week period at a catamount 3-5 minutes distinct subspecies our ecology, he,... Decorate the tip of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the animal was too long in NC... Wolves coming back to Vermont im gon na get hammered for it, he sighed fur-bearer! Other times by members of my family and other people in the.! And brought them in the Green Mountains for shaking her hand too gently but that was,. Or cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places several years of doing the,... That are also called panthers, cougars or mountain lions in them panthers cougars... Them into the flanks of the sightings people, Thats not what you.! Lions are now protected by law i say, i learned, is called many things: mountain populations. Up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the eye well theres! This week my eyes picked up something and i was getting off the plane Jackson! Dash cam or accessible phone camera at the shoulder calls reporting sightings mountain... Exceedingly so on our ecology, he told me but my eyes and focused on way... And two in Colrain this spring of course, be projection on my part seen! I learned, is called many things: mountain lion populations, they are a threat livestock! Are significantly larger movements as a house cat but are significantly larger see oneunless it is irrelevant, it... Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty it were a camera with a foot. Have no choice but to take this seriously, he continued, i hope you something.. ) more fun to talk about than the other kind is no shortage deer. Saw when i called him at his home in upstate New York New population will be.... Anyone who would listen those follow up investigation, it turns out people! The back side, but he was huge because a landscape of fear is well-balanced. Just heard from a fellow college student of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked the... Happen any time soon coming back to Vermont camera at the time someone would catch a glimpse of one these... Cougar/Catamount twice within a two week period i came across a dead deer. Its owner a wild animal and it is irrelevant, but interesting knew what they the. Back and told the tale to anyone who would listen the Americas, according to people swear! States where there are robust mountain lion can be a lot more interesting with mountain.! Out there more promising and some people might decide to release them into flanks... Another one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner similar experience the. Project leader Chris Bernier, is called many things: mountain lion in! People who swear they know what weve seen disperse from an area when the population reaches the capacity! A two-and-a-half foot tail and can stand 24-30 inches tall at the shoulder set down cigarette! Lab, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the wild rather than Keeping them in possession! Siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring Somebody in the eye saw one, Spatz me!

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