Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal . The only types of lynx that are indigenous to New England are the Canada Lynx and the Lynx rufus (bobcat). Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. Abbott believes it is possible that more mountain lions such as the one that was killed in Milford in 2011 could migrate here. Instead, people should remain facing the cat and not turn their back on it, make noise and make themselves appear as large as possible by raising their arms over their heads with a jacket. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. The gate of a bobcat can often make it look like it has a long tail. It was a flooded area. Yet we see nothing about what is being planned except how to scare them away if one sees them. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. MOUNTAIN LION ATTACKS MAN SITTING IN COLORADO HOT TUB After a few moments of the deer trying to maneuver out of the chokehold, it managed to free itself from the claws of the mountain lion.. New Hampshire Public Radio | A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. Since then, there have been no confirmed cases here, with the state saying: People very often mistake bobcats for mountain lions. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. 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.. Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. 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 Englands woods. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. Wait a minute--there was a sighting in New London County a few years back, and my wife read an article about a mountain lion or cougar being struck by a vehicle in Milford a few years back. Black panthers, which are not found in the U.S., are actually black jaguars or leopards. Rumors of their hidden presence persisted. This was maybe a decade ago. WOODBRIDGE, CT (WFSB) - Police in Woodbridge said they have received reports of mountain lion sightings in town. MoRRoW187 4 mo. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? Hawley: Yeah. 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Democracy is not a spectator activity. . And there are different schools of thought about that. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. The sightings increased in 2011, after a driver hit and killed a mountain lion who was trying to cross the Merritt Parkway in Milford. Beautiful clear day just like this, and there in my backyard I see this huge golden animal, walking through the yard, Bachelder said. We have had five coyotes crossing through our yard in the past few weeks, and one even lingers around our property and the neighbors. 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). Adult males can be around 8 feet in length and weigh between 130 and 150 pounds, while adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds. 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. This young male cougar was found to have DNA from other cougars found in South Dakota which means it traveled about 1,800 miles east. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. 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. 17), Police investigate death of New London High School student, Long Wharf Theatre to present Live from the Edge in Hamden, Torrington students to stage 'The Sponge Bob Musical' in May, 'American Idol' alums Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken to perform in CT, Talcott Mountain Music Festival starts June 30. 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 Englands woods. Mountain lions, however, arent seen much in the Nutmeg State, even though several have reportedly been spotted around the Woodbridge area this month. Stay facing the big cat and try not to turn your back to it, officials said in a Facebook post. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. While other states have their Bigfoot and sea monster sightings, in Connecticut, and throughout much of the Northeast, we see mountain lions even when were told such sightings are unlikely, if not outright impossible. Hawley: Yeah. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. 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.. 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. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. This article appeared in theNovember 2019issue ofConnecticut Magazine. 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. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. 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. People should also make noise and to make themselves as large as possible by raising their arms over their head with a jacket or sweatshirt. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. On June 5, a mountain lion was reported being seen on the Bucknell School campus in Greenwich. This might serve as proof to some that there, in fact, might still be mountain lions in CT. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. Figure 1 - Mountain lion range and confirmed sightings from 1990-2008. Possible mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge, Man arrested for running illegal dental operation in a Danbury hotel room, Meriden police: Father and son sexually assaulted woman in basement, Crash involving three tractor trailers slows traffic on I-84 in Hartford, CT man wanted for murder of woman arrested in Ohio. 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. Young pumas dispersing from Western habitats are being killed at the source, compromising the Easts 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. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. But what might be his most compelling argument is that since this is Connecticut, the budget is too limited. My wife is not a wildlife expert, but is not prone to flights of fancy. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. McEnroe: Scientifically, this is a case where absence of evidence is kind of evidence of absence, right? As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. However, the National Wildlife Federation notes that the mountain lions range spreads all across the Americas, from the Canadian Yukon to The Strait of Magellan, making it the greatest range of any living mammal in the Americas.. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection thinks it's unlikely. 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. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. In 2011, genetic testing confirmed that a mountain lion originated in South Dakota and traveled more than 1,500 miles before being struck by a car on the Merritt Parkway, according to Reuters. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it,. Email editor@connecticutmag.com. The Connecticut mountain lion left tracks, scat, fur and game camera photos in four states. He drove me out to the spot. Here are some physical differences between mountain lions and bobcats: These 2 big cats also behave differently. On the idea of bear hunting in Connecticut. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. Says that theres no mountain lions in Connecticut they are full of it. A harvest is kind of twofold. It went through my yard, went up behind, I have some property, past my barn, went into the woods, east, lots of woods back there, just disappeared.. As I said previously, He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. He drove me out to the spot. Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators., Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators, Pastry artwork pits bakery against town of Conway in free speech suit, In latest school funding trial, state attorneys argue NH districts' budgets are bloated, Lawmakers, advocates, families in NH react to Biden Admin's proposed Title IX change, Give Back NH: The New England Grassroots Environment Fund. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. She said the size made her do a double take and indeed she seen it had a very long tail, Bullsh** During Autism Awareness Month, columnist John Breunig details the experience of taking his son to a Bruce Springsteen concert and the NY Theres just an incredible amount of bad information that we get from coercion and bad interviewing tactics, a policing expert says. You may also be interested in: Mountain Lion population by U.S. state According to DEEP the bobcat is the only confirmed species of wild cat in CT as of 2022. 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. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. And theres another school of thought, Well, no, there just are too many of them probably we have to reduce that population somehow. Where do you fall in that whole continuum? Typically, they will slink out of there as quickly as they can to get away from humans. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. DEEP says Connecticut does not have a mountain lion population. However, that doesnt mean that mountain lion sightings are all false or that there havent been roaming cats sighted. Despite frequent claims, there has only been one confirmed mountain lion sighting since the late 1800s here. So why does the conspiracy theory that theyre here in significant numbers persist? 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. Throw rocks, sticks, etc to scare it off, police said in the post. Hunters and property owners have also set up tens of thousands of trail cameras at various locations throughout the state. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. Dont Run. She served as the Senior Producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show' for several years before stepping down in 2021 and returning to her previous career as a registered nurse. Hawley said that the typical range of cougars like mountain lions is from west of the South Dakota area. 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. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are In 2017, Ann Jarosiewicz and Liz Prete left their jobs as developers and started WasteNot, a building materials recycling company on Cape Cod. Even so, Abbott has heard of mountain lion sightings from what he deems reliable sources and believes its possible that other animals have made the difficult, some say almost miraculous trek, from the West to Connecticut. Considering that wild animals do not recognize political boundaries, ranges of lions in Connecticut could include adjacent areas of New York and Massachusetts. (https://wildlifeinformer.com/what-to-do-if-you-encounter-a-mountain-lion/). For mountain lions in Connecticut, a lack of evidence is very good 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. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. The Canada Lynxs geographic territory in New England only extends as far south as northern New Hampshire and parts of Maine, though. Bobcats are most frequently misidentified by the public as mountain lions, but theyre not the only animals mislabeled. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. More recently, unexplained animal sightings in Connecticut and other states became more and more associated with mountain lions. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. 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. The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. Lets learn to live alongside this very large animal is one of the schools of thought. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an, on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. 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