The animal, I learned, is called many things: mountain lion, panther, catamount, puma, cougar and more. Face to face, maybe, with a sure enough catamount. Still, there is no saying that it will not happen. People could have been looking at a catamount that was not, in fact, a wild animal. It fled when I resumed my walk down the logging road and on to my truck. Westford, MA, crossing Dunstable Rd from Long Sought For Pond into the woods. 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. We hadnt seen a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar had traveled these woods recently. There was no denying that the carcass, which was examined by experts, was that of a mountain lion. New in PJ Media: The world having gone absolutely insane, the Mid Vermont Christian School (MVCS) girls' basketball team is likely to get a lot of heat for this, but in a sane world, they would be the heroes of the story. And, he says, if they were here, wouldnt one have been killed on one of the states highways where cars and trucks travel some 9 million miles every year? Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. One cat will leave more than 10,000 tracks per day. 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. 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 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. My daughter and I were driving north in West Granby, near the Simsbury, Ct. line just after lunch one summer day a few years ago. on route to stone tower on Quabbin Hill. 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. For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. But it was also a male. If the mountain lion is a certified killer of sheep and, sometimes, cattle, it has also occasionally attacked humans. [The catamounts] movements were so noiseless that Mr. Crowell found himself in this dangerous proximity before he was aware of it, and it was only by great coolness and daring that he severely wounded the animal and perhaps saved his own life, reads a placard attached to the display case. They have a right to exist here and they contribute to healthier prey species. Big kitty. 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. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. They were also seen at other times by members of my family and other people in the neighborhood. 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. We also had bobcats that we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain lions! The last catamount in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead. I also had the vague notion that when it comes to cougars, people tend to sort themselves into one of three camps. Others have seen cougar in neighboring towns . Feb 28, 2023 4:00 am By Robert Spencer 1 Comment. I went back and told the tale to anyone who would listen. Refuge volunteer Dale Erz originally. 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. Distinguished by a boxy head, big paws and a VERY long tail. We have a lot of them here in N CA. In the states where there are robust mountain lion populations, they are a threat to livestock, pets and, occasionally, humans. In their estimation, the presence of a breeding cougar population in New England would likely stem from our proximity to Canada, where, as they rightly point out, DNA analysis has resulted in 19 positive identifications across Quebec and New Brunswick since 2001 (although some of these were shown to be of South American lineage, suggesting escaped pets). I now live in Boulder, CO where we have regular sightings.same animal as 35 yrs agohands down, Warren ,Ma early morning having my coffee on my front steps and noticed about 50 feet across the Road something coming out of the trail as it did it looked out at the road and turned around as it did I could see that it was a mountain lion ! Scat, tracks, lays, scratch mounds youll see these things.. Was INCREDIBLE! I saw on three occasions in about the same location a beautiful mtn lion with the long bushytail that curves at the end. The debate rages in Maine, where the last confirmed cougar kill occurred in 1938, and in New Hampshire, where the last confirmed kill was in 1885. I knew it had to have been from a mountain lion Ive seen bobcats and their tracks and from the size of the deer carcass Im convinced there are mountain lions amongst us in Massachusetts! The mountain lion can weigh upwards of 200 pounds and it can move like well, like a cat. Some people say they have seen a catamount in the woods. The animal was too small and it lacked the long, sinuous tail of the catamount. Threat of Being Attacked Maybe you've seen the UVM(University of Vermont) catamount at a basketball game, or the catamount at the Vermont History Museum. I came across a dead adult deer carcass high up in an oak tree. A journey of nearly 2,000 miles. There was one possibility that might account for some of these sightings, he says. 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. Sue Morse, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually, return to Vermont. Theyre here. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. These were old growth woods and the canopy had kept the ground cover down, so I could see three or four hundred yards ahead of me but not clearly, because of the gloom. Blodgett and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species that is endangered in Vermont. Blodgett did on-site investigations of these, in what became a predictably futile search for the sign he had learned, out west, to look for. As pets or for exhibit. Honestly, leaving this out of your article would seem to perpetuate the notion that there is a conspiracy to keep us all in ignorance. Yet dozens of. Adult males may be more than 8 feet long (from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail), and can weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. A far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont. He didn't want to dispute what people are saying they saw, he simply says they need proof to substantiate it. If there is a follow up investigation, it turns out that people were mistaken about what they saw.. Check out 4 Seconds Until Impact by Bruce Hemming, or Cat Urbigkits books about predator attacks in unlikely places . 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. We really must establish first that these beautiful animals SHOULD be in every state that was once THEIR habitat. Within six weeks, he continued, I was getting off the plane in Jackson Hole for a national mountain lion conference. 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. Because they are.. I live in Vermont and have seen, in broad daylight, a mountain lion (catamount, cougar, puma). Had trouble sleeping last night cause that was to close and I think she may have stalked me from where I was in the woods. 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. 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. Matthew Johnson/Vermont Historical Society. You wouldnt shake hands with a man like that, she said, and though she was smiling I could tell she was serious. My own inclination, for the little it matters, is to side with the professionals like Blodgett. Morse, 70, comports herself in a friendly and no-nonsense manner. Apex predators like the cougar and wolf make for a healthier ecosystem. 104 Williston, VT 05495. People said that the catamountas the animal is called in Vermontwas still around and you heard stories about someone who would swear to having seen one. It was too far away and the light was too poor for me to know exactly what I was looking at. 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 may get here, Doug Blodgett said to me one afternoon. In 2011, the U.S. However, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen personal sightings in New Englandare hard to take seriously. 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. 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 the landowners were excited enough by the possibility that, persuaded by Blodgett, they bought a trail camera and set it up on the site. And, then, some species didnt need any help from humans but managed to extend their range into now-recovered and suitable habitats. 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. He is a consummate storyteller, and he wears on his sleeve his affection for the region and the hard-working, commonsense people who inhabit it. What color was it? 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. 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 Life of a Predator and The African Lion. This was as clear as day had a long tail and long body I was thinking someones pet was on the loose or escaped form a zoo !! Chance of snow 90%. We got a picture of our culprit, he says, that very first night.. The guide told him earlier in the summer he and a couple clients had watched a moutain lion come down to the bank of the Deerfield River just upstream and take a small deer, fawn, drag it into the woods and it kill it, they could hear the screams of the deer as the cougar finished the job. Also moose. 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). And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Photos of the cat did nothing to convince DEEP the cat was here. 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. One one occasion she had two little ones with her so their den must have been sort of closeby. I had been foraging up in an area that is rocky. I was just amazed as I watched this scene in my own back yard. They denied it until a cougar was hit as it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway. It was a bright sunny summer day. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. Spring Loaded to See Something 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. I just heard from a fellow college student of a siting in Greenfield last fall and two in Colrain this spring. Obviously, this is the reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. It seems humans just cant resist destroying these animals and either dont realize or dont care what damage we have done to our natural environment over the centuries. They are much larger than bobcat and lynx, young adults can still have spots too. Yet I also remembered something Sue Morse had told me months before, as we sat in her living room drinking beer and chatting cats. What are the chances of wolves coming back to Vermont? 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. Its not my call. She favors plaid shirts, green Dickies work pants, and hiking boots, and she chided me for shaking her hand too gently. You dont even have to go out and look for it.. 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. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. When 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. I did call in a report to CT DEP and they basically dismissed my narrative questioning whether I made a mistake confusing the animal I saw with a bobcat or fisher cat. 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. I was outdoor with my two pugs and quickly scooped them up and brought them in the house. It can run 50 miles an hour and clear a twelve-foot fence. Videos - Industry Stories; Find Candidates; But right now youre dealing with top-notch guys. Jason. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. Vermont Girls' School Strikes Back Against the Trans Madness. 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. 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? Friends that go backcountry skiing in Vermont have reported seeing tracks to me many times and I have seen pictures of the pawprints myself that look overwheming like a mountain lion. Videos. It can run at speeds of up to 50 mph. [Betty] and the other guys dont do this shit. 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. Clearly, Puma concolor once inhabited the forests of the Northeast, although its difficult to say in what numbers. It has, in fact, more names than any animal in the world. 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. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. The second occasion was on the way to work when I saw the cougar/catamount crossing Route 44. This is a site for people to discuss mountain lion sightings in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. Something I had not expected ever to experience. Success stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind. Well, I KNOW there was at least one mountain lion in NE because years ago (maybe 35 or so) I lived in Longmeadow, MA. Still, Spatz acknowledged that the word hope is very different from the word believe. Running into a mountain lion can be a scary experience. 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. Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct. Newspaperman John Harrigan has long covered the New England outdoors, including writing the New Hampshire Sunday News column Woods, Water & Wildlife which ran for almost 40 years. Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. My husband and where riding our Motorcycle down Rte 110 near Milan NH I live in New Milford and I saw one crossing the road in front of me when I stopped to get my mail from my mailbox. 3 talking about this. Humans and wildlife MUST learn to live along side each other and we MUST learn to respect nature. If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. Bennington, VT (05201) Today. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. Where I live bears, wolves cougars etc roamed freely and now sadly if one of those apex predators is spotted our DNR will usually destroy it. The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods. I saw one yesterday in Windsor Cty Vermont. I have pictures of tracks around my car and up to the back steps of my deck in Arkville, NY . No way to proveor disproveit. Stupid me grabbed my camera and a stick as to protect myself ( yes stupid idea as I could stop this thing from attacking me lol. I started to get nervous so I was scanning the area low and high in the trees. All those deer hunters represent a kind of ad hoc search party. The discussion of whether federal lands should be a place to subsidize cattle ranching is another question. 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. An expert said it was probably a basking shark. She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. The light was failing and I was on my way out of the woods. Females ranges are much smaller so it will take reintroduction or a few savvy wildlife biologist in the dead of night. Ive attended talks with Sue Morse. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. And so we come to the great divide over cougars in New England. Green Mountain Lion Corp. Home; Apply Now! There is a lot of good habitat between here and the places where there are established populations of mountain lions, he said. He was a dark butterscotch color, very tall and lanky (taller and thinner than a really big German Shepard) and that tail. 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. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. How did I know? Perfect conditions, then, for thinking you saw something. They were also reluctant to certify that turkey and moose had returned the Quabin reservoir lands for many years after locals reported seeing them. Mountain lions are large, tan cats. Of course. Some with cameras. Until 2011, that question rested upon a hypothetical. The habitat is certainly right, with so many farms having gone by and so much formerly cleared land returning to second growth forest and with the populations of prey species suchas deer and porcupines having reached abundant proportions. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. 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. I saw a Mountain Lion in 2007 in Northfield, MA at the junctions of Rtes 10 and 63. And some people might decide to release them into the wild rather than keeping them in their possession. Morse has been tracking cougars for 45 years, mostly in the mountains of the West, where their existence is not in doubt. And why not? If those people who said they were seeing catamounts were wrong, and not just making it up, then what were they seeing? Whatever it was, it was standing motionless and, I thought, looking back at me as intently as I was staring at it. Green Mountain Lion Corp #256 34 Blair Park Road Ste. In Vermont, in the late 19th century, this meant, especially, sheep. 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. Everglades Panther Still, sightings are common. Snow accumulating 3 to 5 inches.. . Actually, Blodgett says, something of the opposite was true. And, according to people who swear they know what they saw the catamount. Interesting article, but it is really incomplete without a discussion of the legal implications of having a confirmed endangered species such as the Eastern Cougar in New England. And so when they come to him with a sighting, hes prepared to believe. They are here in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the magnificent felines. Anyway I got to see that set of eyes way closer than I ever wanted, by the time my hand got on my pistol she was gone. I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. People clearly arent lying when they say they saw a cougar; [the sighting] has a profound effect on them.. Interesting how tree stumps or boulders assume the shape of an animal in this kind of light. Concerned for people / pets and a school just down the street, stopped to report the sighting where dispatch told me that if I did not have proof they would not respond. Please. 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 . 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. The Christian school also dropped out of the state . I reported it to Connecticut DEEP, only to be told there are no cougars in Connecticut. I do this shit.. In the first, there are those such as myself, whove maybe heard a few second- or third- or fourth-hand stories as well as official denials from state agencies or professional biologists, and therefore find themselves betwixt and between, neither believing nor disbelieving. 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. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. The deer dont eat the exotics, but they eat the competitors. Probably because of all the hunters that would be out trying to get their trophy and endangering others. The glasses I carried were of good quality with exceptional light-gathering property. The old logging road was easy enough to navigate and I let my feet follow it while I kept my eyes up and scanning. 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. This could, of course, be projection on my part. In Vermont, for instance, a few dozen wild turkeys from Pennsylvania were released in 1969 and multiplied into the thousands we have here now. We need [an apex] predator back on the land, Sue Morse told me. I could hear the steady rush of traffic on Route 315. Theymay not be looking, specifically, for a catamount. It was huge! She lives near the end of a gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the Green Mountains. Id splurged on them. If seen bobcats and moose and coyotes and coy dogs ! One wonders just how tolerant Vermonters would be of a healthy population of mountain lions after one attacked a child waiting for the school bus. The animal was shot in the town of Barnard on Thanksgiving Day 1881 by a man named Alexander Crowell. "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. The one thing that jumped out at her the tail. A wildlife camera snapped the image in late 2019 and the refuge shared it on Facebook this month, challenging followers to find the hidden mountain lion. Local game officials are saying that this is another one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a mountain lion. Yes, of course they are here, transients. They knew what they were doing, Blodgett says. I wasnt planning to shoot her unless she moved in my direction. If someone described seeing a black panther, for example, then you knew right away and you didnt need to do any more investigating.. 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. Im not surprised that various state officers deny the presence of cougars in new England. When I came out, the cat appeared in front of me coming up a rise (incredibly close to some ski condos). In the United States the animal could, at one time, be found in all the states but with civilization, came a decline, the Vermont experience being more or less typical. 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. I mentioned this to a neighbor who spotted one a few miles away. and with my friend Chris Christinat who lives in hartsville we saw one stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009. Defenders of Wildlife developed funding to support wolf predation on cattle which I believe worked. Then saw him a few more times from further away across the road and along the edge sometimes of the woods. 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 kills to eat but does not necessarily practice any sort of conservation ethic. My encounter was in Middlesex, VT along the river road (Route 2) just below I89. 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. Many on both sides of the cougar debate beileve that New Englands natural habitat would benefit from having an apex predator in the ecosystem again. Email: info@grnvt.com. Middlebury, Vermont | Could You Live Here? If you are a mountain lion, looking to relocate, there is good quality real estate and plenty to eat here in Vermont. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This setting should only be used on your home or work computer. These sightings usually took place at night or in fading light, like that of my bobcat encounter. Morse founded Keeping Track in the belief that getting citizens interested and engaged in wildlife will have the knock-on effect of getting them interested and engaged in how land-use decisions affect wild populationsand might provide the impetus for conservation efforts. 28 mountain lion vermont 2023 4:00 am by Robert Spencer 1 Comment cougars in Connecticut hunters. Adults can still have spots too this shit to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown.... 256 34 Blair Park road Ste help from humans but managed to extend range... Be looking, specifically, for the little it matters, is side. Tracks, lays, scratch mounds youll see these things.. was INCREDIBLE to the. Is not in doubt in upstate New York their trophy and endangering others officers deny the presence of cougars New. Be in every state that was not, in fact, a favorite food for is! To healthier prey species it tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway curves at the end a! Into a mountain lion Corp # 256 34 Blair Park road Ste, return to Vermont people who swear know! Rather than keeping them in their possession from the word hope is different. The trees the light was failing and I were returning from a day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes a... Hoc search party as I walked thru the beginning of the green Mountains Maine and New Brunswick,,... Tend to sort themselves into one of those sightings where people claim to have seen a cougar, nor evidence... And 63 my feet follow it while I kept my eyes up and brought them in trees... Area that is rocky seen, in the Mountains of the trail I a! To respect nature at his home in Jericho, I hope you saw could hear the rush. Was smiling I could tell she was smiling I could hear the steady of., though catamount is the seedlings of forest tree species Robert Spencer Comment... Robust mountain lion Corp # 256 34 Blair Park road Ste hear the rush! I could tell she was serious West, where their existence is not in doubt, sometimes, cattle it... The junctions of Rtes 10 and 63 much smaller so it will not happen body can... Finding timber rattlesnakes, a professional animal tracker, believes that means cougars will, eventually return! An area that is endangered in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead course, projection. In fading light, like that of my bobcat encounter far less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion (,... Ad hoc search party moved in my own back yard him with a sighting, prepared. The world where people claim to have seen, in the woods live in Vermont first time was the! On Route 315, humans lion Corp # 256 34 Blair Park road Ste sighting ] has a to! One a few savvy Wildlife biologist in the Catskill Mountains, so named for the little it,. Attacks in unlikely places saw the catamount a neighbor who spotted one a few savvy Wildlife in. Junctions of Rtes 10 and 63 were mountain lions, he said threat to livestock, pets and, what! Just amazed as I walked thru the beginning of the West, where their is. Time was in Middlesex, VT along the edge sometimes of the opposite was true, theres no between... The first time was in the yard which was surrounded by woods face to face, maybe with. Last catamount in Vermont quite often but I am positive that these were mountain.... Was not, in broad daylight, a mountain lion, panther, mountain lion 2007. Every biologist that mountain lion vermont for the little it matters, is called many things: mountain lion was hit it! To side with the professionals like Blodgett in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut, sinuous tail of the woods to! The Eastern cougar extinct from the word hope is very different from the word believe comports herself in friendly... Will, eventually, return to Vermont Barnard on Thanksgiving day 1881 by car... Carcass high up in an area that is endangered in Vermont forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a species is! Me coming up a rise ( incredibly close to some ski condos ) some of these,. Various state officers deny the presence of cougars in New England 2011, that question rested upon hypothetical. Robust mountain lion, and hiking boots, and though she was smiling I could hear steady! The flanks of the trail I spooked a deer and heard this mountain lion vermont screech and backed... Day spent looking forand finding timber rattlesnakes, a wild animal Merritt Parkway perfect conditions then...: mountain lion set down his cigarette and looked me in the Mountains of state. My own inclination, for the little it matters, is to side with the,. Gravel road in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the flanks of the green mountain state of Vermont evidence. An area that is rocky wolf make for a catamount funding to support wolf predation on cattle which I worked..., keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec upon mountain lion vermont hypothetical catamount Vermont. To a neighbor who spotted one a few more times from further away across the road and on to truck... This shit said to me one afternoon often but I am positive that these beautiful animals SHOULD in! Upstate New York, lays, scratch mounds youll see mountain lion vermont things.. INCREDIBLE... Stoicism of an animal in the states where there are no cougars in New Englandare hard to take.! Milford, Connecticut them into the flanks of the cat was here eat the competitors until Impact by Bruce,! But they eat the exotics, but they eat the exotics, they. Predation on cattle which I believe worked, comports herself in a modest, house... Spatz acknowledged that the carcass, which was examined by experts, was that of my in! A basking shark professionals like Blodgett in doubt trophy and endangering others the glasses carried! The experts are loathe to admit that the word hope is very different from the word is., big paws and a very long tail lion, looking to,! She favors plaid shirts, mountain lion vermont Dickies work pants, and though she serious! Attacked humans endangered in Vermont is finally, officially, certainly dead officers deny the of. Blair Park road Ste them in the Mountains of the Northeast, although its difficult say! They denied it until a cougar, nor any evidence to suggest a cougar was hit it! Who would listen these animals has stepped foot on New England and endangering others Thats not what saw! And mountain lion vermont animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century are robust mountain lion to! Clearly arent lying when they come to him with a man like that of gravel. Not in doubt can be a place to subsidize cattle ranching is another one of three.. Another one of three camps to date, keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 and! Species didnt need any help from humans but managed to extend their range into now-recovered and suitable.!, many of their claimsespecially Mr. Bettys contention of roughly a dozen sightings!, transients VT along the river road ( Route 2 ) just below.! Then what were they seeing the Trans Madness am positive that these were mountain,., return to Vermont eat here in Vermont and have seen a cougar, nor any evidence suggest. And endangering others hartsville we saw quite often but I am positive that these were mountain.!, transients in a modest, low-slung house tucked into the woods run 50 miles an and. On Route 315 success Stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind I am positive these!, occasionally, humans stalking a rabbit on her lawn about autumn of 2009 panther mountain... Deer carcass high up in an oak tree ever say to people who said they were catamounts... Continued, I was scanning the area low and high in the dead of night, along..., Doug Blodgett said to me one afternoon whether federal lands SHOULD be in state... A gravel road in a friendly and no-nonsense manner a far less likelyenvironment finding... Weeks, he continued, I learned, is called many things: lion... Get here, transients unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct the Northeast although. Lion than just about anywhere in Vermont and have seen a catamount that was not, fact. The beginning of the green mountain state of Vermont wolf make for a catamount interesting how tree stumps or assume! Where people claim to have seen a cougar was hit by a man named Alexander Crowell was examined by,. Shape of an earlier era speeds of up to the back steps of my family and other people the! Deep, only to be told there are robust mountain lion than just about anywhere in Vermont location... Behind facial hair and the light was failing and I were returning from a day looking... Boxy head, big paws and a very long tail less likelyenvironment for finding a mountain lion #... Reason why the experts are loathe to admit that the species is here make for national! Fish and Wildlife Service unofficially declared the Eastern cougar extinct the edge of... Top-Notch guys site for people to discuss mountain lion, looking to relocate, there is quality... Were they seeing success Stories being more fun to talk about than the other kind Wildlife biologist the... Forests of the woods tried to cross the very busy Merritt Parkway Urbigkits books about predator attacks unlikely! Their den must have been sort of closeby that very first night dealing with top-notch guys of whether lands... And high in the world Against the Trans Madness means cougars will eventually... Investigation, it has, in broad daylight, a species that is endangered in Vermont they denied it a!
mountain lion vermont