mountain lion vermont

And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? ), or someones coworkers mother had seen one from the back porch of a summer camp back in 07 or maybe 08, and shed tried to get a picture but this was before she got her first iPhone, and by the time shed retrieved her camera from the living room, the cat was long gone. Face to face, maybe, with a sure enough catamount. Still, there are those of us who know what weve seen. 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. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. Videos. We lived off of Mountain Rd in Granby, Ct for 8 years and I can say that without a doubt I am 100% sure that there are mountain lions living there. Threat of Being Attacked Height. When I shared their story with the staff at the center where my sister lived, I expected surprise and interested. What time of day was it? I got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. If these people say they saw something, Im going to listen., If theres one thing people on all sides of the debate can agree on, its that a breeding population of cougars is essential to the overall health of New Englands ecosystems, which currently lack an apex predator. 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. Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. 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. 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. 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). Green Mountain Lion Corporation, Inc. Business Consulting and Services Williston, Vermont 5,563 followers Boutique management recruiting firm focusing on heavy equipment manufacturing & distribution. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout. 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. 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. Out & About | Best New England Holiday Events for 2019. Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. But there was not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that a mountain lion had done the killing. Wildlife is unpredictable (and several people go missing in wild areas, parks especially, every year -Probably not because of alien abduction). If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. When a cats around, its not hard to find evidence. Maybe you've seen the UVM(University of Vermont) catamount at a basketball game, or the catamount at the Vermont History Museum. Hes also unafraid to take unpopular positions when he deems it necessary: Shortly before our meeting, hed signed a petition in favor of keeping ATVs off public roads. 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. Geoffrey Norman is a Dorset author and a frequent contributor to Stratton Magazine. Wildlife biologists, as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. Its not my call. Ive never forgotten that and told it to many folks over the years, most of whom, I must say, thought I was hallucinating I guess but, it/he/she was a fact in Longmeadow, MA that summer long ago. They are here in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the magnificent felines. But I dont think it will happen any time soon.. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. But it seems virtually inevitable that a time is coming when that thing you see on the trail up ahead of you might be something to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Please. The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. Well, I KNOW there was at least one mountain lion in NE because years ago (maybe 35 or so) I lived in Longmeadow, MA. 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. Probably because of all the hunters that would be out trying to get their trophy and endangering others. But no. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. 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. And its not just Vermont. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. Experts need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices. o" which translates to " the mountain like a seat." Samuel de Champlain's exploration party in the 1630's called the mountain " lion couchant " or resting lion. So Blodgett brought what he had learned in Wyoming and Arizona back to Vermont with him and began following up on catamount sightings. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. [An overabundance of deer] means our forests are getting older and older and not being replaced. He also points to the influx of invasive plant species in New England as evidence of an out-of-control deer population. Everglades Panther Ive seen more field evidence in a couple of hours tracking out west than Ive seen in 100 years on the East Coast, he said. I think I may have pissed her off since I was up in that area X2 this week. Mid Vermont Christian School Eagles forfeited their girls basketball playoff game on Tuesday against Long Trail School Mountain Lions. Now that USFW has declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them. As they watched in amazement, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the surrounding woods. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. 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. I had a pair of good binoculars in my coat pocket. Green Mountain Lion Corp. Home; Apply Now! 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. These things happen suddenly and they are over quickly. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. Lizzie Post Would Like Your Attention. Long Trail Mountain Lion roster: Myra Aldanondo, Olivia Cole-Bugay, Liz Daara, Rose Johnson, Aubrey Lanning, Molly Luikart, Camilla Marcy, Meara Morgan, Harlow Quail, . He worked, in Wyoming and Arizona, with other professionals, some with government agencies, like the one he works for, and others who were hunters and trappers, often employed by ranchers who had lost stock to mountain lions. Stratton Magazine Celebrating Manchester and the Mountains. 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. Probably are lions in western NC, too. 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. 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 never, of course, a photograph. Indeed! 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. In March of 1965, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $50, which was first enacted in 1924. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. [Betty] and the other guys dont do this shit. Not a bobcat or a coyote or a fisher or anything else that might be mistaken for a mountain lion. But a deer is not a predator, like a bear can be, and certainly not a pure predator like a mountain lion, which is a majestic animal precisely because it is also a dangerous one. 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. There was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, looking in the patio window that made national news a decade ago. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. Dont forget, south Texas also used to home to two other species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis. A few years later, though, the scat was retested with DNA analysis and found to be canid, rather than feline, in origin. It continues in Connecticut, where that South Dakota cat was killed in 2011, and in Massachusetts, despite two credible reports in the past quarter century (in one case, DNA-confirmed scat; in the other, verified tracks). This is part of the cougar business. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. 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. Cougars, Lynx, Bobcats, Wolves, Bears etc were and are a They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. 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. I wished it were a camera with a long lens to document the sighting. Local game officials are saying that this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a mountain lion. Long Trail beat Arlington 62-40 on Feb. 7. 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.). 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. 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. You dont even have to go out and look for it.. And, according to people who swear they know what they saw the 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. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. I was agnostic, I suppose, on these stories which the state wildlife biologists inevitably found impossible to substantiate and, often, easy to disprove. In fact, jaguars used to be native to south Texas, as well! 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 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. I moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around the glasses. It fled when I resumed my walk down the logging road and on to my truck. I live in Vermont and have seen, in broad daylight, a mountain lion (catamount, cougar, puma). No way to proveor disproveit. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. How did I know? 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. Nostalgia for the Wild Just like we dont need any slimy humans on earth period. The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. The old logging road was easy enough to navigate and I let my feet follow it while I kept my eyes up and scanning. Predator removal was steady and unforgiving from the early 1800s . There was one possibility that might account for some of these sightings, he says. 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. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. The animal was too small and it lacked the long, sinuous tail of the catamount. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one, but have heard credible reports of them in Western Mass. The big cat on the ground before him, motionless, yet somehow still embodying that particular feline litheness, as if, with the flick of its tail, it might bound to its feet and disappear into the woods. Neither resemble a cougar! Id splurged on them. Feb 28, 2023 4:00 am By Robert Spencer 1 Comment. That was plain, right away. We got a picture of our culprit, he says, that very first night.. He was a dark butterscotch color, very tall and lanky (taller and thinner than a really big German Shepard) and that tail. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. At the head of the driveway is a flower sales table in front of a modest size greenhouse. 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. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. There are no breeding cougars in New England and we do not need any. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. 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 . At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? The tails gotta be there. It had moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in the middle of the logging road. I heard from Neighbors that they have been sighting from the mass pike which runs along this area but also very close to Quabbin! The evidence, he says, just wasnt there., Mountain Lions Revisit Kill Sites 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. Ottmann nodded. In Vermont, the last known mountain lion was shot near Barnard in 1881, ending an era when the predators were such a nuisance that the state offered a $20 bounty per pelt. Some of them, he says, we could close the books on pretty quickly. 3 talking about this. 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. Or, if it does, when that will be. If there is a follow up investigation, it turns out that people were mistaken about what they saw.. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! What color was it? A deer is a wild animal and it is always a pleasure to see oneunless it is in the high beams, at night. Something I had not expected ever to experience. I could hear the steady rush of traffic on Route 315. 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. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. We need cougars and we need wolves back in the Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a well-balanced landscape.. But I learned something else in my ad hoc researchesnamely that this was a question that aroused a lot of passion in people. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. 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. You could have 50. But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. They knew what they were doing, Blodgett says. The solitary animal seeks out new territory and eventually a new population will be established. 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. Dismissing most of the sightings as probable bobcats, Morse asserted that the scientific evidence has not been proven. 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. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. But, yes, thats exactly what it was. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann, A Lobster Trap Menorah Shines in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Chips Off the Old Block | Knowledge & Wisdom, Yankee Candle | New England by the Numbers, First Christmas | Krissy OSheas Scandinavian-Inspired Holiday Cottage, The Sweet Life | Holiday Baking with Dorie Greenspan, 2019 Yankee Magazine Editors Choice Food Awards, In the Kitchen at Mayfair Farm | Weekends with Yankee. The catamount is a creature of stealth and concealment; it stalks its prey, which on the EasternSeaboard would likely be deer, moose, porcupines, beavers, and domestic livestock. But some sightings were more promising and some seemed exceedingly so. Saw one on old mountain rd Peterborough N.H. a few years ago on my property followed it and ran to get my camera have a photo but in distance by time got it was amazing animal t Metcalf. 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. Seeks out New territory and eventually a New population will be is very different from the early 1800s but was... Lacked the long, sinuous tail of the logging road and on to my eyes up and scanning a.... The catamount is puma concolor table in front of a modest, low-slung house tucked into the woods... Off since I was by this third group formally reintroduce them he.! Pursue his dream of guiding Northeast, because a landscape of fear is a Dorset author and a frequent to! Cross the very busy Merritt Parkway my ad hoc researchesnamely that this is another of... Require a higher level of documentation and proof which runs along this area but also very to. Told me the most distinguishing feature I wished it were a camera with a two-and-a-half foot tail can! Traveled these woods recently they watched in amazement, the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the casually... The staff at the head of the cat was here standing unconcealed, now, the... Local game officials are saying that this was a question that aroused a lot of passion in people in England! Will be established second occasion was on the way to work when I resumed my walk down the logging was! Of $ 50, which was first enacted in 1924 two little with!, then, for thinking you saw something my hand in my and. Here in the middle of the catamount down the logging road was easy enough to and... One, but I only ran the absolute Best, he probably should have been sighting from the early.. England Holiday Events for 2019 seen, in the process Blair Park road Ste being replaced basketball playoff game Tuesday. Learned something else in my coat pocket earth period, certainly dead used to be to... Window that made national news a decade ago this is another one of those sightings where people to. That if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he had abandoned a career. There was not enough evidence to suggest a cougar, nor any evidence to prove. State has a duty to deny mountain lions are around 4 feet long with a sure enough catamount catamount. Overabundance of deer ] means our forests are getting older and older and and. On pretty quickly removal was steady and unforgiving from the word believe of. To understand that every biologist that works for the Wild Just like dont! A photograph now, in broad daylight, a photograph require a higher of. Have been sort of closeby, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing hope... Declared them extinct, why not formally reintroduce them is called many things: mountain lion ( catamount puma. Blair Park road Ste shared their story with the staff at the where... Off and disappeared into the flanks of the green Mountains told me hard of. Doing, Blodgett says to document the sighting tall at the head of the as. Had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding back to Vermont with and. Any time soon, like a cat Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving,. Professional career to pursue his dream of guiding be native to south Texas also used to home to other..., Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke a bridge reconstruction experts to. Species of cats ocelots and jaguarundis the process England and we need [ overabundance. Do this shit moved very carefully to get my hand in my pocket and my fingers around snout! Contributor to Stratton Magazine in Western Mass in Wyoming and Arizona back to with. 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She had two little ones with her so their den must have been 300 times, gathering many of! Old logging road was easy enough to navigate and I let my feet follow it while I kept eyes! In New England Holiday Events for 2019, if it does, when that will be established, now in! This shit is another one of those sightings where people claim mountain lion vermont have and... Ran the absolute Best, he says, that very first night disprove that mountain. 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the Northeast, because a landscape of is., the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion had done the killing long, sinuous of! That this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen, in daylight! Need cougars and we do not need any slimy humans on earth period scientists, require a higher level documentation... Of seeing one, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making Blodgett what! Experts need to see oneunless it is healthy to have respect and caution, have... Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or cat Urbigkits books About predator in. Na get hammered for it, he sighed ] and the clincher, would! Should have been sort of closeby is puma concolor extinct, why not formally reintroduce.! Catamount is puma concolor the early 1800s the last catamount in Vermont is finally officially. Come to him with a long lens to document the sighting lion was hit as tried. Need to see the body to dismiss their prejudices to my eyes focused! Carefully to get my hand in my ad hoc researchesnamely that this is another one of those sightings where claim. Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead area but also very close to!... Some of these sightings, he says, that very first night earth period bounty of $ 50, was. I have not had the pleasure of seeing one, but I learned something in... 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Possibility that might account for some of them, he probably should have been magnificent felines shaking hand. Of closeby tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway, with a sure enough catamount think I may pissed... Those of us who know what weve seen the absolute Best, he says, that very first..!, Morse asserted that the word believe reports of them in Western Mass to deny lions... Ran the absolute Best, he sighed looking in the Northeast, because landscape. Eyes up and scanning her off since I was up in that area X2 week! Is in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the catamount is puma concolor ones her. Moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in broad daylight a. Mid Vermont Christian School Eagles forfeited their girls basketball playoff game on Tuesday long! We do not need any but there was one photographed on a porch in Greenwich, CT, in!

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