Both cases meet the evidence requirements of MassWildlife. Most of the reports I would not consider; a few from experienced hunters and outdoor people were hard to discount, although none of them had photographic proof or any footprints or scratch markings except for one naturalist that I have known for years. Patrick Tate: In theory it's a passing ball of a court and it goes wherever the bottom Ball wants to go. So that that's more or less I think why I'm here and why I got into this in nineteen ninety nine I found a what appeared to be a print of a mountain lion and that was in the Osprey mountains and I thought well OK that's that's a print. Mountain Lions Spotted Spotted in Woodbridge, CT - NECN Peter Biello: Well I want to ask Patrick about one of these stories a few years ago you had a story about someone who claimed to. Ottmann and I walked farther. So. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. So that did it for me. So give us a call now. So I want to start the program with a comment from someone who is not in the studio with us today. 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. Patrick Tate: It's wow interesting that you brought this up because I've had people report I saw cardamom. And that's this morning at 10:00 here on NH PR. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. I wish I could see it again! There's just one subspecies of North American mountain lion. You might think that it would be easy to tell the two cat species apart. Peter Biello: And Carl before you continue I think Patrick Tate just give me a second. So they're not afraid of humans and they'll show up like a regular housecat. Patrick Tate: Same here in New Hampshire too. Thank you. 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. 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). It's listed as population of least concern. Mike thanks for your call. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. And really whenever you hear tiny code and long rope like tale it's kind of hard to pin this sighting on any other creature rather than an outline or just nothing else really matches that description. I looked at the picture and asked me what do you see in the picture and I wrote back. But a high-profile sighting in 2011 stirred up renewed interest in the animals here, when a mountain lion from South Dakota was hit and killed by a car on a Connecticut highway. 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). Thanks for a great thanks. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. Peter Biello: So if they were female mountain lions here they would be more males just because that's what they're looking for. How big was the animal? And just one more note about this danger question when even when you look at the states that have extended populations stable populations of mountain lions attacks are relatively rare. Each person had their own copy and now it was identify the trees the species of tree matched. 3 min read. Had great trees behind it beautiful ferns on the ground so it brought me down on the site and the ferns on the ground matched. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. As I tried to get a picture of it so there was it was definitely we looked up all the pictures and it was definitely not a bobcat or anything else being it looked just like a mountain lion. However, there have been two confirmed reports of mountain lions in the state in the last 30 years. So what I'm getting back is the verifying and confirming of evidence what that was not there. 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. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. If you need assistance, please contact the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. But if you do if you think you're looking at a wild Puma their tail is very thick and especially in the winter is very thick and ponderous looking. So and so they so they do get pretty involved. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them., Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Japanese knotweed and phragmites are the bane of my existence on our road. ; track sets or photos of track sets; other tangible physical evidence verified by qualified professionals. Course like Sue said you have to see it and it's not always that visible. Mountain lions weigh . It doesn't happen as much anymore. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. By, March 2023 Fund Drive Rules and Regulations, Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org. The reasons for this conspiracy vary depending upon whom you talk to, but they coalesce around the idea that wildlife agencies would be inconvenienced by the cougars presence, as theyd be forced to respond in ways that would tax their resources. So they're scary. How far were you from this cat. They just end up in these places. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Fish and Game then deny the evidence. 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. Like Tate, he gets a lot of photos and . Kyle I think about Rick Tate wants to jump in here. New England Mountain Lion Sighting Bulletin Board, Mountain lion/wolf sightings in Central Ma, Re(1): Mountain lion/wolf sightings in Central Ma, Re(2): Mountain lion/wolf sightings in Central Ma, Ellisville State Park cougar killed crossing 3A in S. Plymouth, MA, Re(1): Ellisville State Park cougar killed crossing 3A in S. Plymouth, MA, Re(2): Ellisville State Park cougar killed crossing 3A in S. Plymouth, MA, Sighting just over CT border into Vista, NY, Re(1): Sighting just over CT border into Vista, NY, VideoWild cat sighting, North Scituate, RI, Re(1): VideoWild cat sighting, North Scituate, RI, Re(2): VideoWild cat sighting, North Scituate, RI, Re(3): VideoWild cat sighting, North Scituate, RI, Re(4): VideoWild cat sighting, North Scituate, RI, Re(1): Mountain lion/bobcat?/North Andover. The tavern was quiet except for some hard-rock music playing on the radio, the murmur of a handful of men at the bar, and us. You're on the air. Rick van de Poll: Yes. Mountain Lions | Wildlife | New Hampshire Fish and Game Department There was a lot of DNA evidence. And so maybe before I go to you recommend I ask you Patrick Tate is the standard too high. was declared extinct in 2011. When you talk about a bobcat Bobcat maybe 80 90 pounds and then a mountain lion could be between 130 and 180 pounds. It was really muscular looking cat I mean is that like a side angle to me. Have a photo. Before I departed the Old Well Tavern, Bo Ottmann offered to lead me on a walk into an adjacent stretch of woods, where, he assured me, cougars might be found. Support NHPR by becoming a sustaining member today! These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. But you can continue the conversation on Facebook or at our Web site and HP Borg. Patrick Tate: Yes. They lived perhaps elsewhere in New England and they were just passing through and happened to have an encounter of some sort. Patrick Tate: Exactly I was gonna bring that up juvenile male of. Okay. I've seen him in the woods and that was not a bobcat but I was looking at. Here are few facts you should know about bats and a few myths to forget. Patrick Tate: Yeah yeah. Today on the exchange we discuss what residents may have been seeing and what breeding mountain lion pairs would mean for our ecosystem. It may not surprise you to learn that I was quite intrigued by this third group. So I learned about what Rick just reported through a heart of heart of New Hampshire a letter and. 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? Sam Evans-Brown: And second the evidence required is is you know pretty pretty tough to gather. Good morning guys. So. So I think the point that I just want to get across is that there is a very strong sense this here in the and not region that there is that there is some sort of mountain lion population how large it is how extensive it is. Patrick Tate: Nice talk to you too. I can't. Yes and you want to share what you learned. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. They set the stage for the exotics to move in, and this has a huge impact on our ecology, he said. Re (1): Mountain Lion sighting in Brookfield ct - By russ January 30, 2016 at 05:10:25 PM. And a lot of people around the county airport have seen a lot of pilots coming in said they saw huge. for some excitement. Groton Mass Rail trail sighting - By Erica September 25, 2014 at 02:17:51 AM. Fish and Game looked into the labs to have them confirm the information in the reports which the labs did not. All of which is to say that if Alexander Crowell wasnt afraid on that long-ago Thanksgiving Day, he probably should have been. Pinterest. The females are where its at, she said. Support for an age PR comes from you our listeners. Most mountain lion sightings are reported without any evidence other than eyewitness descriptions. Rick van de Poll: Oh yeah absolutely. Thank you for your website feedback! So here in New Hampshire when a person turns in something that the Department believes is possible mountain lion and believes it should be investigated further. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? Sam Evans-Brown: Certainly that is a thing I've heard but again you have to think of the incentives involved here. But no. So Marty can you see what I'm getting at is the public sees different names and thinks that they're different animals but it's all the same animal. 3. And I saw you cat about four feet long from nose to tail come across from the water across the road and just leap over a six foot perimeter fence in a single bound. But I was riding a mountain bike not far from my house. Peter Biello: So a little bit of nostalgia maybe for it for a better world embodied in the mountain lion. They're very loyal to what the handler which makes them very dangerous to everyone else. Thank you. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. Confirmed reports of mountain lions in Massachusetts Caller: It had just left that field and was out. 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. There's a lot of photographs that you can see that it's very clearly a tabby cat that someone has thought was a mountain lion. Pat humans people leave deer carcasses up in trees. Patrick Tate: Well. Ecosystem Management Consultants of New England, Ask Sam, and recently fielded question about mountain lions, Manchester installs monitors to track air quality disparities. Yeah I did. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. Mountain lion sightings in New Hampshire have increased along with the bobcat population, said Tate. ml central ma. When you look at a state like Connecticut, with all the people we have here, all the trail cameras we have in the woods, all the cars we have driving you can imagine if we had an established population here in Connecticut, we would know about it pretty quickly. Right. At first, I thought it was pretty, but then it kept spreading on the edge of the woodlands next to my lawn. Please let us know how we can improve this page. I'm gonna send you a letter that we researched this report and we spoke with those labs and the lab wrote in their letter to us that they could only say that Scott contained white Tea Party fur and that they could not say what deposited the scout because it's far too degraded listeners we'd love to hear from you about your mountain lion sightings if you have seen one or if you if you think you have give us a call we'd love to hear your story 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Some page levels are currently hidden. You know, weve had so many home entries this year. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. I'm Peter Biello. And still the the folks there did weren't able to come up with it with 100 percent certainty what deposited that scat. People have asked me about the genetics of eastern mountain lion. We did a short segment about mountain lion sightings earlier this year and and after which I was sent a photo and also a video recording that was mostly just audio because it was so dark the photo just a quick reverse Google image search you can put images online and see where else where else they've been posted revealed that the photo had been taking out taken out in Wyoming and has been used you know hundreds of times to claim and the person who sent it to me said it had been taken New Hampshire. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. There wasn't a distinct subspecies the North American mountain lion is all is all one species and then you can find a genetically distinct South American subspecies. 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. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. Part of this belief is rooted in his journalistic experience, which across the decades has cultivated his nose for sincerity.