The image in the Upper Left was from a Game Camera, sent to me by a friend. "I'm proud to know her," Murray said of the tiger, "but I wish I didn't.". I usually follow-up on these reports and, via email or phone conversations, I receive more details. Mountain lion killed in Connecticut was on the opposite side of Pennsylvania a year ago, Is it real? 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. This is only hearsay, however, since I'm only going on their stories. But the point of this article isn't whether or not mountain lions exist in Pennsylvania or the Poconos. If you see or photograph a puma in the mid-Atlantic states, please email or call me. The states beautiful wilderness and mountainous terrain are prime mountain lion habitats. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. The last documented sighting of an eastern cougar was one killed in Maine in 1938. I believe them. Check out our online field guide to read more in this series. 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? They regularly join the camp of those angrily claiming the commission has introduced the big cats back into Pennsylvania as a control measure against the state's huge deer population. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. If you're interested in this, please pass on this link, and if you see a cat, please let me know! Currently, mountain lions seem to be making a comeback in regard to their historic range. I've know of reports since 1973, in Cooke Forest, the heart of a lot of Pa. wilderness. In many regions, the population within the state is actually increasing! Now consider: If it was confirmed that there was a breeding population of endangered pumas on the mountain ridge behind my house, if the USFWS recognized the existence of this endangered species, what might happen? Yet, except for Florida, which has about 100 of them "Florida panthers"), no eastern state has a verifiable population of these large 100- to 200-pound cats that were extirpated 100 years ago. An article in last year's New York State Conservationist magazine about mountain lions concluded that none exists in that state, even in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Mountain wilderness. 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. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). If pumas do exist in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, could they all be released cats or escapees? For our list, we only included US states with a stable breeding population. Note the long, usually thick tail. In Tennessee, the most likely places you would find them would be in the forest. 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. "If my son would have been on a pedal bike, without a helmet on, that thing would have nailed him," said Walters, 44. Mountain lions can live in almost any habitat including forests, prairies, deserts, and swamps. The cat is known to live in the western U.S. and Florida, South America and Canada. This is huge news for conservationists around the country and a sign that cougars may be heading east once again. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Most, quite honestly, don't know or can't believe or accept what they saw, they really can't believe their eyes. Many of the reports I receive are extremely credible. The Mountain Lion is a large, slender cat with a smallish head and noticeably long tail. Among those who have investigated the primeval times of the Pocono Plateau and Delaware River valleys and tributaries was the late Vernon Leslie, Ph.D., a Wayne County historian and archaeologist. I'm thinking of the solution often suggested for pesky endangered species out west, namely wolves and grizzly bears. In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a. And yet today the debate continues: Are there mountain lions in Pennsylvania? In this at this distant epoch, archaeologists attempt to clear some of the mists and mysteries of prehistoric times. It also mentioned that someone raising a mountain lion without a license may either have let it go when it became too large to handle, or that the animal had escaped. There is no known estimate of the number of mountain lions inhabiting Texas. Me? And, some may be escaped or illegally released pets. However, many of my reports were at distances that people knew, and as you look at the images of the puma there really is a big difference in color and shape between a puma and a house cat. PHILADELPHIA (AP) An instinct coiled way down in the human brain knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. And again, while they may have been mistaken, they certainly were completely convinced that they had seen a puma. With healthy populations and strong conservation programs, however, they seem to be pushing back east. 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. If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. Cougar vs Mountain Lion What Are the Differences? However, if you've seen a mountain lion, or other mystery creature, or evidence of either, in Pennsylvania, contact outdoor writer Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com.). According to the commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. 1.8 miles, 2 hours, moderate. The Bushkill Falls are a series of eight waterfalls in a 300-acre wooded enclave hidden amongst the Poconos. (What is meant by "heads" is not clear.). Are Mountain Lions in Missouri Making a Comeback? Something to consider, even though we all trust the government. 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. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? 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. For example, leopards and jaguars, normally spotted cats, have a melanistic color morph, the 'black panther,' the black leopard or black jaguar. Mountain Lions - Rocky Mountain National Park (U.S. National Park Service) NPS.gov Park Home Learn About the Park Nature Animals Mammals Mountain Lion Mountain Lion Last updated: May 4, 2018 Was this page helpful? 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. Good luck, and let me know! Two other reports went, in detail, on what they saw, the size, the length of tail, etc. Caribou remains, dated by radiocarbon in excess of 10,000 B.C. You be the judge. years are available through this link. I've seen about 20 mountain lions, or pumas, in the field, but all but 2 were in Chile. Murray also has a cross-eyed white tiger named Keisha, who crushed chicken bones with ease but delicately stepped into a metal pool to cool off. The other site, The Cougar Network, is still active, and is reporting the cats expanding range from the West, but offers little about the phenomenon of Pennsylvania cats. The mountain lion, which is also called a cougar, puma or panther, weighs on average between 75-120 pounds, has long whiskers and a distinctive swooping tail. These experiences are still available, but the reality is there is so much more for the mature traveler to enjoy in the Pocono Mountains. What would account for the long tails? Is there a Mountain Lion Conspiracy? 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. Very, very rarely, when I ask someone who would be a likely candidate (a hunter, someone who owns a camp in the deep woods, travels likely routes often, foresters), 'Have you ever seen a mountain lion?' They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own. Additionally, California banned the hunting of cougars back in 1972, encouraging population growth. Over the last few months several people have responded to this question with reports of their own. John Leap of East Stroudsburg's Lakeside Peat Humus Co. and an employee, Paul Strauser, found the bones in a peat bog off Route 209. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, displays a taxidermy mount of a mountain lion in glass case, with the notation, "This lion, found near Hawk Mountain in Berks County around 1871, is the last native mountain lion known to have been shot in Pennsylvania.". If it were, it would be listed. Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a great litter of boulders, rocks, clay and lakes covering today's landscape. 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. . On the other hand, there are probably thousands of game cameras covering water holes and game trails throughout Pennsylvania, and to my knowledge no one has yet recorded a puma. Heres What the Data Says. 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! Ashley Catherine Fontones, Pocono Record. The sightings were great bear views, but too fast or fleeting to allow me to grab a camera. Controlled hunting of mountain lions is allowed within the state. This animal was undoubtedly a bobcat. Thank you for reading! At one time mountain lions, or more properly puma (Puma concolor), enjoyed the widest geographic range of any New World mammal, and were found throughout all of the contiguous United States. 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. 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. Transient males have been sighted as far east as New York! "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. 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. Because the neck bothered me, I decided to do some Photoshop on the puma in the lower left, moving his head higher up and changing the image to a contrasty black and white - to give a silhouette for comparision. "He doesn't like men too much," said Suzanne Murray, owner of East Coast Exotic Animal Rescue in this south-central Pennsylvania town. That summer, a team from the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg excavated the nearly complete skeleton of the ancient elephant, the first of its kind found in the Commonwealth. However, it is clearly a mountain lion, and I'm presenting this poor image as a baseline reference for anyone recording a mountain lion on a game camera, or seeing one. In July and August I received seven different reports, and everyone involved had done a search of some type to compare images of bobcats and pumas. The name Pocono is derived from the . In captivity mountain, lions can live to be about 20 years old. With that in mind, lets break down how we classified the states. the more visible white on the chest, the lack of spots, the huge hind quarters. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. The coat can be spotted or solid. Check out the tails of the two! After all, how many people have pumas? Outdoor adventures abound, and so do our fabulous shopping and restaurants. This happens usually around the 18-month mark. Some cats had a South American genetic profile. The Pocono Mountains are . Same story as 'black panthers' across the country, because of course there, scientifically, can be no such thing. Fish and Wildlife Service. Who knows? Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? "While it seems unlikely, it's not impossible that these animals are showing up in PA," said David Foster, a biology professor at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg. To learn more about "lion country" in Colorado check here. 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! And this genetic mix has been recognized, and the Florida puma is still protected. 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. Have some feedback for us? Mountain lions that are looking for new breeding areas are known as transient and are almost always males. 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. Martinelli said that if there were mountain lions in Pennsylvania, there would be more sightings of them. As they get older, the cubs begin to leave the den and explore. Who knows? Just take your pick of all these incredible Pocono lake house rentals or just a Pocono cabin for rent, in luxury of course! YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Pocono Record sports writer Mike Kuhns wrote a great piece on Oct. 14, "Does the mountain lion roam PA?" If you see a puma (mountain lion-cougar), contact me. Features Writer Micaela Hood is signing off with the Pocono Record after five years of covering arts, culture, entertainment and sports in northeastern . Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. Local outlets carried reports of cougar encounters at least into the 1910s. Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day. Those special two were across a river just outside Glacier National Park in Montana, and consisted of a mother and two cubs (Mary saw both cubs, I only saw one, and we did so separately, as we were driving two vehicles). Here's more about mountain lions in Pennsylvania: If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. They often would catch sheep in broad daylight. The 2,400-square-mile area has long been a popular outdoor recreation area boasting hunting, fishing, skiing, and more. The first settlers kept sheep to supply their household with wool. Mountain lions weigh 90-160 pounds, while bobcats weigh 20-30 pounds. I've seen scores of leopards in the grasslands and deserts of East Africa and I've never seen, nor spoke with anyone, who has seen a black leopard there. Recently, a man I spoke with told me that he was reminded of a sighting he and two friends had 20 years earlier, and after recalling the incident he was motivated to call his college buddies and reflect on their observation. Every year we receive a few similar reports from hikers, hunters or other outdoor enthusiasts. Arkansas isnt somewhere that we would generally think of when looking for mountain lions, but they are on the rebound! 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. An escapee is also possible. "With all of that said, though, there's a general lack of evidence of 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. do I get an immediate, 'Oh yeah!' An animal's coat can stray far from the norm. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there are no wild, breeding cougar populations in this state anymore. I don't want to seem like a nut case here, but I must ask this question and you'll soon understand why? Certainly it is a romantic notion, but I've always held out the hope that pumas still roamed the east. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, displays a taxidermy mount of a mountain lion in glass case, with the notation, "This lion, found near Hawk Mountain in Berks County around 1871, is the last native mountain lion known to have been shot in Pennsylvania. In personal contacts, that monthly average might even be higher. But an image captured by one family's. 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. The question is just like in the story of the boy who cried wolf) if that day ever arrives, how will we believe those first, true sightings after so many hoaxes have been perpetrated on the public? The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. Mountain lions are 7-9 feet, while bobcats are 3 feet long. Let me know if you have seen one! It has long been popular with honeymooners, but today the Poconos are a popular destination for families, skiers, adventure seekers, NASCAR fans, and those from urban areas around New England, New York City, Philadelphia . Most nature magazines state whether the photos were taken "under controlled conditions" rather than in the wild.). On that, I've had emails sent with game trail photo attachments, or killed pumas, supposedly shot in Pennsylvania, but these were hoaxes. The mountain lion, which is also called a cougar, puma or panther, weighs on average between 75-120 pounds, has long whiskers and a distinctive swooping tail. The northeastern U.S. population is thought to have disappeared in the 1930s. It is an Italianate Villa home that features authentic Victorian furniture and finishing. I am bothered by the constricted neck of the cat on the game camera; 2. the tail is curved down, rather than up, but it may have been in mid-swing; 3. the goldenrod-appearing flower, and the background of cars, gives a sense of scale and location. Although a large proportion of the Lenape Nation was dispersed far from their ancestral homelands in the 18th century, colonial settlers and their descendants struggled to live in this region with wolves and cougars inhabiting the forests. There are approximately 4,000 of those 10- to 40-pound cats in the state. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is always open to review evidence, but to date only hoaxes have crossed the PGC. Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. Let me explain this. Several populations of Gray Squirrels scattered around the country are black, and recently I heard of a neighborhood of black Eastern Chipmunks. There are at least 20,000 black bears in Pa., and a small percentage are killed each year, but we're probably not talking about 20,000 pumas in the state. Once a mountain lion matures, it will leave its mother and find its own territory. The head of the puma is small in comparision to a house cat when compared to the entire body. A mastodon's skull was first located in Marshalls Creek, Monroe County, on July 5, 1968. In August, Amy Walters said her 12-year-old son was spooked by a mountain lion in Forest County in northwest Pennsylvania while riding his dirt bike. The coat can be spotted or solid and varies in color from light browns, reddish and silvery grey. The agency has declared extinct the eastern cougar, one of 11 subspecies ofmountain lions native to North America. That's true. 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. But more importantly, he also said that regardless of color, he saw a big cat, with a tail that looked to be about 4 feet long! However, it is clearly a mountain lion, and I'm presenting this poor image as a baseline reference for anyone recording a mountain lion on a game camera, or seeing one. 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. Mountain lions, Goodrich wrote, were more dreaded than wolves as the cat could climb over any fence that could be built. Although in captivity, they can live much longer. In his 1973 book "Faces in Clay" Leslie lays open the archaeological treasures of stone arrow or spear points and tools lost long ago by a succession of native peoples. State Game Officials do concede that some people may indeed have seen a puma, but it was undoubtedly a released captive. I haven't seen any reports like that.". This, after they were told that there were no pumas in Pa. Can so many people be so wrong? And when our officers go out to investigate reports of mountain lions, or when our staff reviews photos that are sent to us, often we're able to verify some other animal mistakenly was reported as a mountain lion.". They ponder rare fossil evidence unearthed and seek to make sense of stratified geology, both fleeting in the face of what we call progress. Mountain lions typically eat about one deer per week, along with other smaller prey as the opportunity arises. The Florida panther is an endemic subspecies of cougar that has lived in the everglades region for a very long time. It seems unlikely, considering captives have never shown this trait, but people are reporting big black cats. (National Park Service). "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. More Questions about Pumas in Pennsylvania. Contact the AZ Animals editorial team. These powerful, majestic creatures once lived across much of the country but have since been killed or pushed out of most of it. I have received about two dozen reports during that time, including one game camera image that still looks very credible to me. Bo Ottman is a landscaper in Connecticut who founded an . After a gestation period of 90 days, female mountain lions will give birth to litters of about one to six cubs. I want to believe they're here, but I'm having some trouble. For many who have believed to have seen a cougar in the wilds of the Poconos, these arguments might be less than convincing. Best hike for seeing waterfalls. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. This is not a Pennsylvania puma! This one streaked across the road in the early evening, and fortunately, it stopped when it climbed a hill on the other side where I had another view from my side of the truck. The story behind our new web site. Caribou meat apparently was part of their diet. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. The same goes for New York and several other eastern states. Mountain lion killed in Connecticut was on the opposite side of Pennsylvania a year ago, Is it real? They are generally believed to be young cats roaming in search of new breeding territories to claim as their own. There is a small breeding population in the state, despite being killed off in the 1920s. Compare any game camera image with the shots above, or this game camera image, to confirm your identification.