are there mountain lions in the poconosare there mountain lions in the poconos

the more visible white on the chest, the lack of spots, the huge hind quarters. Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. Heres What the Data Says. The bones were found perfectly preserved. (What is meant by "heads" is not clear.). This is not a Pennsylvania puma! Not only do hunting licenses support the various state game commissions, and in some states the acquisition and maintenance of public hunting lands, but hunters are a huge boon to local economies each fall, with purchases of food, lodging, hunting equipment, etc. 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. In the wild, adult mountain lions can weigh anywhere from 65 to 220 pounds. 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. No one needs to panic.". original web site, although if I ever have enough time I might Wyoming has a historically stable population of mountain lions, but recent drops in numbers have caused some to worry. The Bushkill Falls are a series of eight waterfalls in a 300-acre wooded enclave hidden amongst the Poconos. Mountain lion populations struggle to outpace the high hunting limits. I believe them. This ideal habitat allows for a large population of 2,000 mountain lions to thrive. Jones has never seen a mountain lion, but he thinks they're prowling around. In captivity mountain, lions can live to be about 20 years old. Mountain lions roamed all of the continent prior to the arrival and westward spread of European settlers, but only the eastern and Florida subspecies were found east of the Mississippi. The last documented sighting of an eastern cougar was one killed in Maine in 1938. 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. I asked our Game officials about evidence, and they cite no road kills. Foster said mountain lions and bobcats could not breed. 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. At the end of the last Ice Age, many animals in Pennsylvania died out. 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. 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. DNA collected from the mountain lion killed on a roadway in Connecticut in 2011 showed the animal to have originated in South Dakota. Caribou remains, dated by radiocarbon in excess of 10,000 B.C. It seems unlikely, considering captives have never shown this trait, but people are reporting big black cats. Perhaps one or more of these Pocono sightings represent early pioneers reclaiming their former territories. All of the above images are of bobcats. Send it to me at mkuhns@poconorecord.com. 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 wasn't, and I assumed it was a road-kill. 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. Mountain lions' canines are 3 to 4 inches long. The 2,400-square-mile area has long been a popular outdoor recreation area boasting hunting, fishing, skiing, and more. Mountain lions, Goodrich wrote, were more dreaded than wolves as the cat could climb over any fence that could be built. And again, while they may have been mistaken, they certainly were completely convinced that they had seen a puma. Ashley Catherine Fontones, Pocono Record. The Cougar Network, working with state agencies, have documented multiple mountain lions as far east as Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan in recent years, as well as one cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June 2011. They know what they saw, regardless of what the facts say, and they know they saw a puma. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? By the time he returned the vehicle was gone, and so was the cat, and no mention was ever made of this road kill in a radio or newspaper report. Conversely, an outdoor writer I know told me that when Pa. enacted a menagerie permit law years ago, 'a lot of mountain lions suddenly died,' as the owners of these cats, rather than going through the paperwork, simply released their pumas and claimed that they had died. Ramapough Lenape chief: National park in PA and NJ would be among 'most destructive things' since colonization, Bigfoot, mountain lions, and other mythical creatures: PA officials discuss what they know, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Over 1,100 people follow her page. After a small population was reintroduced into their historic land, their population has grown to a stable and breeding group of between 200-300 individuals. 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? 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. When he told me this, he commented on how an experience like the one he and his friends had just is not forgotten. You be the judge. 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. Ironically, I almost deleted the image, as on the small camera LCD monitor the cat was small and I thought that it was just another deer that moved along the stream. No evidence has ever been produced to support those charges. I don't want to seem like a nut case here, but I must ask this question and you'll soon understand why? Recently the US Fish and Wildlife Service formally declared the Eastern Puma an extinct species, except for the remnant population in Florida. 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. The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. Melanism is the reverse, where there is an abundance of dark or black pigmentation. The cat was far enough away that I couldn't get a size reference, and I believed the cat was further away than it actually was. Goggling Eastern Puma brings up other web sites, however, with varying levels of professionalism or credibility. The head of the puma is small in comparision to a house cat when compared to the entire body. According to the commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. On that note, I was speaking with a Fed Ex driver recently who told me that one of his colleagues had seen what he swore was a dead mountain lion on the side of a road. These experiences are still available, but the reality is there is so much more for the mature traveler to enjoy in the Pocono Mountains. Is there a Puma conspiracy? Let's see a clear photo, or a carcass or something. More Questions about Pumas in Pennsylvania I think it is possible that recognizing the existence of pumas in the East could jeopardize this industry and an entire economy. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there are no wild, breeding cougar populations in this state anymore. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Local outlets carried reports of cougar encounters at least into the 1910s. "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. How, Who, and Why? Me? A recent alleged sighting in South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, had Facebook groups abuzz. "We should be getting more pictures. "They are very strong animals," she said. Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. Something to consider, even though we all trust the government. Both were a threat to the farmer and family who carved a home in the ancient wilderness of the Poconos. There are deserts, mountains, and swamps in the state of Utah, all of which are suitable for mountain lions. Depends on who you talk to, I guess. 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!' This happens usually around the 18-month mark. Furthermore, a different set of photos showed a "mountain lion" dragging a deer into the woods in Bradford County. 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. Nevertheless, I put up a MOULTRIE game camera -- a brand that I've had tremendous satisfaction with -- at the carcass, hoping that scavengers would visit. The cat is known to live in the western U.S. and Florida, South America and Canada. Unless I am only dealing with a lot of delusional people with little judgment, something is out there. I've never seen or heard of a verified black puma anywhere, whether wild or captive, so I'd be inclined to dismiss reports of truly black big cats as misidentifications, even when a group of guys all see the same thing. About half of the state of Montana is ideal for mountain lions, primarily in her western and central regions. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is always open to review evidence, but to date only hoaxes have crossed the PGC. But the point of this article isn't whether or not mountain lions exist in Pennsylvania or the Poconos. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. Still, these resilient animals reside in secluded areas across the United States, with current data suggesting they may even be returning to their historical regions! If it were, it would be listed. Some may be animals that dispersed into the region from western populations. If you can figure out how to travel far back in time for even a day, get lots of wildlife photos, as the rest of us might never believe your story. Who knows? With that in mind, lets break down how we classified the states. "When I started telling people, most of them didn't believe me, but I will never forget that huge face staring right at me," said a Montgomery County woman who says she saw a lion last summer in Limerick Township while walking her dog. While there have been no confirmed occurrences of mountain lions in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s, dozens of sincere reports of sightings and tracks and even more hoaxed reports emerge across the state each year. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? I hope no one ever shoots a puma to prove their existence here, but I hope someone gets a great photo, of the cat, of a road-kill, of tracks, and that I see it. Imagine my surprise. Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. 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. Have some feedback for us? redo these pages to match the new web site But that's not There had been 17 other mastodon finds in Pennsylvania up to 1968, but all were fragmentary. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled, Over the last few years I've done several Questions of the Month regarding Mountain Lions, or Pumas as they should properly be called, in the Mid-Atlantic States and in Pennsylvania. The life cycle then repeats itself. Let's say the facts indicate that there have been a lot of 'pet' pumas, and many of these escaped. I was heading up the road and I saw an animal with a long tail.". With that hope in mind, I have, for years, asked outdoors people if they ever heard of a mountain lion, or puma, in their area -- with my questioning limited to people in my home state of Pennsylvania. He said he'd never forget the sighting, but it was only when he saw another, a few months ago, in daylight, from his cabin, that he decided it was time to tell someone. ? I don't know if a Game Commission authority has actually said this or not, but people I've spoken to have reported this. I've seen about 20 mountain lions, or pumas, in the field, but all but 2 were in Chile. The image in the Upper Left was from a Game Camera, sent to me by a friend. Puma vs Mountain Lion: Is There a Difference? Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. 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. Albinos are often very light sensitive, and they certainly are conspicuous, and most do not live very long. Of interestRamapough Lenape chief: National park in PA and NJ would be among 'most destructive things' since colonization. I've looked in the PGC game laws booklet and saw nothing on this, which I guess you could conclude means a puma would not be legal to shoot. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. I've know of reports since 1973, in Cooke Forest, the heart of a lot of Pa. wilderness. Once a mountain lion matures, it will leave its mother and find its own territory. 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. Although in captivity, they can live much longer. That's significant because, in states where mountain lions live, they're often struck by vehicles or otherwise found dead. The mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. Unfortunately, their web site no longer seems active, and has been taken over by some wacky drug product. State Game Officials do concede that some people may indeed have seen a puma, but it was undoubtedly a released captive. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. Perhaps my Fed Ex driver was simply recalling a rural legend, but he said it was an employee that he knew, and it was a story he heard first-hand. What equipment do we take in the field? Known as the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania, there are four trails that lead to the cascades from the Bushkill Falls trailhead, each ranging in . So how or why could there be a conspiracy? 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. I had three cameras positioned, so had a cat visited, I'd have had it. Although there was no evidence that the 2011 mountain lion ever set foot in Pennsylvania, DNA evidence confirmed that it had been both west and east of the state. What does a Puma (Mountain Lion) look like on a Game Camera? Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. After a gestation period of 90 days, female mountain lions will give birth to litters of about one to six cubs. The last known mountain lion in Pennsylvania was killed in Berks County in 1874. Sadly, the hunting guidelines for cougars in Idaho are lax, with 400-600 cats being killed each year. While it would seem impossible to confuse the two after seeing them in person, Foster said many of the sightings are in the dark, from roadways and trail cams, with bodies half-concealed. The last native mountain lion known to be killed in Pennsylvania is on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Now, if there were any escapes, and if any of these bred with a possible minuscule number of eastern pumas, a relic native population, wouldn't the gene pool be corrupted? It was definitely a mountain lion, and it had a big buck, white-tailed deer in its jaws. In the area around the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia there are mountains and deep caves that contain some of the coal mines that were a major part of the state's industry in the early part of the 19 th century. To be fair, I've also spoken with people who, at first, thought they'd seen a puma only to find, to their embarassment, that they were looking at a house cat! Recent post: Why Is It Called Beaver Stadium? Learn more about us & read our affiliate disclosure. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I've read a lot about this, and the usual explanation is the very human desire to see something, to see what someone wants to see, and thus these people are seeing bobcats or brown cats or dogs or foxes and, because they 'want' to see a puma, they do. 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. ? There are controlled hunting laws in the state of Oregon. Adults are a uniform tan or tawny in color, with a white or cream-colored chin, undersides and inner legs. The state of Arizona is home to a large, stable population of mountain lions. The other two clans were the Turtle and Turkey. The Florida panther is an endemic subspecies of cougar that has lived in the everglades region for a very long time. Additionally, California banned the hunting of cougars back in 1972, encouraging population growth. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. So many of these sightings have been proven wrong misidentified bobcats, coyotes or even house cats) that it would be irresponsible for a biologist to accept any of them as fact without absolute physical evidence hair, droppings, tracks or a road-killed animal. Two weeks ago, a friend of mine who teaches in one of the Monroe County school districts called to tell me he was sending me a photo of a mountain lion taken by one of his students in the Poconos. Accounts abound concerning interaction between these great beasts and people in northeast Pennsylvania, with wolves into the early 19th century and in the case with cougars, well into the early 20th century. Are they all the product of the off-spring of pumas that escaped their owners or were released? For example, leopards and jaguars, normally spotted cats, have a melanistic color morph, the 'black panther,' the black leopard or black jaguar. With the Great Lakes in its way, the cat moved either north or south of the water, and the latter route would have seen it pass through at least some of Pennsylvania. Packer Hill Ave. Jim Thorpe, PA 18229. Interestingly, almost all of the people I've spoken to who claim to have seen a puma have not seen a bobcat, an animal that is common enough in Pennsylvania to support a legal trapping season! 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. Most of the people I've spoken with live in this belt, but biologists friends I've spoken with have told me of their own reports, first-hand, from hunters in the Poconos who saw pumas, too. Two other reports went, in detail, on what they saw, the size, the length of tail, etc. 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 owners. Remember, this one was photographed in Arizona in good puma country, although this was the first one I've recorded there. I've done this myself once, in Tanzania, when I saw a black house cat that I thought was a black leopard! September 21st, 2008, 08:14 PM #74. There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. I am hoping that more and more people will learn of my own interest in this, and will pass on this information and that I'll receive more reports and, hopefully, sometime, a game camera photo that is definitive. They've been extinct in the eastern part of North America for more than a century. I believe Kross fully, but I wanted to hear more. He wrote that not being a roving animal, the mountain lion was much sooner destroyed than the wolf, and he said that if there were any left, it would have to be in the most desolate places in the county. The Pocono Mountains are . Mountain lions live in rescue centers like Murray's, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission said a dozen or so people are permitted to possess them. The Cascade Mountains are an important habitat for mountain lions in the region, and a stable population lives within the state. The first is the mating season which can occur during the late to early spring months. A mastodon's skull was first located in Marshalls Creek, Monroe County, on July 5, 1968. One of the three branches or clans of the Lenape Tribe at the end of the 17th century was known as the Wolf (Minsi). All rights reserved (About Us). Recently, on a back road in Pennsylvania, a friend and I had our first sighting of a coyote in Pennsylvania. More common critters co-existed with early Native Americans in the Poconos, including two species long since removed: the wolf and mountain lion (also known colloquially as panthers and cougars).

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