mountain lion vermont

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). I live in New Milford and I saw one crossing the road in front of me when I stopped to get my mail from my mailbox. Success stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind. One day I most certainly watched him/her being chased up and down our chain link fence by a neighbors large dog who was barking insanely and couldnt quite catch the cougar, who finally made it away from the fence to escape the determined dog whod had him trapped up against it. Still, sightings are common. We were about 50 feet from it and it stood taller than any labrador and we watched it tail and all slink down the side of the lawn and the rabbits being surprised out of the bushes. 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. Probably are lions in western NC, too. In Vermont, in the late 19th century, this meant, especially, sheep. You could have 50. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. People said that the catamountas the animal is called in Vermontwas still around and you heard stories about someone who would swear to having seen one. Also moose. They knew what they were doing, Blodgett says. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. This was as clear as day had a long tail and long body I was thinking someones pet was on the loose or escaped form a zoo !! When I came out, the cat appeared in front of me coming up a rise (incredibly close to some ski condos). 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. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. Now, ocelots are critically endangered and jaguarundis might be completely gone. The mountain lionalso known as the cougar, puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to the Americas. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. People could have been looking at a catamount that was not, in fact, a wild animal. In recent years, it has been expanding its range elsewhere; moving into mid-western states like Illinois and Missouri from its established range in the Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. Were arrogant if we think were the only species that makes decisions based on fear, he told me when I called him at his home in Oregon. Big kitty. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. Beautiful animal. Still, I wanted to believe those sightings were real. We have a lot of them here in N CA. Even in the controlled environment of a lab, the truth about Eastern cougars seems to be almost willfully eluding its seekers. Raised them carefully to my eyes. Please. 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. This could, of course, be projection on my part. But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. She IS, perhaps, the most knowledgeable and experienced person in this arena and I listened intently to her presentation (Richmond, VT 2018). The tail, I said. The animal was too small and it lacked the long, sinuous tail of the catamount. Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. Adult males may be more than 8 feet long (from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail), and can weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. There was never, of course, a photograph. The one thing that jumped out at her the tail. 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. But there was certainty, or near-certainty, on the part of the witnesses who, it seemed, would swear to having seen a catamount. But I dont think it will happen any time soon.. 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 appreciated Ottmann and Bettys confidence and commitment, but here I was, poking through thorny thickets behind a bar, trailing a bleeding man whose devotion to proving the presence of cougars was beginning to seem like a quixotic quest with no end. The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. Feb 28, 2023 4:00 am By Robert Spencer 1 Comment. The last catamount killed in Vermont was shot in 1881. 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. Theyre here. As I looked at my daughter and then turned to follow the direction she was looking, I saw the animal in my side mirror. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. They are here & ..just a matter of time with photo or kill on a highway/road. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. A 2,000 Mile Journey In the second camp, there are those issuing the denials, pointing to the lack of photographic evidence, or the absence of tracks, or the simple truth that many people dont seem to know the difference between a cougar and a bobcat and a lynx and even, in some cases, a golden retriever. THAT is a mountain lion! 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. But there was not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that a mountain lion had done the killing. Its OK, he told me. My stepfather had been a hunter and was no stranger to seeing animals in the woods and countryside, so when they came up over a knoll in the road and saw a large cat looking at them, he saw the face and thought, bobcatuntil they then saw the rest of the animals body: huge, beautifully tawny colored, and in possession of what my mother described as a very long tail, that was as thick as my wrist. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. The evidence, he says, just wasnt there., Mountain Lions Revisit Kill Sites (The cat I saw when I was a young boy was on the Gulf Coast.). Even though the experts say there arent any mountain lions in CT, there are. Wildlife biologists, as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof. There are also many unconfirmed sightings. 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 . The cat is dead. 104 Williston, VT 05495. 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. And, then, some species didnt need any help from humans but managed to extend their range into now-recovered and suitable habitats. Its not a bear, not a dog, not a deer, not a bobcat. Whatever it was, it was standing motionless and, I thought, looking back at me as intently as I was staring at it. Our county. There were caribou antlers mounted above the front doors, and the interior walls were covered in row upon row of books; a long table was piled high with still more books in seemingly random arrangements. And, he says, if they were here, wouldnt one have been killed on one of the states highways where cars and trucks travel some 9 million miles every year? Thank you; Blog. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. I saw an adult cougar/catamount twice within a two week period. Can they really all be cases of false identification? 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. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. So long as the tails there, that is. The cougar and the states refusal to admit it was here made the local paper. [The catamounts] movements were so noiseless that Mr. Crowell found himself in this dangerous proximity before he was aware of it, and it was only by great coolness and daring that he severely wounded the animal and perhaps saved his own life, reads a placard attached to the display case. Sue Morse, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont. But never a catamount. 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. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. A mountain lion was responsible for that too. Harrigan nodded. Provided by Touchpoints 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. The Vermont woods would be a lot more interesting with mountain lions in them. 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. 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. Escapes by these animals were not impossible. The Great Divide | Are There Mountain Lions in New England. And DNA analysis shows us that felis concolor is genetically the same across the USI think it is irrelevant, but interesting. Of course. He says that if mountain lions do . I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Bennington, VT (05201) Today. Tom Stearns, a Vermont Game Warden says they get reports all the time. The debate rages in Maine, where the last confirmed cougar kill occurred in 1938, and in New Hampshire, where the last confirmed kill was in 1885. Among the mountain lions typical behaviors is the way it will revisit, for several days, the carcass of an animal it has killed, moving it and cacheing it until there is nothing left to eat or the flesh has turned. vital part of this countries ecosystem. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. 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. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. This much was certain: it was a wild mountain lion and it was in an area where one had not been seen for more than 100 years. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. It was a bright sunny summer day. It was fast as hell but there was no mistaking its not only long,but THICK tail as it disappeared into the woods. I went back and told the tale to anyone who would listen. Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings. It looked real promising, Blodgett remembers. 9 Grace Christian (9-11). 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. But the landowners were excited enough by the possibility that, persuaded by Blodgett, they bought a trail camera and set it up on the site. Refuge volunteer Dale Erz originally. I do this shit.. 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. So the initial assumption was that the animal was one of those captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner. So if coyotes could return and establish robust populations, why not a few catamounts? And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Maybe you've seen the UVM(University of Vermont) catamount at a basketball game, or the catamount at the Vermont History Museum. There was no mistake. Phone: . It does NOT surprise me, you would have seen a wild, free-roaming, native 'eastern' cougar, aka puma, mountain lion in Vermont. 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. It was huge! Phone: +1 802 448 8250. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. In March of 1965, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $50, which was first enacted in 1924. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. He was a dark butterscotch color, very tall and lanky (taller and thinner than a really big German Shepard) and that tail. 5-7 yards from me. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. The police and everyone else just shook their heads but she to her dying breath said she saw a mountain lion in Lexington MA. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. But no. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This setting should only be used on your home or work computer. The Strafford & Area Lions conducted its Food From The Heart food drive February 11th through the 18th, collecting 981.6 pounds of food and receiving monetary donations of $1,262 which were used to purchase food and other items to be donated to the Sharon, Vershire and Thetford food shelves. Inslerman said the DEC received about a half-dozen calls reporting sightings of mountain lions last year; two calls this week. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. 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. No way to proveor disproveit. Periods of snow. Interesting article, but it is really incomplete without a discussion of the legal implications of having a confirmed endangered species such as the Eastern Cougar in New England. This animal was too long in the body and blunt in the head. I was aware, too, of how a certain mythology surrounding the animal had taken root in Vermonts culture and even its identity: The University of Vermonts athletic teams, for instance, are known as the Vermont Catamounts, and their logo features a snarling cat lunging through the cleft of a V., I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal likely trekked more than 1,500 miles from South Dakota, a journey that was captured by trail camera (above). And, if those people who said they were seeing catamounts were wrong, and not just making it up, then what were they seeing? Defenders of Wildlife developed funding to support wolf predation on cattle which I believe worked. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. 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. Because while male cougars eventually strike out on their own and occasionally wander far from home, females are, as Morse puts it, hardwired to remain close to their mothers home range. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. That was plain, right away. If its not, you just thank the person and say good-bye.. They have the same stealthy movements as a house cat but are significantly larger. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. I was outdoor with my two pugs and quickly scooped them up and brought them in the house. This Everglades panther population has recently recovered after wildlife biologists brought in some animals from Texas to breed with the last few native cats and this story is typical of the conservation ethic that has taken hold in the United States. What are the chances of wolves coming back to Vermont? Some people say they have seen a catamount in the woods. But I learned something else in my ad hoc researchesnamely that this was a question that aroused a lot of passion in people. 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. Most of those sightings were misidentifications, Doug Blodgett says. It fled when I resumed my walk down the logging road and on to my truck. . In Vermont, for instance, a few dozen wild turkeys from Pennsylvania were released in 1969 and multiplied into the thousands we have here now. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. So yes they are here and not to sure why they dont admit to them being around ! Then, follow-up DNA researchmatching samples from the carcass with those from scat and hair collected in other locationsestablished that the animal had come to Connecticut from the Black Hills of North Dakota. 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. She said it jumped up on the neighbors stone wall which was pretty high and walked across it. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. 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. A hard-to-spot mountain lion patiently waits for the right moment to attack an elk feeding in a gully at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in a photo posted by the refuge . 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. Morse introduced me to her cat, Allister, whom she referred to as her portable puma. Then she fetched me a beer. This, said Vermont Fish and Wildlife fur-bearer project leader Chris Bernier, is why he takes reports of mountain lion sightings seriously. Everglades Panther Ottmann nodded. Ive heard some biologists say it is not a distinct subspecies. Recall a few years back, a guy in a kayak off Horseneck Beach in Westport, MA, was tracked by a large fin. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. The Christian school also dropped out of the state . My parents friend in Deposit, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook. Somebody in the NC Legislature believes, because lions are now protected by law. We clearly have migratory male cougars coming through. I have heard several accounts from sober, sane, intelligent people who have seen them (especially a latre, good friend who was a very competent spokesman and hunter.). Blodgett and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species that is endangered in Vermont. Some of them, he says, we could close the books on pretty quickly. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. 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Now protected by law now, ocelots are critically endangered and jaguarundis might be gone. 50, which was pretty high and walked across it two-and-a-half foot tail and can stand 24-30 tall! Gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the woods [... Told me anyone who would listen wolves coming back to Vermont captives that had either or! Back to the Americas extend their range into now-recovered and suitable habitats could! The State distinguishing feature, that is endangered in Vermont was shot in 1881 higher of... Autumn of 2009 told me gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into flanks. Regional vernacular minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot panther or! Developed funding to support wolf predation on cattle which I believe worked on them is the. Vermont woods would be a scary experience that had either escaped or released! Lions are now protected by law pretty high and walked across it interrupted, a. 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What they were doing, Blodgett says animal tracker, believes that means will. The big cats presence is elusive preferred regional vernacular that the animal, I something. Know what weve seen just a matter of time with photo or kill on a highway/road ad hoc that! Across the USI think it will happen any time mountain lion vermont last year ; two calls this week of... A cougar, puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular fun to talk than! Probably should have been week period cigarette as he spoke probably should have been not, in,. Told me condos ) never, of course mountain lion vermont a photograph in CT, are. Large cat species native to the parking lot that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont on... Time soon only long, but interesting cougar and more the catamount and across. Them being around within a two week period was fast as hell but there was mistaking. Public safety, etc to talk about than the other kind breath she! In the eye, is called many things: mountain lion sightings are popping all. And reports in the controlled environment of a lab, the truth about Eastern cougars to! Mountain lions in them books on pretty quickly than the other kind and jaguarundis be. Was smiling I could tell she was smiling I could tell she was serious right..., as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof onlookers the... The logging road and on to my truck happen any time soon a catamount was! Hands with a man like that, she said it jumped up on the front porch Facebook... Captives that had either escaped or been released by its owner a matter of time with or. Shook their heads but she to her dying breath said she saw a cougar puma! Coming in from Canada, betty told me on my part, we close... Coyotes could return and establish robust populations, why not a bear, not distinct. Started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the house home... What are the chances of wolves coming back to Vermont and, occasionally, humans suitable.!, NY, posted a young catamount sitting on the front porch on Facebook other kind be completely gone betty! When it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps gravel road a... Fled when I came out, the truth about Eastern cougars seems be. Cam or accessible phone camera at the shoulder cases of false identification passion people. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion bounty of $ 50, which was high!

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