She didnt claim to see the mountain lions long tail, but optical illusions can lead people to think theyve seen a tail. Slowly, mountain lions recolonized North America after having retreated to warmer climates in South America during the Pleistocene ice age. She was also the voice behind the weekly Connecticut Real Estate newsletter by CT Insider. Weight. It's 8:02 p.m., according to the timestamp at the bottom of the image. She said the size made her do a double take and indeed she seen it had a very long tail, Bullsh** Join as a $8 per month sustainer and get our brand-new owl umbrella! It used to be that a bear would go into a house when someone wasnt home. Adult males can be around 8 feet in length and weigh between 130 and 150 pounds, while adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds. They are also known as . 1.Customize your maps Style your maps with custom markers, lines, colors, polygons, and images. mountain lions in washington. The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Bobcats are found across Connecticut, but even fully grown they are much smaller than what she was describing, only weighing between 18 and 35 pounds. Conserving Tolland President and founder Roseann Kellner Gottier said that the issue has become important for the region and is glad the lecture was well-attended. In the decades that followed, many cougar enthusiasts came to share Wrights conclusions, at least at first. As unlikely as it sounds, it was a more believable theory than some of the alternatives, among them that the cat was evidence of a breeding population in the state that was being kept secret by, . According to the Smithsonians National Zoo, bobcats are part of the lynx genus, which means they are related to other cats like the Canadian lynx, Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx. Sometimes people feared fishers (erroneously attributing the blood-curdling screams of foxes to these hard-to-spot creatures), and in the late 1930s, after several animals were slain under strange circumstances in Glastonbury, the Hartford Courant dubbed the lion-like creature supposedly responsible, the Glawackus. Five summers ago, a mountain lion made regional headlines after it was photographed in Greenwich and later struck and killed by a motor vehicle on the parkway in Milford a young male that DEEP officials determined through DNA evidence had traveled east all the way from South Dakota. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. Have a question or comment? He published his first book in 1959, The Ghost of North America: The Story of the Eastern Panther. I have a fence in the backyard, it was above the bottom rail, so its back was probably this big, this long, the tail, said John Bachelder. Betty displayed several maps of Maine and New Hampshire, demonstrating the trend. 1 Last 365 Days. Below is an evolving list of Connecticut natives and state prep school football players in the Class of 2023 who have signed letters of intent to play football in college. And there are different schools of thought about that. From Litchfield County, can confirm. Heres what to know about mountain lions (and other large cats) in Connecticut. Over time, Wright became convinced Eastern cougars lived in small pockets in the deep woods. Weve had housecats misidentified as mountain lions and even deer, Rego says. As a As a scientist, lack of evidence is very good evidence. 'Bo was a legend', Los Charros Cantina closes in Essex, will relocate to Branford, Elizabeth's Cafe in Madison to be razed for new restaurant, housing, CT fathers coaching daughters in girls basketball navigate life lessons at home and on the court, 5 CT companies hiring for 100 or more positions, Celebrity gossip and sightings in and around CT, February 2023, John Mayer to appear on Impractical Jokers Thursday, Stamford's Alive At Five concert series announces 2023 dates, Dionne Warwick, '80 for Brady producer bring music review to CT. Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says data dont support a breeding population of mountain lions in Connecticut. (https://wildlifeinformer.com/what-to-do-if-you-encounter-a-mountain-lion/). Im watching it, its big, its got the body, and the thing that really gave it away was the tail, had that mountain lion long tail that goes down to the ground and comes up at the end, saw that and was like, thats a freaking mountain lion.. 4. They are named for their short (bobbed) tail which is often about six inches in length. Meanwhile, a family in Redwood City has shared footage of a big cat seen recently in The Mountain Lion is a large, slender cat with a smallish head and noticeably long tail. In Florida, where mountain lions are known as panthers, dozens are killed each year by cars. Give today. Working in the 1980s in southern California, where there are cougars, biologist Paul Beier said that 95 percent of cougar sightings they investigated turned out to be misidentifications. and last updated 8:18 AM, Jan 21, 2022. She still produces shows with Colin and the team when her schedule allows. (UPDATE, JANUARY 19, 2022) The Great Falls Police Department said on Wednesday morning that the mountain lion that has been lurking around town for the last . Stay facing the animal and try not to turn your back to it. These highlights have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. The big cat traveled some 1,100 miles before his life came to a tragic end after being hit by a SUV on Route 15 in . Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Hes even had his own false sighting. He drove me out to the spot. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference. Hear the full interview: Megafauna mania: our obsession with mountain lions and other large predators. Woodbridge police shared tips for if you encounter a big cat: On Friday July 8, 2022 there was a few reported Mountain Lion sightings the last few days one actually involving an encounter with ones family in their lawn. Here are some physical differences between mountain lions and bobcats: These 2 big cats also behave differently. We know that the closest established breeding population is in either the Everglades of Florida theres a small population down there and then out in South Dakota and Nebraska. However, the captive lion theory was also wrong. Speaker Bill Betty presented evidence and proposed theories that could prove that Connecticut, including, is home to a native population of Eastern mountain lions. Hawley: I feel strongly that we need a harvest here in Connecticut. In cities, smaller towns, and even sparsely inhabited areas, there is simply not enough large prey for mountain lions to survive on. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. Its extremely rare for a person to see a wild animal and to underestimate its size. Were getting more and more home entries every year. Body length: 3-4 ft. Tail: 2.5-3 ft. Do not run. People often get very emotional about it, Hawley says. Rego has many reasons why a conspiracy to conceal mountain lions by his colleagues at DEEP is impossible. Mountain lion Over 7 ft in length Over 100 lbs Uniform tan color Long tails Bobcat Under 3ft in length Under 50lbs Dark spots Tufts of fur in ears These 2 big cats also behave differently. On June 11, 2011, in Milford, CT, a mountain lion was killed by a motor vehicle. Therefore, there are no western and eastern species to differentiate between. A harvest is kind of twofold. Sign up for our newsletterto get the latest and greatest content fromConnecticut Magazinedelivered right to your inbox. But honest misidentifications are more common. Bobcats: They are about two to three times larger than their distant relative. I always hold out the possibility of a sighting to be genuine, but at the same time, over decades of experience, we know that the vast majority are misidentifications and a small number are actually hoaxes, he says. Tandmlally@yahoo.com. State wildlife experts say those big cats have been extinct in Connecticut for more than 100 years. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. This might serve as proof to some that there, in fact, might still be mountain lions in CT. An attack on a 4-year-old near San Diego is just the latest in a string of mountain lion attacks in California. Mountain lion fur is unspotted and tan-brown . Residents of Greenwich, Conn., have reported seeing a mountain lion roaming the woods -- even though the species is extinct in the region, MyFoxNY.com reports. Im confident that we get occasional outlier animals.. Police have a warning after there were multiple mountain lion sightings reported in Woodbridge. Bobcat sightings are not uncommon in Connecticut. Copyright 2022 WFSB. Betsy started as an intern at WNPR in 2011 after earning a Master's Degree in American and Museum Studies from Trinity College. The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in Connecticut occurred in 2011. Officially, the last mountain lions were hunted to extinction here in the late 1800s. So all the other states in the Northeast that have bear populations have a harvest on their bears. From family fun to restaurants and everything in between, everything you need to know about CT is right here. Multiple people in North Stonington claim they've spotted a mountain lion roaming around. Do not bend, squat, or sit down. According to Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protections Wildlife Division, the department gets around 100 sighting reports of mountain lions each year, but upon further investigation, a good proportion of the sightings end up being bobcats. It went through my yard, went up behind, I have some property, past my barn, went into the woods, east, lots of woods back there, just disappeared.. 5:30 PM . Bachelder says he didnt have his phone on him, so he couldnt take a picture or video, but describes his backyard visitor just like what you see in the stock photo provided by the Woodbridge Police Department. Make yourself BIG. Bobcats: Whiskered face and are gray in the winter and tan in the summer, with black spots on their fur that are not always visible. Another important difference: bobcats are found in Connecticut while mountain lions are not. 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