State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut for more than 100 years. Clean_Caterpillar225 4 mo. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. MoRRoW187 4 mo. How much wild life is out there? 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. Got a question or comment? Mountain lion spotted in Connecticut town On Monday, DEEP said that Connecticut does not have a mountain lion population. This was maybe a decade ago. Dickson, however, said the agency is not aware of any such reports. Many years ago there was a mountain lion that stayed in a wood pile in my mother's back yard. They also generally have spots on their fur. Your support makes this news available to everyone. According to wildlife biologist Jason Hawley, the lack of evidence of mountain lions in Connecticut is the evidence. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. Bobcats, also, only hunt small prey. Hey, I know what I saw. 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. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Typically, they will slink out of there as quickly as they can to get away from humans. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection thinks it's unlikely. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. She was calling from a trail in Pootatuck State Forest, the 1,200-acre strip of nature occupying the hills above Squantz Pond in New Fairfield. She didnt claim to see the mountain lions long tail, but optical illusions can lead people to think theyve seen a tail. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. If you have a worldview in which the government is conspiring to do weird stuff, than thats what youre going to see, and all the evidence is going to point to exactly what you believe, he says. listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information. My first thought literally was, is that a lion?. One on Salem Rd and another in the area of Pease Rd in our town. 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.. State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. Almost daily, there are claims of mountain lion sightings in CT, though. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. It was a flooded area. "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. Otherwise, Hawley said cats like bobcats want nothing to do with people, and they will generally prey on chickens, small dogs or cats. 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. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Fight back. Rego says that the way bobcats stride when they run, often times a rear leg is kicked up in the back and that could be mistaken for a long tail.. He was previously a reporter for the Danbury News-Times and the Ridgefield Press. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. A mountain lion from South Dakota apparently made an epic journey to suburban Connecticut. Im watching it, its big, its got the body, and the thing that really gave it away was the tail, had that mountain lion long tail that goes down to the ground and comes up at the end, saw that and was like, thats a freaking mountain lion.. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures Forest Service. No, there are no mountain lions in CT, and there havent been for quite some time. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. Hawley: That animal was documented. For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good evidence. 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. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book, Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. They have NEVER observed a single mountain lion track. We get a lot of pictures sent to us, and people say, I took this picture of a mountain lion in my backyard. And Ill look at it, and to me, its clearly a bobcat, Hawley said. People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. Stay facing the big cat and try not to turn your back to it, officials said in a Facebook post. For decades, wildlife experts should have been seeing occasional scat and paw prints in the winter. You know, weve had so many home entries this year. I frankly have lost faith in some government institutions for this very reason. Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. Im not an expert on human psychology, but if youre looking for something, you have a greater chance of actually seeing it. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. At that point, they realized my family was not crazy and it was identified as a cougar and it was about 100 lbs. 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.. Bobcats are most frequently misidentified by the public as mountain lions, but theyre not the only animals mislabeled. not all bobcats are heavily spotted either - just to add to the confusion.. Here are some physical differences between mountain lions and bobcats: These 2 big cats also behave differently. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. It was found, though, that this particular big cat had traveled all the way from South Dakota a distance of 1,500 miles. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. In the 1930s, Bruce Wright, an influential wildlife manager from New Brunswick, Canada, began gathering reports of sightings of mountain lions in the East and searching for their tracks. Sport hunting for cougars is not sustainable and shouldnt be allowed to go on. It is not of the animal actually seen in town. Throw rocks, sticks, etc to scare it off. Anyone can get fooled. WOODBRIDGE, CT (WFSB) Police in Woodbridge said they have received reports of mountain lion sightings in town. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. Rego says that if there were many other animals like the 2011 cat that died in Milford, there would be more visual or physical evidence. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. The sightings increased in 2011, after a driver hit and killed a mountain lion who was trying to cross the Merritt Parkway in Milford. Officials used DNA to genetically fingerprint the mountain lion as the same one spotted more than 18 months ago in Minnesota. 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. 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.. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. Sometimes physical evidence shows the sighting was of some other animal, including dogs, cats, fishers, coyotes, bears and bobcats. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. For over 30 years, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has been tracking reported mountain lion sightings. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. So its this gathering storm. Connecticut Dept. And Im assuming whatever were doing right now, its not working. of Energy & Environmental Protection. 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. Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. 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