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. I started this blog for people to discuss mountain lion sightings and reports in the Green Mountain State of Vermont. John Lutz, Eastern Puma Research Network. But one day. His studies NEVER ended, even after going nearly blind by the mid-1990s. 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. First about the animal, itself, and then about the lore and the possibility that the catamount was not, in fact, extinct in Vermont. Betty had driven up from his home in Rhode Island. 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. 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? Stay clear and give 'em space. I can send the pics I have. The cat was huge and tail was at least 3 feet long and thick. 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. They have not received any reports of large cats in Waterbury so far. "Of those . Latter that night we were all woken up by the most awful sounds I have ever heard the mt lion was in the back yard chasing the house cat back and fourth. Telephone: (802) 422-2399 Im gonna get hammered for it, he sighed. 2023 The Mountain Times, Outer Limits Publishing LLC | All rights reserved. Visit VAL and learn more . Its a cool story with how far that animal walked. I showed several farmers and they all said wow that is a huge cat track. If you have any pictures you can post them here too! 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). 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. Its acceleration was amazing. It is also known as cougar, panther, mountain lion, and puma, though catamount is the preferred regional vernacular. Amazing sight. The second sighting in myakka preserve, hopping a fence. Anyway, we are always aware that there could be mountain lions around and on this day I saw a huge beautiful mountain lion. Nowhere in New England is the matter definitively settled. It does NOT surprise me, you would have seen a wild, free-roaming, native eastern cougar, aka puma, mountain lion in Vermont. Dan Moore::: IN reference to your big cat crossing Route 113, YES, mountain lions/cougars/pumas, 3 of the most popular names for North Americas largest unspotted, lion-cat, travelling free in almost every state, across the USA. To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. Pictures are pretty clear. Morally i mean Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. Because he lives among them, Harrigan understands that no one knows the woods better. 4 . How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. The cat is dead. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. 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. 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. One time a found a perfect mt lion print in the soft silt by the bull run stream only 70 yards from my front door. I want emails from Fodor's Travel with travel information and promotions. Please contact me at epuma@frontier.com or 304-749-7778. I gave grown up in the woods and this was no bobcat. These are rare, single events, and in such cases, the cat will leave a prominent trail of evidence wherever they go: indisputable game camera photos, camera photos, scat, tracks, sightings, Bernier said. The cougar was so close I could smell it. 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. Tom Stearns, a Vermont Game Warden says they get reports all the time. It crossed the road just below where the Jaquiths lived. About a few miles from the covered bridge. 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. Hed encouraged me to keep my eyes open for deer carcasses cached in the trees (according to Ottmann, cougars are fantastic climbers and are known to stash their kills high in trees), but I saw only leaf-bare branches. We even had a sighting someone here at DEEP, in my office, was convinced they saw a mountain lion. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal likely trekked more than 1,500 miles from South Dakota, a journey that was captured by trail camera (above). Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. So theres fresh mud. There is no question about it: cougars are not only being seen in eastern North America, some are attempting to recolonize their former habitats. We need them for the health of our forests.. When one person submitted a blurry photo to the newspaper-they printed it, the authorities saying it was a dog I believe if I recall correctly. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. But that was OK. Bo Ottmannknew they were out there. I can unsubscribe any time using the unsubscribe link at the end of all emails. The lion three feet away crouched down and screamed in my face, at that point i have never been so scared in my life i thought this is it i am a dead man. Mountain Lions Not Just a Tall Tale in Adirondacks. Both the front (left) and rear paws of this animal . 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. Perhaps, then, the ultimate question isnt whether cougars are among us, but rather how we can encourage them to settle here. Ottmann and I walked farther. I doubt it but it could be a mountain lion. You might enjoy reading the comments, > There are plenty of places for a family of animals. Hey, I know what I saw. Li mistaking that long swaying tail. Bobcat tails, though prominent when they walk, are only about six or seven inches long. He knew it was only a matter of time. It was a few miles south of the Hanover exit. Founded in 1971, the paper has gone through many transitions, now expanding into web and mobile platforms in addition to its weekly newspaper and semi-annual magazines. You need to understand that every biologist that works for the state has a duty to deny mountain lions. Bigger than my rottwieller/Lab cross. I was driving yesterday (July 31st '13) around midnight on northbound I-89 about half way between Wight River Junction and Montpelier when a beautiful cat creature a size of a greyhound jumped from the midroad bushes and sped in front of my car across the road. 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. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. [5] Too loud, too close and too deep a voice to be a shy bobcat2 nights with a big fire blazing. Records suggest that cash bounties for cougar kills were relatively common in the late 1700s and early 1800s; in the Adirondacks, a trapper named Thomas Meacham was credited with 77 cougar kills. Sill Editor. Even in the controlled environment of a lab, the truth about Eastern cougars seems to be almost willfully eluding its seekers. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Lets learn to live alongside this very large animal is one of the schools of thought. 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. Since my 1st contact with Prof. Harold Hitchcock in 1981, I have collected big cat sightings from across Vermont from the internet. The tavern was quiet except for some hard-rock music playing on the radio, the murmur of a handful of men at the bar, and us. 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 lion tails, however, are about three feet long, usually the length of the cats body. The Grandfather of eastern Cougar Studies, began investigating big cat sightings in the 1940s. 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. Two mountain lion encounters in his driveway. 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. Just like cats do - it waited to the last moment and then ran across in front of me. There are also many unconfirmed sightings. 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. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. It was a beautiful golden red color (like a red squirrel), about the size of a medium dog (maybe 40lbs?) What do you think of hunting? He said there were two, he called them mountain lions.. He set down his cigarette and looked me in the eye. 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. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. 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. 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. By C.L. I am willing to put my hand on the bible or take a polygraph. The dogs did a 180 a pulled me away. Anyone can get fooled. Required fields are marked *. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. 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