mountain lion connecticut
Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. 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. It was a 140-pound male mountain lion, the first confirmed in Connecticut in more than 100 years. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. It is not of the animal actually seen in town. 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. Massachusetts and several other New England states have bear hunting, or harvest, seasons, which proponents say help control populations. Dont Run. 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. There is a big difference between Tuesday when none of us saw a moose in our region and then Thursday we did, Morse says. not all bobcats are heavily spotted either - just to add to the confusion.. The famous "Connecticut mountain lion" traveled 1500 miles from South Dakota, the furthest trek currently recorded. The next week, on June 11, the cat was hit and killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford. My heart was saying, Maybe this is it, he recalls. One on Salem Rd and another in the area of Pease Rd in our town. Sometimes in our shock and excitement at seeing wildlife we see what we want to see. 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? According to the Connecticut DEEP, the bobcat is the only wild cat found in Connecticut. Its quite an uphill challenge for us to manage that situation right now. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. 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.. It was a flooded area. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. And the last confirmed sighting prior to the 2011 instance would be a couple hundred years ago, according to Hawley. Connecticut Public Radio | 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.. When it comes to mountain lions, (also called cougars, pumas, or panthers) is there really a chance you will come across one in the wild, or will you need to visit a zoo to see one of these magnificent animals in real life? Bobcats: They are are the only wild cat found in the state and the most common in North America. How much wild life is out there? So theres fresh mud. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. I am 58 years old and another cougar was identified when I was much younger by the Deep in Meriden. Weve had coyotes misidentified. The police department decided to put out a warning to those in town. Bobcats typically have brown fur with a reddish tinge that is marked with black or brown spots or stripes, according to the National Zoo. They reside in all eight counties, however, they exist in greatest number in the northwestern corner of the state. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. 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. Wright, however, didnt agree with his mentor and began writing publicly about mountain lions in the East. Youll get the answer to this question in this article. While this isn't the norm, it is becoming slightly more common as mountain lions are striking out further east in search of territory. So its this gathering storm. Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo. Yet we see nothing about what is being planned except how to scare them away if one sees them. A harvest is kind of twofold. 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. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. Are there any mountain lions in CT? Ive lived here 23 years, Ive seen coyotes, Ive seen bobcats, Ive seen foxes, everything else, never seen anything like this before, said Bachelder. ago. . There is also something appealing about the idea that there is an animal out there so cunning that it has escaped our notice and the eyes of our cameras. The journey is chronicled in the 2016 book Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cats Walk Across America by William Stolzenburg. But the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Sunday that bobcats are the only large wild cats found in the state. Mountain Lions: Large tan cats with a distinctive two to three-foot curving tail, that can almost touch the ground as they walk. Almost every state has some sort of legend of something thats hiding somewhere, he says. Also known as cougars, panthers or pumas, mountain lions range in color from tan to grey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. Were getting more and more home entries every year. Another important difference: bobcats are found in Connecticut while mountain lions are not. 4. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. I couldnt tell you how happy I would be if mountain lions were actually recolonizing the state of Connecticut, Hawley says, but its just not happening., Hawley spoke about bobcats, mountain lions and bears on The Colin McEnroe Show: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators.. . MoRRoW187 4 mo. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. 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. About two years ago in July 2020, there were around 1,500 reports of bobcat sightings in the state, with some bobcat sightings in Brookfield and Ridgefield that year. There are no mountain lions in Connecticut, so why do we keep seeing them? However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Mountain lions also have tails that can grow up to 3 feet. of Energy & Environmental Protection. Truth & Reconciliation Commission begins, Odanak chief repeats request for inclusion. Even in parts of the country where there are documented breeding populations of mountain lions, there are still many false reports. But a high-profile sighting in 2011 stirred up renewed interest in the animals here, when a mountain lion from South Dakota was hit and killed by a car on a Connecticut highway. While he might feel like that well known movie character who was doubted at first, Bachelder is confident it was a cougar. Stay facing the big cat and try not to turn your back to it, officials said in a Facebook post. It lowers the population in a way thats not going to affect the long-term population. The Connecticut mountain lion left tracks, scat, fur and game camera photos in four states. I know the difference between bobcats, lynx, & mt lions. "Connecticut is cougar heaven . We dont have extra money to do secret projects, he says. 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. But further inspection revealed it was a very large coyote. Do Not Approach! And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. Connecticut Dept. She didnt claim to see the mountain lions long tail, but optical illusions can lead people to think theyve seen a tail. Map reproduced from LaRue et al. Hawley: Wildlife biologists across the United States know where the current mountain lion range is. According to the Smithsonians National Zoo, bobcats are part of the lynx genus, which means they are related to other cats like the Canadian lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. So, there you have it an answer to the question of whether or not there are mountain lions in CT. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. A bobcats tail is short and bob-like, while mountain lions have long, curving tails that can grow up to 3 feet. 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. Join as a sustainer and support independent local news for your community. But honest misidentifications are more common. What we do not have is a secure predator corridor.. The police shoot of Cougars behind the police Academy when they get over populated. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. 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. And there are different schools of thought about that. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. The one confirmed case, sometimes referred to as the " Connecticut Mountain Lion " happened in June 2011 when an SUV struck and killed a cougar in Milford. My first thought literally was, is that a lion?. So theres fresh mud. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Mountain lions may be stealthy, but they do leave a trace. Emaileditor@connecticutmag.com, or contact usonFacebook@connecticutmagazine orTwitter@connecticutmag. Hes even had his own false sighting. It had rained previously. She was also the voice behind the weekly Connecticut Real Estate newsletter by CT Insider. 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. National Signing Day 2022-2023: Connecticuts signing list. 2012. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Anyone can get fooled. Were getting more and more home entries every year. It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. They usually either don't disperse at all or they'll kind of overlap their mother's home range, or they'll disperse very short distances.. 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. Now the bears, they dont even care if people are home, theyll go right in the house. Abbott, of the Housatonic Valley Association, is equally skeptical of the vast majority of mountain lion sightings. Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. Also, there has been a rash of cats and dogs gone missing out of here with the DPs. But as Eastern cougar search efforts became more organized and still there were no concrete signs of the creatures, many became more skeptical. That report was accompanied by a blurry photo, an indistinct paw print, and a scat sample. A threat to livestock, they were hunted out of the state and driven to parts more wild. The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. Many years ago there was a mountain lion that stayed in a wood pile in my mother's back yard. The history of this theory in Connecticut and New England goes back long before our current era of fake news. 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. Got a question or comment? 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