Mountain lion spotted nea Westchester County Airport

[dave]

According to Connecticut DEP Biologist Paul Rego this mountain lion killed by a car in Milford CT didn't show any physical indication that the animal was a captive mountain lion that escaped. The cougar was not neutered, or declawed. It didn't have a collar. He did not that the cougar was lean when compared to other wide mountain lions. They also stated that the mountain lion was less then 6 years old.

The CT DEP continues to believe that this particular mountain lion was captive at one time, and is very aggressively pursuing the person who brought this mountain lion into the northeast. They are working very closely with the NYS DEC to compare DNA with physical evidence of other sightings in NYS.

They have performed a DNA test from this particular mountain lion, and are waiting for results. At this point they do not know if it came from the western USA or South America.

You can read more about it here: http://naugatuck.patch.com/articles/dep-slain-mountain-lion-was-held-in-captivity

[mike]

http://www.lohud.com/article/20110620/N ... tain-lions

Good article. His opinions don't seem to have any politics involved.

By the way, we found new mountain lion prints yesterday. Will be posted on the site later.

[mike]

The surprises never seem to end.

[dave]

The Mountain Lion killed in Connecticut originated in South Dakota. It was tracked to Wisconsin. The total distance of travel was 1600 miles.

You can read more about it here: http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?Q=483778&A=4013
http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=2158

[mtnclimber]

So much for everyone saying that they don't exist, and saying show me some tracks or a body. They now have both.

[mike]

Story has just hit CBS News front page of their web site: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/29/scitech/main20085635.shtml
Yup, it's a big story.

[mike]

A good scientist always relies on facts.

[dave]

Here is a disturbing revelation from the NYS DEC:

Cougar killed in Connecticut passed through northeast New York
Posted At : August 18, 2011 11:08 AM | Posted By : Racey, Meagan
Related Categories: cougar, extinct, mountain lion, northeast_ecougar_blog, endangered , puma

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed this week that the mountain lion killed in Milford, Conn., in June 2011 was seen in Lake George, N.Y., in December 2010.

A resident of the town alerted NYSDEC after seeing it in her backyard on December 16. The following day, the state collected hair samples and took photographs of the tracks. DNA analysis confirmed that the hairs were from the same mountain lion killed in Connecticut and tracked through Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010.

A trail camera photographed a young cougar in Oconto County, Wisconsin, in May 2010, and another camera later captured the image of a cougar in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The identity of these is not certain.

The last confirmed mountain lion sighting in New York was a 7.5-pound kitten shot in Saratoga County on Dec. 31, 1993. Characteristics of the kitten, including lesions on the footpads suggestive of captivity on a rough concrete surface and genetics from South American subspecies, suggest it was likely an escaped or released captive cougar.

Source: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/ecougar/bl ... 8638CE7E94

Make you wonder why the DEC was sitting there saying that Mountain Lions don't exist in NYS, while they had 100% proof that this statement was not true. Once again, you have to wonder how many other lies they have been telling. This is just down right disturbing.

[mike]

As soon as the cougar was hit in Conn, they notified the DEC in New York. When I first read this, I had to wonder why they would call officials in New York? This has nothing to do with them. Now, we know why.

More interesting is that if this cougar was in Lake George in Dec of 2010, then there must be another cougar in the Catskills. Because we have prints from a cougar in December of 2010 in the Kaaterskill Clove. Read about it here: http://www.catskillmountaineer.com/forums/phpBB-3.0.5/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=254&sid=a3e1cc452e9debb456d88a5cb89c4a18 We found 3 kills sites during the month of December of 2010.

[mtnclimber]

So much for the DEC's claim, "There are no mountain lions in New York".