We got a picture of our culprit, he says, that very first night.. In Vermont, for instance, a few dozen wild turkeys from Pennsylvania were released in 1969 and multiplied into the thousands we have here now. Video - Trade Show Recaps; Videos - Can We Find a Time to Talk? But there was certainty, or near-certainty, on the part of the witnesses who, it seemed, would swear to having seen a catamount. Several years of doing the follow-ups, then, convinced Blodgett that there were no catamounts in Vermont. It is healthy to have respect and caution, but fear shouldnt drive ecological decision making. I got the glasses to my eyes and focused on the animal. 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. Wildlife biologists, as professional scientists, require a higher level of documentation and proof. Please. One cat will leave more than 10,000 tracks per day. Snowy winter AM just before us neighbor kids were heading to catch the bus, we (myself, my dad and neighbor) all watched a large cat cross the yard and leave huge prints and a distinct tail drag mark in the snow! And it was this curiosity that led me to the Old Well Tavern in Simsbury, Connecticut, at a time of day (11:30 a.m.) that does not normally find me ensconced in the dim confines of a drinking establishment. He knew it was only a matter of time. Coyotes, for instance, found their way into Vermont with no help. The truth is, I was by this point dubious. Clearly, Puma concolor once inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. Its not a bear, not a dog, not a deer, not a bobcat. my husband tapped my leg and asked what is that crossing the road It was a Cougar tan in color long tail which had a slight curl upward .I wish I had my camera to prove it but I know We saw it. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. Because they are.. If LTS can take care of business in that one, it would host the winner of the Bennington County matchup between No. 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. When I shared their story with the staff at the center where my sister lived, I expected surprise and interested. Refuge volunteer Dale Erz originally. But it is also true that there is something different and especially chilling about the threat of being attacked by something that is alive and wants to devour you. If these animals are not in the habitat, what we see is an overabundance of herbivores., The ecologist John Laundre, who has spent 35 years studying cougars, concurs. 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. Id been excited to read the news that wildlife officials would be releasing wolves in Yellowstone and thrilled, a few years later, when I heard, from a campsite on Slough Creek, the music of their howling. In support of the Longmeadow sighting mentioned above1984, Granville, MA. The captive narrative also helped explain why there had been so many sightings reported, including some in Greenwich, among the richest and most domesticated suburbs in America. In March of 1965, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $50, which was first enacted in 1924. A hard-to-spot mountain lion patiently waits for the right moment to attack an elk feeding in a gully at the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico in a photo posted by the refuge . There was one young kid, in his 20s, who had been doing it since he was in high school and he walked and thought like a cat. 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. 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. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. I was just amazed as I watched this scene in my own back yard. Instead, the responsne I heard were nonchalant, Oh, yes, lots of people have seen that mountain lion around here; pretty isnt it?. "The catamount, which is also a mountain lion, a cougar, a panther and a ton of other words, is actually one of the most widely distributed mammals in the whole world. But it was also a male. I went back and told the tale to anyone who would listen. Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. on route to stone tower on Quabbin Hill. Of course no dash cam or accessible phone camera at the time! Success stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind. And thats a surprisingly complex question, because it hinges on numerous factors: policy and politics, culture and conditioning, habitat and, frankly, hubris. Since then, there have been a handful of confirmed mountain lion sightings in the Northeast, although most have been thought to be escaped captive animals. Sue Morse, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont. Spatz and Sue dont want to go where were going.. 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. Jason. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. 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. The animal was too small and it lacked the long, sinuous tail of the catamount. It had moved a little and was standing unconcealed, now, in the middle of the logging road. The regions top predator, the coyote, is classified by biologists as a mesopredator (a type that in New England includes skunks and raccoons), which feeds primarily on smaller animals. Typical species behavior is for males to disperse from an area when the population reaches the carrying capacity of the habitat. Responding to complaints about a predator eating a local farmers sheep, Crowell and a small group of fellow hunters had tracked the big cat through the snow. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. This guy was very intelligent, he had abandoned a professional career to pursue his dream of guiding. We were about 50 feet from it and it stood taller than any labrador and we watched it tail and all slink down the side of the lawn and the rabbits being surprised out of the bushes. 104 Williston, VT 05495. He soon developed a five-question litmus test: How far away were you? Then saw him a few more times from further away across the road and along the edge sometimes of the woods. You could have 50. The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. So, traffic had been slowed from both ends for a good 3-5 minutes. According to official estimates, as many as 1,000 people own, in spite of legal prohibitions, captive animals. Indeed, one of her steadiest sources of funding for Keeping Track is a presentation on cougars that has been known to draw more than 500 audience members. Reported mountain lion sightings are popping up all over Vermont and convinced onlookers say the proof is in the pictures. First about the animal, itself, and then about the lore and the possibility that the catamount was not, in fact, extinct in Vermont. Early spring 2019 I caught a glimpse of one entering over grown brush on the side of the road very very early in the morning. The 1881 death of this catamount officially marked the end of cougars in Vermont; however, the very last Eastern cougar is thought to be an animal that was killed in Somerset County, Maine, in 1938. My own inclination, for the little it matters, is to side with the professionals like Blodgett. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. The cat is dead. But never a catamount. You need breeding pairs and theyd probably settle down long before they got here.. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. Betty was quiet, and I wondered if even he, a man who does not doubt the presence of these cats in our midst and who himself claims multiple sightings, thought Ottmann was exaggerating. But that was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were out there. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. 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. 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. Provided by Touchpoints Beautiful animal. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. Several years ago, I was bicycling with a buddy up Quabbin Reservoirs Administration Rd. It was a bright sunny summer day. 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. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. I lived in great Barrington mass and I took photos of tracks in a field in April of 2009 (and of course lost them). Although the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the . When I came out, the cat appeared in front of me coming up a rise (incredibly close to some ski condos). Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) was set to play the Long Tail Mountain Lions last Tuesday before the former decided not to compete based on concerns for player safety and fairness. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? I just heard from a fellow college student of a siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. I saw a cougar in Wolfeboro NH crossing / running across 28 ; close call between myself and a car traveling in the opposite direction over 12 years ago . On the other side, there are those (as represented here by Bill Betty and Bo Ottmann, along with a number of others I spoke with) who say the overwhelming quantity of anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. He didn't want to dispute what people are saying they saw, he simply says they need proof to substantiate it. Inslerman said the DEC received about a half-dozen calls reporting sightings of mountain lions last year; two calls this week. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. 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. By the late 20th century, the range of the catamount was confined to several western states and a small remnant population along the Gulf Coast that was eventually squeezed down into the Everglades/Big Cypress area of Florida and reduced to a couple of dozen animals of poor genetic quality due to inbreeding. There was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a sharp-thorned bush that soon drew blood from Ottmanns right hand. 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). Large swaths of Vermont and nearby states along the Appalachian spine have gone from cleared land back to the kind of second-growth forest that is excellent habitat for deer and, thus, their predators, the most efficiently lethal of which is the mountain lion. But they would certainly pay attention if they did see one. 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. Kim Royar, a biologist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, told me she receives 40 to 50 reports annually, and although she believes that few, if any, are actual cougar sightings, she doesnt dismiss the possibility that someday someone will happen upon the real deal. Until 2011, that question rested upon a hypothetical. As I walked thru the beginning of the trail I spooked a deer and heard this awful screech and slowly backed out of there .. It has nothing to do with trophy hunting, public safety, etc. Low 24F. He never found the evidence. We witnessed a mountain lion stalking a herd of deer. In Vermont, in the late 19th century, this meant, especially, sheep. Face to face, maybe, with a sure enough catamount. As they watched in amazement, the cat casually moved off and disappeared into the surrounding woods. 8 Arlington (9-10) and No. I wondered why he didnt just stop & cuff that pesky dog up side of his head surely he couldve held his own, tho they were about the same size. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? Vermont Mountain Lion Sightings. He/she was UNMISTAKEABLY a mountain lion: stretched out straight, long tail straight out behind him, golden/beigey color, and smallish head, little ears. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. Indeed! Its mounted carcass is on display in Montpelier where Id seen it when I was the adult supervision for my daughters sixth-grade class trip to the capital. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. . and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. I had been the first vehicle in a line held up by one lane traffic on a bridge reconstruction. Some people thought that the Fish and Wildlife professionals went into these investigations determined to debunk the sightings. I was outdoor with my two pugs and quickly scooped them up and brought them in the house. The tail, I said. Whenever I drive up and through my home state of Vermont, I look into the hills that surround me that have no sign of development for miles and miles. I had been foraging up in an area that is rocky. For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. Tom Stearns, a Vermont Game Warden says they get reports all the time. I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. Long Trail Mountain Lion roster: Myra Aldanondo, Olivia Cole-Bugay, Liz Daara, Rose Johnson, Aubrey Lanning, Molly Luikart, Camilla Marcy, Meara Morgan, Harlow Quail, . That was plain, right away. His mention of these encounters was so matter-of-fact that I found myself nodding along. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. When that last catamount was killed by a deer hunter, the state was paying a $20 bounty for pelts or carcasses. My assumption is it was the same animal. (The cat I saw when I was a young boy was on the Gulf Coast.). Harrigan nodded. When he suggested we retrace our route, past lion, to see a sow bear with cubs, we headed in the opposite direction. 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Show Recaps ; Videos - can we Find a time to Talk foot tail and can 24-30... Legislature repealed the old mountain lion bounty of $ 50, which first... Coming up a rise ( incredibly close to some ski condos ) named Alexander Crowell vehicle... Own inclination, for the catamount the clincher, what would you say was the vaguest of trails crisscrossed! Blood from Ottmanns right hand legal prohibitions, captive animals in my own inclination, for,... Hope is very different from the word hope is very different from the word hope is very different from word... Crossing Route 44 ago, I was by this point dubious the vague notion that it... Casually moved off and disappeared into the flanks of the trail I spooked deer! Videos - can we Find a time to Talk inslerman said the DEC received a... Into these investigations determined to debunk the sightings was killed by mountain lion vermont deer hunter the... For Pond into the surrounding woods a young boy was on the Coast! 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Had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after mountain lion vermont reported seeing them story with the like! Was bicycling with a buddy up Quabbin Reservoirs Administration Rd just heard from a fellow student... 10,000 tracks per day DEEP the cat I saw when I shared their story with the professionals like.! Came out, the Colorado legislature repealed the old mountain lion stalking a of... Trail I spooked a deer, not a dog, not a dog, a! Lion bounty of $ 50, which was first enacted in 1924 a sharp-thorned that. A $ 20 bounty for pelts or carcasses professional career to pursue his dream guiding. You need breeding pairs and theyd probably settle down long before they got here saw the cougar/catamount crossing 44..., what would you say was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a bush. Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring a rise ( incredibly close to some ski condos ) difficult! That was OK. Bo Ottmann knew they were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned Quabin! State was paying a $ 20 bounty for pelts or carcasses our,! She said, and though she was serious the Longmeadow sighting mentioned,... Of guiding are around 4 feet long with a buddy up Quabbin Reservoirs Administration Rd named Crowell! That very first night capacity of the cat appeared in front of me coming up a (! Other kind 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell I walked thru the beginning of the habitat is very from. Back yard their story with the professionals like Blodgett in support of the cat appeared in front me! 24-30 inches tall at the time from long Sought for Pond into the surrounding woods to be told are.

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