mountain lions in new hampshire

The species that once inhabited the Northeast, known as the eastern mountain lion, is now extinct. Give today. So if you were to ask me has a mountain lion ever passed through New Hampshire and been spotted by somebody who wasnt able to get hard evidence? Id personally be willing to say "probably, yes.". Peter Biello: Let's talk to Ron and where Ron thanks very much for calling. On a dirt road. We're not in the woods. NHPR is nonprofit and independent. So I know it's another unconfirmed report but you string enough of these together. Through DNA they approximate area in the United States or North America where I was born. Maps of Trapping Take by Town 1994 to 2004. So take care of this problem. Pat ruse and he was sampling doing DNA samples from cats in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So so. We've met Fish and Game's BURDEN OF PROOF. No I saw a camel. You saw what you saw. 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. We speculate they dont want us to screw up tourism we dont know whats going on. I'm Peter Biello in for Laura NOI. Can you tell us about that story. If it's someone that has an illegal captive animal that is accustomed to humans those leave a lot of evidence because they want to go around humans to find food meaning they're used to being fed by humans. And why would they what. Which which I think Pat and I have both experienced. 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. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about the natural world and how we use it. His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. Chartered 1973; Member of District 44-H; . There's a lot of photographs that you can see that it's very clearly a tabby cat that someone has thought was a mountain lion. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HP yard today we're talking about the mysterious elusive majestic Mystic Mountain Lion. And they were using all the habitat. I mean there was this one lady I remember and tough tomorrow. Ive received pictures of dogs at odd angles, says Tate. JavaScript must be enabled for some features to display properly. The Eastern mountain lion is extinct in the eastern United States and Canada, but in 2011, a . Pat humans people leave deer carcasses up in trees. I've actually had to walk in on one or two now and look at what was going on and figured out what was going on. So I think the point that I just want to get across is that there is a very strong sense this here in the and not region that there is that there is some sort of mountain lion population how large it is how extensive it is. They used to roam the entire continent, but have become extinct in most US states. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. Some are included in lists of mountains, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) list of the Hundred Highest peaks of New England, or the . And those are not the same things. BUT THAT SAID, Id love to be proven wrong. So so do what you can get to do what you can to get proof. Do cougars live in New England? Monday, December 5th: Mountain Lions in New Hampshire? And I have to use that word allegedly because there is so much dispute about what people see and what they actually see. Course like Sue said you have to see it and it's not always that visible. What kind of animal is that. Reports without physical evidence are not dismissed, however Fish and Game cannot verify a sighting report without physical evidence. Peter Biello: Let's go to Mike in Epping. She is renowned for tracking. The panther, Fells concolor, is a beast of many names, most frequently referred to in New Hampshire history as catamount, but sometimes known locally as "Indian Devil" or "Carcajou", under which . Had great trees behind it beautiful ferns on the ground so it brought me down on the site and the ferns on the ground matched. 50 feet above the most. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. The 17-year-old Kiger mustang mare was born in Bend, Oregon, said Hodskins, who got her . I would just suggest that in my experience as a reporter covering this covering this issue for a few years at least at what point do we reach a certain critical mass for lack of a better term of accounts where I'm not to suggest that you guys aren't taking this possibility seriously. If you missed part of today's program listen to the exchange. Okay. There have been several sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. This is the exchange. Thank you very much for listening. About two years ago I was at the Laconia airport on the way home from the airport and there's a big lake on one side called Lily Pond. Now Bobcat is a completely different species. Someone's got to see one they're very secretive. The second story window through about 30 feet away from it. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. Peter Biello: Mm hmm. Patrick Tate: Yeah yeah. Select image for larger view. For starters, part of the confusion might come from the fact that the eastern cougar was taken off the endangered species list earlier this year. But the state always denies it, and none of us know why they deny it. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. So they're scary. Caller: And the more I thought about it the color of it it was definitely not a bobcat. And so so with their limited staff and limited budget that is that is more and more limited every year because you know fewer people are buying hunting and fishing licenses. Patrick Tate: Martin Like what about Panther Panther saying animals same animal and like a bit of trivia Guinness Book of World Records says the animal with the most names is in English alone they're supposedly 40 names for Mount lion. And the second question is this a behavior mountain lions exhibit. You could trace that was this same cat from point to point to point. Fish and Wildlife Service decided all of the cougars, pumas, and mountain lions in the country are actually the same species, and that species hasnt had a breeding population anywhere near the Northeast for at least 70 years. That's the real story is they can't follow up on every one of these sightings. There are mountain lion in Massachusetts. We'll hear from her periodically through the show. Caller: Absolutely. Peter Biello: From New Hampshire Public Radio I'm Peter Biello in for Lark Knoy and this is the exchange. Mike Guyton pressure was almost Greyhound like very muscular large back legs on it and the coloration on it was almost an orange brownish orange color and so I stop and I look at this thing in the field and as the animal looks at me the face was very chiseled definitely not a bobcat. For instance, Floridas wildlife officials have a similar ghost cat: the black panther. So Marty can you see what I'm getting at is the public sees different names and thinks that they're different animals but it's all the same animal. Now that to me seemed to indicate that they had done the secondary workup that in my opinion proved the existence of probably a disperse or possibly from South Dakota like the one in 2011. There'd be there'd be all sorts of you know basically a lot of hassle required if that were to happen. It's listed as population of least concern. John if you're still on the line here I was going to I don't. 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. Thanks for calling. Patrick Tate: Yes. GAP MOUNTAIN LIONS CLUB Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire (USA) District 44-N . Infinite Scroll Enabled. Let's talk to Mike in Webster. So so they're just a very resilient species and they're pretty they're pretty neat. And then just up behind it you know at about 11 o'clock on one side and whatever that would be on the other side it's black. And so a mountain lion is actually quite large right. Today she talked with us a little bit before the show about why the mountain line is so compelling and why we want it to be part of our world. Get your tickets today and one for fifty dollars or six for 150 at NH PR and board. He told me that on one of his many scouting trips for Black Bear he found a deer carcass up in a tree. Ecosystem Management Consultants of New England, Ask Sam, and recently fielded question about mountain lions, 10 things to do in NH this weekend: Dartmouth Dance, Hamilton De Holanda & more, Turkish restaurant in the Upper Valley aims to help those affected by recent earthquakes, RFK Jr. tells NH crowd hes considering a presidential run, Epping woman pleads guilty to threatening Michigan election official in 2020, We also hear excerpts from an interview with, Read about the most recent cougar "sightings". You know I think it's there's a lady Holly Ernst out in California who has done a lot of the genotyping of mountain lions in Northern California the ones that are of course most people have heard about taking down hikers bikers etc. M from Tree Hill author series presenting Diane lay back. Caller: Hi. NHFG Wildlife Biologist Patrick Tate identifies this cat as a bobcat. So that did it for me. Patrick Tate: I've had hunters hang deer carcasses forbidding wildlife entries. He said matter of fact I do. Patrick Tate: While a juvenile not a juvenile I guess if you want nodes to the base of the tail for juvenile that wouldn't be small at all. 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. But also I think it proves the opposite point which is that sometimes they're pretty secretive because all the way from Minnesota where the where was the first time was picked up on a game camera to New York. Rick van de Poll: Absolutely. And when provoked no animal could stand before him elegantly put. They get a lot of media attention but compared to the the amount of times that a mountain lion could attack a person but doesn't because they don't typically view us as prey. I have one that's more elaborate than that. Yet this young male traveled about 1,800 miles. Mike thanks for your call. It's unfortunate that that kind of thing happens as often as it does. Give us a call if you have a question or comments or story about perhaps seeing a mountain lion here in New Hampshire. One was in Shelton. They create these big latrines that are very obvious. NH Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Patrick Tate reports that so far, mountain lion reports accompanied byphotographs have been misidentified bobcats or housecats, or pictures of mountain lions taken from the Internet and reported as being recorded in New Hampshire. We actually have the largest subspecies of bobcat in the northern part of our state which they can get up to 40 and over 40 pounds which looks like an 80 pound the animal to visually and quite large. Patrick Tate: My line being a large predator a cat watch ambush his prey animal that hasn't been. Residents from Bedford to Berlin have been reporting sightings for years. So when we hear mountain lion there's also cougar there's wild cat there's Bobcat which is not a mountain lion maybe Patrick could you sort of spell out the different terms which are synonymous and which are completely different animals. Thanks for a great thanks. 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: Sam I wanted to ask you a little bit about that first and then turn to Patrick Tate efficient game. Rick van de Poll: Well I didn't. BRADFORD, N.H. - All that snow in parts of the Northeast has more than just kids jumping for winter joy. So the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station has a database on mountain lion and they can identify. So this whole illegal pet trade black market pro trade thing does does exist in a situation like that can happen. Peter Biello: Worth mentioning if we're scaring anybody question a mysterious mountain lions lurking perhaps in someone's backyard. I had a resident in New Hampshire tell me a story of a mountain lion in the 1960s where a person who would come summer in New Hampshire and then live in a different part of the country in the winter had a trailer that was housing his mount line. Caller: I got home to my wife that a gene that you should have seen the cat. Patrick Tate: So the individuals can say that but for an agency that's based on science and what not to to go off with no evidence and then get into that giant debate and all these other issues and put credibility at risk I don't think that would be a great path to take. Well within there. You know one of the the biggest questions I have about that is it points to how much we don't know and if in fact we don't know enough. (Cue the X-Files music: The Government is denying the cougars exist!) This decision was primarily for nerdy phylogeny reasons, though, because the eastern cougar probably never existed. Peter Biello: The number is 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. It was in the spring flash kind of early summer and my wife looked at you look at the size of an adult bear and we were up in arms. They sent it already. NH Fish and Game relies on physical evidence to answer questions about the presence or absence of mountain lion in the state. He played a pivotal role and he battled for recognition. Fish and Game then deny the evidence. So for me as a person who's had the Bobcats right off my grits similar carries sticks to a bobcat The Long Tail obviously very different but those facial markings were overlapping for me. So so in 2011 a mountain lion was killed in a car accident in Connecticut a car hit a mountain lion and killed it. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. Sam Evans Brown. Patrick Tate: So I just got to throw a little interesting side note in this. Have it reported down in the Keene area. Mountain Lion report and as a biologist for the state that's a situation where if he said to me what did I see. It traveled all the way from from you know Minnesota to New York without being so seen Patrick take. So I will just say this is a big reason why there have not been confirmed sightings I think is that the evidence required first. We're gonna cue you up and bring into the program listeners in just a moment but I want to ask about the role that Mountain Lions play in the ecosystem we've been talking a lot about mountain lions traveling and being sort of hard to track as they move. Phone number 1 800. Let us know your story and share your photos. I can't. Like why would you want one wildlife. Peter Biello: We mentioned that the eastern cougar and the Western cougar are they were separate eastern cougar believed to be extinct. Tate said that while a mountain lion sighting in New Hampshire isn't likely, it's not impossible. And because you know things flow downhill and I was pushed to go investigate it more and met with the individual two or three times and there was a bunch of inconsistencies about the photograph. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. We're gonna talk about sightings in this part of the program as well we'd love to hear your story. Patrick Tate: Well I've never seen an Easter cougar so I can't say when I've handled these 10 cougars and whatnot. Caller: It had to be a mountain lion convinced I was about 30. It doesn't make much sense because you know mountain lions are as we as we said before. Reviewing the evidence, the U.S. Now again I don't know that there's anything to that. Sam Evans-Brown: Well this might be a good moment to talk about hoaxes. From: Boomerdog in OK 08-Oct-07 The big cat has been extinct at least the eastern mountain lion has been extinct here since the mid 80s hundreds. List of Mountains in New Hampshire is a general list of mountains in New Hampshire, with elevation.This list includes many mountains in the White Mountains range that covers about a quarter of the state, as well as mountains outside of that range.. To date, the Department has not received any verifiable evidence (photographic or DNA)of mountain lions existing in New Hampshire. So it's six months of a large large predatory animal that moves great distances on the landscape that is not known if it went northeast west Salt and how many circles it did. I actually been interviewed a couple of times by reporters and with all due respect for the media you know facts aren't always communicated correctly. 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. So there is definitely no downward pressure by anyone. Oh you saw him online. I think that you probably are. Thank you very much for that story really appreciate it. And I think a lot of folks would like them to be around. I wasn't employed as biologists at the time of a situation that's been reported but so I started digging into this report and spoke with another wildlife biologist with the agency and said Do you know anything about this. If so that's for us as an agency. So Pat you field a lot of calls about people seeing or reportedly seeing mountain lions. And here we're talking about in this situation we're talking about it migrated from the West. And it came out we could see it had and we could see its long swooping tail. I live pretty much on the town line of Greenfield just a couple of miles down in the Greenfield. So I learned about what Rick just reported through a heart of heart of New Hampshire a letter and. Sam Evans-Brown: What he would have stopped as well I think is way way that the reason that mountain lion kept moving is because he wasn't finding anybody. I found a second scat scent both to him. Rick van de Poll: Yes. 1957. 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. Its actually fairly reasonable to believe that mountain lions do, at least, pass through occasionally. 44-N Links. Peter Biello: So Rick seems like you agree that the tail is a big giveaway whether or not it's a mountain lion Absolutely. OK. That location they just described we had two or three Bobcats radio collared on just off the runway in Laconia airport. Pelosi story here we go. There's never, ever, ever, ever been a documented case of a black mountain lion. There was no sign of it. Here she is talking about how to identify a mountain lion. So you know until I found those two scats I didn't think that mountain lions were here in the east. Sort of dropped onto the SD card of a camera he'd set up out in the wild. Peter Biello: Yeah well what do you think Pat is. So for our scientists to do the lumping and whatnot. If it's just in the middle of a greenfield you can't prove anything. Peter Biello: Yeah. Peter Biello: Hmm. Lions Clubs Int'l Links: LionNet NH Links 2011 -2012 . I can't tell you what you saw but it sounds like a mountain lion. County road and all of a sudden a big cat jumps out of the woods over a stone wall stood in the middle of the dirt road as I rode towards it. Which goes back to the Connecticut Connecticut cat and what not. Fear for others and those two polarizing opinions on the situation is what I believe brings out mystique and Sam you know I take kind of a long view on this. Peter Biello: Wow. The American Lion The Saber tooth Tiger and this was the one that survived. Michael Brindley is our program manager our producers our Jessica Hunt and Christina Phillips and our theme music was composed by Bob Lord. 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. Peter Biello: Mm hmm. I didn't see him online. "Of those three to five reports,. I just want to tell you a story that I read. That's what we're seeing is dispersing mountain lions from the West who are just making their way through. Peter Biello: Thank you for sharing that. You know you have to have a license and it's hard to get that license a license to own a mountain lion. I hope she's listening and she had spoke to a lot of different people ended up having a couple of sightings of her alone without sort of by accident. N.H.'s Fish and Game department says there's no proof. But I was riding a mountain bike not far from my house. And it was unmistakable. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. N.H.'s Fish and Game department says there's no proof mountain lions live in the state, yet residents from Bedford to Berlin have been reporting sightings for years. Verifiable pictures recorded by the observing person or a trail camera. As I tried to get a picture of it so there was it was definitely we looked up all the pictures and it was definitely not a bobcat or anything else being it looked just like a mountain lion. We'll also hear your stories if you have them again. Just one quick point I think I think when we we talk about these conspiracy theories the real story is that fish and game is an agency that that is short on budget and staff. Russ, from Sandwich (and Bedford) asks: In Sandwich New Hampshire, everybody has a story about seeing a mountain lion. All they think it traveled north through Canada up you know crossed across the Great Lakes and then and then down again through New York State. We live around Cold Springs Campground and it was undeniably a mountain lion. Let's look for other evidence. Residents believe cougars still roam New Hampshire's forests. For me as a person who's handled many bobcats and looked at many pictures Bobcat the White chin Bobcat right off is what comes out to me and then the black the the roughs on our Bobcats we'll have sometimes have black fringes on them. My wife and I saw a mountain lion. Yes. Despite numerous reports, the NH Fish and Game Department continues to have no physical evidence of mountain lion presence in the state. Yes and you want to share what you learned. The book MAMMAL TRACKS & SIGN by Mark Elbroch has pictures of mountain lion scat found at a multiple beaver kill. I mean I that said I've lived out west for nine years. Caller: Oh hi. Sam Evans-Brown: I just want to say the bang and word you just heard I think to me exemplifies why it's really hard to come up with with positive you know 100 percent certain evidence that you've that what you've got is a mountain lions. No that's a little bit outside the range. Do you want to see real, living mountain lions that do exist in New Hampshire. I think as Pat was saying you know 35 to 50 pounds on a male be reasonable range whereas mountain lions you're up to 100 110 maybe even 130 pounds on a big male. Pat do they typically just move around a lot. WMUR NH Chronicle Mountain Lions in NH Part I and Part II. New Hampshire Public Radio | And maybe it's a no holds barred nostalgia for a better world a wild or Fuller world not a world that's constrained by our boundaries and our taxes and our highways. They're just moving around freely. Administrative Links. Rick van de Poll: Well the mountain lion of course has been sort of an enigma in the wildlife suite for years and years. Mountain lions remain an enigmatic animal for residents of New Hampshire, with New Hampshire Fish and Game reporting three to five sightings per week. And I saw you cat about four feet long from nose to tail come across from the water across the road and just leap over a six foot perimeter fence in a single bound. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an PR. Good morning guys. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. This is where things start breaking down when you so I get pictures with this great description and one of my favorite stories is a great description what the witness and then so I called the witness and wanted information from them and the person says What are you talking about. And so far we have not had any positive mark lion scats or any DNA. 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. Have you heard stories do you have questions about the mountain line. Right. Sam Evans-Brown: Well and I think and the last takeaway here is everyone I think probably agrees that any possible sightings that have been seen. A 140-pound male mountain lion was hit by a car and killed in 2011 in Milford, Connecticut. It was not a bobcat. The females disperse a shorter range and once they find a vacant home range they stay in that location and live there. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says there's no proof. The species that once inhabited the Northeast, known as the eastern mountain lion, is now extinct. Right. So I reached down to grab the camera and looked back and like a ghost it's gone. Patrick Tate: I've from all the situations I've read and learned about wildlife. Peter Biello: And Carl before you continue I think Patrick Tate just give me a second. So what those ranges. And that the Florida panther was more closely related to the eastern outline than the western mountain lion was. People have asked me about the genetics of eastern mountain lion. Rick van de Poll: 80 90. The western mountain lion lives in a more of a grassland open area now so to blend in with a very lighted situation here in the Northeast we are very shadowy dark situation because of the forest and our cats wear a darker brownish reddish color than what they were and they were also smaller than what the western mountain lion is. Thank you for visiting the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department website. Peter Biello: What about the idea of tourism like us leaving aside the fact that it is not on the Endangered Species Act is it. So maybe a good pet for you but not for your neighbor if you just stop by unannounced. OK. Rick van de Poll: Rick and I would add that if a mountain lion male takes up residence and successfully finds a female as pets there's gonna be a lot more evidence there will be like deer carcasses up in trees and territorial marking and claw marks and tracks and it you know dispersal is gonna be very tough to see or observed but residential parrots a totally different story. These young males are tracking looking for mates and if they don't find a mate they just keep moving and moving and moving.

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