The green shading represents areas with established breeding populations. A friend sent this to me. But they're probably bobcats. If you are already an OutdoorNews.com subscriber, you can log in here. Idaho Fish and Game officers and personnel responded to . The track of a cougar found in Michigans Upper Peninsula (photo credit: Michigan Department of Natural Resources). State Farm insurancecalculates that one out of every 67 drivers in Pennsylvania had a claim related to a deer collision in 2016. A recent rumor of a cougar killed by a vehicle on Interstate 80 attracted some attention at Penn State. A mountain lion named Rocky, at the East Coast Animal Rescue, Tuesday, September 4, 2018. An escapee is also possible. 83 responses. Jones has never seen a mountain lion, but he thinks they're prowling around. "We have lots of remote areas where people seldom go," he says, "and our high deer population would offer them bountiful food. Cougars are seven to eight feet in length (head to tail) and stand two to three feet at the shoulder. The nearest known populations of mountain lions are in Wyoming, Colorado, North . There have been two mountain lion sightings this week in western Montana. If you're bitten by a venomous snake, dial 911 immediately and seek medical attention. A placard affixed to the fence outside Rocky's pen states that "cougars are solitary creatures and rarely seen by humans." House cats on average are 11lbs and only a foot tall, which is much smaller than a cougar. The last promising scat turned out to be from a large coyote that had eaten a lot of meat. We heard the fox screaming multiple times before we saw it. "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. There's also a $10k bounty for evidence of anyone illegally re-introducing them to PA. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. Between 1995 and 2021, there have been 34 mountain lion sightings in Iowa," he says. If you are not and would like to read this and all the other great content OutdoorNews.com has to offer, click here . Seriously, no mountain lions in Pa? Follow Michael & PhillyVoice on Twitter @mtanen88| @thePhillyVoice "Over the years, I've received a number of cougar reports, some pretty factual, such as a partly devoured calf left up in a tree, but nobody has ever provided clear proof. The reports, though, continue. (Image via the National Park Service)(), By Jason Nark | The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Since May 21, three other lion sightings were reported in the Chubbuck and Pocatello areas and one in Inkom. Lion sightings they got. This cat was in extremely poor condition when it was killed. Figure 3. Cougar range based on sightings and physical evidence (Image credit: LaRue et al, 2008). Its so hard to pin anything down, said John Lutz, the West Virginia man who heads the network, a non-scientific affiliation of mountain lion seekers across the eastern United States. Sadly, the last period when mountain lions roamed freely throughout Pennsylvania is the end of the 19th century. Bobcat and coyote tracks have been misidentified as cougar tracks. The last wild cougar in Pennsylvania was killed in 1871 and the last cougar born on the East Coast was killed in 1938 in Maine. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. That's significant because, in states where mountain lions live, they're often struck by vehicles or otherwise found dead. The woman, a 66-year-old grandmother, asked not to be identified because she's a senior and didn't want people "bothering" her about it. Bobcats (2a; photo credit: Dave Jackson) and coyotes (2b; photo credit Scott Weikert) are often confused for cougars (2c). The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. However, the last genuine sighting of a free-roaming mountain lion in the state was in 1967, and even that was suspected to have been someone's escaped or released pet. I am not a drinker and dont di drugs. declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, California residents do not sell my data request. Not valid with other promotions. The abundance of wildlife that thrives in Pennsylvania makes sightings of interesting animals fairly commonplacebears, foxes, coywolves and elk are all within the realm of expectations. Spotting mountain lions is becoming a Pennsylvania pastime. "I'm proud to know her," Murray said of the tiger, "but I wish I didn't.". Furthermore, a juvenile female has not been recorded in the Midwest, much less in Pennsylvania, without a change in this trend no breeding populations can be established. I saw a mountain lion crossing a state highway,the Oklahoma-Salem FRoad near DuBois PA about 4:30 pm. If a cougar were to make it to Pennsylvania, it is illegal to harm. This development promised to resolve a decades-old controversy. There may well be a mountain lion out there that has been illegally released.". You're much more likely to encounter ablack bear than a bobcat. Was about 30 feet down the road when it crossed in front of me. For a limited time, you can get full access to breaking news, all original Outdoor News stories and updates from the entire Great Lakes Region and beyond, the most up-to-date fishing & hunting reports, lake maps, photo & video galleries, the latest gear, wild game cooking tips and recipes, fishing & hunting tips from pros and experts, bonus web content and much, much more, all on your smartphone, tablet or desktop For just a buck per month! They can be easily differentiated by the size of their size (large house cats only weigh 30lb and raccoons 20lbs) and their tails (cougar tails are much longer and wiry). Records show that more than 600 cougars were killed in Centre County alone during the 1800s. The distance traveled varies based on habitat, time of year, and study methods. Slowly, mountain lions recolonized North America after having retreated to warmer climates in South America during the Pleistocene ice age. Claws are a great way to tell bear tracks apart from cougar tracks: cougar claws can retract their claws and their claws tend to only be extended when on slippery surfaces, on the other paw, bears cannot control their claws and they can be found on every track. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in 1998. Without some adaptions and major changes in public opinion, it is unlikely that cougars can be restored in Pennsylvania, as the Adirondacks in 1980s was much less populated than Pennsylvania today. Ok, so they may have been extinct for some time, but if people are sighting them, has anyone considered migration? Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. They were extirpated from Indiana by the late 1800s. Mountain lions, also commonly known as cougars, are officially extinct in both Pennsylvania and the United States east of the Mississippi. Stay Alert! Travis Lau, a spokesperson for the Game Commission, said the state has a "never say never" approach when it comes to mountain lions and acknowledges that Western cats could be moving east. The Eastern Cougar Foundation, a clearinghouse for cougar sightings, claims it has received proof that big cats do exist in Missouri, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois and Kentucky, and in Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada. $1 per month for 6 months (you will be billed $6) and then your subscription will renew at standard subscription rates. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. TPWD Confirmed Mountain Lions. The dispatch center received calls about the mountain lion at approximately 4:30 a.m. near the Copeland Creek Trail between Country Club and Snyder Lane located in the area of Sunrise Park. US Fish and Wildlife Service. This cat had brown fur with a white underbelly, and a black, brown and white face. That's the third-highest rate of any state in the U.S. This article written in 2020 has a good wrap up of the current mountain lion status in North Dakota. It has the color of a mountain lion, but the long tail appears to be missing. Still, you just never know". Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax, http://aginfo.psu.edu/news/august01/lion.tif. In the wild, adult mountain lions can weigh anywhere from 65 to 220 pounds. Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser notes that his agency agrees with San Julian. The team has investigated hundreds of reports, but most turned out to be bobcats. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. Besides a lack of physical (scat, hair, or tracks) and photographic evidence, the absence of cougars is also demonstrated by a lack of road-killed cougars. Based on its extensive research, the Service concluded this subspecies of big cats had disappeared from the east by the 1930s. They're common in the rural areas of the Lehigh Valley but are moving into more populated areas as evidenced by a600-pound specimen (pictured) that was tranquilized in March after neighbors in Forks Township and Easton's College Hill section called authorities. It was not a fleeting glance, I had to stop my car to let it slowly cross the road in front of me. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. After hearing of alleged sightings over the years -- sketchy reports of rural folks listening to big cat screams in the night, inconclusive paw prints, photos and videos that never materialized and the occasional unexplained livestock killing -- a cougar carcass was supposed to be delivered to university wildlife experts for necropsy. The cougar was photographed as it made its way from Minnesota to Wisconsin. The woman, a 66-year-old grandmother, asked not to be identified because she's a senior and didn't want people "bothering" her about it. "A cougar or puma is like a UFO with four feet." When they are in these new areas, the young males are almost constantly moving looking for an area with females. Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. There are approximately 4,000 of those 10- to 40-pound cats in the state. That said there have been numerous sightings of them over the years. "We should be getting more pictures. In the winter, cougar tracks maybe up to six inches long. Heres how to pull big bluegills from Iowas West Lake Okoboji, A look at some other ways to call in a spring gobbler, How to catch and cook whitefish and tullibees, Nows the time to savor the fruits of the hunting experience. Am 74 years old, of very sound mind usually pretty skeptical, but i saw this animal and after much consideration have concluded it could only be a mountain lion or cougar. In one case out of Reading, a sighting of an apparent cheetah turned out to be an African serval that was likely bred and domesticated illegally. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . A walking house cat or raccoon would likely fit within the diameter of the tree. "Recently there was an emu captured in Houtzdale, Clearfield County," says Feaser. Because this cat is rarely seen, it is commonly confused with cougars, but there are some key differences between bobcats and cougars (Figure 2). Males territories are generally twice the size of a females territory (50-350 square miles), and they overlap the territory of several females. Mountain lions' canines are 3 to 4 inches long. They have adapted to live in the suburbs in woods, fields or evenbackyards without being seen by people. 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