Possible Mountain Lion Sighting in New Hampshire

[billski]

Residents have been reporting like critters over the past couple of years. Kinda cool if you ask me.


CONTACT:
Mark Ellingwood: 603-271-2461
Jane Vachon: 603-271-3211
September 18, 2009
Possible Mountain Lion Sighting in New Hampshire
CONCORD, N.H. -- The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department today reported that one of its staff members, following up on a routine report of a mountain lion sighting, saw what is believed to be a mountain lion in a rural area of Barnstead, N.H.
Mountain lions are known to exist in the wild in states no closer than Iowa and Florida, so it is not thought to be a dispersing wild animal, but rather is most likely an illegally released pet.
"Survival of this type of animal is typically extremely low as they normally do not have the developed abilities to catch prey on a consistent basis, and/or may have been de-clawed," said Fish and Game Wildlife Division Chief Steve Weber. "If the animal does survive, we would expect to collect hard evidence of its existence in the form of a picture, tracks, scat and/or DNA evidence."
Mountain lions were extirpated from their range in the Eastern United States by the late 1800s, with the exception of the endangered Florida panther. According to the nonprofit research organization cougarnet.org, there have been four confirmed reports of mountain lions in the Northeastern U.S. since 1938.
"The Fish and Game Department receives numerous reports of mountain lions every year," said Weber. "We still have no documentation to confirm their presence. While we do not believe this is a harbinger of a recovering population of mountain lions in New Hampshire, it does add one more credible report to several others we have received over the years."


source: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Newsroom/News_2009/News_2009_Q3/mtn_lion_091809.html

 

[tcharron]

Actually, we just had a article in our local newspaper just this week about it. Animal maulings and the such happening like mad in town, and the local store has a beeeelion postings on their boards about missing animals.

http://www.cabinet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/NS/20090924/MILFORD01/909249903

 

[billski]

that's an excellent article. I don't see many written with that much lucidity.

 

[powbmps]

Residents have been reporting like critters over the past couple of years. Kinda cool if you ask me.

Like critters? Not much else out there like a mountain lion. They're pretty cool until they eat someone :lol:.

They have a couple up at the Maine Wildlife Park. Scary animals.

 

[Sky]

My office mate has a wildlife cam pic in his office of a mountain lion stalking a deer. The pic was taken in his backyard in Pittsfield MA (or in that area). A Great Pic! The mountain lion was just about 1/2 a length behind that deer when the camera clicked. I doubt the deer made it.

My brother said he saw mention on the local news that a Mountain Lion was struck and killed on Rt 171 near Tuftonboro...I think that was early last spring. 171 runs parallel to the Ossipee Mt Range near lake Winnepasaukee.

So...I'm inclined to think they are making an effort @ a comeback!

 

[Johnskiismore]

Pretty cool!

 

[severine]

My office mate has a wildlife cam pic in his office of a mountain lion stalking a deer. The pic was taken in his backyard in Pittsfield MA (or in that area). A Great Pic! The mountain lion was just about 1/2 a length behind that deer when the camera clicked. I doubt the deer made it.

My brother said he saw mention on the local news that a Mountain Lion was struck and killed on Rt 171 near Tuftonboro...I think that was early last spring. 171 runs parallel to the Ossipee Mt Range near lake Winnepasaukee.

So...I'm inclined to think they are making an effort @ a comeback!

My former boss lives on the MA/CT line near Rt 7 and she said when they went to the dump, they saw one at dusk. When they tried to report it to DEP (or whatever dept it is that you report those to), the dude tried to tell that that isn't what they saw. They've been denying the existence of them in this region for a while now.

 

[legalskier]

Eastern Cougar Is Declared Extinct, With an Asterisk
Seven decades after the last reported sighting of the Eastern cougar, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service declared it extinct Wednesday and recommended that it be removed from the nation’s endangered species list. There’s one wrinkle, though: it may not be extinct, exactly.
Scientists are moving toward the conclusion that the Eastern cougar was erroneously classified as a separate subspecies in the first place. As a result of a genetic study conducted in 2000, most biologists now believe there is no real difference between the Western and Eastern branches of the cougar family.
Either way, the “Eastern” cougar as such is no longer with us. Any recent sightings in the cougar’s historic range, which stretched from eastern Ontario and Michigan eastward to Maine and southward to Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri, were actually sightings of its relatives, the Fish and Wildlife Service said.
“It’s extinct,” said Mark McCollough, a wildlife biologist with the agency’s offices in Maine, referring to the official determination by his agency. “But it’s not?” he was asked. “But it’s not,” he confirmed. “It may well return to part of its range.” ***
The last confirmed Eastern cougar was trapped in the late 1930s, the agency said. Martin Miller, the chief of the endangered-species division in the service’s Northeastern office, said that many sightings had been reported since then, but that virtually all of those cats were determined either to be from the West or to be South American pumas that were bought as pets and then released. The Eastern cougar was listed as an endangered species in 1973. ***
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/science/earth/03cougar.html?_r=1

 

[Morwax]

I saw one in Stoddard, NH about 10 years ago while hunting.

 

[dmc]

My girl said she saw one crossing the road(23a in Hains Falls) one night. From what she describes it wasn't a bobcat - it was a cougar/catamount... I know of others that claimed to have seen them too..

There's stories up here that that the DEC released some cougars but they deny it. There is some evidence and first hand accounts but the DEC passes it off as pets or illegally obtained cougars that got lose.

Bobcat sightings happen in the area - one was killed on the road in Windham a few years ago. My friends see tracks when they are out hunting..

I think I'm still more afraid of bears because they are everywhere increasing a chance encounter but a cougar could mess you up before you even knew it.. bears don't stalk..

 

[deadheadskier]

Mountain Lion killed on highway in CT

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/11/connecticut.mountain.lion/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[Magog Fishy]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/11/connecticut.mountain.lion/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

I was just going to post a thread on this.

A bit scary -- killed in Milford, Connecticut on the Wilbur Cross Parkway. Apparently this same mountain lion was spotted in Greenwich earlier this month. It appears this is a case of an exoctic pet one that was released – at least that is what the authorities are saying. If it was indeed wild, you wouldn’t think that the first mountain lion killed in New England if IRCC in 70+ years would be in Milford – I have done Internet searches in the past on them, and if IRCC the last one was in Maine in the mid-1930’s; the last one in Vermont was IIRC 1887. It is not totally beyond the realm of possibility that it was wild since wild jaguars (believe it was just one or two) did make their way back to Arizona a few years ago.

I know people in Northern New England say they spot mountain lions all the time, although I have not heard of anyone that has been able to produce a credible picture or a carcass – I have always believe they were seeing either a good size bobcat or lynx; a good size bobcat could still f you up. Personally I am much more worried in New England about a good size black bear; or a bull moose or buck during rut -- I'm always on guard in N. VT, and know/have means to defend myself at a moment's notice.

 

[bvibert]

I know people who say they've seen a mountain lion around where I MTB in CT. The CT DEP says there aren't any wild ones in CT though. It's been a long debated topic around here. There's definitely a much better chance of coming across a black bear around here. I've seen several on the same ride myself.

 

[o3jeff]

More sightings
http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-mountain-lion-sighting-0613-20110612,0,3786073.story

Have to like at the end where the DEP is basically saying it was someones pet....
http://www.ctnow.com/news/hc-milford-car-vs-mountain-lion-0612-20110611,0,5869384.story

 

[mondeo]

My office mate has a wildlife cam pic in his office of a mountain lion stalking a deer. The pic was taken in his backyard in Pittsfield MA (or in that area). A Great Pic! The mountain lion was just about 1/2 a length behind that deer when the camera clicked. I doubt the deer made it.

My brother said he saw mention on the local news that a Mountain Lion was struck and killed on Rt 171 near Tuftonboro...I think that was early last spring. 171 runs parallel to the Ossipee Mt Range near lake Winnepasaukee.

So...I'm inclined to think they are making an effort @ a comeback!

At a 1/2 length behind, I think it had gone past stalking at that point.

 

[bigbog]

Actually got sight of one up in woods NE of Moosehead back in 07' while driving in on an old logging road, quite a way from main woods road. When rapping with a NMW gatekeeper.whose location is at base of nearby mountain...said he would hear them in evening now & then. Beautiful animal but would not want to invade one's territory on a bike ride or hike.

 

[marcski]

 

[tjf67]

Actually got sight of one up in woods NE of Moosehead back in 07' while driving in on an old logging road, quite a way from main woods road. When rapping with a NMW gatekeeper.whose location is at base of nearby mountain...said he would hear them in evening now & then. Beautiful animal but would not want to invade one's territory on a bike ride or hike.

Was it standing next to Big Foot? :roll:

 

[Morwax]

No one believes me when I tell them I saw a large cat (100+lbs.) with a long tail in Stoddard NH 10 years ago while hunting. Late in the day, sun going down it was crossing a dirt road about 50 yards in front of me and my hunting partner. He wanted to shoot it, I didnt and stopped him from taking a shot before it walked back into the woods. Cats roam long distances to find a meal and if anything can go undetected it a cat. Too bad some cager had to run that one down to prove its existence.

 

[Magog Fishy]

It will be interesting to find out if this one was a captive pet or wild -- it wasn’t declawed or neutered, and was lean (they say captive ones are typically out of shape and flabby from being overfed). The authorities are saying necropsy and DNA results should be released in about a week. Supposedly it is illegal to have one as a pet in CT, and the two that are licensed as pets in NY have been accounted for. It boggles my mind why anyone (besides perhaps Michael Jackson) would want a mountain lion as a pet! I have heard of so many credible stories of sightings in New England, but the lack of any human attacks and hard evidence has always made me somewhat of a doubter (especially with respect to a breeding population) even though I know they can roam far.