lions in the barrens?

[foofoo]

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.

 

[uuglypher]

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

 

[bobpbx]

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.

 

[Ben Ruset]

I dont think Popcork Park has a lioness - they have a male lion, "Bunky"

 

[woodjin]

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

 

[Lorun]

How about a Bear?

 

[bobpbx]

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.

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.

 

[foofoo]

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.

 

[swwit]

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

 

[uuglypher]

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

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

 

[swwit]

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

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