Eastern Puma declared Extinct

[peakbagger]

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/01...onday-80-years-after-last-confirmed-sighting/

Looks like the ongoing reports of cougars in the region didnt convince them otherwise. Of course the possibility of western cats making it over to the region remain.

 

[nartreb]

Western cats in the region are a certainty. Many of them are escaped pets (some from South America), but wild cats do wander continental distances, e.g.:

https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/97/5/1435/2219047 :

We report the long-distance dispersal of a subadult male cougar (Puma concolor) from South Dakota to Milford, Connecticut, where it was struck and killed by a vehicle. Genetic samples suggest this animal originated from the Black Hills of South Dakota...

 

[weatherman]

Western cats in the region are a certainty. Many of them are escaped pets (some from South America), but wild cats do wander continental distances, e.g.:

https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/97/5/1435/2219047 :

Wow. Poor guy. Lookin' for love in all the wrong places, as it were.

Still have not seen one, would love to, from a distance.

 

[iAmKrzys]

For those interested in the subject here an interesting read from Tennesee goverment Web site on cougar sightings: https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/mammals/cougars.html.
Sighting verification process is quite interesting too: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/twra/documents/cougar.pdf

 

[Stan]

In a sad way it is a relief in that the mountain lion is a very dangerous animal higher than us on the food chain. Hiking in country they inhabit has always been a bit of an adrenaline rush whenever an unexpected sound or rustle occurs. They'll attack you from above ... a rock, a branch ... and, unlike grizzlies where the danger is usually that you surprise them, the feline is the one springing the surprise.

Never seen one in the wild but once in Big Bend NP, where there are warnings posted at many trailheads, ran into a party of hikers, one of whom captured a photo of a cougar standing in the trail ahead of him and just watched him until the rest of his party caught up and the cat, respecting that it was outnumbered, high tailed it out'a there. I was happy to be hiking in the other direction.

Another time in Wyoming I was standing in a trail admiring a handful of mule deer who were brousing in the nearby brush. Suddenly, an ominous rustle spooked them and the next thing I knew they were standing on the trail about 10 feet away from ME looking up into that same brush. We (me and the deer) all stared for a short time before everyone relaxed and went about our business but I can say that I had certainly felt like a cat myself as some primitive instinct not quite evolved out of my system caused the hairs on my spine to stand up straight, or so it felt. I happened to record this on an old camcorder I was carrying around at the time and, well, there's nothing to see here folks so let's move on but the emotion of the commotion is captured as another priceless memory of the mountains.

Those who mourn the "extinction" of the cougar may perhaps take some comfort in knowing that they exist in suitable habitat and, on the brighter side for northern New Englanders, the lynx appears to have recovered and is now being consider by USFWS for removal from the "threatened" list I think it is.

 

[egilbe]

My GF is adamant that she saw a cougar on the way up to Andover ME last Summer. She says it crossed the road in front of her car. Bigger than a bobcat, mostly one color, with a long tail that flowed behind it. We've watched mountain lion videos and she says it's the same animal.

 

[TJsName]

My GF is adamant that she saw a cougar on the way up to Andover ME last Summer. She says it crossed the road in front of her car. Bigger than a bobcat, mostly one color, with a long tail that flowed behind it. We've watched mountain lion videos and she says it's the same animal.

It seems that the debate has generally reached a consensus on a few things:

1.) It's possible for an individual Western Cougar to wander very far eastward
2.) There isn't a breeding population in New England

So, if someone things they saw a mountain lion, it's possible but not probable. Reconstructive memory makes it really hard to be sure what one actually saw without some kind of hard proof. It's not that people are intentionally lying - they believe what they remember - it's the memories which are faulty.

For what it's worth, I hope she did as a cougar - that would be a really cool experience (from a car). I ran into some bobcats back in December, and that was pretty awesome on its own.

 

[sierra]

In a sad way it is a relief in that the mountain lion is a very dangerous animal higher than us on the food chain. Hiking in country they inhabit has always been a bit of an adrenaline rush whenever an unexpected sound or rustle occurs. They'll attack you from above ... a rock, a branch ... and, unlike grizzlies where the danger is usually that you surprise them, the feline is the one springing the surprise.

Never seen one in the wild but once in Big Bend NP, where there are warnings posted at many trailheads, ran into a party of hikers, one of whom captured a photo of a cougar standing in the trail ahead of him and just watched him until the rest of his party caught up and the cat, respecting that it was outnumbered, high tailed it out'a there. I was happy to be hiking in the other direction.

Another time in Wyoming I was standing in a trail admiring a handful of mule deer who were brousing in the nearby brush. Suddenly, an ominous rustle spooked them and the next thing I knew they were standing on the trail about 10 feet away from ME looking up into that same brush. We (me and the deer) all stared for a short time before everyone relaxed and went about our business but I can say that I had certainly felt like a cat myself as some primitive instinct not quite evolved out of my system caused the hairs on my spine to stand up straight, or so it felt. I happened to record this on an old camcorder I was carrying around at the time and, well, there's nothing to see here folks so let's move on but the emotion of the commotion is captured as another priceless memory of the mountains.

Those who mourn the "extinction" of the cougar may perhaps take some comfort in knowing that they exist in suitable habitat and, on the brighter side for northern New Englanders, the lynx appears to have recovered and is now being consider by USFWS for removal from the "threatened" list I think it is.

I've seen two up close. My observations, they are bigger then you always thought they were and they are extremely intimidating. One of the two I saw, stayed with me for quite some time, only time in all my years in the mountains, I was pretty scared.

 

[egilbe]

Only ones I've seen were in cages in a zoo in Nova Scotia. Big cats. One was yowling. We asked the keepers what the problem was with it. "Oh, she's in heat." If you've ever had a housecat in heat and how annoying they are at 10 lbs., imagine how much more annoying a feline that weighs 15 times bigger can be.

 

[psmart]

We saw one crossing the road at Cape Breton Highlands some years ago. Definitely a large cat with a long curved tail. It was very distinctive. We reported it to the park and were quizzed at some length by a specialist, who agreed that our details were consistent with a cougar rather than something smaller like a bobcat. That said, I personally accept the official position of most agencies that these sightings are travelers or released pets rather than members a breeding population.

 

[iAmKrzys]

I posted this a while back but since we are discussing the subject of mountain lions again, here is a (scarry) post about a mountain lion worth checking out: https://mexicotocanada2013.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/my-harrowing-night-with-a-mountain-lion/