Mountain Lions

[billski]

Coyotes eat anything..without much fear of anything = bad news for the rest of the local inhabitants. Should be bounty on em' = $$$ in every state...imho.

All the neighborhood cats that used to roam have all disappeared since the coyotes moved in. Interestingly, the rabbits, are back, since the cats are gone. Interesting chain of events.... Cat stew must be more tasty than rabbit stew.... hmmm.....

 

[billski]

How big do coyote's get?

A couple of months ago I was driving thru Suffield CT on my way to work. I was in pretty woodsy near the Metacomet trail, and area where my wife and I always see deer and wild Turkeys frequently. Almost every morning. I was at an intersection and what appeared to be a very large dog crossed to road very slowly. It was about the size of a large German sheapard and had a redish color furr. I would estimate it was about 100lbs to 120 lbs. The way it looked, its size and the way it moved had me thinking it was a wolf for bit. I assumed it was a coyote. But I didn't think they got that big. I can say with certainty that it was not a domestic dog.

badabing! It's a coyote. You've probably overestimated its size. Their fur is usually matted, pretty unkempt, with pieces missing due to an altercation or two. They have a pretty good speed when trotting and are pretty skiddish about people. The fur is usually a brownish-blackish, depending on what they've been into. They don't get to Supercuts very often

 

[billski]

I definitely had a mountain liion sighting. The mountain lion crossed the road 20 feet in front of my car as I was making a left turn off Route 30 enroute to Plattekill ski area to teach an NSP OEC class on a Sunday morning. I had a student/friend in the passenger seat. He saw him too. There is no mistaking those big claws, long body, extremely long tail, and cat like running gate. My buddy's first response was that was definitely a very large cat. After the class we came back looking for some fur he may have left but we could not find any. It was a once in a life time privilege to see the big cat. It was also very convenient that we were in the well protected security of my car at the time.

Did you check the news to be certain something hadn't escaped from a collection or zoo?
http://connecticuthuntingtoday.com/...t-resident-claims-to-have-seen-mountain-lion/

In NYS last week a walaroo escaped and has been impossible to catch, jumping all around the Thruway. I really doubt that a mountain lion would be living freely in these parts of America. Imagine poor muffy.........:blink:

 

[wa-loaf]

Oh man, I didn't know that. Hmmm, I wonder what a coyote would look like if it mated with a pitbull or a poodle - or a great dane! Better yet, a weiner dog!

 

[catskills]

Police Shock Toy Cougar With Taser

Police Shock Toy Cougar With Taser

 

[billski]

Police Shock Toy Cougar With Taser

Hmm. Combine alcohol with laid-off auto workers, you never know what might happen...


To think, I was worried about black bears for tomorrow's hike. I'm never going hiking in Detroit.:-o

You had me too, I thought it was alive, "toy" like in "toy poodle". :dunce:

 

[Connecticut]

Police Shock Toy Cougar With Taser

Wow, that was dumb.

 

[playoutside]

Saw a pretty big coyote this weekend. I was walking in a forest preserve in Northern Illinois and a german shepherd height (not weight) animal stepped onto the trail about 50 yds in front of us. He headed back into the woods and watched us as we watched him. He tracked with us for about a qtr mile. Tried to get a picture, but he really blended well with his surroundings so the picture is crap. It was definitely the largest coyote I've seen, prob not more than 70lbs, but taller than those I've seen in NJ and MA. We debated whether it was a wild dog or a coyote. My take is its was a well fed coyote...lots of deer snacks for him in that preserve.

 

[KingM]

I have to admit that there are some nitwitted people out there that see a golden retriever and think it's a mountain lion

I had a guest at the inn freak out once about a black bear he'd seen down in the woods. Turned out it was a black lab and he'd only caught a glimpse of it going into the brush.

but the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion is the same as the difference between getting a chill and having the crap scared out of you. There is no comparison. A mountain lion is ... well, a lion.

There have been lots of reports and I'm just curious if anyone on the forum has actually seen one.

I used to spend a lot of time camping out west. I was near Moab once on BLM land as a Boy Scout and we were exploring a cave when we came across a half-eaten deer. We started to back our way out of the cave and only then saw the paw prints and the piles of scat near the entrance.

Another time I was camping with the scouts and heard a blood curdling cry from what we believe was a mountain lion. Sounded a couple of hundred yards distance and I can tell you that we piled some extra wood on the fire and slept very uneasily that night. I heard later that they make that call during mating season, so it's likely he had other things on his mind than eating some scouts sleeping with their Swiss army knives clenched in hand.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

wtf???

 

[marcski]

http://www.tampabay.com/video/?bcpid=2441023001&bctid=26644383001

 

[bigbog]

Mtn Lion/Cougar....

;-)..Just browsed to yours marcski....interesting how people don't know what a mountain lion/cougar looks like...ie what color coat...type of body..etc. It's a typical mountain lion or cougar(by another name).. Yeah, they've been in the Everglades for quite a while....and now so are constrictors....hypothesized big pythons hiding in the deeper areas...with the Dade Cty. snake team catching em'(like on the Animal Planet episodes) coming over into suburban yards....

 

[billski]

wtf???

A creature that was found dead after apparently being hit by a car in Turner, Maine, is shown Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006. For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. Now, residents are wondering if the animal found dead over the weekend may be the mysterious creature that has mauled dogs, frightened residents and been the subject of local legend for half a generation. Photo courtesy of Michelle O’Donnell

wiki:

An animal, at first unidentified but later confirmed by genetic testing to be a wolf-dog hybrid, was struck and killed by a vehicle in Turner on August 16, 2006. Prior to its identification as a dog, some speculated that it was the mysterious creature described in recent local legend, supposedly responsible for attacks on domestic animals, some fatal. Initial reports and photographs of this "hybrid mutant" rapidly generated widespread attention from news media and Internet users around the world, though less reported photos clearly showed an animal that looked like a large dog.
The Turner Beast was the subject for the History Channel's regular series Monster Quest in a show titled Mutant Canines which aired December 5, 2007. The show explored the mysterious beast with the analysis of experts in the field as well as trying to capture the animal on camera. Nothing new materialized from this exploit.