? 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! This is actually a good thing, as genetic isolation generally weakens a species. Only once has anyone later determined that they had misidentified the cat, seeing a bobcat and not a mountain lion. Mary saw the photo, too, and she immediately agreed, it was a puma. 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? Fish and Wildlife Service. "Hunters are always saying they see mountain lions, and the Game Commission always says there aren't any," said Robert Hale, owner of Buffalo Gap Outfitters in Dillsburg. The last documented sighting of an eastern cougar was one killed in Maine in 1938. "People think they can get them declawed and that they're safe, but they still have teeth.". I've done this myself once, in Tanzania, when I saw a black house cat that I thought was a black leopard! Good luck, and let me know! The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. If it were, it would be listed. Reports generally go uninvestigated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which discounts them as mistaken identities, illegal pets escaped or released and outright fabrications. Colorado has a large number of mountain lions within its borders, mostly due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. Looking for things to do in the Poconos? The mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. I don't want to seem like a nut case here, but I must ask this question and you'll soon understand why? Mountain lions live almost everywhere in the state of Washington. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. "I thought I had a sighting in the late '90s," Delaware Water Gap National Recreation park ranger Chris Kross said. Among other uses, the tax was levied "for destroying wolves, foxes, heads and crows." 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. Check out the tails of the two! On the other hand, there are probably thousands of game cameras covering water holes and game trails throughout Pennsylvania, and to my knowledge no one has yet recorded a puma. 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. 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. 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. Now, if there were any escapes, and if any of these bred with a possible minuscule number of eastern pumas, a relic native population, wouldn't the gene pool be corrupted? Of interestRamapough Lenape chief: National park in PA and NJ would be among 'most destructive things' since colonization. Recently the US Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared the Eastern Puma an extinct species, except for the remnant population in Florida. Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. There are, from time to time, eyewitness accounts from hunters or hikers who claim to have seen the cat. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. Eyes are normal and are not light sensitive, and the over-all color, generally black, is usually not detrimental and may actually be of benefit. There's a whole world to learn about and Colby is content to spend his life learning as much as he can about it! "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. (National Park Service). Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. When I first discovered this fresh carcass I examined it for throat punctures, thinking that it may have been killed by a puma. In Yellowstone, definite puma country (perhaps not ideal habitat, but pumas are found in every section of Yellowstone), I've spoken to guys on road crews and with rangers, each with 20 years of field or road experience in Yellowstone, and the ranger had only seen 2 (both road kills and together) and the road crew guys two or three in all their years. Colby is a freelance writer from Charlotte, North Carolina. 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. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. (570) 325-3229. Consider that the endangered Florida puma has mixed genes. 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. It's 90-something degrees, but Rocky's stare feels like ice down your pants. However, if it doesn't exist, and if someone saw one, wouldn't there be a worry that it was a dangerous escapee? The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. 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. That may be true, or was once true, but even a declawed puma, if it can survive off rabbits and squirrels, and breeds, its offspring would be fully equipted to survive. 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. Mountain Lion in Pocono's Pennsylvania Kacie PA 7.9K views 2 years ago Mountain lion in bucks county pa or not? Remember, this one was photographed in Arizona in good puma country, although this was the first one I've recorded there. Unless I am only dealing with a lot of delusional people with little judgment, something is out there. September 21st, 2008, 08:14 PM #74. And yes, there are people in Pennsylvania who say they exist here. redo these pages to match the new web site But that's not Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. How do I deal with shaving weight for carrying my gear? There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. It is an Italianate Villa home that features authentic Victorian furniture and finishing. 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. Are the various States guilty of essentially the same thing? 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 first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. On a recent stifling morning in Adams County, the 290-pound mountain lion with perfect bone structure is ignoring the raw chicken breast and pork chops a handler tossed into his pen. Mountain lions have a lifespan of about 8 to 13 years old in the wild. 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. So how or why could there be a conspiracy? I'd suspect it would still be considered very rare, after all, it was thought to be extinct. 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! I've seen hoaxes, of pumas carrying deer shot with game cameras, but these were of western cats. By the mid-1900s pumas were eliminated from almost all of the eastern states, and by mid-century were officially extinct east of the Mississippi, except for a remnant population in southern Florida. 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. Once a mountain lion matures, it will leave its mother and find its own territory. Leslie estimated that the first humans making up the Paleo-Indians lived in the upper Delaware valley as early as 11,000 B.C. As they get older, the cubs begin to leave the den and explore. After all, how many people have pumas? What equipment do we take in the field? do I get an immediate, 'Oh yeah!' Where can I find Depth of Field reference charts? 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. In August, Amy Walters said her 12-year-old son was spooked by a mountain lion in Forest County in northwest Pennsylvania while riding his dirt bike. This is not a Pennsylvania puma! In books I've read critical or skeptical or down-right dismissive of the idea of pumas in the East, the argument has been advanced that the hopefull puma-dreamer/spotters arguing that the State needs to prove pumas don't exist does not mean that in the State not proving this means that pumas indeed do exist in this state. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? He's sitting in a plastic doghouse, paws crossed, amber eyes locked on the two men ticking him off by their mere presence out beyond the fence. Puma vs Mountain Lion: Is There a Difference? Kross only saw the animal for a second, but it made a believer out of him. So it happens, and who knows if it is existing in wild pumas in the East. They often would catch sheep in broad daylight. 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. Perhaps my Fed Ex driver was simply recalling a rural legend, but he said it was an employee that he knew, and it was a story he heard first-hand. There's a saying that "things aren't always what they appear to be." Thank you for reading! Here are the 15 US States That Have Mountain Lions. Well, right behind our property lies a mountain ridge, one of several that makes a continuous forest that extends, with little interruption, for scores of miles in three directions. As a state known for its mountains, its no wonder that mountain lions live here! He also noted that if the cat was here, wouldn't they be reproducing and increasing in population by now? Now, forty years ago coyotes were rare or almost nonexistent in Pennsylvania, and had had that same sighting back then, when coyotes were thought not to exist within the state we would have had the 'facts' to doubt what we saw. ? What you wouldn't expect to find here anymore is a mountain lion. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. When he told me this, he commented on how an experience like the one he and his friends had just is not forgotten. Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. The coat can be spotted or solid and varies in color from light browns, reddish and silvery grey. "From people that I trust have had visual sightings, they've seen mountain lions.". Their are two web sites I know of that dealt with eastern pumas, with the one, the Eastern Puma Research Network, concentrating on sightings in the east. DCNR gave the following as examples: the saber-tooth cat; a small, three-toed horse; the Pleistocene beaver, and the mastodon. Of course, the writer's comments were hearsay, but it does make sense. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. In only one report had an official from the Pennsylvania Game Commision, a local warden, actually agree with the person reporting the sighting. More Questions about Pumas in Pennsylvania. Here, they've not been," Lau said in an e-mail. The coat can be spotted or solid. Wyoming has a historically stable population of mountain lions, but recent drops in numbers have caused some to worry. I believe Kross fully, but I wanted to hear more. All of the above are Mountain Lions, or Pumas, or Cougars. Mountain lions are 7-9 feet, while bobcats are 3 feet long. However, many of my reports were at distances that people knew, and as you look at the images of the puma there really is a big difference in color and shape between a puma and a house cat. The bones were found perfectly preserved. Pocono Record sports writer Mike Kuhns wrote a great piece on Oct. 14, "Does the mountain lion roam PA?" It has long been popular with honeymooners, but today the Poconos are a popular destination for families, skiers, adventure seekers, NASCAR fans, and those from urban areas around New England, New York City, Philadelphia . There isnt an official estimate on mountain lions in the state. Editor's note: The Pocono Record and Tri-County Independent have collaborated for a series of stories called Mountain Beasts: Pocono cryptids, legends and lore. Something to consider, even though we all trust the government. Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead. 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. What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? The life cycle then repeats itself. Martinelli said that if there were mountain lions in Pennsylvania, there would be more sightings of them. Just take your pick of all these incredible Pocono lake house rentals or just a Pocono cabin for rent, in luxury of course! None of these sightings has been authenticated, and many of them, including a recent, alleged mountain lion picked up on a surveillance camera in Lackawanna County, turned out to be bobcats. "He doesn't like men too much," said Suzanne Murray, owner of East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in this south-central Pennsylvania town. The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. Many people have claimed to see them, and this writer chronicled numerous such reports in the local press from the mid-1990s to the 2010s. Provided by Touchpoints "We should be getting more pictures. Mountain lions that are looking for new breeding areas are known as transient and are almost always males. And how many would let them go, or provide an opportunity for escaping? I could fill pages recounting the eye-witness reports I've heard, and for every report critics could certainly say 'but there's no physical evidence!' I don't believe someone's imagination could stretch a six inch long tail to three feet! Obviously, other pumas must be about, and the series of ridges extending north and east and west from my location could all be included as critical habitat as well. "While confirmed cougar sightings have occurred recently in the wild in the East, there is currently no scientific or physical evidence documenting the continued existence of a population of wild eastern cougars," according to the U.S. If we say it ain't so, it ain't so! These experiences are still available, but the reality is there is so much more for the mature traveler to enjoy in the Pocono Mountains. I Googled "Pocono mountain lion" and there it was the same photo, except the caption claimed that it was taken in Oklahoma, not Pennsylvania, and various posted comments asserted that the photo was manipulated. If mountain lions are discovered in PA anytime soon they'll either be big foot's pets or genetically engineered and released by the DCNR to cull the orangu-bear population. Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. The next day, the photo disappeared from the site. I have three observations here: 1. And again, while they may have been mistaken, they certainly were completely convinced that they had seen a puma. However, my friend and I discussed this, and agreed, we saw what we saw, and had it been 40 years ago or four months ago, we knew we saw a coyote. Here's a glimpse at what long-gone Pocono beasts the region's very first wave of residents may have seen, and the wild things that followed up to as late as the early 20th century. For our list, we only included US states with a stable breeding population. The first settlers kept sheep to supply their household with wool. Have all of those who have seen a puma really seen a bobcat? The story behind our new web site. Same story as 'black panthers' across the country, because of course there, scientifically, can be no such thing. What would account for the long tails? You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". 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. It was estimated to be a young adult American Mastodon that had died about 12,000 years ago, according to radiocarbon dating. 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! The large tracts of untouched rocky land and bighorn sheep populations make for pristine mountain lion habitat. Again, I've been told that some Game Commission personnel have admitted that pumas may exist in Pennsylvania, but they rationalize this by saying that the pumas are not breeding and they are not from original wild stock. Would my mountain ridge be declared 'Critical Habitat' for the puma? One of the important things for any animal is a place to call home. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. "There hasn't been one solid piece of proof to believe they are here. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in 1998. 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. "It was in Worthington State Forest just across the Delaware River from Smithfield Beach). He said he'd never forget the sighting, but it was only when he saw another, a few months ago, in daylight, from his cabin, that he decided it was time to tell someone. 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. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Let me explain this. I believe them. As the latest hoaxed photo of a mountain lion supposedly killed in Pennsylvania died a slow death on Facebook yesterday, the head of an organization tracking the eastern movements of the big cats was preparing a presentation for a Pennsylvania audience tonight. The Pocono Mountains are located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Mountain lions have an interesting life cycle that consists of a few different characteristics. After a gestation period of 90 days, female mountain lions will give birth to litters of about one to six cubs. (PennLive has investigated many reports of mountain lions, and other mystery creatures, and has found no confirming evidence. "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. Where they always here as a relic population? Bushkill Falls Trail. Cougar Network tracks mountain lion expansion from the western U.S. to the east. Hunting is legal, but the use of dogs was banned in 1996. This, after they were told that there were no pumas in Pa. Features Writer Micaela Hood is signing off with the Pocono Record after five years of covering arts, culture, entertainment and sports in northeastern . The last native mountain lion known to be killed in Pennsylvania is on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Perhaps one or more of these Pocono sightings represent early pioneers reclaiming their former territories. Are they all the product of the off-spring of pumas that escaped their owners or were released? 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. However, if you've seen a mountain lion, or other mystery creature, or evidence of either, in Pennsylvania, contact outdoor writer Marcus Schneck at [email protected].). the more visible white on the chest, the lack of spots, the huge hind quarters. When he isn't distracted by his backyard birdfeeder, you can find him camping, exploring, and telling everyone around him about what he's recently learned. original web site, although if I ever have enough time I might If there were wild cougars in our midst, the Game Commission also pointed out, eventually there would be solid evidence such as a carcass, scat and paw prints that could be verified. Interesting, too, are the reports I've heard from people who were told that they would be in big trouble if they shot a puma. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. All rights reserved (About Us). They regularly join the camp of those angrily claiming the commission has introduced the big cats back into Pennsylvania as a control measure against the state's huge deer population. Me? All rights reserved (About Us). In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. Goggling Eastern Puma brings up other web sites, however, with varying levels of professionalism or credibility. Murray said Rocky was emaciated and chained when she found him at a private zoo. (What is meant by "heads" is not clear.). If you see or photograph a puma in the mid-Atlantic states, please email or call me. This animal was undoubtedly a bobcat. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. 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. It had been captured in Florida, and was to be released. I think it is possible that recognizing the existence of pumas in the East could jeopardize this industry and an entire economy. For many who have believed to have seen a cougar in the wilds of the Poconos, these arguments might be less than convincing. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Mountain lion populations struggle to outpace the high hunting limits. Noted Wayne County historian Phineas Goodrich recorded in his 1880 book on local history that the common gray wolf was much more common in this area than the cougar. The states beautiful wilderness and mountainous terrain are prime mountain lion habitats. He also published a follow-up on Oct. 15 with the same mountain lion-deer hoax photo, as well as personal stories from several local residents who claim they've seen mountain lions in the Poconos. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. I regularly ask hunters and outdoors people if they've ever seen a mountain lion, or know of anyone that has. Biologists traced it. As you can see from the above images it is very difficult to confuse the two if you have a good view. Those special two were across a river just outside Glacier National Park in Montana, and consisted of a mother and two cubs (Mary saw both cubs, I only saw one, and we did so separately, as we were driving two vehicles).
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