And its not just Vermont. To Betty and Ottmann, the dominant narrative of the occasional itinerant cougar from the West is not particularly relevant to the facts on the ground. Mountain Lions Not Just a Tall Tale in Adirondacks. I didnt dare to take the time to get my phone out of my bag to try for a photo, but the memory is forever in my head! Mountain Lions Living Mountain Lion Sightings in Vermont in Vermont? Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, Connecticut Dept. Welcome to the blog dedicated to discussing mountain lion sightings in Vermont! 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. Tom Stearns, a Vermont Game Warden says they get reports all the time. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. If we end up with a population, it will be the result of a colonizer female who gets here somehow, some way, and the rest will be history.. 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. 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. Where once it was flatly dismissed as impossible in the so-called developed East, scientists have now documented cougar dispersals and reoccupation of a growing list of eastern states and provinces. 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. It took a rest in the shade of our driveway for about ten minutes. Apparently, Barnaby is blind because he couldnt see it. In June 1991 and again in July 1993, my wife Linda and I, visited Prof. Harold & wife Martene at their Maine Cottage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, where we had serious discussions on the WILD, NATIVE, FREE-ROAMING cougars-mountain lions and their ancestors who have inhabited the eastern U.S. for over the last 500 years. It was pretty and calm, Saw one this morning lying in the road on our dead end street only about 100 yards from the main road. Still, this isnt a foolproof rule for big cat identification. While . 1 Last 365 Days. Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. It wailed just one time but it woke me from a sound sleep. Proctor to vote on what constitutes a public nu Hartland board appoints acting town manager, First spring flowers are in bloom in Rutland, Rutland Area Robotics receive 2016 challenge, EPA honors Efficiency Vermont as 2023 Energy Star Partner of the Year, We must have courage to address gun problem, Confused about Affordable Heat Bill? But every once in a while, you'll be on your property, on your deck or in your house, and you'll see one walk across your yard or something. 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. I have seen herons and other things there. Visit VAL and learn more . If theres a middle ground in the cougar debate, it belongs to John Harrigan, a veteran outdoorsman, newspaper reporter, and widely read syndicated columnist. 2023 The Mountain Times, Outer Limits Publishing LLC | All rights reserved. J.A. I have seen a bobcat as I had one that hung around one of the places I lived-I believe he may have been hurt because he hung around for about a month which is uncharacteristic of them if I remember correctly, and I also believe he same one was hit by Harpoon Brewery in Windsor and boy do they clean up wild cats fast. This is a natural wildlife corridor coming down off of the Worcester Range headed over towards the Green Mountain Range. We even enjoyed the pleasure of taking them out to dinner, then returning wiith them for a delightful 3 days with them, dicussing the big cats, while they vacationed at their Atlantic Oceanfront Cottage.. HHH was firmly convinced, wild cougars inhabited Vermont, as well as each of New Englands nothernmost states. It took me by fantastic surprise! A few years later, though, the scat was retested with DNA analysis and found to be canid, rather than feline, in origin. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. As livestock farming came to dominate the landscape, pressure on the big cats slowly mounted on two fronts: The number of farmers wanting them dead was increasing, while the rapid transition from forest to farmland meant their habitat was shrinking. I doubt it but it could be a mountain lion. Sincerely, Though native to the western half of the U.S., mountain lions are long-distance dispersers and young male mountain lions sometimes strike out looking for mates and food. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. The U.S. John Lutz, Eastern Puma Research network.. Hi I am from Arlington, vt. could you email me the pic and the story behind it please, thanks. I'll tell you that.. It was broadside to my headlights, paused to look me directly in the eyes, its magnificent tail as long as its body. Its on the property that we own over there. 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. In Massachusetts, three sightings between 1997 and 2016 have been confirmed by scat, DNA, or tracks, according to the Cougar Network, a nonprofit that studies the habitat and movements of the big cats. Vermont's last known cougar, also known as a mountain lion or catamount, was killed in 1881 in Barnard. In 2011, a cougar was hit by a car and killed on a Connecticut highway. Get up to speed on the news Vermont is talking about, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Equinox, Manchester, Vt told me he has seen them in the high mountain road there. 35 wild cougars, known as the Florida Panther, of which a few are totally BLACK, and known as panther, but are actually of the jaguar family In the last few days, 3 sightings have been reported to us, large brown cats in Tennessee and Indiana, a total black cat, in Virginia. Maysville, WV 26833 I am 6-2 200lbs at the time I was looking like Bruce lee because of working out daily for dirt bike racing. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. Two of my family members sighted cougars in Florida during daylight hours: one was leaping through a field on myakka side of route 75, between north port and Sarasota. If you do see a big cat in your neighborhood, best practice is to leave it alone, according to Waterbury Game Warden Chad Barrett. The second sighting in myakka preserve, hopping a fence. That, however, does NOT mean a breeding colony of these animals has returned there. He waves me over and shows me an animal lying in our driveway. So its this gathering storm. Anyway, we are always aware that there could be mountain lions around and on this day I saw a huge beautiful mountain lion. Back in 2002 I saw a full grown mountain lion in Dummerston Vermont on east/west road. Its important not to rule any possibilities out, including the chance of a mountain lion, according to Bernier. Until recently, it was thought that the last mountain lion (a very big cat -- aka a catamount) disappeared from our state decades ago. 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. Bearded, bowler hat, expression impenetrable behind facial hair and the stoicism of an earlier era. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. I was within inches of hitting him, actually. If there are mountain lions skulking around Vermont, they wont stay hidden for long, Bernier said. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Cat. My wife Linda and I, spent several days with the Hitchcocks at their Atlantic Ocean-front Cabin overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, from high up on a cliff, where you could hear the screams of at least 1 of Vermonts wild cougars, in both 1991 and again in 1993. And somebody hollering. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); aint seen none yet, them wind turbines scarin em off, I have been following the eastern mountain lion mystery since the mid-1960s, in every state, east of the Mississippi River. I was awakened by a wailing sound that I thought was a woman in great pain and fear in my front yard. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. According to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, only four confirmed sightings occurred in the state from the late 1700s to the early 2000s. 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. We know that the closest established breeding population is in either the Everglades of Florida theres a small population down there and then out in South Dakota and Nebraska. I encourage everyone who has seen a mountain lion or heard of a report to please leave a post here. It crossed the road and went into the woods. He wore red suspenders and a baseball cap. I noticed that there were many great websites, blogs, and discussion boards devoted to mountain lion sightings in other states of New England, but not one just for Vermont. ), or someones coworkers mother had seen one from the back porch of a summer camp back in 07 or maybe 08, and shed tried to get a picture but this was before she got her first iPhone, and by the time shed retrieved her camera from the living room, the cat was long gone. Cougar truthers are certain that the big cat is living and breeding again in New England. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. I want emails from Fodor's Travel with travel information and promotions. It was his great coolness and daring (either that, or fear) that enabled Crowell to shoot the animal at a distance of one rod only (roughly 16 feet), first hitting it in the leg with his shotgun, then dispatching it with a bullet to the head from a borrowed rifle. Hi Mike. 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. 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. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Your email address will not be published. I have no doubt but that cougars have been spotted all over the East Coast. 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). Bill and I are full-throttle. Stay clear and give 'em space. One, Waterbury resident Jeff Kilgores sister-in-law, came across the cats while walking a dog on Ripley Road on a Monday morning. I am quite sure that I saw a mountain lion (a juvenile) yesterday afternoon north of the Dummerston Covered bridge along the West River. The scientific name for the catamount is Puma concolor. After 20 minutes or so, we turned and stumbled our way back to the parking lot. And the clincher, What would you say was the most distinguishing feature? Pictures are pretty clear. Its acceleration was amazing. : I am basically a pro whitetail hunter living in Roxbury vt. It had rained previously. 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