Cougars are often by hit carsin 2020, at least one-tenth of all Florida panthers (20 out of a maximum population of 200 animals) were hit by cars. A 2011 study examined cougar attacks across the US and Canada and found that since 1890, there have been only 29 confirmed fatalities.) Cougars were seen as threats to humans, livestock, and game species, resulting in unlimited harvest and bounties in some states. at least 1 mountain lion hanging out near a relatively fresh, mostly eaten deer . For a limited time, you can get full access to breaking news, all original Outdoor News stories and updates from the entire Great Lakes Region and beyond, the most up-to-date fishing & hunting reports, lake maps, photo & video galleries, the latest gear, wild game cooking tips and recipes, fishing & hunting tips from pros and experts, bonus web content and much, much more, all on your smartphone, tablet or desktop For just a buck per month! Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. I went to the rocky site and did not find the cat. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . It will happen eventually. Im 62 and hunted most of my life here in PA. Dont EVER expect to get the truth from anyone with Game departments in any U.S. state. The DNR maintains mountain lion sightings using a system to receive, record and review mountain lion reports. Dashboard for displaying mountain lion reports to the public. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. It will happen eventually. "The coloration and the shape of the head lean toward mountain lion(Felis concolor)but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. Secondly, the sightings of mountain lions are likely the result of escaped or released animals that were once captive. An attack on a 4-year-old near San Diego is just the latest in a string of mountain lion attacks in California. "Likewise, I'm not aware of any escapes from captive facilities in my time here. The farther a male must travel the more likely they are to die. (AP FILE PHOTO) A Philadelphia Inquirer story said more and more people in Pennsylvania claim they are seeing mountain . LaRue, M.A., Nielsen, C.K., Dowling, M., Miller, K., Wilson, B., Shaw, H., Anderson, C.R. 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. Many believe mountain lions still exist in Pennsylvania. Mountain lions also were reportedly sighted in Cape St . They can be easily differentiated by the size of their size (large house cats only weigh 30lb and raccoons 20lbs) and their tails (cougar tails are much longer and wiry). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 1 Last 365 Days. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, feline predators such as the eastern cougar, which is also known as the mountain lion, are "extirpated," meaning they're all but wiped out in the northeastern United States. A second image of the same cat, in a different light, reveals the trademark spots of a bobcat. Although they're occasionally reportedby hikers in remote locations, the U.S. They have adapted to live in the suburbs in woods, fields or evenbackyards without being seen by people. Cover Image: A cougar in Michigans Upper Peninsula (photo credit: Michigan DNR). It's 90-something degrees, but Rocky's stare feels like ice down your pants. They can grow as large as 200 pounds and have long tails. Looked just like the Nittany Lion except it was alive and running! Without major changes in both cougar biology, cougar behavior, and public opinion, it is unlikely that cougars can return to the wilds of Pennsylvania. Saw some huge cat prints on the mountain in NEPA near white haven. 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The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has determined that due to no concrete evidence, and in spite of multiple (but unconfirmed ) sightings, the eastern mountain lion has been. Remember this post from February 28, 2005. I have seen a lion twice in Sussex County. "We do not believe that there are any wild, native, breeding cougar populations in Pennsylvania. FAIRFIELD, Pa. An instinct coiled way down in the human brain knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. Still, Pennsylvania does have adequate cougar habitat, according to San Julian. The only cats still hunting in Pennsylvania are bobcats, according to the state game commission. You know I love hunting when I was younger in Pennsylvania but trying to kill the very last animal shows a sign of being inbred. Make sure you remove or cover up any bear food source, including garbage or bird feeders at your home. Seventy to 80 percent of victims develop a rash. After carefully considering the shape of the paw, Penn State experts concluded that the print was not made by a cougar. The U.S. "The day will come," he said, "when someone will pull the trigger on a mountain lion.". An instinct coiled way down in the human brain knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. 2 houses up from my house. Murray said Rocky was emaciated and chained when she found him at a private zoo. UPDATE: Well, you cant believe everything you read on the internetturns out this was not in PA: Over 1,100 people follow her page. To download a high-resolution image, go to http://aginfo.psu.edu/news/august01/lion.tif. DNA tests have offered conclusive proof of cougars in other eastern states. The tail of the cat is an excellent identification tool: cougars have two- to three-foot-long wiry tails with a black tip, and bobcats have a short bobbed tail that is only three to eight inches long. Tan shading indicates regions where dispersing juveniles have been sighted, but there are no established populations in these areas. About the year 1967 I drove my corvair in a meadow and two red cats about a year old came across the road behind me south of Hancock PA. Besides a lack of physical (scat, hair, or tracks) and photographic evidence, the absence of cougars is also demonstrated by a lack of road-killed cougars. Copyright 2023Outdoor News. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. US Fish and Wildlife Service. Hikers saw a mountain lion walking along a hiking trail as it was hunting a deer in Big Bend National Park, Texas. The red face of a mountain lion came out of the top of the mountain then dropped down. Pennsylvania would be incredibly difficult for cougars to reach. Find Easton area news on Facebook. MDC established a Mountain Lion Response Team in 1996 to investigate reports and evidence of mountain lions. 83 responses. Have a news tip? Some restrictions apply. The pair said they haven't seen the cougar since, but have heard others talk about their cougar sightings after posting their story on Nextdoor. Am 74 years old, of very sound mind usually pretty skeptical, but i saw this animal and after much consideration have concluded it could only be a mountain lion or cougar. In January, the U.S. But after consultations with biologists inside and outside the university, he determined it was an unusual bear track showing just four toes and no claws. "I kind of doubt they saw a cougar, but I'm not God.". That said there have been numerous sightings of them over the years. They denied there was a mountain lion in their truck. In 1991 mountain lion tracks were found . Wasps are important because they kill off other pest insects such as caterpillars, flies and crickets. House cats and raccoons can also be confused for cougars. The Florida panther reached a population low of 20-30 individuals in 1970s, and currently are between 120-200 sub-adults and adults. Sep 16, 2018 at 12:00 am. There are more squirrels in Pa than Mountain Lions, but not by a lot. Let us know. The only population that survived was the Florida panther (Puma concolor couguar), and it only survived with great help from conservationists. "The day will come," he said, "when someone will pull the trigger on a mountain lion.". The Game Commission occasionally hears about cougar sightings too, but agency officials are skeptical about their origins. Most spiders have fangs to deliver venom, but only two in Pennsylvania have bites withserious medical implications for humans: the black widow (pictured) and the brown recluse. Upperparts are grizzled gray or dark brown to buff, cinnamon tawny, or rufous. "It's probably a bobcat, but looks like a mountain lion," Nick Dodge told the station. After hearing of alleged sightings over the years -- sketchy reports of rural folks listening to big cat screams in the night, inconclusive paw prints, photos and videos that never materialized and the occasional unexplained livestock killing -- a cougar carcass was supposed to be delivered to university wildlife experts for necropsy. Bears have been fought off with rocks, sticks, binoculars or even bare hands, the game commission says. 2 Last 5 Years. Still, you just never know". Recent confirmed sightings of mountain lions in North Dakota are about 20-40 per year. In the snow, the tracks of all mammals appear to be larger this is because the heat from individual animals feet melts the snow they step on. An estimated 20,000 of them were roaming across the Commonwealth in 2015. A coyote or bobcat is a little shorter than a tire and roughly one and half the length of tire. Dispersal can be mean treks as long as 1,000 miles in search of territory. 3 Last 10 Years. Long-distance dispersal of a subadult male cougar from South Dakota to Connecticut documented with DNA evidence. 'Nothing to see here folks, move along'". Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. Mountain lions would have inhabited all of what is now Nebraska, roaming the hills and plains as an apex predator, hunting deer, elk and other large game. Share Tweet Share Share. This is roughly three times the length of a bobcat or coyotes stride (~16 inches). But Dave "Gadget" Jones, a retired wildlife conservation officer from Lackawanna County, claims he's seen a white bigfoot and a UFO in Pennsylvania, so who knows? This article addresses the history of cougars in Pennsylvania, their extirpation, and that they are now extinct. Traveling Route 248 in Northampton County just 1 mile east of Pennsville. The report in Greene County is the only one confirmed to be a mountain lion. What you. You should stay calm and back away from the bear. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Skip to content. Pennlive.com reports trappers kill more than 40,000 of them in Pennsylvania every year. No An official form of the United States government. I received a report from a woman who drove last Sunday (August 28) from her home in the Philadelphia area to her vacation home in Avalon. Their bodies are mainly covered in tawny-beige fur, except for the whitish-gray belly and chest. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Fish and Wildlife Service recently declared extinct the eastern cougar, one of 11 subspecies of mountain lions native to North America, but reports of black panthers generally are. The only native North American mountain lion species (Puma concolor) has long since been extirpated from the eastern United States, with the exception of a small population of Florida panthers whose genetic roots are a subject of debate. Residents should report any possible mountain lion sightings immediately to law enforcement or to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Some biologists thinks it's time to bring them back to help manage deer populations. Claws are a great way to tell bear tracks apart from cougar tracks: cougar claws can retract their claws and their claws tend to only be extended when on slippery surfaces, on the other paw, bears cannot control their claws and they can be found on every track. I know I am not the only one who spotted this cat around the woods right outside town . February 23, . "A cougar or puma is like a UFO with four feet." Share on Social I live in Harrisburg, in the 70s and by Central Dauphin high school there was a creek called Beaver Creek so one day ask someone what are they called Beaver Creek and said there used to be a beaver there till about seven or eight years ago and the last one was killed by some person they named and he was actually bragging up that he killed the last beaver in Beaver Creek. Mountain lions are helpful in maintaining order in our ecosystem and assist to keep other wildlife numbers in check. 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. "When I started telling people, most of them didn't believe me, but I will never forget that huge face staring right at me," said a Montgomery County woman who says she saw a lion last summer in Limerick Township while walking her dog. I work near Hazleton, Pa. In January, the U.S. "Thus a rural legend is perpetuated. The last native. While there have been many reports of wild cougars returning to Pennsylvania, none of these have been proven to be wild cougars. As a last resort, you can fight back and try to scare the bear away. You read it here first: Mountain lions still exist in Pennsylvania: Just prior to the start of Pennsylvanias two-week firearms deer season, the volunteers at the Eastern Puma Research Network put out a call to hunters. Then he took a closer look. "While it seems unlikely, it's not impossible that these animals are showing up in PA," said David Foster, a biology professor at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg. Mike Jacobsen found a dead mountain lion in his Denton-area field on Dec. 19. I was driving to work just before sun rise, Late September 2019. The only animal with a similar sized track is the black bear. Ablack widow bite is rarely fatal except in the young or elderly, according to the Penn State Cooperative Extension. It was not a fleeting glance, I had to stop my car to let it slowly cross the road in front of me. Males territories are generally twice the size of a females territory (50-350 square miles), and they overlap the territory of several females. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. The abundance of wildlife that thrives in Pennsylvania makes sightings of interesting animals fairly commonplacebears, foxes, coywolves and elk are all within the realm of expectations. 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. Must of been chasing it for quite some time. "If my son would have been on a pedal bike, without a helmet on, that thing would have nailed him," said Walters, 44. Florida panther population estimate updated. Black widows are native to the state. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. The report says 58 people suffered allergic reactions and died from stings in Pennsylvania between 2001-13. 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. These tiny critters may not look that threatening but they are carriers of Lyme disease, which can result in long-term health complications and even death. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. I write stories about rural and exurban areas, the places where development meets farmland and farms meet the great outdoors. Three types ofvenomous snakes live in Pennsylvania: the timber rattlesnake (pictured), the eastern massasauga and the northern copperhead. Mountain lions' canines are 3 to 4 inches long. Breeding cougars are almost entirely west of the Mississippi in states like South Dakota, Texas, and California (Figure 1). 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. What is the fascination in Pennsylvania that they always want to kill a mountain line if they find one theyre indigenous they belong there just leave the damn things alone. U.S. FOREST SERVICE PHOTO If you're bitten by a venomous snake, dial 911 immediately and seek medical attention. http://cougarrewilding.org/CougarNews/?p=938, have seen mountain lion in armstrong co.Pa, neibore has seen 2. The mountain lion was killed east of Altoona and south of State College , Pa. northeast of Raystown Lake between Mt. Here, they've not been," Lau said in an e-mail. "I know they're native to this area. Mattson, D., Kenneth, L., and Sweanor, L. 2011. Hawley, J.E., Rego, P.W., Wydeven, A.P., Schwartz, M.K., Viner, T.C., Kays R., Pilgrim, K.L., and Jenks, J.A. Figure 1. Young cougars (one- to two-years old) leave their mothers to establish a new territory. but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. Eastern coyotes are prevalent in Pennsylvania. Not valid with other promotions. The other was seen roaming in Arlee on. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. Their conclusion: Sir, you dont have a mountain lion. A week later the farmer shot the mountain lion. Cougars (Puma concolor) are a large cat that goes by many names: panther, catamount, puma, and mountain lion, just to name a few of their over forty common English names. Couguar ), and it only survived with great help from conservationists according to Julian. 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