Are Mountain Lions in Missouri Making a Comeback? Interestingly, the US Fish and Wildllife Service has declared the Eastern Puma extinct, except for the Florida population known as the Florida panther. But even without that second look there was no question that we'd seen a coyote. Asa Packer Mansion Jim Thorpe. Since mountain lions are the top predators (unlike most other states with grizzly bears), they have a well-developed population. Most nature magazines state whether the photos were taken "under controlled conditions" rather than in the wild.). If it were, it would be listed. 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. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. RelatedBigfoot, mountain lions, and other mythical creatures: PA officials discuss what they know. Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. For our list, we only included US states with a stable breeding population. Hopefully, we'll see the real thing. ? Hoax photo doesn't help believability of mountain lions in Poconos Note the size of the tail, the pointed ears, the speckled coat, the basic lack of white underneath. Colorado is the perfect habitat for mountain lions. 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. 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). They are there to help us. In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. Suppose, instead of declaring the puma, or Eastern mountain lion, extinct, the USFWS actually recognized the existence of the cat as a wild, breeding species. Mysterious big cat caught on security camera in Clarks Summit, Pa. 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! I have received about two dozen reports during that time, including one game camera image that still looks very credible to me. 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. Once a mountain lion matures, it will leave its mother and find its own territory. Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. We hope you enjoy this foray into the most weird and wonderful our beloved Pocono Mountains have to offer. The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. Something to consider, even though we all trust the government. The 6 best hikes in the Poconos Mountains - Lonely Planet Cougar vs Mountain Lion What Are the Differences? An escapee is also possible. The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos / p o k n o z /, are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania.They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, Wyoming Valley and the Coal Region to the west, and the Lehigh Valley to the south. One came to her as the result of an owner's divorce. 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. The large, undeveloped interior filled with rocky habitats perfect for mountain lions allows them to safely live and breed. In only one report had an official from the Pennsylvania Game Commision, a local warden, actually agree with the person reporting the sighting. Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) - Texas Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? - pennlive.com They once inhabited the entire United States, but were killed off and pushed west. 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. "I thought I had a sighting in the late '90s," Delaware Water Gap National Recreation park ranger Chris Kross said. With that hope in mind, I have, for years, asked outdoors people if they ever heard of a mountain lion, or puma, in their area -- with my questioning limited to people in my home state of Pennsylvania. Mountain lions that are looking for new breeding areas are known as transient and are almost always males. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. Woolly mammoth bones were discovered in Bradford County in 1983. Reports generally go uninvestigated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which discounts them as mistaken identities, illegal pets escaped or released and outright fabrications. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. There's a whole world to learn about and Colby is content to spend his life learning as much as he can about it! Mountain lions can live in almost any habitat including forests, prairies, deserts, and swamps. Is there a Mountain Lion Conspiracy? Wyoming has a historically stable population of mountain lions, but recent drops in numbers have caused some to worry. Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. He also noted that if the cat was here, wouldn't they be reproducing and increasing in population by now? 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 mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. These powerful, majestic creatures once lived across much of the country but have since been killed or pushed out of most of it. 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. 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. (National Park Service). with a fluted projectile point were found near Middletown, Orange County, New York. They have almost been killed off a few times, but conservation efforts have helped to keep their numbers stable. Foster, the Messiah College professor, said he has investigated about 15 reported mountain lion sightings since late May, and believed "three or four are pretty likely a mountain lion." Where reports dating that far back from escapees? 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. If you can figure out how to travel far back in time for even a day, get lots of wildlife photos, as the rest of us might never believe your story. Others would like to see some scientific proof. Have all of those who have seen a puma really seen a bobcat? The next day, another friend, who works for Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, called me to ask if I had seen the photo of a Pocono mountain lion with a deer in its jaws. 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. In his 1973 book "Faces in Clay" Leslie lays open the archaeological treasures of stone arrow or spear points and tools lost long ago by a succession of native peoples. This is actually a good thing, as genetic isolation generally weakens a species. 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. 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. A phantom creature has been sighted in the vast Delaware State Forest region of Pike County. "There hasn't been one solid piece of proof to believe they are here. It was definitely a mountain lion, and it had a big buck, white-tailed deer in its jaws. According to the commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. I've seen scores of leopards in the grasslands and deserts of East Africa and I've never seen, nor spoke with anyone, who has seen a black leopard there. I'd suspect it would still be considered very rare, after all, it was thought to be extinct. Let's see a clear photo, or a carcass or something. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. 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. I'm thinking of the solution often suggested for pesky endangered species out west, namely wolves and grizzly bears. Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. Mountain lions (cougars, pumas, and more) are among the top predators that live in the United States. Controlled hunting of mountain lions is allowed within the state. Caribou meat apparently was part of their diet. Here, they've not been," Lau said in an e-mail. One of these days, though, I'll get one that won't be, and I hope that will be soon. There isnt an official estimate on mountain lions in the state. Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead? I spend a lot of time outdoors, and I've seen about 10 black bears in Pennsylvania, and all within ten miles of my home. 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. Knowing that pumas range widely, would my ridge be the only one closed? Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Me? 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. What you wouldn't expect to find here anymore is a mountain lion. Bo Ottman is a landscaper in Connecticut who founded an . The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. There is a small breeding population in the state, despite being killed off in the 1920s. Features Writer Micaela Hood is signing off with the Pocono Record after five years of covering arts, culture, entertainment and sports in northeastern . Remember, this one was photographed in Arizona in good puma country, although this was the first one I've recorded there. Recently, on a back road in Pennsylvania, a friend and I had our first sighting of a coyote in Pennsylvania. 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. If you're interested in this, please pass on this link, and if you see a cat, please let me know! 10 Stunning Mountains In Pennsylvania - AZ Animals "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. When he told me this, he commented on how an experience like the one he and his friends had just is not forgotten.