Recent Mountain Lion Sightings

[Fitz]

We were picking blueberries one afternoon in August a year ago on Dallas Hill just outside of Rangeley. We picked our fill and left. A cougar was reported in the patch about an hour after we left.

Old timers say the cats have been around since the 1940's.

[ripple]

Fu Jow Pai,
The link you posted does say that 37 % of sighting for a given time span were of black felines. Doesn't mean they were black cougers and it doesn't say who did the reporting or the lighting conditions. THe article also goes on to say no black couger body has ever been produced. I looked up other articles also and it seems to be that black cougers do not exist or at the very most are extremely rare. Eye witness accounts of black cougers don't really amount to much. Black jaugers that are escpaed pets are most likely what is seen in some of the reports or just dark brown cats in low light. Back in the day people reported seeing mermaids.... doesn't mean they are out there swimming around.

[afka_bob]

Then perhaps it was a dark brown lynx that I saw. It was dark (perhaps not as dark as my heart, Gris ). Or maybe navy blue -- I can never tell black from navy blue unless I put them side-by-side, so (even if they exist), what are the chances of getting a black (or dark brown) m.l. to sit still long enough to put a navy blue m.l. next to it? Not likely. Or maybe it was a mermaid.

[Rugger]

I lot of things about this whole Mt. Lion controversy do not add up for me. I saw one many years ago, there is no way it could have been anything else but a mountain lion; classic greyish tan coat, long tail, large. I just do not see how so many people's sightings can be blamed on Bobcats, domestic cats, dogs etc. Look at the pictures, they do not look anything at all like a mountain lion. Also, saying that they are escaped, released pets doesn't work for me either. Remeber the book Born Free? Domesticated wild life rarely survive long after being released back into the wild do they? Anyway my 2 cents worth is up.

[ripple]

Bob
There have been blue tigers. Check this link out and scroll on down.

http://members.aol.com/jshartwell/mutant-bigcats.html

[afka_bob]

Originally Posted by Rugger

I lot of things about this whole Mt. Lion controversy do not add up for me ... I just do not see how so many people's sightings can be blamed on Bobcats, domestic cats, dogs etc. Look at the pictures, they do not look anything at all like a mountain lion ... Remeber the book Born Free? Domesticated wild life rarely survive long after being released back into the wild do they? ...

Eyewitness accounts of seeing people (a species I dare say we could all recognize at a hundred yards) are notoriously inaccurate.

Also, we have feral cats (house, not bob) in the woods beside our house that are surviving quite a long time. Perhaps they would not do so well in the savannas of Africa, but the woods of southern New Hampshire seem to suit them well enough.

Originally Posted by ripple

Bob
There have been blue tigers. Check this link out and scroll on down.

And don't forget Pilchard on "Bob the Builder"!

[Fu Jow Pai]

Hey Ripple,

Love the Robert Hunter quote by the way, quite appropriate. The reason I put "Black" in parenthesis is because although there are most certainly not "Black" cougars out there (or if so they would be extremely rare). My point was that many of these sightings involve "Black" cougars. Almost certainly these sightings are a result of lighting/coat color. The main point I hoped to make is that sightings of "Black" cougars are not rare...Ahhh, these "Ghosts of the Woods", great topic! Wouldn't it be cool if, aside from the inherent dangers of hiking the mountains, we might also be prey!....I guess that'll be all until someone posts another sighting, and we can do this dance again...or maybe, just maybe, someone will come up with proof positive...and we'll get to do a whole new dance.

[escapee]

About 3 years ago, I was paddling up the headwaters of the west branch of the Tioghnioga River near Preble, near where I-81 passes between Upper Little York Lake and Goodale Lake. We were paddling up the stream from Goodale Lake, going around a bend, when my bow paddler, Carole, said in a hushed exclamation, "Mike, did you see that?" I hadn't. Being in the stern, I didn't see around the bend quite as soon as she did. I asked her what she saw. She said it was a big cat How big? Taller at the shoulder than her Vishlas (short-haired pointers), which sounded bigger than a bobcat. I asked her where she saw it. The cat crossed the stream ahead of us from right to left. I asked where, and Carole indicated a break in the brush ahead on the left. I started paddling towards it, naturally curious, and Carole began expressing apprehension. I said not to worry, that wild animals are afraid of humans. I found fresh feline tracks in the mud coming out of the stream into the woods. I put my hand in a track, and was able to fit three fingers from first to second knuckle inside the impression, without touching the sides. I wear men's large or extra-large gloves. I wanted to try tracking the animal, but Carole would not hear of it. She was not happy staying in the area at all, and being left alone in the canoe was out of the question. We paddled back downstream, went under I-81 and took out.

I asked Carole to describe the animal further. Definitely a cat. Short tail? No, long. Spotted coat? No, tawny, washed-out looking. Between that and the size of the tracks, it did not sound like a bobcat. Tufted ears? No. Doesn't sound like a lynx.

I didn't see the animal, but I put my fingers in the tracks. This sighting was about 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the rest area on the north-bound side of I-81 south of Tully. My guess is that Carole saw a cougar or eastern mountain lion. Any other opinions?

[puma]

I live in NH in the woods. I saw a mt lion and her baby right outside my fenced in yard this morning. I happened to look out my window and there they were. We have been hearing what sounds like someone screaming in the morning. Looks like this might be what's making it. I saw the mother's face poking out of some bushes. She just stared for a couple minutes and then turned. That's when I saw her big bushy tail. A minute later a bush near by was moving and out came the baby. It quickly ran after it's mom and they were gone back in the woods. So cute, I wish I grabbed my camera, but I was too in awe of what I was seeing. As great as this is it concerns me. I go hiking in these woods and my dogs like to be out in the yard. Does anyone know if they would jump a fence to attack a dog? Or if I should be concerned about coming upon one while hiking?

[Waumbek]

Wow, your first post and your name is Puma and you saw a mountain lion & baby today. Call NH Fish & Game Wildlife department and report your findings as there is no confirmation in NH yet of breeding cougars in the wild. Here's the number 603-271-2461 or 603-271-2462. They'll come out and confirm prints for you. The ground was soft today.

[puma]

I will call them tomorrow. I thought it was awesome to have seen them until I talked to my family in Maine where there have been sightings. They were telling me how dangerous they can be. Then I started reading about them. Guess I won't be hiking or leaving my dogs in the yard any time soon.

[ALGonquin Bob]

I think that yes, a big cat will jump a fence for "easy pickings" in a yard. It's highly doubtful that you will see one while hiking. The cat will either move away before you see it, or it will surprise you. Either way, you won't see it.

[CragginCragin]

I can attest to the fact that scientists try and say - through statistical reports, etc. - what possibly could have been seen is purely a play of the mind and without photographic evidence is shunned as "unconfirmed."
Remember the ivory-billed woodpecker of the humid swamps of the southeast? For half a century we were led to believe this species was extinct, but an individual was confirmed in the wild not long ago. Certainly, it has potential for extinction but conservation is the key here. There is a myriad we do not and will never know about the wild, and mountain lions (timber wolves as well) have existed in the Northeast for a millenia - it is my firm belief that despite devastating habitat loss and human penetration, they are not completely extirpated and are still breeding here in small, albeit rare, numbers - satellite evidence and statistics notwithstanding.

[Sixer]

Please take the time to report this to the 'Cougar Network' at the following link;

http://www.easterncougarnet.org/contactus.html

or to;

Eric Orff
Wildlife Biologist
N.H. Fish & Game Department
Wildlife Division
Region 3, Durham, NH
225 Main St.
Durham, NH 03824-4732
Tel: 603-271-2461 or 603-271-2462
e-mail: wilddiv@wildlife.state.nh.us

Thanks

[Puck]

I highly recommend the book "Beast in the Garden." It tells how a Mt lion population scouted an area then surmised that neigborhood cats and dogs were food. They came into the Boulder area because of the mule deer population. The lions went into a transition period when they were scouting humans as food. Nature abhors a vacuum. if there is food there will be something there to consume it. And yes if a lion wanted to kill you for food, you would not know what hit you.

Re; the Ivory bill. Many people had reported sightings that bilogists checked out and waved off because ther was no way to confirm them. Now the the bird is official all of these people who had reported sightings are validated.