My father lives in Woodstock CT and has seen mountain lions three times in the past year. He's an astute and precise wildlife observer, having been everywhere in the world looking at birds, and I don't doubt he's right. He also knows several other people in the area who have seen them, and one woman who was actually attacked. The CT DEP and assorted other agencies have really thrown cold water on that event (they said it was a dog) as well as other sightings because they don't want to deal with the aftermath. There really seems to be quite a cover-up going on there.
Could you tell me about the attack. Was it reported by any news organization in CT? I have never heard of an attack. While I am open to the possibility that a lion or two might be in CT. I have seen no evidence and I spend a fair amount of time tromping around in the Bigelow Hollow area near cat rocks which I believe would be ideal cat habitat as it was in the past.Originally Posted by Sleeping Giant
Not passing judgment one way or another, just looking for information,
Keith
"The real work of men was hunting meat. The invention of agriculture was a giant step in the wrong direction, leading to serfdom, cities, and empire. From a race of hunters, artists, warriors, and tamers of horses, we degraded ourselves to what we are now: clerks, functionaries, laborers, entertainers, processors of information."- Ed Abbey
The story was told to me by my father, who was told it by the next-door neighbor of the woman who was attacked, so bear that in mind.
This woman is around 60 and has a large property in the Woodstock area. She was doing something outside and was suddenly knocked down from behind. She was clawed on the face and upper body briefly, then whatever it was for some reason ran off. The woman saw it clearly only as it was running away, and swears it was a mountain lion. Her husband only saw her after the attack and didn't see the animal, but said that the claw marks couldn't possibly have come from a dog or anything else with the heft to knock someone down from behind. What's especially interesting is that there was some kind of accident report filed (I don't know with whom) and someone from the State DEP or health organization showed up to take down her story. When she insisted it was a mountain lion she was told that that was impossible, that it must have been a dog, and that she shouldn't talk about the incident. Not surprisingly, according to my father there was absolutely no press about this.
Again, this is obviously hearsay, so bear that in mind. However, my father says that people in Woodstock are quite concerned about the situation. One farmer he knows lost a couple of sheep to an unseen animal which pretty much ripped them apart. He staked a goat to see if he could lure whatever it was and see. The goat was ripped to pieces the next morning, but no other evidence.
I realize this all sounds lurid and apocryphal, but my observation is that the people I know in that area tend to be very down-to-earth and straight shooters.
Why they would have told her to not talk about it I can't imagine. What, is national security at risk? She should have told everyone and call the papers. Providing she wasn't worried about ridicule.
The next time he has an extra goat and wants to sacrifice it have him call me. I have a digital game camera that would have caught the details. We would have had a series of pictures. Seriously.
Keith
"The real work of men was hunting meat. The invention of agriculture was a giant step in the wrong direction, leading to serfdom, cities, and empire. From a race of hunters, artists, warriors, and tamers of horses, we degraded ourselves to what we are now: clerks, functionaries, laborers, entertainers, processors of information."- Ed Abbey
I do about 90% of my paving work in the Dayville/Putnam area of CT (just south of Woodstock) and can vouch that the locals are convinced that mountain lions are back. There's been a few sightings, but most get brushed under the rug. The vogue name offered up by wildlife officials is a Lynx or a Cougar. There was a sighting a couple of years ago in the metro-west area of Mass that officials steadfastly swear was a large dog, though the police officers that saw the animal swear it was a cat, and far too large to be a bobcat. See this story
Wildlife officials have gone to great lengths to keep these sightings hushed. I don't know why, but every time a local comes out with a sighting there is a very harsh tone in the official response that borders on ridiculing those that claim to have seen such a large cat.
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin', we gonna do what 'They' say can't be done.
We gotta long way to go, and a short time to get there, I'm east bound just watch ole' Bandit run. - Jerry Reed
First of all a mountain lion attack would get a lot of people all nerved up, and people would panic. Also if there is confirmed mountain lions in the state.. they would have to devote resources to protect, study, monitor etc etc. Those resources just aren't there. CT isn't the only state brushing off possible mt lion populations. States list mountain lions as sighting and then say it was an exotic pet that escaped, which is the case, sometimes. A horse farm down the road from my place in southern NH had a horse that was attacked by "something". Was written up as a coyote attack. I didn't know coyotes would leave long deep claw marks on top of the horse rump and shoulder area. So according to the powers that be... New England does not have a Mt lion population.
Once in a while you get shown the light
in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
---- Robert Hunter
This seems like an odd statement:
"Wildlife expert Rob Calvert said that he believes a bear might have startled the horse, setting off a chain of events that fatally injured her. Because of his finding, the state will pay for the Smiths' veterinarian bills, which added up to $600".
Exactly why are they paying for this?
Tom Rankin
Web Master - NY Forest Fire Lookout Association
Volunteer - Balsam Lake Mountain
Past President - Catskill 3500 Club
CEO - Views and Brews
No kidding, I'm having a hard time understanding that myself...I wonder if the state requested some sort of autopsy or tests or something and as a result is covering those? I can't think of any logical reason for us to be paying for this...
Followed Google track to this firsthand account, reported in a decidedly improbable forum:
Mountain lion
The narrator sounds like she knows the characteristics of some wild animals, but her unfamiliarity with their actual weights gives me pause. Rest of description sounds spot on, except there's no mention of the characteristic long tail. Hmmm.
sardog1
"Å! kjære Bymann gakk ei stjur og stiv,
men kom her up og kjenn eit annat Liv!
kom hit, kom hit, og ver ei daud og lat!
kom kjenn, hot d'er, som heiter Svevn og Mat,
og Drykk og Tørste og det heile, som
er Liv og Helse i ein Hovedsum."
-- Aasmund O. Vinje, "Til Fjells!"
hmmm....... more smoke....... but fire?
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