Mountain Lion in Port Jervis NY

[jtslalom]

This picture was taken at night by a trail cam near Port Jervis New York. The legs in the back ground are that of a deer feeder that the big buck was feeding under. The cat probably stalked it and took it at night.

[jdgang]

Wow...I have always heard that there where mountain lions up in the hills of sussex...now I have photographic evidence..thanks

[BlueB]

We sometimes have them in the northern outskirts of Vancouver...

Bear and deer are pretty common sight (even in my backyard), while coyote and racoon already have the status of urban animals.

[carvedog]

That's a healthy looking lion too.

[bobdea]

there's been a lot of dead animals in trees on my road and a few young cattle have been hit.

the state does not want to admit they are here because they're considered extinct in MA like many other eastern states.

cougars are what we get for eradicating wolves though, cougars are kept in check by wolves.

[fishrising]

the state does not want to admit they are here

Same here in CT...

[thebionicman]

Big cats are indiginous (sp?) to all of the states. We have had sightings right in Minneapolis. When out biking it makes you think.

[bobdea]

yes, they are. but like the wolf were eradicated and if they were proven to exist in MA would be a protected species, that costs a lot of money AND then everytime someone loses a cat, dog or child a bunch of jack asses want to organize a hunt when in reality domestic dogs kill more livestock and people than wild animals.

[skategoat]

I'm going to call BS on that photo. That photo could've been taken anywhere. If, in fact, that was a verifiable mountain lion photo from New York State, we would have all heard of it outside of Bomber Online.

There are lots of rumours about mountain lions in Ontario. No verification to date.

[carvedog]

I'm going to call BS on that photo. That photo could've been taken anywhere. If, in fact, that was a verifiable mountain lion photo from New York State, we would have all heard of it outside of Bomber Online.

There are lots of rumours about mountain lions in Ontario. No verification to date.

I suppose you're going to tell me you don't believe in Bigfoot either, just cause it hasn't been "proved".

[bobdea]

I'm going to call BS on that photo. That photo could've been taken anywhere. If, in fact, that was a verifiable mountain lion photo from New York State, we would have all heard of it outside of Bomber Online.

There are lots of rumours about mountain lions in Ontario. No verification to date.

why would you say that?

hoaxing is possible but those big kitties leave signs that are unmistakable and also generally are more likely to not be seen by people unless the population is sky high like the western states are experiencing right now.

the east is specifically going to see many more of these over the years because of massive deer populations that have no effective predators.

the lions just need to get to a area and start reproducing. they could come down the from the north on the AT un-noticed for example.

or from exotic animal nuts, I worked at a animal shelter that a guy begged us to take a african lion off his hands. we of course told him thanks but no thanks.

[skategoat]

If I wanted the public to think there were mountain lions in my area, the first thing I would do is make a plaster cast and make footprints in the mud. The second thing I would do is kill a deer and hang it in a tree. The third thing I would do is find a photo from out West and claim that it was taken locally.

Sure, mountain lions could exist in the East. And monkeys could fly out of my butt.

[bobdea]

I don't think the majority of people who would try to stage a hoax would hoist torn up deer and goats in trees. never mind being able to jack multiple deer, a goat and a couple calves all around town.

could happen but it would be hard to pull off.....

could be a escaped animal that some wacko was keeping too, but then I'd think there'd be more siting by people because they'd associate people with a free meal.

[Fleaman]

The problem with cougars is if you see them is: they have been watching you for a while. they are pretty elusive. If you see them you are surely on their dinner list. I have seen one here in Birtish columbia, While hiking on a trail to a backountry area. It was about a hundred feet uphill of our trail that was following a sidehill. We were pretty scared and picked up some stones an branches to continue on our hike, The big cat went behind some bushes and we lost track of him...thank goodnes

Skategoat...... dont be so sure there are no cougars in ontario, Maybe southern ontario is barren but north of Muskoka, there is lots of crown land with tons of land and terrain that will support cougars.

[skategoat]

Flea, the problem with this scenario is this - between the Rockies, where I'm sure cougars are abundant, and Ontario, there is this huge, vast land of nothingness called the Prairies. For cougars to make into into Northern Ontario, they'd have to cross this land subsisting on wheat and farm children.

Bob, never underestimate a bored redneck.

[bobdea]

probably getting french speaking cougars in new england, same goes for ontario.

Cougar in Québec - the Ministry for Natural Resources, Fauna and Parks announces two new confirmations

Quebec, February 1, 2005 The Ministry for Natural Resources, Fauna and Parks (MRNFP) confirms the presence of cougars (Felis concolor) in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and the Capitale-Nationale region (formerly the Québec region). The combined efforts of the MRNFP, the firm Envirotel 3000 of Sherbrooke and the Laboratory of molecular ecology and evolution of the University of Montréal make possible the advertisement of these results.

These two confirmations are added to those of the cougar killed accidentally in Abitibi-Témiscamingue region in 1992 and of the cougar detected in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region (zec des Anses) in 2002, during the first deployments of Envirotel technology in this area. The genetic expertise was then provided by Dr. Virginia Stroher of Bishop University in Lennoxville.

Let us recall that Dr. Marc Gauthier, of Envirotel 3000, developed and marketed for five years a system able to attract cougars selectively and to collect their hairs at stations of scraping. In parallel, the Laboratory of molecular ecology and evolution of the University of Montréal, under the direction of Dr. François-Joseph Lapointe, developed a technique that makes it possible to detect, within a reasonable time and at acceptable cost, the genetic print of the cougar starting from DNA extracted from hair or flesh, which constitutes a remarkable technological breakthrough.

On the track of the cougar

In spring 2002, four stations used to track the cougar were installed in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region by the regional staff of the MRNFP, in sectors where sightings were generally reported. The hair collected with one of these stations, located on the territory of the zec Martin-Valin, were sent to the laboratory of Dr. Lapointe, which confirmed its origin.

A second confirmation, coming this time from the Capitale-Nationale region, was carried out after the analysis of a sample of hair and animal flesh collected in the summer 2002 on the bumper of a car having accidentally run up against an animal in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve and of which description coincided with that of the cougar. The epic recovery of this sample could not have been possible without the perspicacity and the tenacity of the regional staff of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, who were informed of the fact of this event.

Other confirmations could occur soon as the samples of hair, collected over several years, within the framework of specific projects supported by voluntary organizations, are analyzed. Let us recall that last autumn, the team of Dr. Lapointe also discovered the presence of a cougar in samples of hair coming from Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.

The cougar, formerly present in Quebec south of the 52nd parallel, became extremely rare as of the second half of the 19th century, victim of persecution which was also the case in Ontario and in the maritime provinces. Since 1955, several hundred sightings of this animal were brought to the attention of the MRNFP by citizens and were the subject of rigorous investigations by the personnel in the area: questionnaires submitted to the observers, visits on the ground, checks of tracks, analysis of photographs and videos. In spite of this systematic work and the exceptional collaboration of the public, the irrefutable evidence of the existence of the cougar in Québec was long in coming.

Protected animal

The cougar is a protected animal, since it is registered on the list of species of vertebrate fauna likely to be indicated threatened or vulnerable. So it is forbidden to kill it, except if the animal represents an obvious threat. The Ministry for Natural resources, Fauna and Parks specifies that the possibility to meet this cat in the forests of Québec remains remote.

In addition, the Ministry is always interested to collect information concerning the cougar and it is enough to communicate with the regional office of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Fauna and Parks. The cougar is also regarded as an animal with obligatory declaration, which means that a person who finds a cougar wounded or dead must communicate with the Ministry for Natural Resources, Fauna and the Parks.

[skategoat]

Okay there are cougars in Quebec but I still say the NY cougar is probably some guy bored of making crop circles.

[boarderboy]

The Aspen Cougar ...

apparently they prefer high alpine habitats with a wealthy, youngish male population ...

BB

[jtslalom]

Skategoat,

I hear you. Maybe the picture was taken in the west or possibly north west, I truly don't know. I was told that it was by the borders of Pa., NJ. & NY. In either case I don't think the picture is fictitious. As far as there not being any mountain lions in NY or even NJ I think you are wrong. I think that they have been spotted in both states but as Bobdea stated above, none of the fish and game officials would like to admit that the cats are around basically for financial reasons. I know it would be hard to believe that NJ could possibly have these cats but for me it's not. At one time nobody would believe that NJ had bears or coyotes. We are now over run with bears and coyotes are attacking every domestic animal in sight. Field and Stream rated Pa. the best possible bear hunting state second only to NJ if it were to open another bear hunt. They claimed the next world record could be out of NJ. We also have a huge dear population. So big that the state allows bow hunting from early September to late February with limitless does. There is so much game in north west NJ that I believe big cats could survive.

[skategoat]

There was a really cool article in Sports Illustrated a few months ago about this very topic. It started out telling the story of an oil worker in N. Canada who was stalked, killed and eaten by a pack of wolves.

Here it is. I think you'll enjoy reading it.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1148866/index.htm

I think it's kind of cool that we can see this sort of wildlife in the big cities now. I see fox, coyotes and deer all the time. I was playing golf last week and a coyote was hunting mice in the fescue around the 17th tee. It was no more than 10 feet away from me and couldn't care less when I was trying to scare it away.

Another time, there was a big buck deer in the trees within 20 feet of me. You'd think that the sound of a metal driver hitting a golf ball would scare it off but it wasn't even fazed.

[Fleaman]

Flea, the problem with this scenario is this - between the Rockies, where I'm sure cougars are abundant, and Ontario, there is this huge, vast land of nothingness called the Prairies. For cougars to make into into Northern Ontario, they'd have to cross this land subsisting on wheat and farm children.

Bob, never underestimate a bored redneck.

The northern area of those provinces are heavily treed, the prairie land is only in the southern area. They could migrate in the cold boreal forest.

or they can hitch rides on the train or transports like an invasive species.:)

[wvrocks]

About 3 years ago I moved to a fairly remote area in the WV mountains. My neighbor, a long time local farmer said that he and others in the area had seen a mountain lion a couple times over the years. I just blew it off and didn't really give any thought to it. Whatever.

2 years ago I looked out the bedroom window at about 11 pm to see if it was snowing and saw a line of tracks about 3 ft from the house in the snow. Large and round, and in the pattern of a cat. Didn't go out and look at them closer as it was late and I had to get up early. They were snowed under in the morning.

About 6 months later I was reading in the living room at about 8 pm. Quiet moonlit evening. My husky was on a lead on the front porch and jumped up and ran to the end of his lead. He didn't bark but was looking in the direction of the barn. I got up to see if someone had driven up to the barn. I saw a large form with a long tail gliding toward the barn. It crossed the driveway and walked across the concrete apron of the barn under the dusk to dawn light. Couldn't believe what I was seeing when it got under the light. It made the hair stand up on my neck and I was in the house about 100 feet from the barn. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it was a mountain lion. I've seen bears, coyotes, dogs, bobcats, etc on that same piece of ground and at similar distances. It was none of those.

The WVDNR also says that they don't exist in our area. I have no photographic proof of what I saw so I guess I didn't see it.

I can tell you this, I didn't walk outside at night for the next month without turning the lights on first.

[Erik J]

First tornados and now this....

I have a few friends that live over the mountain from Port Jervis. All of them have talked about seeing a mountain lion at one point or another. Their neighbors have all seen them too. I have never seen one myself but I have heard enough to believe that there may be a few, whether they migrated or were lost pets. There are plenty of animals to eat in the area and a state park protecting the top of the mountain for a good stretch. Bears seem to be extending their territory around here also.

OT - jt, how about that tornado this summer? effin crazy. Came about 100 yards from my house. The after effects looked like a train went through the forest. Also 2, 50-year floods and 1, 100-year flood in the last 4 years. Times are "a-changin".

[BobD]

Mountain lions are supposed to be vary rare in MN, but this one was too close for comfort. http://www.citypages.com/2002-06-12/books/a-lion-in-the-path/

The map shows this is a pretty urban area, and there's no real wilderness for maybe a hundred miles from here.

BobD

[jtslalom]

Eric,

I was driving through Florida NY in the beggining of the summer and went through some horrific weather. I don't think I drove through a tornado but i have never seen sustained winds like that in my life. The sky was black and the hail came down hard enough that I thought it could break the windshield. I had both my kids in the car at the time and was scared shipless. Tree limbs were coming down into the road but there was no place safe to pull over. We made it through without damage but it was pretty intense. That was at the end of June or possibly early July. I'm not sure if it was the same storm that brought the tornado but it could have been.