Theyre not predators, but if one runs out in front of your moving car it can certainly pose a threat to your safety. Immediately report the sighting by calling Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at 1-800-858-1549 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 . Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. It is a known fact that when an area is overpopulated, wild animals will migrate out of an area and into a new area that is less populated. Cougar range based on sightings and physical evidence (Image credit: LaRue et al, 2008). My speed was 40mph, I got a good look at it. The nearest known populations of mountain lions are in Wyoming, Colorado, North . 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. 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. Hawley, J.E., Rego, P.W., Wydeven, A.P., Schwartz, M.K., Viner, T.C., Kays R., Pilgrim, K.L., and Jenks, J.A. Bobcats (2a; photo credit: Dave Jackson) and coyotes (2b; photo credit Scott Weikert) are often confused for cougars (2c). While there have been many reports of wild cougars returning to Pennsylvania, none of these have been proven to be wild cougars. MISSOULA, Mont. Must of been chasing it for quite some time. A placard affixed to the fence outside Rocky's pen states that "cougars are solitary creatures and rarely seen by humans." "Likewise, I'm not aware of any escapes from captive facilities in my time here. 2017. Already a subscriber to OutdoorNews.com? 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! A recent alleged sighting in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, had Facebook groups abuzz. 1. A female mountain lion in the Santa Susana Mountains in California. If you're bitten by a venomous snake, dial 911 immediately and seek medical attention. A second image of the same cat, in a different light, reveals the trademark spots of a bobcat. 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. "We have lots of remote areas where people seldom go," he says, "and our high deer population would offer them bountiful food. By Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle Dec 15, 2018 1 of 2 Mountain lions are believed not to exist in Massachusetts, but that only means they don't live or breed here. A bobcat gives you a warm, that-kind-of-looks-like-my-cat-but-slightly-bigger feeling. An escapee is also possible. . Crews help rescue bulldog from Hellertown underground tank, Pa. among 13 states hit by illness linked to pet turtles. It's 90-something degrees, but Rocky's stare feels like ice down your pants. There's also a $10k bounty for evidence of anyone illegally re-introducing them to PA. http://www.buckmanager.com/2009/04/17/deer-management-and-some-thoughts-on-predator-control/, Just posted if looked like this size 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. If a mountain lion walks around an area enough, many different humans will notice. Heres how to pull big bluegills from Iowas West Lake Okoboji, A look at some other ways to call in a spring gobbler, How to catch and cook whitefish and tullibees, Nows the time to savor the fruits of the hunting experience. Black bear can be easily told apart from cougars: black bears have five toes to cougars four and their footpads are more elongated. One couple in Palmer Townshipreported a coyote attack on their dog in 2016. LaRue, M.A., Nielsen, C.K., Dowling, M., Miller, K., Wilson, B., Shaw, H., Anderson, C.R. Friends in the area reported having a large long tailed mountain lion run across a road just in front of their truck. Although common at the time of European settlement, the last known historical specimen in Missouri was killed in the Bootheel area in 1927. "With all of that said, though, there's a general lack of evidence of mountain lions in Pennsylvania. In January, the U.S. Then it disappeared for some time, until scat was found again in New York, and it was finally killed in Connecticut. "Over the years, I've received a number of cougar reports, some pretty factual, such as a partly devoured calf left up in a tree, but nobody has ever provided clear proof. I have seen three mountain lions in pa. One full grown in Erie county in 1998 and two kittens (yes I am sure they were mountain lions, not bobcats) in McKean county in 2001. 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. By Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com. Skip to the beginning of the images gallery, FISH: Pennsylvania Frog and Toad Breeding Phenology, Questions and Answers about Centipedes, Ladybirds and Butterflies, The Effect of Coyotes on Pennsylvanias Deer Herd, Protected Species in Pennsylvania: The Bog Turtle, Protected Species in Pennsylvania: Northern Flying Squirrel. She says she was on Route 347 just after 230am when she saw . Ohio. Coyoteseat wildlife including mice, voles, deer, rabbits and woodchucks. Lion sightings they got. State wildlife authorities have no record of the incident and the promised cougar carcass never arrived. Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. U.S. FOREST SERVICE PHOTO I stopped while i was driving, and as i approached it SLOWLY as not to scare it, it glared at my truck walked towards it,then sat. The nearest breeding populations of cougars are 1,000 miles or more from Pennsylvania. The one pictured is in a New York zoo. The buzzards returned in late February, and Steve Pollick says you can mark your calendar by these scavengers exploits. Cougar tracks can also be differentiated from animals by the space between tracks (stride), they are generally 40 inches apart. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". As an apex predator, their extirpationlocalized extinctionhas caused incalculable harm to the ecosystems of Pennsylvania. adroll_language = "en_US"; Search for cougarscontinues in Pennsylvania, Stories from the first season in a new hunting house. Skip to content. Almost all the reported sights have been other animals like bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), raccoons (Procyon lotor), or large domestic cats (Felis catus). The track of a cougar found in Michigans Upper Peninsula (photo credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources). A coyote or bobcat is a little shorter than a tire and roughly one and half the length of tire. The most recent sighting of a mountain lion in a Randallstown field Tuesday has revived claims that cougars aren't extinct in Maryland. 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. But many others believe the big cats, also known as cougars and pumas, are traveling into Pennsylvania from western states, leading to persistent alleged sightings. 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. They include a reported attack on horses at a farm near Dillsburg, York County, that Foster thinks may be legitimate. How to find mountain lion sightings near me Open Google Maps on your computer or APP, just type an address or name of a place . Biologists traced it back to the Black Hills of South Dakota, from where it ventured nearly 2,000 miles looking for a new mate. 2021. 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). But an image captured by one family's security camera last weekend certainly shows what looks to be a mountain lion. Mountain lions are helpful in maintaining order in our ecosystem and assist to keep other wildlife numbers in check. You should stay calm and back away from the bear. "It's fall bow-hunting season soon," he said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Passed 10 feet in front of us. Since the policy's inception March 1, 19 mountain lion sightings have been reported. In one extreme dispersal event in 2011, a cougar (that was later found to be related to cats from the Black Hills) made it to Connecticut before it was killed by a car. But the reported road-kill apparently never happened. It will happen eventually. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, bobcats are considered a species of least concern because of their wide distribution, abundance, and stable . He occasionally inspects "scat" suspected of being left by a mountain lion, and closely examines the animal excrement for food sources, hairs or other clues. Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice A mountain lion named Rocky, at the East Coast Animal Rescue, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. Seventy to 80 percent of victims develop a rash. A walking house cat or raccoon would likely fit within the diameter of the tree. Breeding cougars are almost entirely west of the Mississippi in states like South Dakota, Texas, and California (Figure 1). The hikers did not see the prey animal, but the mountain lion was focused and had zeroed in on something in the bushes. 2 houses up from my house. That the ultimate proof would come from Penn State seemed ironic -- the university's well-known mascot is a "Nittany" lion, and a mounted cougar killed in Susquehanna County in 1856 stands guard in the campus library. The Connecticut mountain lion is the best documented wild Mountain Lion in New England. Seriously, no mountain lions in Pa? The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. The distance traveled varies based on habitat, time of year, and study methods. but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. "It's so hard to pin anything down," said John Lutz, the West Virginia man who heads the network, a non-scientific affiliation of mountain lion seekers across the eastern United States. In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. Collection. Michael Tanenbaum They were extirpated from Indiana by the late 1800s. When they are in these new areas, the young males are almost constantly moving looking for an area with females. "Also, pretty sure there is color variation in a bobcats fur color, so what Im thinking is a good-sized, tawny colored bobcat.". On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. The woman, a 66-year-old grandmother, asked not to be identified because she's a senior and didn't want people "bothering" her about it. The bite usually results in a blister-like sore that can take six to eight weeks to heal. "Who knows, could be a mutant. You're much more likely to encounter ablack bear than a bobcat. 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. adroll_adv_id = "T6XR4YM2C5FGXNZIDZPFXI"; Figure 3. Recently he was given a plaster cast of what was suspected to be a cougar track from Wayne County, made after a "large cat-like creature" was seen locally. "A cougar or puma is like a UFO with four feet." The size was then confirmed to me, had a long tail also, had no markings but appeared dark grey in the sun. Have no record of the Mississippi in states like South Dakota, from where it ventured nearly miles. 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