In cities, smaller towns, and even sparsely inhabited areas, there is simply not enough large prey for mountain lions to survive on. 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. Theres also the lack of visual evidence, more glaring each passing year as so many hikers and hunters now carry phones with cameras. Join as a sustainer and support independent local news for your community. 6. Those are the two closest populations that we have here. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. Seeing a wild cat can be both frightening and exciting, and its common for people to make mistakes in identification, as all most people are used to seeing is the common housecat. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. 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. All rights reserved. Mountain Lions: They are officially extinct. 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. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. No, there are no mountain lions in CT, and there havent been for quite some time. Officials recommend not running away, as this can trigger a chase. Mountain Lions: cougars, pumas, panthers and catamounts. But it also sort of instills that fear, a healthy fear of humans and bears. Although there are numerous reported sightings of mountain lions in Connecticut every year, the animals have actually been extinct in this state for more than a century. Hawley:Were sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. In another version, its about habitat protection and the onerous federal regulations the state would have to follow if we found a mountain lion within the state. Initially, officials believed it had been released from a private handler. State lawmakers have entertained bills to establish a bear hunting season for years, but so far, none of those proposals has passed. Woodbridge police shared tips for if you encounter a big cat: On Friday July 8, 2022 there was a few reported Mountain Lion sightings the last few days one actually involving an encounter with ones family in their lawn. 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She said the size made her do a double take and indeed she seen it had a very long tail, Bullsh** If a young male Cougar disperses East, instead of West, they're going to keep walking because they're going tokeep looking for an area where they can find a mate, he said. After traveling more than 1,500 miles, the lean, male cat met an untimely end in a collision with an SUV. Anyone can get fooled. Emaileditor@connecticutmag.com, or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. That had to be a mountain lion. Especially, when they do migrate across country. One on Salem Rd and another in the area of Pease Rd in our town. 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. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. They certainly have, you know, lower levels of conflicts and home entries than we do here in Connecticut. Hey, I know what I saw. 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. And theyre not going to find one, because the females don't disperse like that. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. Were getting more and more home entries every year. Sometimes in our shock and excitement at seeing wildlife we see what we want to see. Do Not Approach! But sometimes, instead of mountain lions, people thought they saw other creatures in the Connecticut woods, of which authorities were supposedly aware. He drove me out to the spot. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. The famous "Connecticut mountain lion" traveled 1500 miles from South Dakota, the furthest trek currently recorded. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection thinks it's unlikely. Dont Run. 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(Throughout history, people have had a deep fear of these creatures, hounding and hunting them mercilessly.) Im confident that we get occasional outlier animals.. According to the Connecticut DEEP, the bobcat is the only wild cat found in Connecticut. Heres what to know about mountain lions (and other large cats) in Connecticut. Mountain lions may be stealthy, but they do leave a trace. Didnt it? 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.. Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says data dont support a breeding population of mountain lions in Connecticut. Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. According to Hawley, if mountain lions were present in the state, there would be evidence and not just unconfirmed sightings. Its definitely a problem thats only going to get worse. And kept goingeast across the Great Plains to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and on to New England, through backyards and parking lots, across highways and railroad tracks, driven by the most. 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. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. 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. On a mountain lion that died on a Connecticut highway. Mountain lion sightings in New Hampshire have increased along . Yet we see nothing about what is being planned except how to scare them away if one sees them. New London would be the last place I'd expect to see a mountain lion in CT. My sister is on 9 acres in Harwinton and watched a mountain lion cross the driveway which is about a quarter mile surrounded by woods and unpaved. As a carnivore biologist, Hawley says he would love it if mountain lions were here. Chief Rick OBomsawin of Odanak First Nation currently based in Quebec, whose ancestral lands include Vermont says no one contacted Odanak officials during the state's Truth and Reconciliation selection process. From sightings of wolves and moose to brown recluses and mountain lions, people in CT have made some wild (pun intended) claims about what animals theyve spotted. We dont have extra money to do secret projects, he says. National Signing Day 2022-2023: Connecticuts signing list. 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. Thus, the name of the mountain where Castle Craig sits.. nicknamed "Cat Hole Mountain!" They investigate hundreds of mountain lion sightings every year without finding physical evidence of their presence. I enjoy exploring CT and reporting back to my readers about fun things to do in Connecticut. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. Based on this blurry photo and pawprints, DEEP confirmed it was likely a mountain lion. 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. As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. They have been documented in Woodbridge and are often quite active this time of year making observations of these normally elusive animals much more likely.. ago. 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. Not really, Rego says. And even the home entries are kind of changing. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. Sometimes physical evidence shows the sighting was of some other animal, including dogs, cats, fishers, coyotes, bears and bobcats. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. I am 58 years old and another cougar was identified when I was much younger by the Deep in Meriden. BOSTON (Reuters) - A mountain lion killed on a Connecticut highway in June was a wild animal from South Dakota that prowled more than 1,500 miles eastward before meeting his death 70 miles. 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. Wed be seeing more carcasses of prey we would be seeing at least some carcasses of mountain lion prey. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. "The journey of this mountain lion is a testament to the wonders of nature and the tenacity and adaptability of this species," Connecticut DEEP Commissioner Dan Esty said during a press briefing. And were one of the most densely populated states as far as humans. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. By, March 2023 Fund Drive Rules and Regulations, Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org. 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