This definitely wasnt a bobcat. The PGC's historical approach to mountain lion sightings is relevant to understanding their approach to the Jacobs photos. Yes I believe their are mountain lion ghost cats in PA. PA mountain areas are remote and it is impossible to kill all of the cats who are quite secretive. The cats journey was well documentedboth photographs and genetic samples (fecal matter and hair) were collected along its journey. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. 3 Last 10 Years. This content is restricted to subscribers of OutdoorNews.com. Images from a homeowner's surveillance camera show a tan cat with a long body, beyond a chain-link fence. Lion take a fawn in a swamp 1 mile from my home in the same county. Michael Tanenbaum Still, Pennsylvania does have adequate cougar habitat, according to San Julian. All rights reserved (About Us). I live in Cumberland County about a half a mile from the 944/Enola exit. Black widows are native to the state. "We do not believe that there are any wild, native, breeding cougar populations in Pennsylvania. MDC established a Mountain Lion Response Team in 1996 to investigate reports and evidence of mountain lions. Do elk live in Pennsylvania? DNA tests have offered conclusive proof of cougars in other eastern states. You should bathe soon after coming indoors, preferably within two hours. 2017. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. "Over the years, I've received a number of cougar reports, some pretty factual, such as a partly devoured calf left up in a tree, but nobody has ever provided clear proof. The Game Commission is hiding this information from the public either that or they dont know what a mountain lion looks like. If you're hiking, stay on the path and don't venture into the woods. I write stories about rural and exurban areas, the places where development meets farmland and farms meet the great outdoors. But Dave "Gadget" Jones, a retired wildlife conservation officer from Lackawanna County, claims he's seen a white bigfoot and a UFO in Pennsylvania, so who knows? Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. Tan shading indicates regions where dispersing juveniles have been sighted, but there are no established populations in these areas. "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. Three sightings, in fact, are considered credible and have some backing to them. They can be easily differentiated by the size of their size (large house cats only weigh 30lb and raccoons 20lbs) and their tails (cougar tails are much longer and wiry). The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Paws 'N' Claws Animal Park in the Poconos has two. Must of been chasing it for quite some time. She says she was on Route 347 just after 230am when she saw . 4 . You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". It will happen eventually. In many places, the habitat hasn't changed much in hundreds of years. Big Cat, long tail, Mountain Lion past directly in front of my car. If you see any of these four wild animals in Pennsylvania, definitely keep a safe distance. The coloration in adults is uniform. Some restrictions apply. If you have an encounter with a mountain lion, contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays: CPW Headquarters (Denver): (303) 297-1192. Immediately report the sighting by calling Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at 1-800-858-1549 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 . Find Easton area news on Facebook. 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. After hearing of alleged sightings over the years -- sketchy reports of rural folks listening to big cat screams in the night, inconclusive paw prints, photos and videos that never materialized and the occasional unexplained livestock killing -- a cougar carcass was supposed to be delivered to university wildlife experts for necropsy. Reports of a mountain lion have come from several residents of Hemlock Farms who were hiking on. Friends in the area reported having a large long tailed mountain lion run across a road just in front of their truck. February 23, . In one extreme dispersal event in 2011, a cougar (that was later found to be related to cats from the Black Hills) made it to Connecticut before it was killed by a car. However, mountain lion sightings in Pennsylvania are still being reported. 82 Confirmed Reports Since 1994 The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. I have seen three mountain lions in pa. One full grown in Erie county in 1998 and two kittens (yes I am sure they were mountain lions, not bobcats) in McKean county in 2001. As a last resort, you can fight back and try to scare the bear away. adroll_version = "2.0"; Bears feed for 20 hours a day during late summer and early fall as they fatten up to hibernate. The nearest breed population of cougars is in Nebraskas Niobrara River Valleynearly 1,000 miles from Pennsylvanias eastern border (Figure 1). Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout. "He doesn't like men too much," said Suzanne Murray, owner of East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in this south-central Pennsylvania town. Was running and had very long stride, at least 6 foot. They came out and investigated. Mountain lions are helpful in maintaining order in our ecosystem and assist to keep other wildlife numbers in check. A cougar or puma is like a UFO with four feet.. As an apex predator, their extirpationlocalized extinctionhas caused incalculable harm to the ecosystems of Pennsylvania. It is possible for a cougar to escape captivity and be seen in the wild, but an escaped individual likely would not survive long or be able to establish a breeding population. It has been well known that cariabou have migrated from Canada, so why not the mountain lion? It stopped and looked directly at me. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. While it is possible for a cougar to make this journey, it is highly unlike for individuals to survive the journey. Foster said mountain lions and bobcats could not breed. The Everglades1,150 miles south of Pennsylvaniais the only known home to a breeding population of cougars in the East (Figure 1). Mountain Lion Sighting Nov. 11, 2021 A California Mountain Lion was seen at approximately 4:52 p.m. on Nov. 11 near the University Glen water tanks and later on the main part of the campus near Santa Barbara Street and Camarillo Street. On a recent stifling morning in Adams County, the 290-pound mountain lion with perfect bone structure is ignoring the raw chicken breast and pork chops a handler tossed into his pen. 83 responses. This number of car strikes is in spite of having low population densities and the significant efforts to reduce car strikes, such as reduced speed limits, warning signs, and obstacles (fences and road underpasses) built along or under roads that cut through panther habitat. But an image captured by one family's security camera last weekend certainly shows what looks to be a mountain lion. Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. Sep 16, 2018 at 12:00 am. Mountain lions also were reportedly sighted in Cape St . Are dangerous creatures lurking outside your tent flap or in the woods beyond your backyard if you live in Pennsylvania? http://cougarrewilding.org/CougarNews/?p=938, have seen mountain lion in armstrong co.Pa, neibore has seen 2. I live in Harrisburg, in the 70s and by Central Dauphin high school there was a creek called Beaver Creek so one day ask someone what are they called Beaver Creek and said there used to be a beaver there till about seven or eight years ago and the last one was killed by some person they named and he was actually bragging up that he killed the last beaver in Beaver Creek. "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. Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. If you see a bobcat or mountain lion, you can report the sighting to the DEC by calling (518) 357-2158. Black bear can be easily told apart from cougars: black bears have five toes to cougars four and their footpads are more elongated. A second photo of the cat, though shaded, appears to show more of a splotchy coloration on the animal's front limb. They're common in the rural areas of the Lehigh Valley but are moving into more populated areas as evidenced by a600-pound specimen (pictured) that was tranquilized in March after neighbors in Forks Township and Easton's College Hill section called authorities. Orange and tan house cats are also confused for cougars. What is the fascination in Pennsylvania that they always want to kill a mountain line if they find one theyre indigenous they belong there just leave the damn things alone. Most are about three feet long. As a result, multiple sightings across different time ranges could be attributed to the same cat. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. However, the last genuine sighting of a free-roaming mountain lion in the state was in 1967, and even that was suspected to have been someone's escaped or released pet. Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser notes that his agency agrees with San Julian. Mountain lions weigh 90-160 pounds, while bobcats weigh 20-30 pounds. State wildlife authorities have no record of the incident and the promised cougar carcass never arrived. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, bobcats are considered a species of least concern because of their wide distribution, abundance, and stable . But a mix of bounty hunting and heavy foresting killed or pushed out the population. Flickr/Valerie. It's only found in thewestern part of the state. Until recently, whenever the sighting of a mountain lion was reported in PA, the intial response from the PGC was to say the sighting was a misidentification. This offer only applies to OutdoorNews.com and not for any Outdoor News print subscriptions. A bobcat gives you a warm, that-kind-of-looks-like-my-cat-but-slightly-bigger feeling. Coyotes are much smaller, and they have shorter fluffier tails, a pointed face, and large triangular ears. I also seen deer in my yard, a coyote, a mink, a wood turtle and a bear earlier this year as well. Of course, the New Jersey Wildlife people will flat out tell you there are no mountain lions anywhere in New Jersey. The mountain lion ( Puma concolor) is sometimes called cougar, puma, catamount, and panther. 1. They were once a common predator in Pennsylvania until a combination of range-wide habitat loss, prey loss (mainly white-tailed deer and elk), and predator eradication programs in the 1800s drove them to extinction in the Commonwealth and across the East Coast later that century. The cougar was photographed as it made its way from Minnesota to Wisconsin. The diseaseproduces fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes within three to 30 days. I am not a confirmed believer that they do travel Penns woods, however I would NOT rule it out either. I told her I knew what a Maine Coon cat looked like and this was BIG, had short hair and LONG tail. Upperparts are grizzled gray or dark brown to buff, cinnamon tawny, or rufous. Young cougars (one- to two-years old) leave their mothers to establish a new territory. Symptoms usually disappear after four days. But Dave "Gadget" Jones, a retired wildlife conservation officer from Lackawanna County, claims he's seen a white bigfoot and a UFO in Pennsylvania, so who knows? Days to months after the tick bite, victims can suffer severe headaches, heart palpitations, shooting pains, numbness, dizziness and trouble with short-term memory. Travis Lau, a spokesperson for the Game Commission, said the state has a "never say never" approach when it comes to mountain lions and acknowledges that Western cats could be moving east. at least 1 mountain lion hanging out near a relatively fresh, mostly eaten deer . The young adult male was killed by an SUV on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, Connecticut on June 11, 2011. Let us know. There are approximately 4,000 of those 10- to 40-pound cats in the state. Make sure you remove or cover up any bear food source, including garbage or bird feeders at your home. You know I love hunting when I was younger in Pennsylvania but trying to kill the very last animal shows a sign of being inbred. 1 Last 365 Days. Where a house cat would be along as a car tire and half the height of a tire. I have seen Bobcats. Foster said mountain lions and bobcats could not breed. " No humans were injured, but the mountain lion was apparently injured and stunned. House cats tails and fur are also another excellent way to tell them from cougars. Required fields are marked *. Bobcat and coyote tracks have been misidentified as cougar tracks. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, feline predators such as the eastern cougar, which is also known as the mountain lion, are " extirpated ," meaning they're all but wiped out in. The only animal with a similar sized track is the black bear. In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A recent rumor of a cougar killed by a vehicle on Interstate 80 attracted some attention at Penn State. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. A few captive cougars have escaped over the years, but these cats have been quickly recaptured. An escapee is also possible. After the male mountain lion was removed from Red Hill Trail on May 11, additional sightings in that area were reported: one on May 16, and two over the weekend of May 19 and 20. Travis Lau, a spokesperson for the Game Commission, said the state has a "never say never" approach when it comes to mountain lions and acknowledges that Western cats could be moving east. "It's so hard to pin anything down," said John Lutz, the West Virginia man who heads the network, a non-scientific affiliation of mountain lion seekers across the eastern United States. Figure 3. There is no doubt this was a mountain lion. This development promised to resolve a decades-old controversy. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in 1998. Click here to login. It can be difficult to tell how large an animal is in a photo, so it is best to use a known object as a scale. I stopped while i was driving, and as i approached it SLOWLY as not to scare it, it glared at my truck walked towards it,then sat. The bobcat is native to most of North America and is the only feline predator, aside from feral domestic cats, found in Pennsylvania. They wanted to hear from anyone who saw a mountain lion or signs of one, like tracks or scats. They're responsible for80 percent of the pollination of the fruit, legume and vegetable plants we need to eat. We heard the fox screaming multiple times before we saw it. What you wouldn't expect to find here anymore is a mountain lion. My speed was 40mph, I got a good look at it. That was a dead giveaway for Taylor. Some biologists thinks it's time to bring them back to help manage deer populations. Cougars were extirpated from Pennsylvania before the 1900s and exterminated from the entire East Coast by the 1930s (aside from the Florida panther). FAIRFIELD, Pa. 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