Hes also unafraid to take unpopular positions when he deems it necessary: Shortly before our meeting, hed signed a petition in favor of keeping ATVs off public roads. Early in the morning. And so I just wanted to share my share my experience with you guys and it was pretty awesome to see if you get to see one albeit it was in the brush. I was at the Sentinel as a reporter there for about four years and during that time I probably wrote close to a half dozen stories or so on this topic including a lengthy feature at one point that in which I spoke to several people from around the banana region claimed to have seen mountain lions that at one time or another. So I think in that story there's there's something for the believers and the nonbelievers and I and you know Mark L. Brock is who is a gentleman with the cougar Network told me this story is evidence that that if they were here we would know about it. So so. That animal had come from South Dakota, traveling more than 1,500 miles to get to New England.. The cat is dead. When I accepted the assignment to write about my quest to uncover the truth regarding the existence of cougars in New England, I had little idea what I was agreeing to. Peter Biello: Rick I believe you did mention that that they do leave carcasses up in the tree from time to time but are there any other species known in New Hampshire to do this on a regular basis. And just one more note about this danger question when even when you look at the states that have extended populations stable populations of mountain lions attacks are relatively rare. Peter Biello: Well Karl Jarvis a former reporter for The King's son Nile thank you very much for for calling in and sharing your perspective and to his point Patrick T. I mean yes we haven't met the scientific burden of proof here in New Hampshire as far as physical evidence is is concerned but is there room at Fish and Game For A kind of an informal nod to all of the people who have somehow convinced themselves and possibly some others that yeah there may be occasional sightings here. Case 1 To date, Keeping Track has helped conserve 40,000 acres in 12 states and inQuebec. And trying to figure out the little pieces to identify him so I bring up the names the differences but the appearances can be confusing for some. Patrick Tate: If I could just say one thing. It was a flooded area. And those and that's how you can go from a story that Pat says I have nothing to say about that to a story that you know could be the first verified sighting in over 100 years. In 2011, the U.S. Really appreciate you guys being here as well. Also, Bobcats are spreading into areas in which they have not been seen before. The last catamount killed in Vermont stands under glass just inside the doors to the Vermont Historical Museum in Montpelier, a hop, skip, and a jump down the block from the statehouse. Indeed, in 2011, a male cougar was hit and killed by a car in Milford, Connecticut; through its DNA, wildlife biologists were able to trace the cat back to South Dakotas Black Hills, some 2,000 miles distant. This isnt to say she believes none of these animals has stepped foot on New England soil over the past century. Caller: Are probably. Patrick Tate New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist thanks very much for being here this morning really appreciate it. Ottmann nodded. The same with garlic mustard. Patrick Tate: So it's very typical. I'm Peter Biello in for Laura NOI. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HD PR fine Peter Biello and today we're talking with folks who can tell us about the mysterious elusive mountain line and whether or not it is actually here in New Hampshire. I have learned one thing in my career, and thats to never say never, she said. Pinterest. It doesn't happen as much anymore. What set it off was a National Geographic special on mountain lions in California, right after my daughter and I had two encounters in my driveway, Betty told me. I don't see the hoaxes anymore at that level. But that was OK. Bo Ottmannknew they were out there. But I do think that it's appropriate that a fishing game agency would recognize verifiable proof if they could. Anytime at any HP broad dot org or subscribe to our podcast search Apple podcasts Google Play or stitcher for an HP bar exchange. Caller: Oh hi. What's interesting about Bobcats is here in the Northeast we have some very large bobcats. You need a permit to have that. But other hard evidence of the big cats presence is elusive. I was aware, too, of how a certain mythology surrounding the animal had taken root in Vermonts culture and even its identity: The University of Vermonts athletic teams, for instance, are known as the Vermont Catamounts, and their logo features a snarling cat lunging through the cleft of a V.. You're on the air. NHPR is nonprofit and independent. A couple of summers ago I found it in our yard and was happy to see it by cultivating it into a small patch. Email exchange it an HP fraud org or give us a call 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Caller: It had to be a mountain lion convinced I was about 30. We met for lunch on a Sunday morning in early March, and it didnt take long for me to understand why Harrigan is such a popular columnist. Ecosystem Management Consultants of New England, Ask Sam, and recently fielded question about mountain lions, Manchester installs monitors to track air quality disparities. He can be reached by phone at 860-275-7297 or by email: pskahill@ctpublic.org. So maybe a good pet for you but not for your neighbor if you just stop by unannounced. Thank you. ghost, Re(1): didnt win the pwrball. So I would put this in the category of sort of like shark attacks right. [Betty] and the other guys dont do this shit. Pat what do you think the mystique of the mountain lion. Rick van de Poll: Yes. I have no choice but to take this seriously, he told me. Fear is actually one of the most powerful ecological forces we know, and its a really important management tool., According to Laundre, the problems caused by a relatively fear-free ecosystem are not always obvious, in part because they can take decades to fully manifest. OK. That location they just described we had two or three Bobcats radio collared on just off the runway in Laconia airport. Patrick Tate: So one thing I'd say is DNA would definitely identify an animal animal's Mark line or not. I pull it up but may not have done so soon enough. Peter Biello: So if they were female mountain lions here they would be more males just because that's what they're looking for. So that that's more or less I think why I'm here and why I got into this in nineteen ninety nine I found a what appeared to be a print of a mountain lion and that was in the Osprey mountains and I thought well OK that's that's a print. Here's where sightings have occurred since. And you know all that. If it's just in the middle of a greenfield you can't prove anything. I just saw the head and the tail that was leaving. In the 37 years Ive been working, things have changed in ways Id never have predicted. Thank you. Well I can't tell you what you saw. Peter Biello: We got an e-mail question from Robert in Epsom who asks are sightings or encounters with these big cats less dangerous here where they're passing through than out west where those same mountain lines might be establishing territory Rick. There have been several sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. On another large animal that is most definitely here: bears. 2, 2015) French wrote a thorough piece, "Mountain Lions in Massachusetts: Distinguishing the Fiction from the Facts." Women control our lives. It was some sort of a Lion Mountain Lion animal. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. I was aware, too, of how a certain mythology surrounding the animal had taken root in Vermonts culture and even its identity: The University of Vermonts athletic teams, for instance, are known as the Vermont Catamounts, and their logo features a snarling cat lunging through the cleft of a V., I met with Morse at her home in Jericho. Sam Evans-Brown: And second the evidence required is is you know pretty pretty tough to gather. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. None of the rumors are true. Patrick Tate: Same here in New Hampshire too. Can they really all be cases of false identification? Well, theres no difference between Maine and New Brunswick, anyway, said Betty. Well thanks for sharing. Some argue that it's a leap of faith. Peter Biello: I did mention four feet nose to tail would be kind of small for a mountain lion. Peter Biello: Today on the program Patrick Tate New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife biologist and far better project leader Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in which is about the natural world and how we use it. Jason Hawley says his office gets lots of calls about mountain lions each year. Really appreciate it. And he said, This is where the mountain lion crossed. We walked in and there were fresh bobcat tracks in there. For instance, a favorite food for deer is the seedlings of forest tree species. Part of this belief is rooted in his journalistic experience, which across the decades has cultivated his nose for sincerity. Sam Evans-Brown: And when we talk about subspecies this actually leads to to an interesting tangent which is that the field of biology recently has been sort of revolutionized by the use of DNA to determine what subspecies are. Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says data dont support a breeding population of mountain lions in Connecticut. And there's there's no evidence of that cat's movement in that entire you know 12 hundred miles stretch of its journey. Peter Biello: So Patrick today Fish and Game no downward pressure on you to deny the existence at all costs of mountain lions here in New Hampshire. But but I've also seen it cited the opposite way that look they're very secretive. Betty, for instance, has presented on Eastern cougars more than 300 times, gathering many hundreds of sighting reports in the process. ml central ma. And so far we have not had any positive mark lion scats or any DNA. That's too big for Bobcat. Earlier in the year, Id attended one of these presentations, and even in the tiny village of Woodbury, Vermont, on a stiflingly hot summer evening, nearly 100 people showed up to hear her speak and see her photographs (Morse is a magnificent wildlife photographer). Peter Biello: Yeah well what do you think Pat is. I noticed it had a really big sweeping tail that kind of curled up behind it and all but still at that point because everyone says there's no mountain lions here. Support NHPR by becoming a sustaining member today! From came from out west they tracked it all the way back to the Black Hills in the Dakotas. Really appreciate it. Hawley: That animal was documented. I didn't realize mullein was an invasive even though I have it popping up in strange placesin my yard every year. When they were landing or taking off and it seems like it's been there for like. There was no sign of it. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. Peter Biello: So let's say Rick that it was confirmed that there that there are mountain lines here in New Hampshire. Do they travel. So. Weve done a lot of work over the years investigating sightings. 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. 2023 Yankee publishing, Inc., An Employee-Owned company, all rights reserved. I would always share potential sightings with Tom French, Ph.D., assistant director of MassWildlifes Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program for nearly 35 years, now retired. There was the vaguest of trails, crisscrossed by deadfalls and a sharp-thorned bush that soon drew blood from Ottmanns right hand. We know that the closest established breeding population is in either the Everglades of Florida theres a small population down there and then out in South Dakota and Nebraska. So the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station has a database on mountain lion and they can identify. They lived perhaps elsewhere in New England and they were just passing through and happened to have an encounter of some sort. Is there a way we can learn more about these dispersing mountain lions that may travel through the Granite State and that I would ask you certainly part about whether or not a he's spending too much time chasing down these kind of false leads or B would rather be doing something else that is more informative to whether or not we actually have or can prove that we have dispersing mountain lions in the state. If mountain lions returned to Massachusetts, there is no need to update current forest management practices. Somewhere the way they travel the things they do they're going to leave evidence. Like Tate, he gets a lot of photos and . Yet this young male traveled about 1,800 miles. The DNA the DNA that they were able to pull from the cat suggested that it was a dispersed mountain lion that came. In 1994, scat collected after a sighting in Craftsbury, Vermont, was found to contain cougar hair (the animals are prone to ingesting their hair while grooming), and the commissioner of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department circulated a memo with the following line: It is possible that cougars of unknown origin may be breeding to a limited extent in Vermont. bobcat in new england article-By katchaya May 23, 2017 at 06:22:02 AM. Thanks also to Rick van de Poll naturalist and founder of ecosystem management consultants of New England and Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in about the natural world and how we use it. A:I have hoped to see a big cat, that is bigger than a bobcat, since NatureWatch began getting reports in the 1980s. McEnroe: It is an uphill challenge. Rick shaking his head so Rick now correct me please. Sam Evans-Brown: So I just had two thoughts which is that we hear a lot of these stories and all of us here have heard these stories. Peter Biello: Well I want to ask Patrick about one of these stories a few years ago you had a story about someone who claimed to. I think they never left, Ottmann piped in. And boy it was big it had to be at least 200 pounds the thing was you and and it just made a little bit of noise and it was gone. Re (1): Bobcats in Feeding Hills - By weather01089 October 6, 2014 at 06:44:20 PM. We think theyre coming in from Canada, Betty told me. My wife and I saw a mountain lion. Sue Morse: First and foremost if you have color or if you could see details of color look at the front of the face around the Pumas muzzle the muzzle itself is pure white. In their estimation, the presence of a breeding cougar population in New England would likely stem from our proximity to Canada, where, as they rightly point out, DNA analysis has resulted in 19 positive identifications across Quebec and New Brunswick since 2001 (although some of these were shown to be of South American lineage, suggesting escaped pets).
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