Mountain lions in area?

[tombogan03884]

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090919/GJNEWS02/709199863/-1/CITIZEN

Brentwood:

By GEOFF CUNNINGHAM Jr.
gcunningham@fosters.com
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Picture

Cynthia Seligowski of Brentwood explains the movements of a mountain lion she believes she spotted on her Middle Road lawn a week ago today.

N.H. Fish and Game officials are looking for hard evidence to confirm a report that one of their staff members spotted a mountain lion in Barnstead, which could go down as only the fifth such sighting of the predator in the past 60 years in the Granite State.

Cynthia Seligowski of Brentwood said she has little doubt such an animal is roaming the area as she is sure she saw one of the big cats sitting on the front lawn of her Middle Road home last Saturday.

"I was sitting in my living room in the rocking chair and out he came. It had the body of a lion. I knew it wasn't a dog [and] his markings were beautiful on his face," Seligowski said.

Seligowski said she did not get a photo of the animal, which remained on the lawn for a few minutes before making its way into the woods just as a police officer arrived.

The Middle Road resident said she is certain it was a mountain lion as the cat appeared the size of a very large dog when she observed it through the pair of binoculars she ran to grab when the animal made a stop in her rural yard.

Fish and Game Department officials say the sightings might be legitimate, as one of their staff members saw what is believed to have been a mountain lion in Barnstead on Friday during a follow-up to a reported sighting.

Fish and Game experts say mountain lions are known to exist in the wild in states no closer than Iowa and Florida. "Survival of this type of animal is typically extremely low as they normally do not have the developed abilities to catch prey on a consistent basis, and/or may have been declawed," said Fish and Game Wildlife Division Chief Steve Weber.

Weber said his department would expect to collect hard evidence of a mountain lion's existence if it did survive through the use of pictures, tracks, scat or DNA evidence.

Fish and Game wildlife experts say mountain lions were pushed out from their range in the Eastern United States by the late 1800s, with the exception of the endangered Florida panther.

"The Fish and Game Department receives numerous reports of mountain lions every year," said Weber. "We still have no documentation to confirm their presence. While we do not believe this is a harbinger of a recovering population ... it does add one more credible report to several others we have received over the years."

Seligowski, an artist who is not particularly thrilled with all the media coverage she has been receiving since her sighting took place, said she has little doubt about what she saw and has already discussed her sighting with Fish and Game. She has since learned other sightings have taken place up and down Route 107.

She said the animal appeared calm and very healthy as it sat on her lawn. She considers herself lucky to have seen one.
NOTE
What they don't mention is that the Me. Fish and Game had 4 that had been hit by cars. People have been reporting sightings for decades and F&G keeps denying their presence.

[Hazcat]

Why don't they say something like...

"We probably have a few around.  With the way Fish and Game, and hunters have managed and increased deer population it is very likely that the cats are coming back.  If they become a nuisance we will have to address the situation, but for right now the population is small and sparse".

That way the people have a 'heads up' and the department gets kudos for it management program.

(I know...I'm expecting common sense from a government agency )

[fightingquaker13]

Why don't they say something like...

"We probably have a few around.  With the way Fish and Game, and hunters have managed and increased deer population it is very likely that the cats are coming back.  If they become a nuisance we will have to address the situation, but for right now the population is small and sparse".

That way the people have a 'heads up' and the department gets kudos for it management program.

(I know...I'm expecting common sense from a government agency )

Who will probably tell you they don't exist but are protected so if you shoot one to bring them evidence they will put you in jail for killing the mythical beast.
FQ13 who has no desire to shoot a panther but does think longingly of paintball guns when dealing with government types

[tombogan03884]

I know people who have seen them as far back as the 50's, usually further North than this one, and I KNOW that the Me. F&G had some they had found injured on the side of the road, I SAW those in their "zoo" in Grey Me. Yet they have denied the existence of them.
Of course they also spent decades claiming we had "wild dogs" until genetic testing proved conclusivly that Eastern Coyotes are only distantly related to "dogs".
Another example of how an expert is just some ahole who refuses to admit he might be wrong.

[tombogan03884]

Who will probably tell you they don't exist but are protected so if you shoot one to bring them evidence they will put you in jail for killing the mythical beast.
FQ13 who has no desire to shoot a panther but does think longingly of paintball guns when dealing with government types

I'd love to shoot a mountain lion up here with a 35 MM canon

(1 "N" is NOT a typo    )

[Sponsor]

[2HOW]

Monster Quest episode 

[david86440]

I know people who have seen them as far back as the 50's, usually further North than this one, and I KNOW that the Me. F&G had some they had found injured on the side of the road, I SAW those in their "zoo" in Grey Me. Yet they have denied the existence of them.
Of course they also spent decades claiming we had "wild dogs" until genetic testing proved conclusivly that Eastern Coyotes are only distantly related to "dogs".
Another example of how an expert is just some ahole who refuses to admit he might be wrong.

Tom, they did have one at the Gray Animal Farm, but it wasn't native to ME. I remember seeing it out there too.

Maine's Big Cats
Maine is home to Canada lynx and bobcats. Rarely seen in the wild, learn about the life-styles of these 2 elusive species of cat . Although a verifiable photograph or video of a mountain lion has yet to be taken, hundreds of reports of cougars are recorded annually with the Department, and several tracks have been found that could be in the range of a small mountain lion or large bobcat. Wildlife biologists are continually on the lookout for these secretive felines, follow up solid reports in the field, and conduct track surveys each winter. All 3 species are on exhibit at the Park.

[Timothy]

MA has had a few reports over the last ten years or so and all of them have turned out to be bobcats.  One fella actually snapped a pretty clear picture of the cat and even the news media claimed it was a cougar.  The picture clearly showed the pointy upright ears and bobbed tail of a bobcat.

Problem is around these parts that most people can't tell the difference between a fox and a dog or a great dane and a goat!  We had a report of a horse killed by a mountain lion right here in Uxbridge a few years ago and it turned out to be a pack of feral dogs.  According to the State Wildlife, there has not been a confirmed mountain lion sighting in MA since about 1855...

Regardless, for the sake of safety, I carry the .357 whenever I'm out an about and if a puma, cougar, panther or mountain lion with any other name confronts me as one did in Northern California back in '78....I'm going to kill it deader than shite!

[CJS3]

Since F&G says they don't exist, no one will raise a fuss when you bring in that hide to tan, will they. 

[Timothy]

Since F&G says they don't exist, no one will raise a fuss when you bring in that hide to tan, will they. 

Nope....and in Maine, any resident while in the wilderness areas can carry a sidearm, openly for personal protection from wildlife encounters.  They may have changed it but that's how I interpret the law...

Tom, any help here?