He published his first book in 1959, The Ghost of North America: The Story of the Eastern Panther. Technical Discussion: Rain tonight, then an *ALERT* heading into the weekend! Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. And even the home entries are kind of changing. (UPDATE, JANUARY 19, 2022) The Great Falls Police Department said on Wednesday morning that the mountain lion that has been lurking around town for the last . People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. My buddy told me he saw one in our hometown (in litchfield county) 10 or so years ago and I called bullshit. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. She said the size made her do a double take and indeed she seen it had a very long tail, Bullsh** It is also the most common wild cat found in North America. This is the mountain lion that was hit by a car in Milford after several sightings in the Greenwich area. Make noise. They are also known as pumas, cougars and panthers. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. We have people eating dinner in their kitchen, they hear a noise, all of a sudden a bear walks in, so they run into their bedroom to get away from the bear, while the bears out ransacking their refrigerator. Theres also the lack of visual evidence, more glaring each passing year as so many hikers and hunters now carry phones with cameras. Most mountain lion sightings are reported without any evidence other than eyewitness descriptions. "We get calls about mountain lions all the time, but they turn out to be unprovable," Brown told the Independent in March. Im watching it, its big, its got the body, and the thing that really gave it away was the tail, had that mountain lion long tail that goes down to the ground and comes up at the end, saw that and was like, thats a freaking mountain lion.. He was previously a reporter for the Danbury News-Times and the Ridgefield Press. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. This young male cougar was found to . My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. It says genetic testing revealed that a mountain lion hit by a car and killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford on June 11, 2011 originated from South Dakota and had traveled to Connecticut though Wisconsin and Minnesota a distance of around 1,800 miles a record distance for a land mammal. Another mountain lion was killed on a Connecticut highway. Population estimates are thought to be around 20 individuals which is considered caring capacity based on the amount of land and . 'Bo was a legend', Los Charros Cantina closes in Essex, will relocate to Branford, Elizabeth's Cafe in Madison to be razed for new restaurant, housing, CT fathers coaching daughters in girls basketball navigate life lessons at home and on the court, 5 CT companies hiring for 100 or more positions, Celebrity gossip and sightings in and around CT, February 2023, John Mayer to appear on Impractical Jokers Thursday, Stamford's Alive At Five concert series announces 2023 dates, Dionne Warwick, '80 for Brady producer bring music review to CT. Make yourself BIG. Make noise-- be as loud as you can while you make yourself as big as you can. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. We get a lot of pictures sent to us, and people say, I took this picture of a mountain lion in my backyard. And Ill look at it, and to me, its clearly a bobcat, Hawley said. Experts Warn Residents to Take Precautions After Recent Mountain Lion Sightings By Bay City News Published June 11, 2021 Updated on June 11, 2021 at 6:50 am NBC Universal, Inc. Have you seen a puma or bobcat in your neighborhood? Mountain Lions in the State of Texas In Texas, it's always open season on mountain lions. Breweries in New Haven, CT you MUST Visit! Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Mountain lions have been dispersing away from these population areas, and researchers recently mapped all confirmed mountain lion observations from 1990-2008 (LaRue et al. to scare it off. Betty recommended that anyone who encounters a cougar should make themselves large, raise their hands and yell. Your support makes this news available to everyone. What about mountain lions, though? 5:00 PM. Therefore, there are no western and eastern species to differentiate between. According to the Smithsonians National Zoo, bobcats are part of the lynx genus, which means they are related to other cats like the Canadian lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. Were getting more and more home entries every year. Stephen Gencarella, professor of folklore studies at the University of Massachusetts and a Connecticut resident, says, The government coverup is only the latest version of something that could stretch back in the oral tradition to precolonial times. He notes that supposed mountain lion sightings spiked in the late 1800s and early 1900s shortly after the animals disappeared from New Englands woods. Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. The sightings havent been confirmed by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and there are no videos or photos. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. A lifelong Connecticut resident, Nicole has a degree in Communications from Fairfield University. Weve had housecats misidentified as mountain lions and even deer, Rego says. An adult male bobcat can reach four feet in length and 35 to 40 pounds. Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. Mountain lion Over 7 ft in length Over 100 lbs Uniform tan color Long tails Bobcat Under 3ft in length Under 50lbs Dark spots Tufts of fur in ears These 2 big cats also behave differently. What to know about unconfirmed mountain lion sightings in CT. Nicole Funaro was formerly a statewide trending reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media Group, covering everything from the most fascinating properties for sale in the Nutmeg State to the latest movie filming in the state. Almost every state has some sort of legend of something thats hiding somewhere, he says. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. South Windsor resident Stafford King is sure that he saw a cougar on his land three years ago. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service. It was a flooded area. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book, Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. As unlikely as it sounds, it was a more believable theory than some of the alternatives, among them that the cat was evidence of a breeding population in the state that was being kept secret by DEEP. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. The map below includes both confirmed and unverified puma sightings in the larger San Francisco Bay region (and beyond) since 2004. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. Wait a minute--there was a sighting in New London County a few years back, and my wife read an article about a mountain lion or cougar being struck by a vehicle in Milford a few years back. Re (3): Mountain Lion sighting in Brookfield ct - By weather01089 February 1, 2016 at 04:55:52 PM. Fight back. Dashboard for displaying mountain lion reports to the public. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. Somebody needs to take charge of this outfit and do something about the interactions with the citizenry. In the wild, they live 8-13 years, but in captivity they can live into their 20s. Height at shoulder: 25-30 in. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. This can trigger a chase. Anyone can get fooled. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. New Hampshire Public Radio | The map from that publication is shown below, with the current mountain lion range in green and confirmed mountain lion locations as black dots. Arms over your head, with a jacket or sweatshirt. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. According to Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protections Wildlife Division, the department gets around 100 sighting reports of mountain lions each year, but upon further investigation, a good proportion of the sightings end up being bobcats. The whole trail is very . Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Booth DEEP and local authorities around Connecticut have confirmed that the majority of mountain lion sightings in the state turn out to be sightings of bobcats. And there are different schools of thought about that. Although mountain lions were part of Nebraska's native fauna, they were extirpated by the end of the 19th century. A fourth cougar sighting in recent days was reported near the New Canaan border Thursday, according to Animal Control officer Allyson Halm. If you follow local news outlets and local social media pages, youll notice a common theme when it comes to wildlife sightings people often mistake one type of animal for another. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that. Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says data dont support a breeding population of mountain lions in Connecticut. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. Inevitably, the New England states will acknowledge that they have some mountain lions.. You really couldnt ask for a better place for mountain lions.. Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. But honest misidentifications are more common. We have had five coyotes crossing through our yard in the past few weeks, and one even lingers around our property and the neighbors. Mountain lions, however, arent seen much in the Nutmeg State, even though several have reportedly been spotted around the Woodbridge area this month. We have rolling hills, and more importantly, 200,000 white tails. While there is currently not much safety training being done in the state for the extinct animal, Betty predicts that cougar safety will eventually be as common in New England as it is in California. Even so, Abbott has heard of mountain lion sightings from what he deems reliable sources and believes its possible that other animals have made the difficult, some say almost miraculous trek, from the West to Connecticut. According to authorities, the mountain lion was reportedly seen on Friday including on Salem Road and near Pease Road. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. The state says no, theyre extinct, that cant be. Bobcats, also, only hunt small prey. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. Are There a Lot of Spiders in Connecticut? Hawley said the last confirmed mountain lion sighting in the state was one that was killed on the Merritt Parkway in 2011 when a car struck the animal near Exit 55. of Energy and Environmental Protection. My first thought literally was, is that a lion?. In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wrights conclusions, at least at first. Mountain lions are also great jumpers and swimmers. This was maybe a decade ago. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. I agreeI am a person with very good knowledge of animals and know the distinct differences between closely related species in some cases Uscinski, a Connecticut native, adds that the theory that the government is covering up the existence of mountain lions is likely motivated by a distrust of authority. He also quoted the work of geneticist Melanie Culver, who has proven that all North American puma species are genetically virtually identical. From sightings of wolves and moose to brown recluses and mountain lions, people in CT have made some wild (pun intended) claims about what animals theyve spotted. If you have a worldview in which the government is conspiring to do weird stuff, than thats what youre going to see, and all the evidence is going to point to exactly what you believe, he says. Bobcats dont shy away from human habitats, while mountain lions tend to only be found in very isolated areas. I always hold out the possibility of a sighting to be genuine, but at the same time, over decades of experience, we know that the vast majority are misidentifications and a small number are actually hoaxes, he says. State says no, theyre extinct, that cant be are genetically identical! 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