It's a feat many fellow mountain lions just don't survive — and he's still here, roaming the trails at the ripe old age of (we think) 11. While other states have their Bigfoot and sea monster sightings, in Connecticut, and throughout much of the Northeast, we see mountain lions — even when we’re told such sightings are unlikely, if not outright impossible. Time is treating P-22 pretty well, but that's partly because he's alone. A mountain She adds, “I think it’s because a lot of people are fascinated by wild cats; they are the embodiment of the wild.”. He published his first book in 1959, Department Of Energy And Environmental Protection, From the archives: Stories about CT and the Movies, and past April covers, Notable April events from Connecticut's history, Remembering the joys of the old neighborhood record store, Researchers may have unearthed remains from the 1777 Battle of Ridgefield, Researchers need your help to keep an eye on wildlife and the environment, Meet a K-9 superstar, rate hike postponed, a move to end Daylight Saving Time and more recent news from around Connecticut, The Dinosaur Caves of eastern CT are an epic journey, This contemporary country home in Westport charms with lake views and a rock star-inspired kitchen, New Connecticut restaurants: Gastropub, Pan-Asian, French bakery, German and more, Things to do in Connecticut in April 2021. “Almost every state has some sort of legend of something that’s hiding somewhere,” he says. She didn’t claim to see the mountain lion’s long tail, but optical illusions can lead people to think they’ve seen a tail. That’s only a fraction of the supposed sightings. Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. There’s also the lack of visual evidence, more glaring each passing year as so many hikers and hunters now carry phones with cameras. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Bobcats: They are about two to three times larger than their distant relative. Graham: Biden has become an 'incredibly destabilizing' president. Published on March 26, 2021 in Community Staff. “We’ve had coyotes misidentified. Sue Morse, the founder and science director of Keeping Track, a Vermont-based organization dedicated to protecting wildlife habitats, has studied mountain lions over her career as a naturalist, and says the majority of cougar sightings in the Northeast are misidentifications. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. Once at dusk driving in the Berkshires, he saw what he initially thought was a cat-like creature that was far bigger than a bobcat leap across the road. “It’s extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. A month after the cat was struck and killed, researchers confirmed it had traveled more than 1,500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public about a second possible mountain lion attack on a dog in just over a week within the County, after a pooch went missing in Portola Valley Thursday night. 1 of 3 A mountain lion struck by a car and killed on Route 15 in Milford on June 11 is believed to be the animal spotted on the Brunswick School campus in northwest Greenwich recently. Bobcats: They are are the only wild cat found in the state and the most common in North America. A mountain lion captured by a wildlife camera in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 5:16 p,m. Bobcats are most frequently misidentified by the public as mountain lions, but they’re not the only animals mislabeled. The lack of space to roam, says Sikich, has led to inbreeding and a "very low genetic diversity" of the area's mountain lions. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. The National Wildlife Foundation is raising money for the project through its "Save LA Cougar's Campaign." “I’ve been doing this for 40 years. "The south is bordered by the ocean, the east, the 405 freeway, the north 101 freeway and the west by agriculture fields," says Sikich. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest and greatest content from Connecticut Magazine delivered right to your inbox. So why does the conspiracy theory that they’re here in significant numbers persist? But P-22 is living all by himself in about nine square miles in Griffith Park. A Colorado man recounted the harrowing experience of fighting off a mountain lion that attacked his dog in his backyard. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. “Time changes all and I’m not going to shut the door on the future and say that a breeding population of cougars is not here — because the day after tomorrow they could be here — it’s just a matter of time.”, Though a deer hunter herself, Morse is opposed to the way mountain lions have been hunted in the western U.S., where they are found. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. To answer these and other questions about sightings of mountain lions, I turned to DEEP’s Rego, who has investigated many purported cougar sightings over the past three decades. Stephen Gencarella, professor of folklore studies at the University of Massachusetts and a Connecticut resident, says, “The government coverup is only the latest version of something that could stretch back in the oral tradition to precolonial times.” He notes that supposed mountain lion sightings spiked in the late 1800s and early 1900s shortly after the animals disappeared from New England’s woods. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Sometimes people feared fishers (erroneously attributing the blood-curdling screams of foxes to these hard-to-spot creatures), and in the late 1930s, after several animals were slain under strange circumstances in Glastonbury, the Hartford Courant dubbed the lion-like creature supposedly responsible, the Glawackus. Ask people who spend time outside Connecticut cities and you will hear firsthand or secondhand accounts of mountain lions. 2:26. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Hunters and property owners have also set up tens of thousands of trail cameras at various locations throughout the state. His mentor, Aldo Leopold, a prominent wildlife biologist, also believed this, but felt if people learned about these populations, they would be hunted to extinction. Even in parts of the country where there are documented breeding populations of mountain lions, there are still many false reports. For many decades, hosts of individuals have reported seeing mountain lions in Connecticut. But that doesn’t stop people from seeing them. Listen & Learn. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. - Mark Hart. 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. “My heart was saying, ‘Maybe this is it,’. He has plenty to eat, but will likely live out his days as a single cat ...unless he leaves the area, which Sikich says is unlikely. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. "He has a collar, we have an antenna. But recent nocturnal visits to one neighborhood in Wrightwood is causing a lot more concern. A. PUBLISHED: April 15, 2021 at 2:41 p.m. | UPDATED: April 15, 2021 at 2:42 p.m. MONTEREY — A mountain lion roaming along the Skyline Drive greenbelt was videotaped this week by … But honest misidentifications are more common. But, says Sikich, the local mountain lions do see us. Wright, however, didn’t agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. Bobcats are found across Connecticut, but even fully grown they are much smaller than what she was describing, only weighing between 18 and 35 pounds. Once at dusk driving in the Berkshires, he saw what he initially thought was a cat-like creature that was far bigger than a bobcat leap across the road. “I always hold out the possibility of a sighting to be genuine, but at the same time, over decades of experience, we know that the vast majority are misidentifications and a small number are actually hoaxes,” he says. The vast majority of mountain lion sightings reported to the Arizona Game & Fish Department are from the Sabino Canyon area. “Sport hunting for cougars is not sustainable and shouldn’t be allowed to go on. I’m always amazed at the sheer volume of people who are interested in cougars, more even than wolves,” she says. For decades, wildlife experts should have been seeing occasional scat and paw prints in the winter. This article appeared in the November 2019 issue of Connecticut Magazine. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. What is the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat? Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. (My wife didn’t get a look at the tail.) Today, instead of focusing on cougar sightings in Eastern states, many cougar enthusiasts want to protect the animal from being hunted in the regions in which they are currently found. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. Gene Whannel told KUSA that he is no stranger to the danger that mountain lions can pose to pets.Before letting his pet dog Sadie outside in the morning, he always uses a flashlight to look for any mountain lions that may be hiding in the wilderness. Stay away from the mountain lion if seen and keep your dogs on leashes. “I’m confident that we get occasional outlier animals.”. The park remains closed due to an uptick in mountain lion … Erik Ofgang is the co-author of Penguin Random House’s “The Good Vices” and author of “Buzzed” and “Gillette Castle.” He is also an adjunct professor at WCSU’s MFA Program and Quinnipiac University. P-22 is probably the world's most famous mountain lion. 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. Genetic testing placed the animal in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and the cat had been sighted at several different points during its long journey east. But what about the sightings in Connecticut that are made by experienced outdoorsmen and women, people who know the difference between bobcats and mountain lions? We never, never see these cats.". But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. Mountain Lions: They can have similar coloring and their tails can look alike, which has lead to some house cats being mistaken for them, even though mountain lions are much, much bigger. The male lion, dubbed P-78, was the 23rd victim of road mortality in the study area since 2002, according to the National Park Service. Young pumas dispersing from Western habitats are being killed at the source, compromising the East’s critical opportunity for ecosystem health and the return of an apex carnivore.”, Regardless of where they are found, or whether people want to hunt or protect them, people are enchanted by mountain lions. (Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) State conservation officials believe this photo, taken in Greenwich in 2011, shows a mountain lion. The mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains may not survive without intervention, and more pumas coming into the area. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? "This was footage captured on my camera in front of my home. ” he recalls. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. What would motivate DEEP officials to do this isn’t clear. A month after the cat was struck and killed, researchers confirmed it had traveled more than 1,500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota. For decades afterward, there were reported sightings of the mythical creature prowling the woods around town. That had to be a mountain lion. Not really, Rego says. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. Got a question or comment? The history of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before our current era of fake news. Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wright’s conclusions, at least at first. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. 3:47. Joseph Uscinski, professor of political science at the University of Miami, and a conspiracy theory expert, says these types of theories are not uncommon. Living with Lions on the Range a 2021 California Rangeland Summit Presentation by Dr. Julie Young, Rosemary Schiano and Gowan. Didn’t it? He’s even had his own false sighting. It was a lion-like cat with a tan coat and no spots that was about three times the size of our 30- to 35-pound dog. 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. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. People have been known to submit photos of real mountain lions taken in other states and claim they were taken in Connecticut. Dog of Gene and Elisabeth Whannel, Sadie, is recovering from a mountain lion attack on Feb. 11, 2021. Mountain Lion Reportedly Spotted Roaming Connecticut Town. One dog injured by mountain lion has died, other recovering in Estes Park. “My heart was saying, ‘Maybe this is it,’ ” he recalls. Krista B. lives in the Palmer Lake area and shared video of a mountain Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. Residents of Greenwich, Conn., have reported seeing a mountain lion roaming the woods -- … The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection receives 50-100 reports of mountain lions each year, says Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist with the department. Email editor@connecticutmag.com, or contact us on Facebook @connecticutmagazine or Twitter @connecticutmag. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. He published his first book in 1959, The Ghost of North America: The Story of the Eastern Panther. 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. We take 80-100 such calls a year." Listen & Learn. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33910-d5060952-Reviews- More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. "He looks good for an old cat," says Jeff Sikich, a biologist with the National Park Service's Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Even so, Abbott has heard of mountain lion sightings from what he deems reliable sources and believes it’s possible that other animals have made the difficult, some say almost miraculous trek, from the West to Connecticut. But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. Hospitals being used by … They are named for their short (bobbed) tail which is often about six inches in length. A bobcat’s tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. After all, if one mountain lion had wandered here, didn’t that mean that others could have? I know he's 15 meters in front of me. As unlikely as it sounds, it was a more believable theory than some of the alternatives, among them that the cat was evidence of a breeding population in the state that was being kept secret by, . To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. The solution could be in the Wildlife Crossing proposed for Liberty Canyon. For more mountain lion information and safety tips, visit the state's "Keep Me Wild" site or to report a sighting, call: 858-467-4257 Related Articles Out and About: Lions Tigers & Bears Sometimes referred to as the ghosts of the forest, mountain lions or cougars are stealthy hunters that are hard to spot, even in areas they are known to inhabit. Tim Abbott, the regional land conservation and greenprint director for the Housatonic Valley Association, says that during a lecture on mountain lions last winter at Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, when the speaker asked if anyone had seen a mountain lion, half of the roughly 400 people in attendance raised their hands. “If you have a worldview in which the government is conspiring to do weird stuff, than that’s what you’re going to see, and all the evidence is going to point to exactly what you believe,” he says. "We really need to get lines from north of the freeway to across the 101, south into our mountains and for our lions in Santa Monica to be able to leave.". Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. Bobcats: Whiskered face and are gray in the winter and tan in the summer, with black spots on their fur that are not always visible.
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