Recent Mountain Lion Sightings

Thanks, I could use a better reference book. I have to wonder about the family aspect. Even beaver eventually kick out the young males. Moose show up, in the valley, looking at cows with romantic intentions!
The long tail cat pair, well seen, were best seen feeding on a road kill deer. Today I broached the topic with some long time locals (Iv only been here 22 years) and came up with more ,very believable stories, long tail cats in winter, great depiction! Wait one! current stories, "yeah they live over there..." Perhaps I should dust off a long lens! Like the BBC thing on fox, they may just have adapted. Elusive? Yes Far? No! I must check this out. We just got rain and snow. Rain again on top which is frozen.. were is that old 400mm? Chris

That sounds good Chris. Are you going to sit down like deer hunting in a nice spot? If you get any pictures post them here, and definitely use the cougar sighting form to send to the DEC (which is earlier in this thread), and if you have a picture the DEC cant make up some story that its not a cougar, unless they say the picture is probably from somewhere else. If you do see one and get some pics, take a picture of a local landmark to prove that it was in NY. Good Luck. Mike.

Wamp -

Oneida Lake is northeast of Syracuse... the big lake in the center of NY. Freshwater AND trecherous. Check here for bowfin info: http://www.bowfinanglers.com/WhatIs.html

Truxton is southeast of Syracuse, between Cortland and Cazenovia. Labrador Ski Area is in Truxton.

Thanks Rico, I have never seen colors in fish like in that head shot. Id make that wall paper, but it would frighten me wife.

The body and scales look much like 'grass carp', which are a nuter (all female) hybred used to keep land locked ponds clean.

My father in law worked for Onita Limited in Sheril (sp?) NY they had a recreational facility on Onita lake. The wife refuses to put in there because of the waves she has seen.

I dug out the 400mm, but really wonder just how long ago the cats were there. Some wild thing did eat a calf's ears off recently. I burnt a lot of time hunting this year and am anxious to get on the trail. In other words I am not looking forward to a lot of sitting around.

The hunting approach, is a natural, but most good sightings have been from cars or trucks.
I have noticed, deer will stay put for a car, up untill, switching off the motor.
Camera batteries are on the list for the next trip off the hill.

One of the old timers said the cat's tail occasionally hit the snow, leaving tracks, as it ran. This I had not considered. Chris

Thats good to now that the tails drag in the snow. Now its easier to tell if the tracks are cougar or not.
One good way to see those cats that other people have done is to ride around remote road with a spotlight around 2am, I have seen bobcats, deer, coyotes, and many other animals doing that.

The tail prints were intermintent and only in deep snow. Encon get's touchey about spotting, especially it there is a fire arm in the car. It does seem to be legal. I am thinking rather than stealth, an approach around the routine of farm work may get the camera inside that half mile. Chris

Wamp, Oneida Ltd's recreational facility is Lewis Point, which is the exact location my brother caught the fish!

Rico, thanks, small world. I drove the basic area were the cat's are said to be, saw nothing to point a direction, may be over the week end I'll get a closer look in. Chris

Recent article on CNN about a mountain lion attack on some mountain bikers:

CNN link

The lion had to be shot and they even found evidence of another person being dragged off from before.

Jay

Be careful what you wish for.....

Just read the article, Jay. OUCH! Maybe we're lucky there's few, if any, mountain lions in the NE.

I guess that shows that Mountain Lions can be dangerous animals and should be taken seriously. Yet, attacks are very rare.

I just read in a magazine that had something about wolves, and its said that they sometimes travel hundreds of miles looking for places to go, so its not out of the question that a wolf might pass through areas of the northeast now and then coming from Canada.

WHO CAN GUESS THE YEAR OF THIS CAR?

Hint: Check out the rock

1963

All I see are ghosts. Car I think more like 65-67.
I could use a wagon like that for canoe carries. Chris

68 or 69

Why just today {Jan. 13}, there was a small blurb in the Bekshire Eagle, about the sighting of mountain lion prints in the snow. A quarter mile from where the A.T. crosses West Branch Rd. in Washington.
The Mass. Fisheries and Wildlife Dept. has yet to officially recognize mountain lions as a species found in Mass.. A reliable source I have tells me that if the Dept. were to recognize the existance of the animal, they would have to develope a 'management plan' for them, whatever that entails.
Too many reliable sightings to ignore.

The catamount......

Yup, I saw one..............on CNN (as referenced by Jay in his post). On this (and others forums) I often see people talking about Mountain lions and hoping that they are here with us in the east.

This account, plus a phenominal book on the subject (BEAST IN THE GARDEN) illistrate the dangers that these large predators can represent.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

I've read the book and can attest to the fact that it is a real eye-opening new perspective on the subject of "wildlife maintanience". Great read.

Re: WHO CAN GUESS THE YEAR OF THIS CAR?

Remix said:

Hint: Check out the rock

Click to expand...

We going to get an answer soon or what?

Hey yeah, what's up with that rock? I think I see an out of scale guy ( moving) and may be a critter. I think the car could be as new as 71.
I'd like to get a look at one of these cats, but would be plenty happy to get a good picture of just a plain bob cat. Pets have been disapearing around here for years as it is. Chris

Big Cat taken last year out west somewhere. and a link to a lynx.
They are a bit bigger than a bobcat but look similar

lynx