Over the last few months several people have responded to this question with reports of their own. You've got a mountain lion story or photo? Over the last few years I've done several Questions of the Month regarding Mountain Lions, or Pumas as they should properly be called, in the Mid-Atlantic States and in Pennsylvania. Among those who have investigated the primeval times of the Pocono Plateau and Delaware River valleys and tributaries was the late Vernon Leslie, Ph.D., a Wayne County historian and archaeologist. Now, if there were any escapes, and if any of these bred with a possible minuscule number of eastern pumas, a relic native population, wouldn't the gene pool be corrupted? A typical home range is around 150 square miles for adult males and 50 square miles for adult females in our region. Mountain lions weigh 90-160 pounds, while bobcats weigh 20-30 pounds. Two different people told me that they, or a close relative, had seen pumas on more than one occasion. DCNR gave the following as examples: the saber-tooth cat; a small, three-toed horse; the Pleistocene beaver, and the mastodon. One of the three branches or clans of the Lenape Tribe at the end of the 17th century was known as the Wolf (Minsi). Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? - pennlive.com There's a saying that "things aren't always what they appear to be." Bobcats, feral cats and domestic dogs may be misidentified as mountain lion. 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. But no one that I've communicated with had these preconceptions, and seeing what they saw was a complete surprise. One man, in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, had seen one, at night, about 25 years ago. I want to believe they're here, but I'm having some trouble. Unless I am only dealing with a lot of delusional people with little judgment, something is out there. WATCH: Sharks biting alligators, the most epic lion battles, and MUCH more. There are deserts, mountains, and swamps in the state of Utah, all of which are suitable for mountain lions. Every year we receive a few similar reports from hikers, hunters or other outdoor enthusiasts. I'll offer my own little anecdote. Outdoor adventures abound, and so do our fabulous shopping and restaurants. Pocono Mountains: Best Things To See And Do - TravelAwaits In only one report had an official from the Pennsylvania Game Commision, a local warden, actually agree with the person reporting the sighting. Find cabins in the Poconos, PA near places like Bushkill Falls, Camelback Mountain Resort, and more. 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. People can manipulate, enhance or combine photos and then create their own stories about the subject's origin, location and even identification. Most of my original Questions of the Month for the last several When he told me this, he commented on how an experience like the one he and his friends had just is not forgotten. And again, while they may have been mistaken, they certainly were completely convinced that they had seen a puma. The last native mountain lion known to be killed in Pennsylvania is on display in the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? Let me explain this. Although unconfirmed, mountain lions continue to be reported in many spots across Pennsylvania, including several reports in the past couple months. Still, people say they know what they saw out there. What does a Mountain Lion look like on a game camera? In Pennsylvania, I receive a few reports of black, big cats, which makes one wonder -- are there melanistic (black) pumas out there, or are those sightings always wrong. Over the last two years I have occasionally posted a Question of the Month soliciting sightings from people who believed that they have seen a mountain lion in Pennsylvania or in other areas in the mid-Atlantic states. Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. By the mid-1900s pumas were eliminated from almost all of the eastern states, and by mid-century were officially extinct east of the Mississippi, except for a remnant population in southern Florida. Pocono Record's Micaela Hood moves on to Lehigh Valley Public Media None of these sightings has been authenticated, and many of them, including a recent, alleged mountain lion picked up on a surveillance camera in Lackawanna County, turned out to be bobcats. A dark brown puma, backlighted by a strong sun, could appear all black, or very dark, and he accepted that. Since mountain lions are the top predators (unlike most other states with grizzly bears), they have a well-developed population. Over time, cats that had been released in Florida, probably pets that outlived their welcome, bred with the native puma, and their genes mingled. Just take your pick of all these incredible Pocono lake house rentals or just a Pocono cabin for rent, in luxury of course! (What is meant by "heads" is not clear.). I've done this myself once, in Tanzania, when I saw a black house cat that I thought was a black leopard! Some may also be kept illicitly as pets, which would quickly become a problem as the cat matures. Biologists traced it. Hoax photo doesn't help believability of mountain lions in Poconos Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. There isnt an official estimate on mountain lions in the state. Can so many people be wrong? And yes, there are people in Pennsylvania who say they exist here. Here are the 15 US States That Have Mountain Lions. This will be one of your best identification marks, along with size. Everyone is familiar with albinism, the absence of pigmentation that results in a white, essentially pigment free animal, defined by pink skin and pink eyes. Best hike for seeing waterfalls. All of the above images are of bobcats. Contact the AZ Animals editorial team. Continuing with that thought, if that were so, then it'd be possible, if not very likely, that the Eastern puma would be an Endangered Species. Remember, this one was photographed in Arizona in good puma country, although this was the first one I've recorded there. Where they always here as a relic population? They ponder rare fossil evidence unearthed and seek to make sense of stratified geology, both fleeting in the face of what we call progress. An escapee is also possible. Like Arizona, New Mexico is the perfect home for mountain lions. Mountain lions were once widespread across North America, but their range shrunk dramatically as they were pursued through unregulated hunting and by farmers aiming to protect their livestock, and moved off the landscape by habitat fragmentation. Mountain lions have an interesting life cycle that consists of a few different characteristics. And when our officers go out to investigate reports of mountain lions, or when our staff reviews photos that are sent to us, often we're able to verify some other animal mistakenly was reported as a mountain lion.". Have all of those who have seen a puma really seen a bobcat? At one point, there was debate whether that cat should be protected, since its genes were diluted from escapees or released pumas that originated in South America or our West. Eastern mountain lion officially declared extinct - pennlive.com Several populations of Gray Squirrels scattered around the country are black, and recently I heard of a neighborhood of black Eastern Chipmunks. If you're interested in this, please pass on this link, and if you see a cat, please let me know! To be fair, I've also spoken with people who, at first, thought they'd seen a puma only to find, to their embarassment, that they were looking at a house cat! 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. In some areas, entire populations of a species exhibit this trait, for unlike albinism, which results in a conspicuous white color and light-sensitive pink eyes, there are no ill effects with melanism. with a fluted projectile point were found near Middletown, Orange County, New York. (National Park Service). Is there a correct position for the upright on a Wimberley actionhead? If you see a puma (mountain lion-cougar), contact me. I asked our Game officials about evidence, and they cite no road kills. Goodrich said he once saw a mountain lion spring from a thicket and kill a sheep on a public road. That's significant because, in states where mountain lions live, they're often struck by vehicles or otherwise found dead. . I'm thinking of the solution often suggested for pesky endangered species out west, namely wolves and grizzly bears. Again, I've been told that some Game Commission personnel have admitted that pumas may exist in Pennsylvania, but they rationalize this by saying that the pumas are not breeding and they are not from original wild stock. Are mountain lions on their way to Pennsylvania? In his 1973 book "Faces in Clay" Leslie lays open the archaeological treasures of stone arrow or spear points and tools lost long ago by a succession of native peoples. Note the long, usually thick tail. In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. Interestingly, the US Fish and Wildllife Service has declared the Eastern Puma extinct, except for the Florida population known as the Florida panther. They mostly live in the far western Trans-Pecos region of the state, with about 50,000 to 80,000 acres of suitable land currently being used by the cat. Most of the native mountain lions live in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, but humans rarely ever see them due to their secretive nature. Encouraged by the bounties, settlers waged war on these perceived beasts. Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. Who knows? Woolly mammoth bones were discovered in Bradford County in 1983. 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? Had this been faked, I'd suspect the hoaxter would try for a more authentic background. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. I've seen so many examples of these distortions, exaggerations and lies over the last couple of years that I've grown very dubious about anything I see on a computer. The Asa Packer Mansion, built in the year 1861, is a historic house museum. We hope you enjoy this foray into the most weird and wonderful our beloved Pocono Mountains have to offer. It was recorded in Minnesota and Wisconsin in late 2009 and early 2010, and then died in Connecticut in 2011. By the time he returned the vehicle was gone, and so was the cat, and no mention was ever made of this road kill in a radio or newspaper report. "It was in Worthington State Forest just across the Delaware River from Smithfield Beach). 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. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The last documented sighting of an eastern cougar was one killed in Maine in 1938. Are there pumas, or mountain lions, in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic States? An article in last year's New York State Conservationist magazine about mountain lions concluded that none exists in that state, even in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Mountain wilderness. a high priority. Thank you for reading! More conclusive evidence is needed: Keep your cameras handy. I don't want to seem like a nut case here, but I must ask this question and you'll soon understand why? A law was passed March 10, 1806, requiring the county to pay the person producing the scalp of a full-grown wolf or cougar, $8, and for the scalp of a young whelp or cub, $4. Mountain lions live almost everywhere in the state of Washington. A second image of the same cat, in a different light, reveals the trademark spots of a bobcat. DNR: Fish & Wildlife: Mountain Lion Images from a homeowner's surveillance camera show a tan cat with a long body, beyond a chain-link fence. Conversely, an outdoor writer I know told me that when Pa. enacted a menagerie permit law years ago, 'a lot of mountain lions suddenly died,' as the owners of these cats, rather than going through the paperwork, simply released their pumas and claimed that they had died. Archived Questions of the Month (570) 325-3229. ? Looking for things to do in the Poconos? "With all of that said, though, there's a general lack of evidence of mountain lions in Pennsylvania. I'm a photographer, yet I've never had a chance to snap a photograph of one of these bears. Although size can be difficult to determine in the field, a puma will be three or four times larger than a bobcat. The head of the puma is small in comparision to a house cat when compared to the entire body. I don't believe someone's imagination could stretch a six inch long tail to three feet! Obviously, other pumas must be about, and the series of ridges extending north and east and west from my location could all be included as critical habitat as well. She feeds and cares for them with donations and grants. Mysterious big cat caught on security camera in Clarks Summit, Pa.