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Something to consider, even though we all trust the government. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? - pennlive.com Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? Scientists debate whether the large prehistoric mammals became extinct at the end of the Ice Age due to over-hunting, or rapid climate warming. All of the above are Mountain Lions, or Pumas, or Cougars. Armand Martinelli isn't only the mayor of East Stroudsburg, he's also a hunter who is connected with plenty of people in the area. Have some feedback for us? September 21st, 2008, 08:14 PM #74. Continuing with that thought, if that were so, then it'd be possible, if not very likely, that the Eastern puma would be an Endangered Species. I have not spoken with a Game Commission officer personally, so I don't know whether anyone killing a puma in Pennsylvania could do so without legal repercussions. I believe them. Everyone is familiar with albinism, the absence of pigmentation that results in a white, essentially pigment free animal, defined by pink skin and pink eyes. On the second night, a mountain lion passed by, apparently drawn by the smell but put off by the stench, as the cat did not visit the kill. These creatures lurking in Pa.'s woods can hurt or kill you Over the last two years I have occasionally posted a Question of the Month soliciting sightings from people who believed that they have seen a mountain lion in Pennsylvania or in other areas in the mid-Atlantic states. Albinos are often very light sensitive, and they certainly are conspicuous, and most do not live very long. Well, right behind our property lies a mountain ridge, one of several that makes a continuous forest that extends, with little interruption, for scores of miles in three directions. A tiny population of Florida cougars persists in the southeastern corner of the United States. But more and more people in Pennsylvania, from the Alleghenies to the Poconos to rolling farmlands in York County, claim they are seeing the big cats here, even though the state's "last" native lion, also known as a cougar or puma, was shot and killed in Berks County in 1871 and the feds have declared the Eastern subspecies extinct. Check out our online field guide to read more in this series. DCNR gave the following as examples: the saber-tooth cat; a small, three-toed horse; the Pleistocene beaver, and the mastodon. 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. Consider that the endangered Florida puma has mixed genes. I could fill pages recounting the eye-witness reports I've heard, and for every report critics could certainly say 'but there's no physical evidence!' The Pocono Mountains are located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They often would catch sheep in broad daylight. For example, leopards and jaguars, normally spotted cats, have a melanistic color morph, the 'black panther,' the black leopard or black jaguar. The coat can be spotted or solid and varies in color from light browns, reddish and silvery grey. Is there a Mountain Lion Conspiracy? Below is a list of physical characteristics that distinguish mountain lions from more . There's a whole world to learn about and Colby is content to spend his life learning as much as he can about it! Despite reported sightings throughout the East, including Pennsylvania, and a confirmed mountain lion killed in Connecticut in 2011, there has been no evidence that any of those cats were native to the East. Let me explain this. And when our officers go out to investigate reports of mountain lions, or when our staff reviews photos that are sent to us, often we're able to verify some other animal mistakenly was reported as a mountain lion.". People can manipulate, enhance or combine photos and then create their own stories about the subject's origin, location and even identification. A total of 32 mountain lions have been struck and killed by vehicles in the study area since 2002. In captivity mountain, lions can live to be about 20 years old. Two different people told me that they, or a close relative, had seen pumas on more than one occasion. It has long been popular with honeymooners, but today the Poconos are a popular destination for families, skiers, adventure seekers, NASCAR fans, and those from urban areas around New England, New York City, Philadelphia . This animal was undoubtedly a bobcat. The Pocono Mountains are . Please keep scrolling - ALL the Puma posts are included. If we say it ain't so, it ain't so! A second image of the same cat, in a different light, reveals the trademark spots of a bobcat. Goggling Eastern Puma brings up other web sites, however, with varying levels of professionalism or credibility. As the latest hoaxed photo of a mountain lion supposedly killed in Pennsylvania died a slow death on Facebook yesterday, the head of an organization tracking the eastern movements of the big cats was preparing a presentation for a Pennsylvania audience tonight. I'd suspect it would still be considered very rare, after all, it was thought to be extinct. The cat is known to live in the western U.S. and Florida, South America and Canada. It also mentioned that someone raising a mountain lion without a license may either have let it go when it became too large to handle, or that the animal had escaped. Michelle LaRue, executive director of the Cougar Network and a research ecologist at the University of Minnesota, will discuss the eastern expansion of cougars from their core range in the western U.S. at 7 p.m. in Moravian College's Haupert Union Building, Bethlehem. Newspapers carried stories in 1956 about hunters supposedly seeing and killing wolves in Pike and Monroe Counties. 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. One man sent me a game camera photo that was blurry but looked like a mountain lion, or puma, as I like to call them. He also published a follow-up on Oct. 15 with the same mountain lion-deer hoax photo, as well as personal stories from several local residents who claim they've seen mountain lions in the Poconos. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We should be getting more pictures. Mountain lion populations struggle to outpace the high hunting limits. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. Knowing that pumas range widely, would my ridge be the only one closed? Why do I advocate manual exposure so avidly? All of these forests are, with few exceptions, open to hunting, and hunting is a very important industry in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. 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). I don't know if a Game Commission authority has actually said this or not, but people I've spoken to have reported this. The bobcat wouldn't survive. Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead. In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) also reports evidence that humans arrived during the last glaciation or soon after. 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. Just take your pick of all these incredible Pocono lake house rentals or just a Pocono cabin for rent, in luxury of course! Here it is: I still couldn't get the big head/little neck, and the body is a bit stouter/shorter, but a striding cat might be stretched out a bit. The earliest wave arrived at the end of the last Ice Age; the last wave is the Lenape or Delaware Tribe, which made contact with colonial settlers in the 1600s. Consider that the endangered Florida puma has mixed genes. Let me know if you have seen one! I wanted to know if they're here, so I called some people I trust and asked them one simple question: Are there mountain lions in Pennsylvania? No evidence has ever been produced to support those charges. I've done this myself once, in Tanzania, when I saw a black house cat that I thought was a black leopard! Do Mountain Lions Attack Humans? "From three really reliable sources who are always around the woods from Monroe County to Bradford, there is no doubt that there are mountain lions in Pennsylvania," East Stroudsburg University football team offensive coordinator and avid hunter Mike Terwilliger said. 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. (National Park Service). 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). I Googled "Pocono mountain lion" and there it was the same photo, except the caption claimed that it was taken in Oklahoma, not Pennsylvania, and various posted comments asserted that the photo was manipulated. Each year, over tha past five, I've spoken with at least one person who swears they personally saw a puma in this state. Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. Colorado has a large number of mountain lions within its borders, mostly due to the high elk population, dense forests, and isolated mountain ranges. One sighting I give complete belief in was from a friend who told me a puma crossed right in front of their vehicle, and paused on the berm for a few seconds, at a distant of ten yards or less. Most of the native mountain lions live in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, but humans rarely ever see them due to their secretive nature. Colby is a freelance writer from Charlotte, North Carolina. Are mountain lions on their way to 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. Does the mountain lion roam Pa? - Pocono Record Hopefully, we'll see the real thing. The life cycle then repeats itself. Any Truth A bobcat gives you a warm, that-kind-of-looks-like-my-cat-but-slightly-bigger feeling. Fish and Wildlife Service. The sightings were great bear views, but too fast or fleeting to allow me to grab a camera. Some cats had a South American genetic profile. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. If there were wild cougars in our midst, the Game Commission also pointed out, eventually there would be solid evidence such as a carcass, scat and paw prints that could be verified. A few could, perhaps, be mistaken idenity. All rights reserved (About Us). Mysterious big cat caught on security camera in Clarks Summit, Pa. Is there a Puma conspiracy? In Yellowstone, definite puma country (perhaps not ideal habitat, but pumas are found in every section of Yellowstone), I've spoken to guys on road crews and with rangers, each with 20 years of field or road experience in Yellowstone, and the ranger had only seen 2 (both road kills and together) and the road crew guys two or three in all their years. The question is just like in the story of the boy who cried wolf) if that day ever arrives, how will we believe those first, true sightings after so many hoaxes have been perpetrated on the public? What do I think of the Canon 1D Mark IV? 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. 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. 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. Still, people say they know what they saw out there. This happens usually around the 18-month mark. Officially extinct, mountain lions still haunt the Adirondacks Jones has never seen a mountain lion, but he thinks they're prowling around. However, many of my reports were at distances that people knew, and as you look at the images of the puma there really is a big difference in color and shape between a puma and a house cat. And a bit of an unpleasant one at that, as they now faced ridicule or doubt whenever they discussed their sightings. 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. Who knows? "The cougars examined in the Northeast in the past 70 years are likely released or escaped captives. The first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. Mary saw the photo, too, and she immediately agreed, it was a puma. I'm a photographer, yet I've never had a chance to snap a photograph of one of these bears. But no one that I've communicated with had these preconceptions, and seeing what they saw was a complete surprise. "They preyed upon the caribou, and probably the mastodon," Leslie wrote of these large animals flourishing on the grasses and cold-climate flora that sprouted following the glacier's retreat. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Discover the Little-Known U.S. River Gorge That's, The 9 Best Books About National Parks for Travelers, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback. The woman, a 66-year-old grandmother, asked not to be identified because she's a senior and didn't want people "bothering" her about it. If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. Confirmed cougar sightings have increased in the Midwest and Great Lakes states in recent years.". One of these days, though, I'll get one that won't be, and I hope that will be soon. So how or why could there be a conspiracy? "Hunters are always saying they see mountain lions, and the Game Commission always says there aren't any," said Robert Hale, owner of Buffalo Gap Outfitters in Dillsburg. I'd love to hear of any reports you have. Many of those claiming to have encountered a cougar in Pennsylvania take that non-confirmation by the commission as an attack on their veracity and character. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. In Pennsylvania, I receive a few reports of black, big cats, which makes one wonder -- are there melanistic (black) pumas out there, or are those sightings always wrong. "We've been here 45 years and I've probably been told by people at least 100 times that they've seen a cougar or mountain lion," said owner Vince Hall. Certainly it is a romantic notion, but I've always held out the hope that pumas still roamed the east. Yet, except for Florida, which has about 100 of them "Florida panthers"), no eastern state has a verifiable population of these large 100- to 200-pound cats that were extirpated 100 years ago. Over 1,100 people follow her page. It wasn't, and I assumed it was a road-kill. Mountain lion sightings could indicate its comeback to Pa. Mt Lions in WV, NY, and PA - Hoot Hollow Viewers can never be certain that what they're seeing on a computer is actually what it's purported to be. Furthermore, a different set of photos showed a "mountain lion" dragging a deer into the woods in Bradford County. Pocono Record sports writer Mike Kuhns wrote a great piece on Oct. 14, "Does the mountain lion roam PA?" Mountain lions, Goodrich wrote, were more dreaded than wolves as the cat could climb over any fence that could be built. Mountain Lions in Pennsylvania? A Mountain Lion Cover Up Mountain Lion Habitat in Tennessee - ArcGIS StoryMaps I regularly ask hunters and outdoors people if they've ever seen a mountain lion, or know of anyone that has. Same story as 'black panthers' across the country, because of course there, scientifically, can be no such thing. A mastodon's skull was first located in Marshalls Creek, Monroe County, on July 5, 1968. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. Mountain Lion Reports In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. "From people that I trust have had visual sightings, they've seen mountain lions.". Biologists who investigate these reports claim that several may, indeed, be mountain lions, but most likely they're animals that have escaped from captivity or have been released by their. Note the size of the tail, the pointed ears, the speckled coat, the basic lack of white underneath. The bones were found perfectly preserved. There are controlled hunting laws in the state of Oregon. The large, undeveloped interior filled with rocky habitats perfect for mountain lions allows them to safely live and breed. WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. He saw a big cat. They regularly join the camp of those angrily claiming the commission has introduced the big cats back into Pennsylvania as a control measure against the state's huge deer population. 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. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? A placard affixed to the fence outside Rocky's pen states that "cougars are solitary creatures and rarely seen by humans." 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. Who knows? Mountain lions are well-established in 14 western states and have also recently been confirmed in 10 Midwestern states: Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. Imagine my surprise. While the chances that I'll ever see a puma in Pennsylvania myself are virtually zero, I'm always on the alert -- for the bobcat I've never seen in Pa., for a fisher, bear, deer, red salamander, toad, or snake, and yes, I'm always hoping that I too will become one of those who saw something that officially cannot exist within the state, a puma I know I saw but, of course, could not have! Here's an example: A man is holding a dead eastern diamondback rattlesnake, which was found in North Carolina and measured more than 9 feet long and weighed 95 pounds. "It's one of those things where I'll believe it when I see it," said Jason Farmer of Pocono Summit, my hunting partner for the last eight years. "There hasn't been one solid piece of proof to believe they are here. No An official form of the United States government. Would these ridges be declared off-limits for hunting? If so, what would happen to the hunting industry in all of these states? However, if it doesn't exist, and if someone saw one, wouldn't there be a worry that it was a dangerous escapee? These powerful, majestic creatures once lived across much of the country but have since been killed or pushed out of most of it. "They are very strong animals," she said. These color morphs are most common in rain forests and jungles. Mountain Lion in Pocono's Pennsylvania Kacie PA 7.9K views 2 years ago Mountain lion in bucks county pa or not? An article in last year's New York State Conservationist magazine about mountain lions concluded that none exists in that state, even in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Mountain wilderness. 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 high priority. This is actually a good thing, as genetic isolation generally weakens a species. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. Oregon has a large, stable breeding population of mountain lions. The State cites that there are no road-kills, and in a heavily trafficed state like Pennsylvania there should be kills. Everyone else, when reporting, were frustrated as they were told they had seen a bobcat. Martinelli said that if there were mountain lions in Pennsylvania, there would be more sightings of them. Let's see a clear photo, or a carcass or something. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled. Colorado and California have the highest estimated populations of mountain lions in the United States. The next day, the photo disappeared from the site. Some may be animals that dispersed into the region from western populations. After all, how many people have pumas? Let's say the facts indicate that there have been a lot of 'pet' pumas, and many of these escaped. John Leap of East Stroudsburg's Lakeside Peat Humus Co. and an employee, Paul Strauser, found the bones in a peat bog off Route 209. RelatedBigfoot, mountain lions, and other mythical creatures: PA officials discuss what they know. The other two clans were the Turtle and Turkey. (National Park Service). Only once has anyone later determined that they had misidentified the cat, seeing a bobcat and not a mountain lion. The first settlers kept sheep to supply their household with wool. Unless I am only dealing with a lot of delusional people with little judgment, something is out there. That summer, a team from the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg excavated the nearly complete skeleton of the ancient elephant, the first of its kind found in the Commonwealth. Flying over the area, I've looked down and commented upon the amount of habitat that would be available for a puma, if only they existed. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? But more importantly, he also said that regardless of color, he saw a big cat, with a tail that looked to be about 4 feet long! Who knows? The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. Mountain lions live almost everywhere in the state of Washington. with a fluted projectile point were found near Middletown, Orange County, New York. Noted Wayne County historian Phineas Goodrich recorded in his 1880 book on local history that the common gray wolf was much more common in this area than the cougar. Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day. If we continue to be bombarded with manipulated photos and untrue claims in most cases by people who just want to get attention then we may be very resistant to accepting the "real McCoy" if or when) one finally arrives. Hunters I've spoken with said they've been told you can't kill a puma, which they felt was ironic since the same official told them pumas don't exist in Pa. In books I've read critical or skeptical or down-right dismissive of the idea of pumas in the East, the argument has been advanced that the hopefull puma-dreamer/spotters arguing that the State needs to prove pumas don't exist does not mean that in the State not proving this means that pumas indeed do exist in this state. Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. "It's fall bow-hunting season soon," he said. In prior interviews with the Game Commission, the suggestion was made to this writer that what many people may actually be seeing is a bobcat, perhaps in less than ideal circumstances. More conclusive evidence is needed: Keep your cameras handy. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. 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. Mountain lion killed in Connecticut was on the opposite side of Pennsylvania a year ago, Is it real? Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Now, forty years ago coyotes were rare or almost nonexistent in Pennsylvania, and had had that same sighting back then, when coyotes were thought not to exist within the state we would have had the 'facts' to doubt what we saw. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. He saw his cat at very close range -- 20 yards or less, and when I pointed out to him that pumas are never black he said that perhaps it was the light. Are there Mountain Lions in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic States? At one time this fact almost resulted in this cat not being protected, since it wasn't a pure strain. Caribou remains, dated by radiocarbon in excess of 10,000 B.C. For example, one man I interviewed said he saw a 'black' puma, and this should disqualify his sighting as a black puma has never been recorded. Pa Mountain lion, cougar, or big cat in bucks county Pennsylvania Although in captivity, they can live much longer. Provided by Touchpoints Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. Did they migrate south from Canada? In January, the U.S. Periodically, via Google searches, I receive reports from people who believe they had seen a mountain lion in Pennsylvania, or in other mid-Atlantic states. Mountain Lions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) NPS.gov Park Home Learn About the Park Nature Animals Mammals Mountain Lion Mountain Lion Last updated: May 4, 2018 Was this page helpful?