are there mountain lions in the poconos

Leslie estimated that the first humans making up the Paleo-Indians lived in the upper Delaware valley as early as 11,000 B.C. Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". For example, leopards and jaguars, normally spotted cats, have a melanistic color morph, the 'black panther,' the black leopard or black jaguar. Let's see a clear photo, or a carcass or something. Erosion from glacial melt and violence glaciers did to the land left a great litter of boulders, rocks, clay and lakes covering today's landscape. The Golden State has one of the largest populations of mountain lions in the country. Would my mountain ridge be declared 'Critical Habitat' for the puma? Consider that the endangered Florida puma has mixed genes. In Michigan, there has been multiple sightings of 'black panthers,' animals that were thought to be mountain lions, or pumas, except that they were black. Why do I advocate manual exposure so avidly? He wrote that not being a roving animal, the mountain lion was much sooner destroyed than the wolf, and he said that if there were any left, it would have to be in the most desolate places in the county. Mountain lions are well-established in 14 western states and have also recently been confirmed in 10 Midwestern states: Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? If you see a puma (mountain lion-cougar), contact me. Only once has anyone later determined that they had misidentified the cat, seeing a bobcat and not a mountain lion. The mountain lion is a large, slender cat, with a long rope-like tail. Each year, over tha past five, I've spoken with at least one person who swears they personally saw a puma in this state. 1.8 miles, 2 hours, moderate. Reports generally go uninvestigated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, which discounts them as mistaken identities, illegal pets escaped or released and outright fabrications. Mountain lions that are looking for new breeding areas are known as transient and are almost always males. An animal's coat can stray far from the norm. The state of Texas is home to many mountain lion populations, but the numbers are incredibly hard to find. On a recent stifling morning in Adams County, the 290-pound mountain lion with perfect bone structure is ignoring the raw chicken breast and pork chops a handler tossed into his pen. At one time this fact almost resulted in this cat not being protected, since it wasn't a pure strain. There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. That summer, a team from the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg excavated the nearly complete skeleton of the ancient elephant, the first of its kind found in the Commonwealth. Mountain lions typically eat about one deer per week, along with other smaller prey as the opportunity arises. Mountain Lions in Pennsylvania? Granted, the image is not great, and I used some Photoshop adjustment layers to enhance the image, making it a bit easier to see. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? Two other reports went, in detail, on what they saw, the size, the length of tail, etc. Where they always here as a relic population? "Hunters are always saying they see mountain lions, and the Game Commission always says there aren't any," said Robert Hale, owner of Buffalo Gap Outfitters in Dillsburg. He knows and was familiar with bobcats, and it was not a weird house cat that he and his friends misjudged in size. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. I've looked in the PGC game laws booklet and saw nothing on this, which I guess you could conclude means a puma would not be legal to shoot. Luxury Cabin Rentals: Pocono Mountain Getaways | Glamping Hub Both were a threat to the farmer and family who carved a home in the ancient wilderness of the Poconos. One of the three branches or clans of the Lenape Tribe at the end of the 17th century was known as the Wolf (Minsi). Oregon has a large, stable breeding population of mountain lions. Are there Mountain Lions (Pumas, Cougars) in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States? However, it is clearly a mountain lion, and I'm presenting this poor image as a baseline reference for anyone recording a mountain lion on a game camera, or seeing one. My friend was a former hunter and fisherman, and spent a lot of time in the woods, as did I, but neither of us had ever seen a coyote. These creatures lurking in Pa.'s woods can hurt or kill you The Cougar Network, working with state agencies, have documented multiple mountain lions as far east as Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan in recent years, as well as one cat killed on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, in June 2011. People can manipulate, enhance or combine photos and then create their own stories about the subject's origin, location and even identification. WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. Illinois can also now be added to this list a mountain lion was found on the outskirts of Chicago. But Dave "Gadget" Jones, a retired wildlife conservation officer from Lackawanna County, claims he's seen a white bigfoot and a UFO in Pennsylvania, so who knows? The earliest wave arrived at the end of the last Ice Age; the last wave is the Lenape or Delaware Tribe, which made contact with colonial settlers in the 1600s. Others would like to see some scientific proof. Pocono Mountains - Wikipedia The sightings were great bear views, but too fast or fleeting to allow me to grab a camera. Two different people told me that they, or a close relative, had seen pumas on more than one occasion. That may be true, or was once true, but even a declawed puma, if it can survive off rabbits and squirrels, and breeds, its offspring would be fully equipted to survive. Woolly mammoth bones were discovered in Bradford County in 1983. In prior interviews with the Game Commission, the suggestion was made to this writer that what many people may actually be seeing is a bobcat, perhaps in less than ideal circumstances. Do elk live in Pennsylvania? I've seen hoaxes, of pumas carrying deer shot with game cameras, but these were of western cats. It was estimated to be a young adult American Mastodon that had died about 12,000 years ago, according to radiocarbon dating. All of these forests are, with few exceptions, open to hunting, and hunting is a very important industry in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The claim of mountain lions on the move was bolstered in 2009 when one was killed by a car in Greenwich, Conn. He notes how over the millennia, the region was inhabited by humans, only to be depopulated by migration brought on by the search of food due to a fickle climate, war or epidemic. It was definitely a mountain lion, and it had a big buck, white-tailed deer in its jaws. Noted Wayne County historian Phineas Goodrich recorded in his 1880 book on local history that the common gray wolf was much more common in this area than the cougar. According to the commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. Apparently, this picture was really making the rounds. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). You've got a mountain lion story or photo? Those cats for which DNA evidence was recovered had come east from South Dakota, part of the known, modern-day, U.S. mountain lion range. 2023 www.poconorecord.com. No projectile points or spearheads were found with the remains, indicating the animal may have died naturally rather than killed by native hunters. One came to her as the result of an owner's divorce. A total of 32 mountain lions have been struck and killed by vehicles in the study area since 2002. Would that declaration close that ridge to hunting? If it were, it would be listed. To learn more about "lion country" in Colorado check here. While the chances that I'll ever see a puma in Pennsylvania myself are virtually zero, I'm always on the alert -- for the bobcat I've never seen in Pa., for a fisher, bear, deer, red salamander, toad, or snake, and yes, I'm always hoping that I too will become one of those who saw something that officially cannot exist within the state, a puma I know I saw but, of course, could not have! 10 Stunning Mountains In Pennsylvania - AZ Animals When he told me this, he commented on how an experience like the one he and his friends had just is not forgotten. State Game Officials do concede that some people may indeed have seen a puma, but it was undoubtedly a released captive. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. After a small population was reintroduced into their historic land, their population has grown to a stable and breeding group of between 200-300 individuals. I have three observations here: 1. All rights reserved. Is it the New Best Pack? If you can figure out how to travel far back in time for even a day, get lots of wildlife photos, as the rest of us might never believe your story. I'm a photographer, yet I've never had a chance to snap a photograph of one of these bears. I have not spoken with a Game Commission officer personally, so I don't know whether anyone killing a puma in Pennsylvania could do so without legal repercussions. Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. The Cascade Mountains are an important habitat for mountain lions in the region, and a stable population lives within the state. The reintroduction of mountain lions into South Dakota is one of the great wins of modern conservation. It will happen eventually. Flying over the area, I've looked down and commented upon the amount of habitat that would be available for a puma, if only they existed. Those special two were across a river just outside Glacier National Park in Montana, and consisted of a mother and two cubs (Mary saw both cubs, I only saw one, and we did so separately, as we were driving two vehicles). The State cites that there are no road-kills, and in a heavily trafficed state like Pennsylvania there should be kills. Just take your pick of all these incredible Pocono lake house rentals or just a Pocono cabin for rent, in luxury of course! I had three cameras positioned, so had a cat visited, I'd have had it. There are controlled hunting laws in the state of Oregon. More common critters co-existed with early Native Americans in the Poconos, including two species long since removed: the wolf and mountain lion (also known colloquially as panthers and cougars). The 'look' is from my But more importantly, he also said that regardless of color, he saw a big cat, with a tail that looked to be about 4 feet long! All rights reserved (About Us). Foster said mountain lions and bobcats could not breed. "People think they can get them declawed and that they're safe, but they still have teeth.". I don't believe someone's imagination could stretch a six inch long tail to three feet! For many who have believed to have seen a cougar in the wilds of the Poconos, these arguments might be less than convincing. Joseph Pugliese 2.2K views 7 years ago Beautiful Bobcat in our yard as our. The large tracts of untouched rocky land and bighorn sheep populations make for pristine mountain lion habitat. This is not a Pennsylvania puma! Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. But this one was black, and he knows mountain lions are some variant of brown. Hunters I've spoken with said they've been told you can't kill a puma, which they felt was ironic since the same official told them pumas don't exist in Pa. Some cats had a South American genetic profile. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the last Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in the late 1800s. Would these ridges be declared off-limits for hunting? With that in mind, lets break down how we classified the states. Ashley Catherine Fontones, Pocono Record. Pocono beasts: Mastodons, wolves, cougars once abundant in region Pocono Mountains: Best Things To See And Do - TravelAwaits The Pocono Mountains are . In Yellowstone, definite puma country (perhaps not ideal habitat, but pumas are found in every section of Yellowstone), I've spoken to guys on road crews and with rangers, each with 20 years of field or road experience in Yellowstone, and the ranger had only seen 2 (both road kills and together) and the road crew guys two or three in all their years. The last of three glaciations covered 30% of Pennsylvania, including much of the Poconos, from around 20,000-10,000 B.C. Knowing that pumas range widely, would my ridge be the only one closed? Because the neck bothered me, I decided to do some Photoshop on the puma in the lower left, moving his head higher up and changing the image to a contrasty black and white - to give a silhouette for comparision.

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