A co-worker yesterday mentioned a third-hand report of two cougars being spotted near a local state park here in eastern Pennsylvania. The latest in a long line of reputed sightings. Members of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania see conspiracy, accusing the Pennsylvania Game Commission of stocking big cats and, thereby, reducing the state’s white-tailed deer population. Independent wildlife scientists and foresters agree with Game Commission biologists and other independent thinkers that the state has way too many deer (often estimated at 1.7 million). The browse lines seen along rural roads tell the story, as does the complete absence of forest wildflowers in most of the state’s forests.
Here’s a report from ENN about the big cat’s status in eastern Canada (Quebec):
“Cougars, believed to have vanished from Eastern Canada, could just be hiding. The big wild cats, also known as pumas or mountain lions, have not been spotted in the eastern part of the country for years. But the Canadian national parks service said Wednesday that a hair sample found at Forillon Park, about 1,200 km north east of Quebec City, came from a cougar belonging to a North American population. ‘We’re talking about one animal. It doesn’t mean that’s the only one out there, but we are sure there is at least one,’ said Jean-Guy Chavarie, manager of Ecosystem Conservation Gaspesie Field Unit, Parks Canada.
Cougar hair collection stations have been placed in national parks throughout Eastern Canada, using scented bait to attract the cats to a pole wrapped in rough carpet. The animals rub themselves against the pole, leaving hairs on the carpet. A laboratory at Universite de Montreal was able to determine the origin of the hairs using DNA tests. The elusive animal, which can be very difficult to observe, is still quite common in Western Canada. ‘At some point we thought the species had disappeared because we didn’t have any scientific confirmation of its presence,’ Chavarie said. The cougar population in Eastern Canada started to decline steadily at the end of the 1800s, decimated by hunting, trapping and habitat loss.”
October 8, 2006 at 2:04 am |
I don’t see any problems with links. Do you need coding?
September 7, 2007 at 3:27 pm |
I live in Ontario inbetween Ottawa and Toronto in a little town called belleville. Over the summer there have been numerous sightings of cougars located in our area. It was gotten to be quite dangerous where some local cows have been killed and farmers are thinking it could have been cougars
September 17, 2007 at 8:33 pm |
About 6 or 7 years ago, I was driving east across Eastern Canada (I think I was on the TransCanda?), towards Nova Scotia. It was about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and the area was very remote. I am fairly certain that I was somewhere between Fredericton and Moncton.
I saw, what I thought, from a distance, was a large house cat walking across highway. I was driving a large SUV when I spotted the big cat. As I got closer, I could see that the cat’s body was almost as long as the width of the front of my car. It was beige/brown and had a long, muscular tail. It was a mountain lion! When I got to my final destination, I reported the sighting to the family member I was visiting. They, in turn, reported it to a local wildlife official. I’m not sure if that wildlife official didn’t believe that I had seen the big cat or if she didn’t think it was all that exciting. Either way, that was the end of it. I didn’t give it another thought until this week.
My curiosity about the mountain lion was peaked again when I was privileged to see a bobcat in Northeastern Massachusetts, where I live. Bobcats are extremely rare to see in this area (I had never seen one before) so I decided to do a little research. While researching bobcats, I decided to look up the status of Mountain Lions in Eastern Canada.
From this recent research, I now know that there is a controversy over whether or not there is a population of mountain lions in Eastern Canada. I, for one, believe that they are there. To make a long story short, had I known that region was not part of the mountain lions normal range, I might have pushed the report to be taken more seriously at the time. I feel like it was a true gift to get a glimpse of that magnificent creature. It was truly awe inspiring. I wish my camera had been in reach and my traveling partner had been awake.
December 21, 2007 at 8:18 pm |
I have heard of numerous sitings of what is know as the eastern cougar in recent years.To day while driving with my wife near Linconville, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia we saw a big cat cross the road in front of us. I am certainly no authority on the subject but I’m sure it was no lynx or bobcat. It was brown in colour and when running with outstreached tail I would estimate 41/2 to 5 feet long from nose to tail. It seemed to be quite thin and appeared to be a young animal. Wish I had my camera to take measured photos of prints.