lions in the barrens?

F

foofoo

Explorer
Sep 14, 2003
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sort of anyway. i was near the site of the remains of the old cedar bridge fire tower location off 539 . it was early in the morning around 7.30am. this was about 2 weeks ago and i thought i heard what sounded like the roar of a lion. first i thought i was crazy. it wasthe typical sound you hear in the movies. i thought about any zoos in the area then i remembered popcorn park zoo. sure enough on the website they said they just got a lioness. im not sure but its gotta be at least 10 miles away or better . i wonder if the pitch is the right frequency to carry that far.just thought it was interesting.is there a zoologist in the house.
 
wonder if the pitch is the right frequency to carry that far.just thought it was interesting.is there a zoologist in the house.[/QUOTE said:
Never heard a lion in the wild, but when I was doing fill-in-vet work for Dr. Gandal at the Bronx Zoo in the late 60s, I could hear the lions "chuffing" and then roar while I was still a couple of blocks away from Bronx Park - probably a good 3/4 of a mile - or more - from their exhibit. It was a deep, awesome roar that was felt in the chest as much as it was sensed aurally. But to carry ten miles - in wooded country ... seems unlikely.

Cougars, on the other hand, can belt out a higher-pitched scream that I'm sure would carry farther than any lion's roar - but I can't really tell you how far. I've heard them in west Texas, Wyoming, and the Black Hills in SD and it is a sound that definitely gets your attention. I've never heard a real "roar" from a cougar - even captive ones.

Cougars are definitely moving east out of their old refugia in the Rockies; I've heard reliable reports wihin the past year of them in Iowa and Missouri - so it'll probably be a while before they get to the Pine Barrens - but wouldn't that be a sound to hear while canoeing the Batsto ?

Dave
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I have heard the lions chuffing on certain days from my home in Bamber about 2 miles away. But to hear them down on 539 or 532 would really be a stretch.
 
If he was too far away, then what did Foofoo hear? He clearly heard something. A canine could never be confused with something like that. Maybe there is some truth to the "cougars in the pines" speculation. Is there any possibility it could have been a Bobcat? We know they are around for certain. I have never heard one and I wonder if they sound at least somewhat similar to a lion.

Jeff
 
foofoo said:
sort of anyway. i was near the site of the remains of the old cedar bridge fire tower location off 539 . it was early in the morning around 7.30am. this was about 2 weeks ago and i thought i heard what sounded like the roar of a lion. first i thought i was crazy. it wasthe typical sound you hear in the movies. i thought about any zoos in the area then i remembered popcorn park zoo. sure enough on the website they said they just got a lioness. im not sure but its gotta be at least 10 miles away or better . i wonder if the pitch is the right frequency to carry that far.just thought it was interesting.is there a zoologist in the house.
Click to expand...

You know, I was thinking of something. I take back what I said if you were at the old fire tower location that is on the way to Forked River Mountain from 539. That tower location is very high for the pines; 200 feet above sea level. It is still about 5.5 miles away from the zoo, but, if conditions were perfect, I could see it happening (that you definitely would hear the roar). The sound would not be completely blocked by the trees I'm thinking.
 
im pretty sure thats what it had to be. i know the sound of a cougar and bobcat and what i herd was different. been bear hunting many times. this had to be lion. i thought the zoo was further but i havent had time to use the gps unit i have to figure it out. its nice to figure things out because it threw me for a loop. i can take being in the woods with BIGFOOTS-SPACE ALIENS AND CHUBBACAPPRAS but with lions i draw the line.when i went to south africa last year i didnt get to see lions and i would be kinda mad after traveling 16 hours in a plane if i saw my first one in the wild in the pine barrens.
 


There was a report on NJN channel about an ocelot that escaped from a NJ zoo. Maybe this is what was out there?
 
swwit said:


There was a report on NJN channel about an ocelot that escaped from a NJ zoo. Maybe this is what was out there?
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Ocelots don't roar; they scream and compared with the scream of the much larger puma/cougar/catamount/mountain lion, theirs is definitely wimpy, and the smaller margay's and jaguarundi's even wimpier.

Dave
 
uuglypher said:
Ocelots don't roar; they scream and compared with the scream of the much larger puma/cougar/catamount/mountain lion, theirs is definitely wimpy, and the smaller margay's and jaguarundi's even wimpier.

Dave
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I guess that answers that question. Thanks for the info.
 
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