Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a great litter of boulders, rocks, clay and lakes covering today's landscape. Biologists who investigate these reports claim that several may, indeed, be mountain lions, but most likely they're animals that have escaped from captivity or have been released by their. It will happen eventually. Did they migrate south from Canada? Geologist Dr. John Yolton made the identification. Does the mountain lion roam Pa? - Pocono Record The bobcat wouldn't survive. In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. Some experts predict that this wide-ranging predator, which can travel 600 miles in search of a territory, will surely reach our eastern states sometime in the next few decades. The earliest wave arrived at the end of the last Ice Age; the last wave is the Lenape or Delaware Tribe, which made contact with colonial settlers in the 1600s. Very, very rarely, when I ask someone who would be a likely candidate (a hunter, someone who owns a camp in the deep woods, travels likely routes often, foresters), 'Have you ever seen a mountain lion?' "I thought I had a sighting in the late '90s," Delaware Water Gap National Recreation park ranger Chris Kross said. Although in captivity, they can live much longer. It also mentioned that someone raising a mountain lion without a license may either have let it go when it became too large to handle, or that the animal had escaped. Since mountain lions are the top predators (unlike most other states with grizzly bears), they have a well-developed population. What the Lenape Indians never did, the European colonists and their descendants did swiftly eradicate the wolf and cougars viewed as a menace to their families and livestock. A law was passed March 10, 1806, requiring the county to pay the person producing the scalp of a full-grown wolf or cougar, $8, and for the scalp of a young whelp or cub, $4. Me? Mountain Lions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) NPS.gov Park Home Learn About the Park Nature Animals Mammals Mountain Lion Mountain Lion Last updated: May 4, 2018 Was this page helpful? They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own. Archived Questions of the Month But more importantly, he also said that regardless of color, he saw a big cat, with a tail that looked to be about 4 feet long! A tiny population of Florida cougars persists in the southeastern corner of the United States. Interestingly, almost all of the people I've spoken to who claim to have seen a puma have not seen a bobcat, an animal that is common enough in Pennsylvania to support a legal trapping season! Sadly, the hunting guidelines for cougars in Idaho are lax, with 400-600 cats being killed each year. Encouraged by the bounties, settlers waged war on these perceived beasts. Most of the people I've spoken with live in this belt, but biologists friends I've spoken with have told me of their own reports, first-hand, from hunters in the Poconos who saw pumas, too. One sighting I give complete belief in was from a friend who told me a puma crossed right in front of their vehicle, and paused on the berm for a few seconds, at a distant of ten yards or less. Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. These cubs are born blind and helpless. Leslie estimated that the first humans making up the Paleo-Indians lived in the upper Delaware valley as early as 11,000 B.C. I've done this myself once, in Tanzania, when I saw a black house cat that I thought was a black leopard! Over 1,100 people follow her page. "We should be getting more pictures. The mountain lion population in Nevada is essential to the control of deer and rodent populations in the mountainous regions of the state. Mountain lion killed in Connecticut was on the opposite side of Pennsylvania a year ago, Is it real? Despite reported sightings throughout the East, including Pennsylvania, and a confirmed mountain lion killed in Connecticut in 2011, there has been no evidence that any of those cats were native to the East. The photographer had no reason to stage the shot -- indeed, the composition and background was terrible, and not what you'd expect for something staged, but the shot wasn't perfectly clear. I believe that the folks that are reporting, in detail, their sightings are faced with a similar situation. Check out the tails of the two! The head of the puma is small in comparision to a house cat when compared to the entire body. An article in last year's New York State Conservationist magazine about mountain lions concluded that none exists in that state, even in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Mountain wilderness. Unfortunately, their web site no longer seems active, and has been taken over by some wacky drug product. "We've been here 45 years and I've probably been told by people at least 100 times that they've seen a cougar or mountain lion," said owner Vince Hall. Kross only saw the animal for a second, but it made a believer out of him. What is the Kiboko backpack? Heres What the Data Says. Are the various States guilty of essentially the same thing? I had three cameras positioned, so had a cat visited, I'd have had it. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. Two weeks ago, a friend of mine who teaches in one of the Monroe County school districts called to tell me he was sending me a photo of a mountain lion taken by one of his students in the Poconos. For example, one man I interviewed said he saw a 'black' puma, and this should disqualify his sighting as a black puma has never been recorded. Only when I reviewed the images on my laptop did I discover that I had a mountain lion! To be fair, I've also spoken with people who, at first, thought they'd seen a puma only to find, to their embarassment, that they were looking at a house cat! Armand Martinelli isn't only the mayor of East Stroudsburg, he's also a hunter who is connected with plenty of people in the area. the more visible white on the chest, the lack of spots, the huge hind quarters. A recent alleged sighting in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, had Facebook groups abuzz. Asa Packer Mansion Jim Thorpe. They know what they saw, regardless of what the facts say, and they know they saw a puma. I have received about two dozen reports during that time, including one game camera image that still looks very credible to me. Outdoor adventures abound, and so do our fabulous shopping and restaurants. While it would seem impossible to confuse the two after seeing them in person, Foster said many of the sightings are in the dark, from roadways and trail cams, with bodies half-concealed. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. Flying over the area, I've looked down and commented upon the amount of habitat that would be available for a puma, if only they existed. The next day, the photo disappeared from the site. All of these forests are, with few exceptions, open to hunting, and hunting is a very important industry in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. Where they always here as a relic population? "From people that I trust have had visual sightings, they've seen mountain lions.". Confirmed cougar sightings have increased in the Midwest and Great Lakes states in recent years.". In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. I haven't seen any reports like that.". If you can figure out how to travel far back in time for even a day, get lots of wildlife photos, as the rest of us might never believe your story. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). The Pennsylvania Game Commission is always open to review evidence, but to date only hoaxes have crossed the PGC. On that, I've had emails sent with game trail photo attachments, or killed pumas, supposedly shot in Pennsylvania, but these were hoaxes. All of the above are Mountain Lions, or Pumas, or Cougars. One man, in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, had seen one, at night, about 25 years ago. An escapee is also possible. He's a hunter, a woodsman, and he's seen a lot of game, so I can believe he saw a back-lighted puma. I wanted to know if they're here, so I called some people I trust and asked them one simple question: Are there mountain lions in Pennsylvania? This is huge news for conservationists around the country and a sign that cougars may be heading east once again. If so, what would happen to the hunting industry in all of these states? Pa Mountain lion, cougar, or big cat in bucks county Pennsylvania "They're getting a lot of that out west. However, recently I saw a photo of a melanistic bobcat, as black as could be, with bright yellow eyes. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Had this been faked, I'd suspect the hoaxter would try for a more authentic background. Goodrich said he once saw a mountain lion spring from a thicket and kill a sheep on a public road. Transient males have been sighted as far east as New York! A typical home range is around 150 square miles for adult males and 50 square miles for adult females in our region. Eastern mountain lion officially declared extinct - pennlive.com Here it is: I still couldn't get the big head/little neck, and the body is a bit stouter/shorter, but a striding cat might be stretched out a bit. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. Recent post: Why Is It Called Beaver Stadium? What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. After a gestation period of 90 days, female mountain lions will give birth to litters of about one to six cubs. I've seen hoaxes, of pumas carrying deer shot with game cameras, but these were of western cats. This will be one of your best identification marks, along with size. "If my son would have been on a pedal bike, without a helmet on, that thing would have nailed him," said Walters, 44. What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? There had been 17 other mastodon finds in Pennsylvania up to 1968, but all were fragmentary. Reports of a mountain lion have come from several residents of Hemlock Farms who were hiking on. John Leap of East Stroudsburg's Lakeside Peat Humus Co. and an employee, Paul Strauser, found the bones in a peat bog off Route 209. I have not spoken with a Game Commission officer personally, so I don't know whether anyone killing a puma in Pennsylvania could do so without legal repercussions. Mountain Lions in Pennsylvania? This, after they were told that there were no pumas in Pa. Here in central Pennsylvania we live on the outskirts of what one puma-tracking website has as almost the high point of sightings, extending from north-central Pennsylvania in a southwestern diagonal that extends into the mountains of West Virginia. Melanism is the reverse, where there is an abundance of dark or black pigmentation. Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several For many who have believed to have seen a cougar in the wilds of the Poconos, these arguments might be less than convincing. That solution: Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up. One might argue that the eastern puma is extinct, but that does not mean that there are not pumas (mountain lions, cougars) in the east. Have all of those who have seen a puma really seen a bobcat? Unless I am only dealing with a lot of delusional people with little judgment, something is out there. For information on predator tracks, check out this guide: https://www.wildliferemoval.com/animal-track-identification-guide/, Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. There is no known estimate of the number of mountain lions inhabiting Texas. Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. Conversely, an outdoor writer I know told me that when Pa. enacted a menagerie permit law years ago, 'a lot of mountain lions suddenly died,' as the owners of these cats, rather than going through the paperwork, simply released their pumas and claimed that they had died. Others would like to see some scientific proof. The Mountain Lion is a large, slender cat with a smallish head and noticeably long tail. I am bothered by the constricted neck of the cat on the game camera; 2. the tail is curved down, rather than up, but it may have been in mid-swing; 3. the goldenrod-appearing flower, and the background of cars, gives a sense of scale and location. A phantom creature has been sighted in the vast Delaware State Forest region of Pike County. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. Those cats for which DNA evidence was recovered had come east from South Dakota, part of the known, modern-day, U.S. mountain lion range. Adults are a uniform tan or tawny in color, with a white or cream-colored chin, undersides and inner legs. Thank you for reading! What does a Puma (Mountain Lion) look like on a Game Camera? Its fur is a light, tawny brown color which can appear gray or almost black, depending on light conditions. "I'm proud to know her," Murray said of the tiger, "but I wish I didn't.". The Cougar Network, working with state agencies, have documented multiple mountain lions as far east as Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan in recent years, as well as that cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June 2011. Cougar vs Mountain Lion What Are the Differences? But more and more people in Pennsylvania, from the Alleghenies to the Poconos to rolling farmlands in York County, claim they are seeing the big cats here, even though the state's "last" native lion, also known as a cougar or puma, was shot and killed in Berks County in 1871 and the feds have declared the Eastern subspecies extinct. "It was in Worthington State Forest just across the Delaware River from Smithfield Beach). So it happens, and who knows if it is existing in wild pumas in the East. There's a saying that "things aren't always what they appear to be." "It's one of those things where I'll believe it when I see it," said Jason Farmer of Pocono Summit, my hunting partner for the last eight years. Mt Lions in WV, NY, and PA - Hoot Hollow Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Colorado has a large number of mountain lions within its borders, mostly due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. "They preyed upon the caribou, and probably the mastodon," Leslie wrote of these large animals flourishing on the grasses and cold-climate flora that sprouted following the glacier's retreat. The agency has declared extinct the eastern cougar, one of 11 subspecies ofmountain lions native to North America. In July and August I received seven different reports, and everyone involved had done a search of some type to compare images of bobcats and pumas. Furthermore, a different set of photos showed a "mountain lion" dragging a deer into the woods in Bradford County. They're common in the rural areas of the Lehigh Valley but are moving into more populated areas as evidenced by a 600-pound specimen (pictured) that was tranquilized in March after neighbors in. Hoax photo doesn't help believability of mountain lions in Poconos Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. The mountain lion, which is also called a cougar, puma or panther, weighs on average between 75-120 pounds, has long whiskers and a distinctive swooping tail. They mostly live in the far western Trans-Pecos region of the state, where they can freely roam 50,000 to 80,000 acres of land. The Golden State has one of the largest populations of mountain lions in the country. . I love the big cats and devote a huge amount of my field time photographing African lions, leopards, cheetahs, and in 2011, tigers. When I first discovered this fresh carcass I examined it for throat punctures, thinking that it may have been killed by a puma. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". Are they all the product of the off-spring of pumas that escaped their owners or were released? I don't believe someone's imagination could stretch a six inch long tail to three feet! Apparently, this picture was really making the rounds. The coat can be spotted or solid and varies in color from light browns, reddish and silvery grey. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? "People think they can get them declawed and that they're safe, but they still have teeth.". The State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, displays a taxidermy mount of a mountain lion in glass case, with the notation, "This lion, found near Hawk Mountain in Berks County around 1871, is the last native mountain lion known to have been shot in Pennsylvania.". Are they all the product of the off-spring of pumas that escaped their owners or were released? Most, quite honestly, don't know or can't believe or accept what they saw, they really can't believe their eyes. The bounty for adult wolves and cougars was raised on March 16, 1819 to $12. I'd suspect it would still be considered very rare, after all, it was thought to be extinct. I've read a lot about this, and the usual explanation is the very human desire to see something, to see what someone wants to see, and thus these people are seeing bobcats or brown cats or dogs or foxes and, because they 'want' to see a puma, they do. If youve done any research on your own, you may have noticed that we didnt include a lot of states that have had cougar sightings, especially in the last few years. The first settlers kept sheep to supply their household with wool. Mountain lions weigh 90-160 pounds, while bobcats weigh 20-30 pounds. What you wouldn't expect to find here anymore is a mountain lion. One of the important things for any animal is a place to call home. The skeleton was reassembled at the State Museum, where it has been on display ever since. Bushkill Falls Trail. Mountain lions typically eat about one deer per week, along with other smaller prey as the opportunity arises. Everyone is familiar with albinism, the absence of pigmentation that results in a white, essentially pigment free animal, defined by pink skin and pink eyes. Officially extinct, mountain lions still haunt the Adirondacks Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead. These experiences are still available, but the reality is there is so much more for the mature traveler to enjoy in the Pocono Mountains. Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. Mountain lions, Goodrich wrote, were more dreaded than wolves as the cat could climb over any fence that could be built. Where reports dating that far back from escapees? Those cats for which DNA evidence was recovered had come east from South Dakota, part of the known, modern-day, U.S. mountain lion range. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. But no one that I've communicated with had these preconceptions, and seeing what they saw was a complete surprise. Instead, the person usually pauses, sometimes with a sheepish or embarrassed expression on his face, and seems reluctant to continue. One of the three branches or clans of the Lenape Tribe at the end of the 17th century was known as the Wolf (Minsi). Everyone else, when reporting, were frustrated as they were told they had seen a bobcat. One might argue that the eastern puma is extinct, but that does not mean that there are not pumas (mountain lions, cougars) in the east. Many have a desire to see some clear-cut evidence. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. PHILADELPHIA (AP) An instinct coiled way down in the human brain knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. Discover the Little-Known U.S. River Gorge That's, The 9 Best Books About National Parks for Travelers, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback. Hunting is legal, but the use of dogs was banned in 1996. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Is there a Puma conspiracy? They once inhabited the entire United States, but were killed off and pushed west. Most of the native mountain lions live in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, but humans rarely ever see them due to their secretive nature. The first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. Let me explain this. There's a whole world to learn about and Colby is content to spend his life learning as much as he can about it! ? Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled. The Asa Packer Mansion, built in the year 1861, is a historic house museum. The rocky habitat that covers much of the state is perfect for these ambush predators, especially since humans dont inhabit much of the land. Mary saw the photo, too, and she immediately agreed, it was a puma. In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. What do I think of the Canon 1D Mark IV? Reports generally go uninvestigated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which discounts them as mistaken identities, illegal pets escaped or released and outright fabrications. I receive about one email or phone call a month, on average, from people that I do not know who are contacting me because their sighting compelled them to do a Google search on puma sightings, and they found my site and previously posted questions. The Poconos is a mountain area in northeastern Pennsylvania.It is 2,400 square miles of wooded mountains and valleys full of beautiful lakes, rivers, forests and wildlife. WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. No evidence has ever been produced to support those charges. . One man sent me a game camera photo that was blurry but looked like a mountain lion, or puma, as I like to call them.
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