On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Beautiful clear day just like this, and there in my backyard I see this huge golden animal, walking through the yard, Bachelder said. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. 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. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. The state adds bobcats are often active this time of year, making sightings much more likely. He drove me out to the spot. Bobcats: They are are the only wild cat found in the state and the most common in North America. Having spent much time outdoors hunting deer . Also, there has been a rash of cats and dogs gone missing out of here with the DPs. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. Once at dusk driving in the Berkshires, he saw what he initially thought was a cat-like creature that was far bigger than a bobcat leap across the road. But its also a great story that lays out how an animal this large, at 150 pounds, traveling through even rural areas, leaves signs and is detected. Sue Morse, the founder and science director of Keeping Track, a Vermont-based organization dedicated to protecting wildlife habitats, has studied mountain lions over her career as a naturalist, and says the majority of cougar sightings in the Northeast are misidentifications. Tim Abbott, the regional land conservation and greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association, says that during a lecture on mountain lions last winter at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, when the speaker asked if anyone had seen a mountain lion, half of the roughly 400 people in attendance raised their hands. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. I couldnt tell you how happy I would be if mountain lions were actually recolonizing the state of Connecticut, Hawley says, but its just not happening., Hawley spoke about bobcats, mountain lions and bears on The Colin McEnroe Show: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators.. Mountain lions, however, arent seen much in the Nutmeg State, even though several have reportedly been spotted around the Woodbridge area this month. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. The big cat. Map reproduced from LaRue et al. There was also one reported on Salem Road and another in the area of Pease Road. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Bobcats dont shy away from human habitats, while mountain lions tend to only be found in very isolated areas. Not really, Rego says. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. On June 5, a mountain lion was reported being seen on the Bucknell School campus in Greenwich. of Energy & Environmental Protection. he recalls. Thats only a fraction of the supposed sightings. Ive been doing this for 40 years. Breweries in New Haven, CT you MUST Visit! Posted on Published: November 4, 2022- Last updated: December 28, 2022. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. Hawley: Yeah. A harvest is kind of twofold. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. I saw one cross the rd ( rt 63) in Wtn @ 5 yrs ago, @Craig, Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. Seeing a wild cat can be both frightening and exciting, and its common for people to make mistakes in identification, as all most people are used to seeing is the common housecat. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. Sometimes in our shock and excitement at seeing wildlife we see what we want to see. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection receives 50-100 reports of mountain lions each year, says Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist with the department. Just had one over in Windsor last week. It was a spotless cat she estimated at close to 100 pounds. Throw rocks, sticks, etc to scare it off. What about mountain lions, though? I am 58 years old and another cougar was identified when I was much younger by the Deep in Meriden. Bobcats: Though technically a type of lynx, they are distinct from other species of lynx such as the Canadian lynx. Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. The one confirmed case, sometimes referred to as the " Connecticut Mountain Lion " happened in June 2011 when an SUV struck and killed a cougar in Milford. However, Hawley noted that Eastern bobcats tend to have very few spots compared to bobcats that are out west or even in the Midwest. If they have spots, they are typically in the white, underside part of the bodies or on the insides of their legs. 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. DEEP says Connecticut does not have a mountain lion population. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal . Ive seen bobcats before, this wasnt a bobcat. And its a lose-lose situation, because theres really not a whole lot you can tell them in most cases thats going to change their mind.. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection thinks it's unlikely. Mountain lions went extinct in Connecticut during the 1800s, but bobcats are still seen regularly. I might also add that I notified the State wildlife division about evidence of a bear in my neighborhood in Windham County and never received even an acknowledgement. I live in Hamden Connecticut and I have had mountain lions, black bears, Skunk's, dear, coyotes, fox. According to wildlife biologist Jason Hawley, the lack of evidence of mountain lions in Connecticut is the evidence. As I rushed to meet her in the woods, she told me what she had seen. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. It was a flooded area. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. Were getting more and more home entries every year. He explains that we frequently overestimate the size of animals in the wild, particularly ones we are afraid of. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. "The state [Connecticut] explains any cougar evidence, such as the recent mountain lion killed in Milford, as an escaped pet [or one that came from the Mid-West]," Mr. Betty said in an e-mail. Ive seen bobcats before, this wasnt a bobcat. And its a lose-lose situation, because theres really not a whole lot you can tell them in most cases thats going to change their mind.. 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. Hawley says that they would be finding carcasses of mountain lion prey and mountain lion tracks if these animals had recolonized the state, and this simply isnt happening. (https://wildlifeinformer.com/what-to-do-if-you-encounter-a-mountain-lion/). This young male cougar was found to have DNA from other cougars found in South Dakota which means it traveled about 1,800 miles east. 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). Especially when pictures are blurry which happens a lot in trail cameras or youll get pictures taken at night or something on Ring cameras that hind leg really does often look like a tail kind of curling up behind the animal.. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. Connecticut's official position is that mountain lions have been extinct in the state since the late 1800s. It is not of the animal actually seen in town. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. The police department decided to put out a warning to those in town. Hes even had his own false sighting. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. Its documented through track surveys, aerial surveys, trapping and collaring surveys. Instead, people should remain facing the cat and not turn their back on it, make noise and make themselves appear as large as possible by raising their arms over their heads with a jacket. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. I couldnt tell you how happy I would be if mountain lions were actually recolonizing the state of Connecticut, Hawley says, but its just not happening., Hawley spoke about bobcats, mountain lions and bears on The Colin McEnroe Show: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators.. Do Not Approach! She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. So, now that youve got the answer on whether or not mountain lions can be found in CT, lets talk about which wild cats are more likely to be seen here. 17), Police investigate death of New London High School student, Guide to Legal Cannabis Dispensaries in CT, recent mountain lion sightings in Connecticut have not been confirmed, CT pit bull that was almost euthanized goes viral, gets adopted. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. I know the difference between bobcats, lynx, & mt lions. Stay facing the big cat and try not to turn your back to it. It is also the most common wild cat found in North America. There is a big difference between Tuesday when none of us saw a moose in our region and then Thursday we did, Morse says. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. After traveling more than 1,500 miles, the lean, male cat met an untimely end in a collision with an SUV. 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. Time changes all and Im not going to shut the door on the future and say that a breeding population of cougars is not here because the day after tomorrow they could be here its just a matter of time., Though a deer hunter herself, Morse is opposed to the way mountain lions have been hunted in the western U.S., where they are found. Almost daily, there are claims of mountain lion sightings in CT, though. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. McEnroe: Scientifically, this is a case where absence of evidence is kind of evidence of absence, right? And even the home entries are kind of changing. I have a fence in the backyard, it was above the bottom rail, so its back was probably this big, this long, the tail, said John Bachelder. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. Im always amazed at the sheer volume of people who are interested in cougars, more even than wolves, she says. Sometimes referred to as the ghosts of the forest, mountain lions or cougars are stealthy hunters that are hard to spot, even in areas they are known to inhabit. But its also a great story that lays out how an animal this large, at 150 pounds, traveling through even rural areas, leaves signs and is detected. 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. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. He was the only confirmed mountain lion in all of Connecticut but was seen several times right after he arrived in the state before being accidentally killed. Sometimes people feared fishers (erroneously attributing the blood-curdling screams of foxes to these hard-to-spot creatures), and in the late 1930s, after several animals were slain under strange circumstances in Glastonbury, the. Walking our dog in the woods, she had just seen a giant feline saunter across the path. ago. According to Hawley, if mountain lions were present in the state, there would be evidence and not just unconfirmed sightings. "Connecticut is cougar heaven . It was a lion-like cat with a tan coat and no spots that was about three times the size of our 30- to 35-pound dog. The news stunned. I frankly have lost faith in some government institutions for this very reason. They have been documented in Woodbridge and are often quite active this time of year making observations of these normally elusive animals much more likely.. She didnt claim to see the mountain lions long tail, but optical illusions can lead people to think theyve seen a tail. Many, many times, in many different ways along its travel up through Minnesota, Michigan and to Canada, down through New York, through hair samples, blood samples, trail camera photos. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. Mountain lion spotted in Connecticut town On Monday, DEEP said that Connecticut does not have a mountain lion population. This is a carousel. In yet another variant, DEEP is said to be helicoptering mountain lions in to help control the deer population. Below is an evolving list of Connecticut natives and state prep school football players in the Class of 2023 who have signed letters of intent to play football in college. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. Here are some physical differences between mountain lions and bobcats: These 2 big cats also behave differently. Police have a warning after there were multiple mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge. He drove me out to the spot. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Mountain lion sightings in New Hampshire have increased along . Well also go over what types of wild cats can be found in Connecticut. People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist with the DEEP, told Connecticut . Got a question or comment? He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Be mindful of small pets and small children wandering too far away from your sight line. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Hey, I know what I saw. . But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. building a betterand more civilConnecticut to live, work, and play. Are there any mountain lions in CT? Woodbridge police provided this photo of a mountain lion, after several reported sightings in the area. Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. WOODBRIDGE Police are offering tips after they said there have been several mountain lion sightings in town. of Energy & Environmental Protection. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. There are usually about 50-100 mountain lion sightings reported every year. (My wife didnt get a look at the tail.) There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? At that point, they realized my family was not crazy and it was identified as a cougar and it was about 100 lbs. 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. In cities, smaller towns, and even sparsely inhabited areas, there is simply not enough large prey for mountain lions to survive on. Officials are reminding residents to be mindful of small pets and children wandering out of sight, to not approach the animal and give it space to turn around if faced with a big cat, like a mountain lion. Do not bend, squat, or sit down. Typically, they will slink out of there as quickly as they can to get away from humans. Possible mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Man arrested for running illegal dental operation in a Danbury hotel room, Meriden police: Father and son sexually assaulted woman in basement, Crash involving three tractor trailers slows traffic on I-84 in Hartford, CT man wanted for murder of woman arrested in Ohio. Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. This was maybe a decade ago. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. 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. Bobcats: Whiskered face and are gray in the winter and tan in the summer, with black spots on their fur that are not always visible. They are are the only large wild cats can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by:! 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