Conn. Mountain lion was proved to be Wild

joc

Explorer
May 27, 2010
187
19
Wall, NJ
-The Coyote migrated westward over the Great Lakes , interbred with wolves , which is why the Eastern Coyote has different DNA than the western (and its larger also ).
-This only happened about 20 yrs or so ago .
-This MTN lion was found almost in Westchester County, NY- extreme So. Western CT ( Greenwhich ).
-What could the Adirondacks and Northern New England contain ??Adirondack State park is as large or larger than the state of CT
-Why is it so hard for Bioligists to concede there could be an isolated pop in the Pines as in the Everglades ?
What do i know ?:D
Joe
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
-The Coyote migrated westward over the Great Lakes , interbred with wolves , which is why the Eastern Coyote has different DNA than the western (and its larger also ).
-This only happened about 20 yrs or so ago .
-This MTN lion was found almost in Westchester County, NY- extreme So. Western CT ( Greenwhich ).
-What could the Adirondacks and Northern New England contain ??Adirondack State park is as large or larger than the state of CT
-Why is it so hard for Bioligists to concede there could be an isolated pop in the Pines as in the Everglades ?
What do i know ?:D
Joe

Couple of things Joe and welcome. The Adirondacks are not a NY state park. The Adirondack Park stands alone and is solely administered as 'Forever Wild' by the Adirondack Park Agency. Biologists wouldn't be biologists if they conceded things, they require some tangible evidence of a population of anything, like the bears returning to NJ or the moose to NY. The Adirondacks do not have enough of what a cougar needs to live, only now are Moose returning there and their numbers are still very low. The cat killed in SD was an anomally, there is no self sustaining population in CT. It was probably using a non-Garmin GPS and got lost ;)
 
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dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
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camden county
I find this story to be incredible and if it actually happened one of the coolest documented species movement I've seen. My question is why would a female move this far of a distance from an area that seemingly has tons of habitat available. From my expirience tracking animals and observing all animals have good reasoning for moving to locations and I can't really come up with any as to why a cougar would end up in Connecticut, let alone from South Dakota. I sort of feel like this was manipulated somehow, someway. I don't think USFW service would admit that they attempted to repatriate say the NE with cougars, possibly to cut down on coyote and deer. What is does lend to is that if there was a population of cougars traveling in the NE we would be seeing more DOR's. If this was an anomaly it is interesting that the one cougar here ended up DOR. For an animal that worked across the country to end up DOR makes me think it was out of its element and maybe placed here. I feel like a cougar that moved that far would have adapted well to crossing habitat were lots of traffic and man exist and would avoid these areas. I've seen species relocated of much simpler intelligence and the initial reaction is one of panic and an instant search for familiarity. So this is my conspiracy theory but I don't buy that it moved 1500 miles across country, I understand a trail of evidence showed up from Minn and Wisc. but I don't know..... And for the fella who said this speaks to the wildness and nice habitat in connecticut, no it really doesn't because it ended up dead on a well traveled road.
 

dogg57

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Jan 22, 2007
2,912
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Southern NJ
southjerseyphotos.com
Anything is possible. I remember when I seen a bear hit down the road from Atco Dragway in 1977.Was told to leave the Area by Police. They said it was a deer.The Ranger said no Bear around here.Now Bear has been seen in all 21 county's in NJ.The moose count in NY state will be over a 1000 this year thats up from 50-100 in the 1990s.So who knows what will show up next:)
 

joc

Explorer
May 27, 2010
187
19
Wall, NJ
Hi 46'er - Good points,and thanks for the feedback .In NJ It took a while for the bear , which i can understand somewhat , but the Coyote ? That still puzzles me .Having said that , they were very quick on recognizing the wild hogs( or at least seem to have been ) for some reason .I appreciate the info on the Adirondacks , camped there a bit growing up.Beautiful area . Greater Saranac .
Joe
 

46er

Piney
Mar 24, 2004
8,837
2,143
Coastal NJ
For the 3 you mention, there was physical evidence of their presence; be it scat, hair, actual animal remains, etc. To date there is nothing that would indicate a cougar population exits in NJ, NY or any of the New England or mid-atlantic states. The site at the link is a very good one. They are indepdent from any government so are not under any direction to go one way or the other. They only document confirmed wild cougars and break that down by region. They take actual sighting seriously, as you will see if you browse their site.

http://easterncougarnet.org/
 
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Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
I used to spend a lot of time in a fairly remote part of the northern Catskill mountains in NY. One time a local feller told me he had been out hunting very early in the morning, hiding behind a big rock, and he watched a fight between a wild cat and a much larger black cat that he called a panther.
 

joc

Explorer
May 27, 2010
187
19
Wall, NJ
For the 3 you mention, there was physical evidence of their presence; be it scat, hair, actual animal remains, etc. To date there is nothing that would indicate a cougar population exits in NJ, NY or any of the New England or mid-atlantic states. The site at the link is a very good one. They are indepdent from any government so are not under any direction to go one way or the other. They only document confirmed wild cougars and break that down by region. They take actual sighting seriously, as you will see if you browse their site.

http://easterncougarnet.org/
46 er , thanks again !
 

Pan

Explorer
Jul 4, 2011
554
246
Arizona
Lake George is only about 80 miles north of the presumed mountain lion sighting in the northern Catskill mountains.
 
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