vermont mountain lion sightings

You know, weve had so many home entries this year. Though the infamous catamount has been declared extinct in Vermont since 2018, several people spotted big cats that they thought to be mountain lions on Ripley Road two weeks ago, according to posts on Front Porch Forum. At least once a year thered be a story from somewhere, but I only ran the absolute best, he told me. Mountain lions remain an enigmatic animal for residents of New Hampshire, with New Hampshire Fish and Game reporting three to five sightings per week. : I am basically a pro whitetail hunter living in Roxbury vt. It took me by fantastic surprise! Kimberly King. I dont ever say to people, Thats not what you saw. I say, I hope you saw one, Spatz told me when I called him at his home in upstate New York. Clearly, Puma concoloronce inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. 0. He was very, very shook up. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. This is Christina, I used to work with you at the YMCA in Burlington. He knew it was only a matter of time. Driving up 91north in Vermont between exit 3 and 4, at 7pm, last night, I believe that a cougar bolted across the road about 50 feet in front of me headed East. 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. The News Bank Conference Center is located at 352 Main Street in Chester. He waves me over and shows me an animal lying in our driveway. I must have looked doubtfulwe were within spitting distance of a heavily traffickedroad and only 12 miles from downtown Hartfordbut both Ottmann and Betty told me that cougars actually prefer more populated areas, since thats where deer tend to congregate. John Lutz, Eastern Puma Research Network. Indeed, in 2011, a male cougar was hit and killed by a car in Milford, Connecticut; through its DNA, wildlife biologists were able to trace the cat back to South Dakotas Black Hills, some 2,000 miles distant. Curious if anyone has spotted any cougars in the area? On Jan 22, 2015 while walking in North Fayston, VT I came across what I believe to be a Catamount paw prints. Because theyre a northern animal, they have snow shoes by birth, Bernier said. Please make your sighting as detailed as possible. Betty folded his arms across his chest, where they rose and fell and rose again with his breathing. Still more confusion ensued when a lab technician said she might have gotten some samples confused, and thus the canid result was thrown into doubt. Stay clear and give 'em space. While the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks department hesitates to give solid numbers because they feel methods for tracking the population need to be improved, their estimate in 2019 was about 4,000 - 4,500 mountain lions. About 70 feet from the table, appeared to be a very large cat standing . I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. We went back later and the road was hard but we did get some pictures of prints exactly where the cat went back into the woods and the toes were hard to see, but the pad was classic cougar and the print was the size of my hand. Harrigan nodded. I am here to tell you I was stalked by a mt lion in vt and was lucky to get away with my life. FYI: I publish a tri-yearly newsletter, dealing with big cat sightings in states, east of the Mississippi River, as reported to us via various websites, as well as telephone calls or letters. They were huge. I was in Waitsfield on the common rd when it happened. The key to Morses assertion can be found in the term breeding population. Although the fact that cougars have traveled through New England is irrefutable (a DNA-confirmed roadkill is hard to deny), Morse believes its unlikely that they have settled here and created a self-sustaining population. More information visit www.nature-museum.org. If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. (Photo courtesy of Vermont Historical Society) sunnyside village cohousing; federal halfway house rules and regulations; Owners. Welcome to the blog dedicated to discussing mountain lion sightings in Vermont! Here's a link to one of his columns. We know it was not a bobcat. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. Apparently, Barnaby is blind because he couldnt see it. 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. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? The tails gotta be there. Or click the map itself. does the highway department have a record of those? Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. 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. 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. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. Box, city, zip-code, so a copy can be sent in early April. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. Wildlife do really crazy things, and you just never know.. It took the animal down, held the animal in its paws, laid on its side and kicked it /gutted it with its hind legs (I have seen my cat do this). He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. Was getting ready to let the dog out but I thought it was a big dog that was loose. If yes, like most state Highway Agencies, they should have a record of both the pickup of its carcass, as well, as to where they dumped it. He soon developed a five-question litmus test: How far away were you? 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.. However, reports have started surfacing again in recent years, and we have now spoken with no fewer than SIX reliable people who have SEEN one (maybe the same one, for all we know, but I doubt it) around the Rutland area -- primarily in Mendon or Chittenden -- in the last year. 99 Beagle Boot Lane Tracks are among the most common forms of verifiable evidence of Mountain Lion sightings, so it helps to have some idea of what to look for. I was within inches of hitting him, actually. Just like cats do - it waited to the last moment and then ran across in front of me. I was walking 3 dogs at night all with leashes only 75 to 100 yards from the house I was staying at when it happened. I have learned one thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said. T here've been several reported mountain lion sightings around Marine on St. Croix, Minn. in the last month. Too loud, too close and too deep a voice to be a shy bobcat2 nights with a big fire blazing. About a few miles from the covered bridge. Were getting more and more home entries every year. 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. I encourage everyone who has seen a mountain lion or heard of a report to please leave a post here. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. Theres probably 100 in Connecticut, Ottmann interrupted, rolling a cigarette as he spoke. October 30, 2015 by Dana Kobilinsky. VT Fish & Wildlife photo by Keith Williams. After an unfortunate past of over hunting, Montana's mountain lion population has made a comeback. 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). They were very large, light tan, with long legs, and long white tipped tail, Kilgore wrote, relaying the account. Evidently it was authentic because a mountain lion pounced on him. Mountain Lions in the St. Croix River Valley. 24 Hour Hotline: 304-749-7778 if interested in discussing our favorite subject. When seen in Florida, they are of approx. Tickets at the door will be $10 until sold out. Upon discussion I have found that Hartland residents report seeing mountain lions frequently-there are people that swear they come on their porch (one who works at ascutney hospital in windsor) and other older residents who have reported seeing them around the North Hartland Dam on an early morning walk. 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. I can unsubscribe any time using the unsubscribe link at the end of all emails. 4 . The cat is dead. We are pretty sure there's a large actin our vicinity. 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. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. 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). I wanted to see how close I could get walking closer and closer the eyes did not run in fact they started to come to us. 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. In some areas of the east, the absence of apex predators has led to a surplus of deer, which have then ravaged the understory and ground levels of vegetation. John A. Lutz These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. hen I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. It was just before dark and it crossed in front of me probably 20 yards in front, it was tawny colored, mid tan like and had long legs and long tail and was trotting. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. My husband was on a conference call and was staring out of our front window while on the call. They're out hunting for deer and where there's deer, there's people. The way that people see [bobcats] in the woods, when they're running through, [their tails] can even seem longer than they are, Bernier said. At first my husband thoughtwow huge dog and it turned its head and it was 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. 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