Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. These tracks may have been made by the mountain lion documented in Greenwich, Connecticut on June 5, 2011, and killed by a vehicle six days later. (WJZ) --A reported mountain lion sightingin a Prince George's County park turned out to be a coyote. He tells the story of a friend who managed to snap a picture of a cougar prowling in his backyard in Phoenix. Delivered right as the newspaper goes to print on Wednesdays. Already a subscriber to OutdoorNews.com? For the smooth consistently colored short hair l came up with a greyish tint to a deers summer color. The mountain lion is rare in Missouri, having been extirpated since the 1920s; occasional individuals wander here from other states. Another sighting was at Berkshire Valley Road by my neighbor. To visit any of the states for which we have already compiled information, click on the states listed below. This map shows the various zones where mountain lions are hunted statewide, as determined by the Arizona Fish and Game Department. The friend showed the photograph to a Baltimore County animal control officer and asked him to identify the animal. On the subject of large wild cats, you should know that Maryland and neighboring states like West Virginia, Virginia, or Pennsylvania, are definitely home to thriving populations of bobcats. Confirmed reports of mountain lions in Massachusetts When the deer in those days were shot into near oblivion by market hunters, the cougar apparently looked for greener pastures elsewhere. Over the past 25 years, dozens of Maryland residents have reported cougar encounters, even though wildlife officials insist that mountain lions haven't roamed the state for at least a century. In 1996 MDC established a Mountain Lion Response Team (MLRT) with specially trained staff to investigate reports and evidence of mountain lions. One year just a few years ago I was driving down the road and a good half mile up the road from me after coming around the S bends on Hesstown Road. Mountain lion found dead near Denton latest in string of sightings Mountain Lions are the largest predators currently in Rocky Mountain National Park. One can easily imagine that they might decide to not report the loss. Mountain lion hunting season opened Aug. 13, and remains so until May 31, 2023. Please remove any contact information or personal data from your feedback. The West Virginia Wildlife Center is open to the public seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It came out of the woods and stopped in the middle of the road right in front of me in the headlights. A mountain lion sighting was reported at, Showshoe West Virginia. Big cats suffered the same fate all over the East Coast except in Florida, where a small, endangered group of panthers still roams the Everglades. Mountain lion sighting reported in Worcester County - masslive Mountain lions became scarce in the East after a bounty system wiped out most predatory animals. There was an animal that ran very quickly across the road and we both said that it looked like a mountain lion. In comparison to our GSD, I estimated it to be around 70lbs. Lioneither a young one or a female I figured..went home, called NJF&G at the time, and reported it.. asked if they were interested in setting a culvert-type trap to capture it.they seemed pretty disinterested at the time, said it wasn't feasible as we were in a residential type area.. the day after with fresh snow on the ground we returned to find where it had stalked and killed a wild turkey.it was obvious to us with the winged slash marks still in the snow and where it walked downhill with the turkey in its mouth pushing the snow to the sides of it making a smooth pathway..it was something my son and I will never forget. From a distance, it had the walk of a cat - and the coloring of a mountain lion. I was leaving Westville towards the mall. Coyotes have also been mistaken for Mountain Lions. Nov. 11, 2021 - A California Mountain Lion was seen at approximately 4:52 p.m. on Nov. 11 near the University Glen water tanks and on the main part of the campus near Santa Barbara Street and Camarillo Street. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Laura Newberry | [email protected], Are there Mountain Lions in Massachusetts? . Information gathered from AZFGD and the Arizona Mountain Lion Foundation, Hunters who dont want to miss getting their spring 2023 tag should take the time now to update their credit card information with the Arizona. Of course, everyone thinks Im crazy because they dont want to believe it. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Click here to login. 10K views, 19 likes, 0 loves, 83 comments, 20 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from KMBC 9: LIVE: Authorities search the area after a possible mountain lion was spotted in Greenbelt Park, Maryland.. The young adult male was killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Connecticut on June 11, 2011. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. From RE:Hi Joe, no one believed me but back in about 1986 I was. "As always, you should be diligent and cautious with your pets.". We see dead deer all of the time, but deer do not have big paws as this thing did. There were five yearling animals, four 2-year-old animals, two 3-year-olds and five 4-year-olds. From C:About 15 years ago we were on our motorcycles riding around Delaware NJ by the Gap we went on a gravel road came to a bridge we couldn't cross turned around driving real slow cause we all had Harleys I kept like 10 bike lengths between us because of the dust kicking up and right in front of me crossed a mountain lion no more than 10 feet away from me no way I was mistaken. Both labs confirmed the sample came from a mountain lion. Alaska a woman who swears she and her dog were approached by a cougar in Galloway Township. Thina Vanosnabrugge, a 41-year-old Hunt Valley woman, thinks they are. Home Pennsylvania Opinion Search for cougarscontinues in Pennsylvania, If youre a regular reader of this publication, or one of my neighbors, then you already know my father and, A fish may see a parade of presentations go by, therefore yours should be better than the rest. I have seen it more than once. I mentioned it to several coworkers and nobody believed me! Not valid with other promotions. Confirmed Mountain Lion Reports | MDC Teacher Portal Mountain lion fur is unspotted and tan-brown . They can weigh between 50-300 lbs. They told me they would investigate and let me know, but I never received a callback. Hunters do not stumble across the remains of dead mountain lions in the woods, he says. However, Fish and Game is asking area residents to be vigilant and to report any mountain lion sightings in the area by calling the Southwest Region Office at 208-465-8465, Monday through Friday . It was tan and the most amazing part of this animal was its tail. Saw them all at dusk. Therres says the last of Marylands natural cougar populations disappeared in the late 1800s, probably due to the lack of the cats favorite food: venison. It looked so powerful! Turned its head and looked right at me for several seconds. Yet this young male traveled about 1,800 miles. Photo courtesy of Mountain Lion Foundation. The most beautiful tragedy I've ever seen. Our wildlife research team decided to help take the mystery out of the sighting by going to the location and comparing the size of the animal to stationary objects in the frame as well as a human subject. Are there mountain lions in WV? DNR says no, locals say yes - WVNS McCarter sent a sample to Dr. George Amato of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York and Dr. Melanie Culver of the University of Maryland. "It was so unusual," she says. On the return paved portion of my ride, l stopped to share my story with my friends at Mick's Canoes. I had people bash us for telling our story - but we've never wavered. I know it is not technically in maryland but I highly doubt this cat knows where the state line is located and stays on the Pa. side all the time. "They were nearly exterminated by the early 1900s, but they retreated into the wild.". adroll_current_page = "other"; Many mountain lion sightings in our state turn out to be cases of mistaken identity, but photos, tracks, hair, scat, and videos are some types of physical evidence used to confirm the presence of a mountain lion. Among them was a forestry technician who came across a female cougar nursing two cubs in remote part of the Thomas Jefferson National Forest. a graphic depiction of America's mountain lion history. Residents, especially those in the Rio Vista and Mather Road areas, are reminded to keep pets inside at night, use motion sensor lights to help discourage mountain lions from using their yards, and to let Fish and Game know if they observe a mountain lion. Other people say they have seen these beautiful cats and have also caught them, in the past, on camera in the woods. I dont doubt that womans experience in South Jersey one little bit! Reported Mountain Lion In Maryland Park Actually A Coyote Facts and Updates on Mountain Lion Sightings in Pocatello/Chubbuck The sighting has been reported to the state Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, which has historically debunked such observations. From JK:I had a mountain lion bounding across Weldon Road Jefferson Township Morris County about 75 yards in front of me. There was a problem saving your notification. One late afternoon on my way back home I, unfortunately, saw one dead in the middle of 287 on the southbound lane approximately around the exits near Delaware water gap (between 53 and 36) I was in the lane closest to it, was driving slow enough past it and got a clear long look at it, it was clearly a giant beige cat with a long tail. AZGFD sold 11,851 tags in 2021; 260 mountain. Even though the WV DNR says there are no wild mountain lions in the state, there are some held in captivity at the West Virginia Wildlife Center in French Creek. #1 The tail. I don't walk my dog on Old Mine Rd any longer because of the large number of bears, coyotes, and concern about mountain lions. White-tailed deer are the most abundant large animals in the park. It scowled and flipped its long just before it leaped down the bank towards the fawns. Me and my friend are trying to put together a list/map of sightings in MD. The government says they don't exist here. State law protects all species unless otherwise noted. var year = today.getFullYear() A lock icon ( So, thanks to all who reached out, and to all who are as fascinated about this subject as I am. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. From RE:I live and work in Wayne, about 8 to 10 years ago a woman who started her shift at about 5 am said she saw a mountain lion walking through our property one morning. Mountain lions inhabit the badlands and Missouri River breaks regions of North Dakota. I didnt believe her until the security department showed me the security camera footage and there it was about a 30 or 40-pound mountain lion walking passed the security lights. Mountain lions in NJ? Receive the digital, interactive PDF of the newspaper in your inbox. On Tuesday, September 28, the Choconut Inn in Friendsville, Pennsylvania jumped in on the conversation with a Facebook post that read, "Hi everyone there's been numerous mountain lion sightings by Quaker Lake. Eastern Arizona Courier 301 E Highway 70, Suite A, Safford, AZ 85546 | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | The EASTERN ARIZONA COURIER is owned by Wick Communications. Quite unnerving. Let us know what's going on! Are the mountain lion sightings in Monterey for real? Maybe it's just a coincidence, but l have since never taken that ride. Today, their range stretches from the Yukon Territory in Canada along the western coast of the United States, all the way to the Southern Andes in Chile. But I know what I saw. The animals, which weight between 90 and 160 pounds and range over a large territory for food, have not left tracks that could be verified by wildlife experts. In 2014, the mountain lion conservation program was established to coordinate scientific research and population monitoring to inform big game management, species management plans and habitat conservation and protection. ". Nowadays, many reports include photographic evidence, thanks to camera phones and trail cameras. Adults are a uniform tan or tawny in color, with a white or cream-colored chin, undersides and inner legs. Please limit your input to 500 characters. A spokesperson for the Washington HumaneSociety said someone may have been keeping the cat as a pet and then released it once they couldn't take care of it anymore. Please use caution. It turned and saw us. 0:11. The most recent sighting of a mountain lion in a Randallstown field Tuesday has revived claims that cougars aren't extinct in Maryland. Forget Big Foot or the Loch Ness monster. Although theyre not often seen walking about like the plentiful whitetailed deer, the top Maryland counties for bobcats are Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick in that order. Eastern Cougar Sightings - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Therres reminds us all that it is very easy to misidentify a mountain lion by providing an example of people constantly misidentifying bald eagles. The state classed mountain lions as endangered in 1972 and banned all hunting of them.