I can't dismiss the eye-witnesses I've interviewed. It has the color of a mountain lion, but the long tail appears to be missing. In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. As they get older, the cubs begin to leave the den and explore. And how many would let them go, or provide an opportunity for escaping? "From three really reliable sources who are always around the woods from Monroe County to Bradford, there is no doubt that there are mountain lions in Pennsylvania," East Stroudsburg University football team offensive coordinator and avid hunter Mike Terwilliger said. Penn State's Nittany Lion hide sampled for DNA sequencing, Mountain lion reports in Pennsylvania popular, but often a hoax, More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. We hope you enjoy this foray into the most weird and wonderful our beloved Pocono Mountains have to offer. Although there was no evidence that the 2011 mountain lion ever set foot in Pennsylvania, DNA evidence confirmed that it had been both west and east of the state. Goggling Eastern Puma brings up other web sites, however, with varying levels of professionalism or credibility. I regularly ask hunters and outdoors people if they've ever seen a mountain lion, or know of anyone that has. Do Mountain Lions Attack Humans? With that hope in mind, I have, for years, asked outdoors people if they ever heard of a mountain lion, or puma, in their area -- with my questioning limited to people in my home state of Pennsylvania. Mountain lions are well-established in 14 western states and have also recently been confirmed in 10 Midwestern states: Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Find cabins in the Poconos, PA near places like Bushkill Falls, Camelback Mountain Resort, and more. He knows and was familiar with bobcats, and it was not a weird house cat that he and his friends misjudged in size. I have received about two dozen reports during that time, including one. A recent alleged sighting in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, had Facebook groups abuzz. It seems unlikely, considering captives have never shown this trait, but people are reporting big black cats. Mountain lions' canines are 3 to 4 inches long. Good luck, and let me know! The 6 best hikes in the Poconos Mountains - Lonely Planet Puma vs Mountain Lion: Is There a Difference? The state of Texas is home to many mountain lion populations, but the numbers are incredibly hard to find. In Michigan, there has been multiple sightings of 'black panthers,' animals that were thought to be mountain lions, or pumas, except that they were black. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. Biologists traced it back to the Black Hills of South Dakota, from where it ventured nearly 2,000 miles looking for a new mate. If pumas do exist in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, could they all be released cats or escapees? Recently, on our Arizona Hummingbird and Bat Photo Shoot, I found a deer that had been hit by a car and had moved off to die beside a stream just 200 yards upstream from our lodge. What would account for the long tails? But no one that I've communicated with had these preconceptions, and seeing what they saw was a complete surprise. Are Mountain Lions in Missouri Making a Comeback? 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. More conclusive evidence is needed: Keep your cameras handy. If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. Geologist Dr. John Yolton made the identification. 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. Others would like to see some scientific proof. ARE THERE MOUNTAIN LIONS IN PA? - Page 8 - Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in 1998. years are available through this link. There is no known estimate of the number of mountain lions inhabiting Texas. Sadly, the hunting guidelines for cougars in Idaho are lax, with 400-600 cats being killed each year. "It was in Worthington State Forest just across the Delaware River from Smithfield Beach). Many of those claiming to have encountered a cougar in Pennsylvania take that non-confirmation by the commission as an attack on their veracity and character. Images from a homeowner's surveillance camera show a tan cat with a long body, beyond a chain-link fence. Now consider: If it was confirmed that there was a breeding population of endangered pumas on the mountain ridge behind my house, if the USFWS recognized the existence of this endangered species, what might happen? And this genetic mix has been recognized, and the Florida puma is still protected. Its fur is a light, tawny brown color which can appear gray or almost black, depending on light conditions. While there have been no confirmed occurrences of mountain lions in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s, dozens of sincere reports of sightings and tracks and even more hoaxed reports emerge across the state each year. Why is bat photography so difficult? "Given the period of time that has passed without verification of even a single eastern puma, the service concludes that the last remaining members of this subspecies perished decades ago," the Fish and Wildlife Service said in a Federal Register notice. I think it is possible that recognizing the existence of pumas in the East could jeopardize this industry and an entire economy. A neighbor scared the animal away before it could finish its meal; the sheeps carcass was used as bait, to catch the big cat. One of these days, though, I'll get one that won't be, and I hope that will be soon. Yet, except for Florida, which has about 100 of them "Florida panthers"), no eastern state has a verifiable population of these large 100- to 200-pound cats that were extirpated 100 years ago. A second image of the same cat, in a different light, reveals the trademark spots of a bobcat. "I know they're native to this area. 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. The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. Are they all the product of the off-spring of pumas that escaped their owners or were released? The Pocono Mountains are located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. 1.8 miles, 2 hours, moderate. They often would catch sheep in broad daylight. I've looked in the PGC game laws booklet and saw nothing on this, which I guess you could conclude means a puma would not be legal to shoot. 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). Hunting is legal, but the use of dogs was banned in 1996. Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. Learn more about us & read our affiliate disclosure. "He doesn't like men too much," said Suzanne Murray, owner of East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in this south-central Pennsylvania town. Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) - Texas The story behind our new web site. And a bit of an unpleasant one at that, as they now faced ridicule or doubt whenever they discussed their sightings. 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 owners. Did they migrate south from Canada? The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. Looking for things to do in the Poconos? Periodically, via Google searches, I receive reports from people who believe they had seen a mountain lion in Pennsylvania, or in other mid-Atlantic states. Here are the 15 US States That Have Mountain Lions - AZ Animals Bo Ottman is a landscaper in Connecticut who founded an . Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several On that note, I was speaking with a Fed Ex driver recently who told me that one of his colleagues had seen what he swore was a dead mountain lion on the side of a road. And yes, there are people in Pennsylvania who say they exist here. He also noted that if the cat was here, wouldn't they be reproducing and increasing in population by now? 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. Bobcats, feral cats and domestic dogs may be misidentified as mountain lion. 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. RelatedBigfoot, mountain lions, and other mythical creatures: PA officials discuss what they know. Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. There's a saying that "things aren't always what they appear to be." I used to archery hunt for deer, and I spent a lot of time (way too much time) sitting silently in a tree stand waiting for deer. Travis Lau, a spokesperson for the Game Commission, said the state has a "never say never" approach when it comes to mountain lions and acknowledges that Western cats could be moving east. Possibly, but it seems unlikely that enough would have been released or had escaped to make for a viable population. Newspapers carried stories in 1956 about hunters supposedly seeing and killing wolves in Pike and Monroe Counties. No An official form of the United States government. 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. I asked our Game officials about evidence, and they cite no road kills. Have some feedback for us? Because the neck bothered me, I decided to do some Photoshop on the puma in the lower left, moving his head higher up and changing the image to a contrasty black and white - to give a silhouette for comparision. In Pennsylvania, I receive a few reports of black, big cats, which makes one wonder -- are there melanistic (black) pumas out there, or are those sightings always wrong. Each year, over tha past five, I've spoken with at least one person who swears they personally saw a puma in this state. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Here, they've not been," Lau said in an e-mail. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. Imagination? In Michigan, there has been multiple sightings of 'black panthers,' animals that were thought to be mountain lions, or pumas, except that they were black. The first settlers kept sheep to supply their household with wool. Pocono Mountains: Best Things To See And Do - TravelAwaits The other site, The Cougar Network, is still active, and is reporting the cats expanding range from the West, but offers little about the phenomenon of Pennsylvania cats. "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. If so, what would happen to the hunting industry in all of these states? And yet today the debate continues: Are there mountain lions in Pennsylvania? The state of Arizona is home to a large, stable population of mountain lions. Some outdoor enthusiasts insist they have seen the big cats here and believe them to be naturally occurring, native animals. ", (PennLive has investigated many reports of mountain lions, and other mystery creatures, and has found no confirming evidence, including in a reported Berks County sighting on January 8. The state of Idaho is large, expansive, and full of rocky wilderness. I'm wondering, then, if the complete dismissal of sightings of Eastern pumas (other than the acknowledgement of released or escaped pets) isn't motivated by economics. Colorado has a large number of mountain lions within its borders, mostly due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. There are, from time to time, eyewitness accounts from hunters or hikers who claim to have seen the cat. Mountain lions can live in almost any habitat including forests, prairies, deserts, and swamps. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. In prior interviews with the Game Commission, the suggestion was made to this writer that what many people may actually be seeing is a bobcat, perhaps in less than ideal circumstances. Lions in the Santa Monica Mountains - National Park Service Is there a Mountain Lion Conspiracy? 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. The first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. Officially extinct, mountain lions still haunt the Adirondacks But an image captured by one family's. Pocono beasts: Mastodons, wolves, cougars once abundant in region An animal's coat can stray far from the norm. The other two clans were the Turtle and Turkey. Ashley Catherine Fontones, Pocono Record. Known as the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania, there are four trails that lead to the cascades from the Bushkill Falls trailhead, each ranging in . Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a. In January, the U.S. Mountain lions live in rescue centers like Murray's, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission said a dozen or so people are permitted to possess them. The 'look' is from my "They're getting a lot of that out west. The mountains and isolated forests of the state allow these large cats to live their lives without encountering humans very often. With the Great Lakes in its way, the cat moved either north or south of the water, and the latter route would have seen it pass through at least some of Pennsylvania. In only one report had an official from the Pennsylvania Game Commision, a local warden, actually agree with the person reporting the sighting. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. Note the size of the tail, the pointed ears, the speckled coat, the basic lack of white underneath. If you see a puma (mountain lion-cougar), contact me. So what? You've got a mountain lion story or photo? Recently, on a back road in Pennsylvania, a friend and I had our first sighting of a coyote in Pennsylvania. 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! Let me explain this. This is not a Pennsylvania puma! In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. Would my mountain ridge be declared 'Critical Habitat' for the puma? Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. Who knows? Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. He notes how over the millennia, the region was inhabited by humans, only to be depopulated by migration brought on by the search of food due to a fickle climate, war or epidemic. "I thought I had a sighting in the late '90s," Delaware Water Gap National Recreation park ranger Chris Kross said. "I'm proud to know her," Murray said of the tiger, "but I wish I didn't.". Additionally, California banned the hunting of cougars back in 1972, encouraging population growth. Many of the reports I receive are extremely credible. The name Pocono is derived from the . Other states have had sightings, especially as mountain lion populations begin to explore and look to expand. All rights reserved. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. "The cougars examined in the Northeast in the past 70 years are likely released or escaped captives. 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. That's true. The mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. The Bushkill Falls are a series of eight waterfalls in a 300-acre wooded enclave hidden amongst the Poconos. Wishful thinking? This is not a Pennsylvania puma!
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