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. At one time this fact almost resulted in this cat not being protected, since it wasn't a pure strain. 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. 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. Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. On that, I've had emails sent with game trail photo attachments, or killed pumas, supposedly shot in Pennsylvania, but these were hoaxes. 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. Albinos are often very light sensitive, and they certainly are conspicuous, and most do not live very long. According to the commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. These experiences are still available, but the reality is there is so much more for the mature traveler to enjoy in the Pocono Mountains. 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. He saw a big cat. There is a small breeding population in the state, despite being killed off in the 1920s. (What is meant by "heads" is not clear.). Best hike for seeing waterfalls. However, it is clearly a mountain lion, and I'm presenting this poor image as a baseline reference for anyone recording a mountain lion on a game camera, or seeing one. There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. "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. Murray said Rocky was emaciated and chained when she found him at a private zoo. The State argues that there is no physical evidence, and no credible photographs. The rounded ears, During this time, male mountain lions will travel in search of females. A few could, perhaps, be mistaken idenity. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. I don't believe someone's imagination could stretch a six inch long tail to three feet! About six months ago I posted the question, Are there Mountain Lions in Pennsylvania? Recently the US Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared the Eastern Puma an extinct species, except for the remnant population in Florida. The record size for this species is 8 feet, and it probably weighed 15 to 20 pounds, which shows how exaggerated this claim is. Newspapers carried stories in 1956 about hunters supposedly seeing and killing wolves in Pike and Monroe Counties. They once inhabited the entire United States, but were killed off and pushed west. Here's more about mountain lions in Pennsylvania: If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. Where they always here as a relic population? There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. Me? More conclusive evidence is needed: Keep your cameras handy. "They preyed upon the caribou, and probably the mastodon," Leslie wrote of these large animals flourishing on the grasses and cold-climate flora that sprouted following the glacier's retreat. Have some feedback for us? As they get older, the cubs begin to leave the den and explore. The rocky habitat that covers much of the state is perfect for these ambush predators, especially since humans dont inhabit much of the land. (National Park Service). No one needs to panic.". One of the three branches or clans of the Lenape Tribe at the end of the 17th century was known as the Wolf (Minsi). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Phineas Teeple of Manchester Township is thought to have killed the last wolf in Wayne County. Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a. In the map above, I collected data from the state and on the federal level to find state parks . Only when I reviewed the images on my laptop did I discover that I had a mountain lion! If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. They mostly live in the far western Trans-Pecos region of the state, with about 50,000 to 80,000 acres of suitable land currently being used by the cat. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. What is the Kiboko backpack? What would account for the long tails? I was heading up the road and I saw an animal with a long tail.". 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. However, recently I saw a photo of a melanistic bobcat, as black as could be, with bright yellow eyes. "There hasn't been one solid piece of proof to believe they are here. 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. Others would like to see some scientific proof. Both were a threat to the farmer and family who carved a home in the ancient wilderness of the Poconos. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled, Over the last few years I've done several Questions of the Month regarding Mountain Lions, or Pumas as they should properly be called, in the Mid-Atlantic States and in Pennsylvania. Note the size of the tail, the pointed ears, the speckled coat, the basic lack of white underneath. At one time this fact almost resulted in this cat not being protected, since it wasn't a pure strain. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. Other states have had sightings, especially as mountain lion populations begin to explore and look to expand. years are available through this link. Arkansas isnt somewhere that we would generally think of when looking for mountain lions, but they are on the rebound! A bobcat gives you a warm, that-kind-of-looks-like-my-cat-but-slightly-bigger feeling. Colby is a freelance writer from Charlotte, North Carolina. Some may be animals that dispersed into the region from western populations. Fish and Wildlife Service. We hope you enjoy this foray into the most weird and wonderful our beloved Pocono Mountains have to offer. 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. Once a mountain lion matures, it will leave its mother and find its own territory. It's sort of like big foot, some people say they've seen him.". Hunters I've spoken with said they've been told you can't kill a puma, which they felt was ironic since the same official told them pumas don't exist in Pa. In 2011, a confirmed mountain lion was killed by a vehicle in Connecticut and which had been determined that it had wandered east from the Mid-West. 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. Currently, there are only 15 states that meet that qualification. One might argue that the eastern puma is extinct, but that does not mean that there are not pumas (mountain lions, cougars) in the east. 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. The head of the puma is small in comparision to a house cat when compared to the entire body. 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? Compare any game camera image with the shots above, or this game camera image, to confirm your identification. Some experts predict that this wide-ranging predator, which can travel 600 miles in search of a territory, will surely reach our eastern states sometime in the next few decades. 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. Mountain lions thrive there due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. Hunting is legal, but the use of dogs was banned in 1996. What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? September 21st, 2008, 08:14 PM #74. As a state known for its mountains, its no wonder that mountain lions live here! The skeleton was reassembled at the State Museum, where it has been on display ever since. The bones were found perfectly preserved. . I'm thinking of the solution often suggested for pesky endangered species out west, namely wolves and grizzly bears. Cougar Network tracks mountain lion expansion from the western U.S. to the east. Since mountain lions are the top predators (unlike most other states with grizzly bears), they have a well-developed population. Send it to me at mkuhns@poconorecord.com. While the chances that I'll ever see a puma in Pennsylvania myself are virtually zero, I'm always on the alert -- for the bobcat I've never seen in Pa., for a fisher, bear, deer, red salamander, toad, or snake, and yes, I'm always hoping that I too will become one of those who saw something that officially cannot exist within the state, a puma I know I saw but, of course, could not have! The other two clans were the Turtle and Turkey. Any Truth While it would seem impossible to confuse the two after seeing them in person, Foster said many of the sightings are in the dark, from roadways and trail cams, with bodies half-concealed. Despite reported sightings throughout the East, including Pennsylvania, and a confirmed mountain lion killed in Connecticut in 2011, there has been no evidence that any of those cats were native . I regularly ask hunters and outdoors people if they've ever seen a mountain lion, or know of anyone that has. 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 one cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June 2011. "Likewise, I'm not aware of any escapes from captive facilities in my time here. 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. 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). In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. Kross only saw the animal for a second, but it made a believer out of him. Continuing with that thought, if that were so, then it'd be possible, if not very likely, that the Eastern puma would be an Endangered Species. Everyone else, when reporting, were frustrated as they were told they had seen a bobcat. "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. 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. The Pocono Mountains are located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. 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. Have all of those who have seen a puma really seen a bobcat? One of the important things for any animal is a place to call home. Ironically, I almost deleted the image, as on the small camera LCD monitor the cat was small and I thought that it was just another deer that moved along the stream. Hunting is legal in the state, but it is heavily controlled and restricted. As you can see from the above images it is very difficult to confuse the two if you have a good view. I think it is possible that recognizing the existence of pumas in the East could jeopardize this industry and an entire economy. I don't want to seem like a nut case here, but I must ask this question and you'll soon understand why? Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead? I've seen so many examples of these distortions, exaggerations and lies over the last couple of years that I've grown very dubious about anything I see on a computer. There are approximately 4,000 of those 10- to 40-pound cats in the state. If so, what would happen to the hunting industry in all of these states? For many who have believed to have seen a cougar in the wilds of the Poconos, these arguments might be less than convincing. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. 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. Local outlets carried reports of cougar encounters at least into the 1910s. 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. 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. Interestingly, the US Fish and Wildllife Service has declared the Eastern Puma extinct, except for the Florida population known as the Florida panther. Mountain lions, Goodrich wrote, were more dreaded than wolves as the cat could climb over any fence that could be built. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. Let's see a clear photo, or a carcass or something. 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. I have received about two dozen reports during that time, including one game camera image that still looks very credible to me. 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. If we say it ain't so, it ain't so! "With all of that said, though, there's a general lack of evidence of mountain lions in Pennsylvania. 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. He also noted that if the cat was here, wouldn't they be reproducing and increasing in population by now? If you see or photograph a puma in the mid-Atlantic states, please email or call me. Although in captivity, they can live much longer. 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. Would my mountain ridge be declared 'Critical Habitat' for the puma? "They are very strong animals," she said. 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. Still, these resilient animals reside in secluded areas across the United States, with current data suggesting they may even be returning to their historical regions! Mountain lions can live in almost any habitat including forests, prairies, deserts, and swamps. 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. These cubs are born blind and helpless. There had been 17 other mastodon finds in Pennsylvania up to 1968, but all were fragmentary. In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. However, if it doesn't exist, and if someone saw one, wouldn't there be a worry that it was a dangerous escapee? A neighbor scared the animal away before it could finish its meal; the sheeps carcass was used as bait, to catch the big cat. The first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. 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. Each year, over tha past five, I've spoken with at least one person who swears they personally saw a puma in this state. This, after they were told that there were no pumas in Pa. 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? However, it is clearly a mountain lion, and I'm presenting this poor image as a baseline reference for anyone recording a mountain lion on a game camera, or seeing one. About half of the state of Montana is ideal for mountain lions, primarily in her western and central regions. An article in last year's New York State Conservationist magazine about mountain lions concluded that none exists in that state, even in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Mountain wilderness. But even without that second look there was no question that we'd seen a coyote. It also mentioned that someone raising a mountain lion without a license may either have let it go when it became too large to handle, or that the animal had escaped. Ashley Catherine Fontones, Pocono Record. He knows and was familiar with bobcats, and it was not a weird house cat that he and his friends misjudged in size. He wrote that not being a roving animal, the mountain lion was much sooner destroyed than the wolf, and he said that if there were any left, it would have to be in the most desolate places in the county. The Mountain Lion is a large, slender cat with a smallish head and noticeably long tail. Mountain lions are 7-9 feet, while bobcats are 3 feet long. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled. Apparently, this picture was really making the rounds. They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own. 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. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. the more visible white on the chest, the lack of spots, the huge hind quarters. Same story as 'black panthers' across the country, because of course there, scientifically, can be no such thing. In 2015, a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker was placed near the site where the mastodon was found. 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. Bushkill Falls Trail. They're common in the rural areas of the Lehigh Valley but are moving into more populated areas as evidenced by a 600-pound specimen (pictured) that was tranquilized in March after neighbors in. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. I'd love to hear of any reports you have. "If my son would have been on a pedal bike, without a helmet on, that thing would have nailed him," said Walters, 44. So what? Reports of a mountain lion have come from several residents of Hemlock Farms who were hiking on. The Pocono Mountains are . "We should be getting more pictures. 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. Over the last few months several people have responded to this question with reports of their own. Geologist Dr. John Yolton made the identification. It is an Italianate Villa home that features authentic Victorian furniture and finishing. And when our officers go out to investigate reports of mountain lions, or when our staff reviews photos that are sent to us, often we're able to verify some other animal mistakenly was reported as a mountain lion.". They know what they saw, regardless of what the facts say, and they know they saw a puma. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. Furthermore, a different set of photos showed a "mountain lion" dragging a deer into the woods in Bradford County. Confirmed cougar sightings have increased in the Midwest and Great Lakes states in recent years.". Can so many people be wrong? The Bushkill Falls are a series of eight waterfalls in a 300-acre wooded enclave hidden amongst the Poconos. 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. After a small population was reintroduced into their historic land, their population has grown to a stable and breeding group of between 200-300 individuals. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Are there pumas, or mountain lions, in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic States? Florida is the only state on the east coast with a breeding population of mountain lions. Fish and Wildlife Service. Colorado is the perfect habitat for mountain lions. The large tracts of untouched rocky land and bighorn sheep populations make for pristine mountain lion habitat. 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. Then there is Rocky. "He doesn't like men too much," said Suzanne Murray, owner of East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in this south-central Pennsylvania town. Among those who have investigated the primeval times of the Pocono Plateau and Delaware River valleys and tributaries was the late Vernon Leslie, Ph.D., a Wayne County historian and archaeologist. By the time he returned the vehicle was gone, and so was the cat, and no mention was ever made of this road kill in a radio or newspaper report. These powerful, majestic creatures once lived across much of the country but have since been killed or pushed out of most of it. There also were camels, sloth and hyena, which migrated elsewhere. All of the above are Mountain Lions, or Pumas, or Cougars. Here in central Pennsylvania we live on the outskirts of what one puma-tracking website has as almost the high point of sightings, extending from north-central Pennsylvania in a southwestern diagonal that extends into the mountains of West Virginia. There isnt an official estimate on mountain lions in the state. "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. Illinois can also now be added to this list a mountain lion was found on the outskirts of Chicago. One came to her as the result of an owner's divorce. That's significant because, in states where mountain lions live, they're often struck by vehicles or otherwise found dead. 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. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 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. I've never seen or heard of a verified black puma anywhere, whether wild or captive, so I'd be inclined to dismiss reports of truly black big cats as misidentifications, even when a group of guys all see the same thing. While there have been no confirmed occurrences of mountain lions in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s, dozens . The earliest wave arrived at the end of the last Ice Age; the last wave is the Lenape or Delaware Tribe, which made contact with colonial settlers in the 1600s. Are Mountain Lions in Missouri Making a Comeback? "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. It will happen eventually. Mary saw the photo, too, and she immediately agreed, it was a puma. 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). 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. Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. Heres What the Data Says. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. See also: At the end of the last Ice Age, many animals in Pennsylvania died out. In this at this distant epoch, archaeologists attempt to clear some of the mists and mysteries of prehistoric times. All rights reserved (About Us). I hope no one ever shoots a puma to prove their existence here, but I hope someone gets a great photo, of the cat, of a road-kill, of tracks, and that I see it. I usually follow-up on these reports and, via email or phone conversations, I receive more details. 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. DCNR gave the following as examples: the saber-tooth cat; a small, three-toed horse; the Pleistocene beaver, and the mastodon. So it happens, and who knows if it is existing in wild pumas in the East. The next day, the photo disappeared from the site. original web site, although if I ever have enough time I might Did they migrate south from Canada? If pumas do exist in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, could they all be released cats or escapees? Of interestRamapough Lenape chief: National park in PA and NJ would be among 'most destructive things' since colonization. This animal was undoubtedly a bobcat. I believe them. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The 2,400-square-mile area has long been a popular outdoor recreation area boasting hunting, fishing, skiing, and more. "The day will come," he said, "when someone will pull the trigger on a mountain lion.". 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. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. To learn more about "lion country" in Colorado check here. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? 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. Leslie estimated that the first humans making up the Paleo-Indians lived in the upper Delaware valley as early as 11,000 B.C. After all, how many people have pumas? I'll offer my own little anecdote. They include a reported attack on horses at a farm near Dillsburg, York County, that Foster thinks may be legitimate. In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. In captivity mountain, lions can live to be about 20 years old. Known as the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania, there are four trails that lead to the cascades from the Bushkill Falls trailhead, each ranging in . "I kind of doubt they saw a cougar, but I'm not God.".

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